Golf Industry Central Autumn 2017 | Page 26

The Bottom Line

The Bottom Line

Increase Revenue by Improving the Pace of Play Steps any course can take to build loyal customers and profits by Bill Yates

You probably already know that improving the pace of play at your facility will increase your revenue , but perhaps not for the reason you think .
Old Strategies and the Bottom Line
I don ’ t know any golf course owner who doesn ’ t want to increase revenue . Usually they fall back on strategies such as shortening starting intervals to get more groups on the course , discounting green fees with early “ twilight ” rates , creating incentive programs , etc . etc . These measures might generate a very short-lived revenue increase , but rarely have a lasting impact on the bottom line . That ’ s why owners keep searching for the secret sauce to raise their profits .
Let ’ s walk in a potential customer ’ s shoes for a moment . Here I am … a player looking for a hassle-free , backupfree , fun , challenging , affordable round on a course in excellent condition . And I have three currencies to spend in purchasing all that fun : 1 ) the dollar price of the round , 2 ) the time commitment to play , and 3 ) my emotional investment in the experience . If the cost of any of these three currencies becomes too high , I ’ m not playing . You ’ ll never convert me from a potential customer to a regular or loyal customer .
Check out the order I used above in listing the currencies . Does it seem right ? Well actually , after talking with and observing thousands of golfers , I can say pretty definitively that this order is probably backwards .
How Players Really Decide
Consider the questions that I – the potential customer – am asking myself before setting out to play golf with my clubs and a couple of power bars in tow .
� What course would be the most fun to play today ? Is it typically in good or great condition ?
� Is the course typically backed up at certain times of the day ? What time of the day am I hoping to play ? Will the course be backed up and slow at that time ? How much time can I actually spare today for my game ?
� Is this course too pricey for today ’ s game ?
“ Even famous courses in perfect condition can deliver low-quality playing experiences . And in these cases , no matter what I paid for the round , it was too much .”
I ’ m betting this is pretty much how you process your “ go / no go ” decision , and it probably takes you less than 30 seconds . That ’ s because you know from past experience exactly what your last purchase cost you in terms of all three currencies . And you also know which currency is the most important to you , as shown by the order of your questions . The emotional investment , right ? The lack of frustration ! Followed by time , then price .
( cont . on p . 2 )