Identify problems first (Marketing column)

It’s a refreshing exercise to discuss creative and inspired marketing ideas for golf courses, but if those ideas don’t solve specific and unique problems that your course is experiencing, then they’re not much good to you no matter how ingenious they might seem. 

I recently participated in a marketing- ideas luncheon for golf course owners. There were many great ideas, but not all of them will apply to your course or be beneficial for your course in the long run.

To implement an effective marketing plan, golf course managers first need to identify real problems with their courses unique to their market. Once the problems are identified properly, they need to be solved fittingly. As self-serving as it might appear, qualified consultants can be valuable to determine the true problems and corresponding appropriate solutions unique to the marketplace because they have no emotional ties to the course and have accumulated many marketing programs to help generate revenue from their prior work. However, many golf course managers have a difficult time defining their courses’ true problems and developing solutions for them.

In years past, the demand for golf was always there. But recently, during the mid-1990s, people who analyzed the golf industry realized supply was outpacing demand and annual average rounds were reversing their progressive trend in the United States. This ultimately caused owners and managers to think creatively when trying to generate more business (rounds and revenue) for their golf courses. Yet, many of their marketing ideas didn’t solve many of the courses’ problems in the long term.

A problem isn’t really a problem (as perceived) unless a specific unique solution can be implemented to alleviate that problem beneficially. That’s confusing, but let me explain. The following is an example of a perceived problem, not necessarily a real problem.

A golf course owner in the Mid-Atlantic region thought he had a problem because his perception was that he wasn’t making enough money from the many groups of seniors playing his course. These seniors were paying $14 a round Monday through Thursday. The highest rack rate at the course was $27 a round at peak times – $22 at off-peak times. One option for the owner was to increase the green fee for the seniors. Yet if he did that, he most likely would lose a significant percent of those seniors to another course. Therefore, from a marketing perspective, the owner first needed to identify what golfers would likely replace those seniors if he increased the green fee and the seniors left for another course. If the replacement of rounds was beneficial to the course’s bottom line, then implement the solution. However, if the desired replacement remained an unknown, the owner might want to reconsider his predicament, as perceived by him, and view it as an opportunity versus a problem.

Understanding the difference between a problem and an opportunity often is the difference between success and mediocrity, worse yet, failure.

We reviewed the day-segments the seniors were playing and compared the revenue to similar days when they weren’t, as well as same day segments from past years. It was decided there would be greater inconsistency of play (revenue) and the business would likely suffer if the seniors left. In retrospect, the owner had guaranteed revenue from these seniors who chose to play at his course at certain low-demand times.

In this case, the owner thought he had a problem because he thought the seniors were playing too cheaply. But in reality, he didn’t have a problem. They were playing at low-demand times and in sufficient quantities to represent significantly more revenue than projected probable outside play even at higher rack rates.

After recognizing this unique group, though, I suggested the owner survey these players to determine if he could fulfill their other desires beyond inexpensive golf while they congregated at his course. The survey revealed several easy suggestions, and the seniors readily partook of the course’s new offerings. The end result was that this segment of players proved to be an additional source of revenue beyond inexpensive greens fees. In this case, a problem didn’t exist, and a revenue opportunity was almost missed. So, know the difference between a problem and an opportunity.

One way of identifying a course’s real problem(s) is to analyze the inefficient parts of the operation. If it has to do with revenue, and most problems do, then start the marketing thought process by identifying what’s unique about the course’s true positioning in its market. If you need to generate additional revenues first, identify the varied segments of business available in your market to help you succeed.

For example, you might opt to generate more revenue by hosting more golf outings. However, your course might not be ideally suited to host outings because of the way it’s routed. Before you begin a marketing campaign designed to generate many outings, review your course and eliminate potential bottlenecks that might lead to negative word-of-mouth by those in the outing.
Other real problems courses can have contributing to a lack of desired revenue are equipment/facility depreciation, liability issues, personnel problems and location problems, which could end up draining the operations of even more revenue.

An example of a routing problem is a course I consulted with years ago that was laid out next to a small mountain range. Because of a routing transgression, the first three holes had the least exposure to the morning sun and had more frost or snow on them in late spring and late fall for a longer period of time, making the holes unplayable. The result was fewer rounds, a shorter season and less revenue potential for the course. No amount of effort put forth toward creative or ingenious play-enticing marketing promotions would help solve this problem. The solution was to flop the nines during these seasonal times, permanently if it makes sense for the course’s market.

Solving a course’s real problem(s) is good marketing and operations. However, just using marketing ideas that sound good, or that are conceived out of knee-jerk reaction to a real or perceived problem are, at best, mediocre short-term marketing promotions. Problems aren’t solved by creative, even ingenious, marketing promotions, but by marketing programs that address long-term solutions based on your course’s unique market position. Do you know what your unique market position is? GCN