Month: June 2019

Substance Over Style

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In the old west, big talkers who didn’t deliver on what they promised were described as “All hat and no cattle.” Simply put: more image than substance.

None of us wants to be thought of in those terms. We all want to deliver the goods as promised. Doing so, while often challenging, is more achievable when you take these important steps:

1. Develop your strategic plan carefully because that’s where you lay out your promises in the form of goals and objectives. Stephen Johnston, the founder of Global Golf Advisors, often explains the importance of strategic planning by saying, “The lack of a strategic plan is not as dangerous as not having fire insurance, but it’s certainly playing with fire.”

The key components of a sound strategic plan are: (a) market analysis; (b) operational review and comparison against performance benchmarks; (c) financial measurement — especially of the sources and uses of funds; and (d) clear-eyed evaluation of governance practices. These four components assure that you have a plan that states clearly your goals and objectives and establishes a broad understanding of expectations.

Remember that an effective strategic plan answers the question: What? The business plan provides the details behind How? When? Who? and Where? The tactical plan outlines the steps that will implement the strategy.

2. Put your strategy to work. Strategy is only as good as the execution that backs it up. Putting strategic goals and objectives into action also requires a plan — one that describes in detail how you and your team will achieve the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.

3. Make sure club leaders and managers understand the plan and how their functional areas are expected to contribute to its success. In 1962, President Kennedy declared, “We will put a man on the Moon in this decade and return him safely to Earth.” Shortly thereafter, while on a tour of the NASA Space Center, the president came upon a janitor mopping the floor. When asked by the President about his job, the janitor responded, “Mr. Kennedy, I am part of the team that is going to put a man on the Moon.” That is plan buy-in and real-life awareness. The lesson: Make believers of your staff.

4. Review your plan’s success. No matter how well-intended a plan might be, careful evaluation and follow-up ensure that the plan remains relevant and purposeful. Another benefit of ongoing evaluation is evolutionary improvement and maximized understanding. Here are three steps to ensure that your plan is working at full capacity:

  • Provide quarterly strategic plan updates. Report your accomplishments and missteps with equal openness. Quarterly updates keep strategy alive in the boardroom and assure members that their board and club management are keeping their promises. Members support trustworthy leadership and trust is built on accountability in your actions.
  • Post a strategic scorecard. After the quarterly update, post the results truthfully and without acclaim. No different that posting your golf score, this is a matter of open accountability for performance. Embrace accountability for your strategic plan’s effectiveness.
  • Produce an annual report. Tell your members what has been accomplished. Align the annual report, as any major corporation would, with the strategic goals and objectives for your business and report on progress toward those goals. Provide members and stakeholders with a succinct summary of the strategic effectiveness of your plan, your board and yourself.

Strategic plans are based on the notion of having a focused plan of action on which all can rely. This step helps to make you and your work more trusted while bringing focus to what makes your facility successful.

One of the more common concerns in many golf courses and clubs is the question of vision or what it really wants to be. A carefully developed strategic plan clearly states who and what you are and establishes a trustworthy foundation for achievements. It shows people that you’re more than just a hat – it’s evidence that you’re bringing the beef.

This article was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine.

How to Embrace Emerging Club Technology

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In a market brimming with new technology solutions that could revolutionize the way you run a club, GGA Partner, Derek Johnston, reveals how your club can embrace these opportunities, while mitigating any business risks they could create.

Technology continues to change the world; new devices, platforms, and applications continue to enter the market at pace. Yet the criticism leveled at clubs remains the same. The industry is ‘slow to change’, ‘reluctant to adapt’, or can be ‘averse to new technology’.

Is this truly the case? And, if so, what are the reasons for the reluctance?

A technology dilemma

The promise of what enhanced technology can bring to a club is a compelling proposition: better information, increased productivity, improved accuracy, cost efficiencies, delivering an enhanced experience to members and guests. But it’s true that club leaders face a paradox, in that while new technology can often be the source of these tangible advantages, it can be the gateway to unforeseen issues and risks – ones which can easily go unnoticed if not supported appropriately or utilized correctly.

How have these risks come about? In part, through the existence of historical governing frameworks and adherence to traditional operating practices which have not kept pace with the digital transformation. Add in a human element, where individuals may not be properly equipped to implement or operate new technology with due skill and attention, and what were risks can easily become real-life business issues.

A common business issue clubs encounter is not just identifying a new technology solution, but adopting and integrating it effectively.  Clubs can decide upon and acquire a technology and not use it – sometimes they don’t know how best to use it, other times their chosen technology is incongruent to their current business processes or improvement objectives, and, more often, folks simply don’t have the time.

Technology is a tool like any other, it fulfills its purpose when it’s being used. To embrace emerging technology, clubs must identify and select the right tool for the job, map out their implementation approach, restructure their existing processes, if necessary, and define targets against which progress will be measured.

Five Tips to Drive Technology Success:

What can clubs do to mitigate risk when assessing and implementing new technology?

1. Use evidence to inform your decisions

Based on business intelligence and current performance indicators, what are the areas of improvement you have identified? Technology solutions should address those areas directly to realize productivity, accuracy, cost efficiency, or other specifically identified improvement objectives.

2. Be selective

Scrutinize the technology proposition as it relates to its ability to address business needs and make significant improvements when compared to current processes. Then…

3. Take a phased approach

The majority of clubs are not blessed to employ extensive teams with broad and rich skillsets dedicated to technology implementation, training, and maintenance. This typically reduces your capability to take on multiple new forms of technology all at once and be effective in doing so. Prioritize and take a phased approach to how you introduce new technology.

4. Invest in staff training

While learning can and does take place ‘on the job’, ensure the relevant staff members are appropriately trained on an ongoing basis either by yourself or your technology partner. This will ensure you maximize the benefits of the new technology to your club, avoid improper use and protect against too few individuals owning the knowledge connected to the technology.

5. Set goals and targets

You may be investing on the promise of increased efficiencies, but unless you set targets and put in place the necessary measures to track performance, it’s impossible to assess the effectiveness of the new technology. Clear expectations and targets will help your staff buy in to its introduction and encourage your technology partners to best assist you in achieving them.

Although these steps may appear to be extensive, they should in no way be viewed as a deterrent to change. Why? Because there is also risk attached to inaction, standing still while the wider world continues to evolve.

Take one aspect of consumer behavior, for example. As the trend towards mobile and digital continues to grow and evolve, if your club becomes disconnected from this trend it could be seen as old-fashioned, traditional, or in ways simply incongruent with what your club really stands for. While clubs should never feel technology should be forced on them, they should at least consider what existing members and prospective members want; what the club needs to operate efficiently and effectively fulfill its mission; and what club leaders require to effectively develop, monitor, and maintain the club’s strategic direction. Most importantly, clubs should be prepared to act on their findings.

Embracing change

How then should a club approach technological change? In short, with an open-mind and a pragmatic, data-driven approach combined with the support and buy-in of staff, members and club stakeholders.

Whether the aim is to increase productivity, reduce costs or deliver a better experience to members and guests, those invested in the success and sustainability of the club will recognize the intention to improve. Not only will this protect against the market forces of standing still, it will take those invested in the club on a journey towards a better, brighter, more sustainable future.

For help on identifying and embracing emerging technology at your club, connect with Derek Johnston.

Using Technology to Your Operational Advantage

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In what ways are clubs realizing operational gains through new technology solutions? GGA’s Martin Tzankov outlines the solutions helping clubs to reduce costs and enhance the playing experience.

Golf and innovation do not always go hand in hand. Attempts to bolt new age technology into a traditional game and well-established club structures have often produced mixed results.

However, this doesn’t prevent club leaders constantly being inundated with new platforms, systems and applications, each with the promise of revolutionizing club operations or the member experience.

To help bring a meaningful commercial focus to this conversation, the following are some new technologies that are taking seed and proving their worth in providing actionable business intelligence, operational gains, and cost savings.

Keeping members moving

As much as we want to allow members to move around the course at their own pace, maximizing their enjoyment and social opportunity, there will often be certain individuals who create discontent through slow play.

While you may, at least anecdotally, know who these individuals are, there is often an absence of cold, hard proof.

This is where GPS-technology comes in. It’s now possible to track individual member movements around the golf course and monitor how long it takes them to play an average round. Armed with this intelligence, club leaders can address this issue and make significant inroads to solving problems around pace of play.

Clearly, there’s a balance and sensitivity to be struck when tackling this topic, and individual circumstances and other variables come into play. For this reason, you may wish to only address individuals who are repeat offenders at peak times of play – in other words, those who impede the experience for other members and guests. In any case, the data you obtain from the GPS-technology will play a fundamental role in overcoming this all too common problem.

Cutting down maintenance

There’s another side to GPS-technology; one which has the potential to unlock major cost savings. By tracking the movements of players, you can quickly establish a picture of where the common ‘pinch points’ or bottle necks lie on the course, areas where players tend to hit and lose balls, or particular hazards they find difficult to overcome.

This data will allow you to work with your superintendent more closely and proactively; looking at the root causes of the problems players face and, indeed, don’t face when navigating the course.

While there are design and maintenance tactics which can help mitigate lengthy ball searches in notorious areas, the real cost savings come from the areas where players tend not to venture…

By determining where these areas lie on the golf course through player tracking data, you can take the decision to reduce inputs and turf management in the knowledge this will not impact the playing experience. The benefits of increased maintenance efficiency to the Club are extensive. Financially, the Club will realize substantial cost savings from a reduction in chemical inputs and by doing so improve the long-term ecosystem of the course environment. From a labor perspective, reducing the managed area of the golf course will free up the workforce to increase its focus on other areas of the course and development projects. Whatever timeline you attach to these changes, the tangible long-term benefits are there and waiting to be realized.

Real-time security and data

A wave of clubs can be found upping their game when it comes to security. We have witnessed clubs installing technology such as retina scanning, geofencing, or keycards and access fobs to know who is at the club and when.

While security is the fundamental motivation behind such a move, the data this presents to clubs can prove invaluable in learning more about member engagement. Yes, there is a time commitment involved in analyzing and extracting some real value from this information, but if it can help you learn more about how some members’ engagement has tailed off, or which facilities or events they are engaging with over others, you can develop tactics to re-engage these members and boost their satisfaction levels.

Take events as an example. You may have a successful, thriving events program but find that a combination of POS and member data reveals that these are only really popular among elder members, while younger members are largely absent. We already know that the injection of younger members into these events is viewed favorably by elder members, and increased socialization will encourage a greater sense of attachment to the Club. So, it makes sense to conduct analysis into younger members’ attitudes, wants and needs from an events program so you can build on its success and make it more inclusive too.

A final thought

When it comes to implementing new technology, my message is this: be open to change. Your club may have established processes or ways of doing things, and it can be uncomfortable when technology threatens to change those. This will result in some clubs shying away when, actually, those that prosper will be accepting of the fact that change is inevitable. Not only that, they will see the opportunity change can bring.

For advice on introducing new technology to your Club, connect with Martin Tzankov.

What Works on Social?

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The most popular channel may change over time, but the social media momentum continues to grow. For some clubs it can be difficult to know what to post, when and how often. We asked GGA’s Linda Dillenbeck to spell out all things social.

There is not a day that passes that doesn’t have a news report about something posted on a social media channel. Nor does a day pass when you don’t see consumers glued to their devices and feverishly typing the latest content they simply must share.

Whether we like it or not, social media has changed the way consumers communicate and gather information. Today, brands must have a social media presence or they miss the opportunity to reach 78% of the U.S. population who rely on these platforms to connect, gather information and socialize.

Consider these facts from Statistica and the Pew Research Center:

  • 68% of U.S. adults report they are Facebook users. Roughly three-quarters of those users access Facebook daily.
  • Facebook use is relatively common across a range of age groups, with 68% of those in the 50 to 64 age range and nearly half of those 65 and older report they use the site.
  • Over 70% of Instagram users are between the ages of 25-65. The share of users 35-54, a key target for future club prospects, is 30.2%.
  • Twitter has 67,000,000 users in the U.S. Of that number, 46% access the site daily.
  • LinkedIn has approximately 154,000,000 users in the United States, around half of whom are college graduates living in high-income households.
  • Women are nearly three times as likely as men to use Pinterest (42% vs. 15%).

Despite the reach of social media, we often hear the reason clubs are not active on most of these platforms is because they don’t have enough time. Our first recommendation is always this: Find the time.

Your members and prospects are engaging with these platforms on a daily basis, and what they read, see and hear there plays a part in their decision-making. Without any Club presence, you forego this opportunity to engage with their lives and influence them.

Furthermore, a lack of presence can leave you at a competitive disadvantage. In the cases of Instagram and Facebook, these social media platforms will create “unofficial pages” displaying user photos and comments about their experiences. This hands consumers control of your brand message, allowing them to dictate the tone of conversation and could lead to a misrepresentation of your Club in this space.

Channel choice

To select the social sites most appropriate for your Club it helps to understand each platform’s purpose as well as consumer expectations for the type of content they seek.

Facebook users want to be entertained, educated, informed and obtain answers to questions in real time. On Facebook, your posts can be longer and include website links. You can also create events (open or closed) to promote to your members, prospects and wider stakeholders.

Instagram is a platform to share your story through photos and video. When users log onto Instagram, they want to be inspired and surprised by what they see at your Club.

The primary purpose of Twitter is to allow people to share thoughts, opinions, news and events with a large audience. Tweets that generate the most engagement are “how-to” lists, questions and quotes.

Remember, both the nature of the platform and demographic of the users there will dictate that not all are appropriate or impactful for your Club. So be selective, and double up your efforts on which are most fruitful rather than spreading yourself thinly across too many of them.

Crafting your message

The thought of creating content for social sites can be intimidating at first, however, we believe there is plenty of information to share. A few examples include:

  • An individual post of each golf hole with a short description of how to play the hole (that’s 18 or 36 posts).
  • Photos or short videos of your chef preparing signature menu items.
  • Unique and interesting design features found in your clubhouse.
  • Member events and activities. A word of caution here, never post a photo of a member unless they provide permission when the photo is taken.
  • Short golf, swimming or tennis videos offering tips from the professionals on staff.
  • Announcements of staff hires, renovations, special events, etc.
  • Flora and fauna found around the grounds of your Club.

Once you begin posting your content, it is important to monitor the statistics for likes, shares and comments. This information will help you to understand the type of posts generating the most engagement. Once you are equipped with that information, you can focus on how to generate more of the same.

Social media marketing does require time and effort. But once you establish a habit of a monthly or weekly content plan and roll this out you can manage your time investment efficiently, and focus your efforts on establishing a two-way conversation and social identity for your Club. One that, crucially, is consistent with its brand and ethos.

Inspiration

Instagram

Twitter

Facebook

 

This article was authored by GGA Manager and Marketing expert Linda Dillenbeck.

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