Presents the
15 Item check list to make your golf course different and unique
Things everyone knows but either does not do
Or does not know how to do
This material is owned and copyrighted by Vision Perfect Software Inc. This may not be
copied in whole or in part all rights reserved
It’s Tough! Never has the golf business been this tough. More and more golf courses are becoming
financially unstable or simply going out of business.
Let our VIPER “Tournament Wizard”
Guide you through this 15-Item
Checklist for setting up a Tournament
Sales & Marketing system!
What if today began the new good times?
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Albert Einstein
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. GOLFER RETENTION… YOU WORKED HARD TO BRING THEM IN, KEEP THEM COMING BACK!
2. GENERATING NEW REVENUE… MAXIMIZE YOUR OPPORTUNITY WITH SKINS & SIDE GAMES!
3. GENERATING ADDITIONAL REVENUE… LESSONS, FUTURE EVENT BOOKINGS, DRAWINGS ETC.
4. THE OUTING SALES BOOK… CLEARLY DEFINE AND PRESENT WHAT YOUR FACILITY IS CAPABLE OF!
5. FOLLOWING UP WITH THE CONTACT… THE GOLDEN RULE OF MARKETING!
6. YOUR CUSTOM LOOK AND FEEL… YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK THE SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE! CUSTOMIZE!
7. FRANCHISE YOUR OUTINGS… CREATE A PROCESS THAT ANYONE ON YOUR STAFF CAN REPEAT WITH EXACTNESS!
8. EXCEED EXPECTATIONS… GOLFERS EXPECT NICE GREENS & GOOD FOOD…GIVE THEM MORE! WOW THEM & THEY WILL RETURN
9. DON’T DISCOUNT UP-CHARGE… IT’S NOT EXPENSIVE IF IT’S WORTH IT!
10. MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY… TIME & MONEY ARE PRECIOUS COMMODITIES!
11. MEASURING YOUR R.O.I… NEW REVENUE VERSES THE COST OF EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES
12. BECOME LARGER THAN LIFE… YOU CAN BECOME YOUR COMMUNITIES PEBBLE BEACH!
13. NETWORK…NETWORK…NETWORK… RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE KEY TO ANY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS!
14. GET THE ANSWERS WHEN YOU NEED THE ANSWERS…FAST, FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL 24 X 7 TECH SUPPORT!
15. DYNAMIC NEEDS-DYNAMIC SOLUTIONS… CHANGE YOUR PATTERN, CHANGE YOUR RESULTS!
1. Golfer retention
The process of booking the next outing with the client begins with the first contact. After all you have spent
time and resources getting this client to come to your course the first time, you will optimize your return on
investment by having them return often. This just does not happen automatically it requires you to be
proactive. Your organization needs to understand the processes that will determine return probability. This is
greatly influenced by the value your client gets from your organization. Value is determined by:
i. The quality of your service
ii. Offering return discount coupons to the players
iii. You and your staff exceeding their expectations
iv. Helping your client understand what to look for when determining the value you offer, yes you
actually need to train your clients.
v. The experience they have prior to the event
vi. How their guests were received
vii. How the event was produced
viii. Post event activities
2. Generating additional revenue from outings
Everyone likes to win! As you meet with your clients and plan for upcoming events your staff needs to illustrate
to the client what adds more value to an event for the golfer. Golfers like to have a good time, they like to be
entertained and they get excited about the opportunity of actually winning. You need to be different than the
golf course they used last time. You must offer additional value and you must be able to differentiate yourself.
Consider using the following to give each player additional opportunities to win and yes it will generate more
revenue from the outing.
Side Games:
Skin Games (Team or Individual)
o Gross Skin Game
o Net Skin Game
Front 9 tournament
Back 9 tournament
Par 3 holes tournament
Par 5 hole tournament
When scoring an event you have the data to determine these games. You can offer these at no additional
charge to the event organizer. Simply offer them to the players as they check in. Charging $1, $2 or $5 for a
player to participate in each side game quickly will produce significant additional revenue. For example an event
with 72 players in the main event where your staff offers 3 side games @ $2.00 per game could produce an
additional $432.00 in revenue.
3. Generating additional revenue from outing
players
You have already done most of the work when you actually have new golfers at your facility. They are your
captive audience so, why not take advantage of this incredible opportunity? Include a discount coupon to
return. Each player could receive a voucher redeemable on return visits for a free bucket of range balls, a
discount on their next round of golf or a discount for Proshop merchandise or food and beverage. How much
are you spending on marketing now? Discounting for return visits generates a much higher response than
traditional advertising and marketing. Return visit revenue is an additional revenue opportunity from your
outings.
Use the outing as an opportunity to market your professional services for lessons. There are many opportunities
and ways to reach the a captive audience that are utilizing your facilities for 4 to 5 hours. Additionally, make
sure you capture mailing addresses or email address ways to reach out to them once the event is over. They
may not want that lesson today, but perhaps next week when the wheels come of their game they may be more
receptive.
Give them an opportunity to enter your weekly drawing. What you don’t have a weekly drawing? Here’s an
idea, anyone that is willing to fill out a name card will be entered into the drawing for the weekly grand prize.
What does the name card have on it? Their name, address and email address. Yes you got 72 more potential
golfers, start marketing.
When producing offers and discounts, make sure you never forget to have an expiration date on each item.
4. Outing sales book
You have already forgotten more than most outside event
organizers will ever know about what can be done during an
event. They most likely won’t know what to ask for so you will
have to educate them. For example write down everything
you don’t know about proper golf course fertilization procedures.
Short list – right? You don’t know what you don’t know. Neither
do your customers when it comes to whether they will have an
average event or a fantastic event. This is you opportunity to
really shine, right from the start. Here is where you start to
educate your customer on what to expect. Here it is where you
demonstrate your superiority with it comes to event
management. They should leave their first event organization meeting with the opinion that they would be
foolish to even consider using another facility. This meeting should walk your client through:
Contract organization and target dates
Scorecard types and layouts
Scoring formats
Side games and other opportunities
Custom logos on scorecards
Cart sign layout
Promotion graphic on the cart signs
Starting report
Alpha sheets
Cart personnel report and the value they have
to the client
Additional advertising opportunities,
scoreboards, starting information on large
screen TV’s, Electronic scoreboards
Post game scoring options
Scoreboard layouts
Certificate of winners
Gift certificates
Post event reports
5. Follow up with the contact
Part of exceeding your client’s expectation is being proactive. Communication with them needs to be
initiated by you and your staff. Follow up letters, confirmation emails and payment deadlines need to be
automated to eliminate the possibility of forgetfulness. Proactive communication which brings extra value to
you and your facility could include:
Written contract with all event terms
Food and beverage needs and arrangements
Range setup
Initial deposit requirements
Interim payment schedule
Welcome letter
Sample of scorecard and cart signs
Providing a Web link for player names, grouping and starting tees/times
Being able to monitor the signup progress to be proactive with tee/time commitments to avoid a client
having to pay for times not used.
6. Your custom look and feel, your fingerprints
all over it.
In reality your facility is unique. Your people are your people. Your course design is
your course design. Why should your outing presentation look like any other
competitor’s presentation? Everything you produce needs to have your look, your
design, your facility’s identity. As your new clients meet with you, as they visit your
facility, as they have their event and reminisce in the following weeks , their memory
will be defined by your presentation. Perhaps a simple way to ensure a positive
experience would be:
Score boards. What you already have a score board? Great, however
consider the following. Start using the technology that exists to make a
greater impression. Printout your scoreboards with a Large Format Printer.
Put a water mark of your signature hole on each panel. Have your client’s
names “In Lights”, on each board.
Yes, everyone needs to know the
scores and everyone is posting
them on some board somewhere.
Yours can be different when it has
your signature hole on each panel
and invokes memories. After the
event, carefully remove them from
the scoring area, give them to the
sponsor, and invite them to put
them in their lunch room or break
room. Maybe they will want to
display them for all of their
employees and customers in their
lobby. You have created an
identity, and in most cases the client will willingly be your advertiser. And by the way, this should not be
a free service. This is an opportunity to up-charge for premium serves for additional revenue and still
realize the benefit of free course promotion when they put those scoreboards on display.
7. Franchising your outings
Unfortunately, with every business some people simply do better at some things than others. One of the
greatest challenges you have as a manager is to make sure that regardless of what employee is responsible for a
specific portion of the event it is done the exact way you want it done. Franchising your event outings will make
it work.
Let me give you an example. McDonald’s knows franchising. If you notice when you go to McDonald’s everyone
has been taught how to do his job by employing franchising. Take the “art” of making French fries. They open a
bag of frozen potatoes, put them in a basket in the deep fryer and press a button for the timer to begin. They
then go about their duties until the buzzer sounds. They remove the fries and salt them with a specified
amount. Similarly, we could analyze each job description - the order taker presses a button on a happy meal,
the cooks in the back… put the burger on the grill presses a button… you get the point.
What do you need to look at to franchise your operations?
Your phone scripts when a prospective event coordinator calls in for the first time
Your follow up communication
Your walk through of your facility
The outing sales book and associated dialog
Your follow up procedures prior to the event
Your coordination with other departments for Food & Beverage, Range, Banners, Hole Sponsor Signage,
Merchandising
Placement of on course material. Hole sponsor signs, closest to the hole, longest drive
Guest arrival, what do we do with the sponsors when they arrive
Player arrival, bag boys know who is participating in the event, who they are paired with what their
starting tee/time is, bag tags to identify the owner of the bag and where it goes
Instruction sheet or announcement sheet. What the format will be, any specific rules, recognition of the
sponsors
Post event retrieval of hole contest materials
Retrieval of the scorecards
Posting of the scores to the scoreboard
Post event announcements
Retrieval of scoreboards and presenting them to the sponsor
8. Exceeding expectation
The sponsor of the event has invested significant time and money in this outing. They are counting on you to make
them look great. They need each player to feel like a VIP. This starts the moment they enter your property. Signage
instructs the players that they are where they are suppose to be, the outing name and sponsor is clearly visible.
They receive reserved parking prepared in
advance. When they stop at the bag drop area
they are greeted by informed empowered
employees that after getting the individuals
name they can let them know who they are
paired with, what starting tee or time they will
be on. When they enter the clubhouse
information will be displayed on your plasma
screen, each player will be able to watch the
televisions to see their name and starting
information. The client’s promotional slides
will intermix with this presentation. Signage
will direct them to the where the range is,
where food and beverage can be found and
where the carts are. The range is well
organized with any sponsor banners prominently displayed. Carts are staged in a way participants can easily find
their assigned cart with their names professionally written on the cart sign along with the starting hole or time. The
WOW factor has already started, and they haven’t even gone to your main asset the golf course.
9. Don’t discount, up charge
In today’s economy we are looking for ways to reduce cost, make our people more efficient and find new
revenue sources. When someone shows interest in bringing a large group to your facility for a tournament we
recognize the revenue opportunity. You must have a valid reason to be able to command your normal green
fees. They cannot be separated from the entire experience. If additional services and opportunities are
presented to the client as part of the whole experience you will have this compelling reason to keep fees at a
premium. Part of the franchising of your facility will include:
Printing the players names on your existing
premium score cards. Along with the name of the
players, you will be able to offer a watermark of
the client’s logo or promotional product they
want to announce.
Custom Cart Signs, allowing the client to choose
the fonts, color of font and place any additional
graphics for advertising on each of these signs
Electronic Starting Boards. Use your facilities large
screen televisions to display an alpha listing of the players in the event. Have a slide show that can be
used to promote the sponsor or your facility or both.
Large Format Scoreboards. Again each player will be on the scoreboard in the font the client has
selected, the color of font etc.
The client will once again have
an opportunity to place
graphics and logos on these
scoreboards
Electronic scoreboards on the
facilities large screen
televisions with a slide show
of any promotional
information.
Value, value, value with your events
builds a very compelling case with the
client that you are different than the course down the street. There is a reason you can command the green
fees you have. Don’t discount - add value based up charges to the basic green fees. You have invented a new
revenue source.
10. Maximize efficiency and employee productivity
As a business executive you understand that everyone in your organization needs to be as efficient as possible.
Each person needs to understand their role, and perform it. Training personnel is a never ending and
unheralded task. In the golf industry we seem to be plagued with continual employee turnover or position
changes. When a promotion is given to a key employee, the domino action starts, the promoted employee
needs training, the replacement needs training and if the replacement was from somewhere else in your
organization, yet another position needs to be filled and a person to be trained. Wishing not to insult your
intelligence, this requires work. Your organization will never be stronger than the least trained employee. You
must stay vigilant in this process. After all, in order for your facility to command high green fees you must
deserve it. You facility’s internal reality must be excellent. That being said, your only hope is to find ways to
expedite this process. You certainly can try to reinvent the “wheel” each time; or, use tools at your disposal to
make this as efficient as possible. When it comes to event management you must use technology tools that will
standardize the processes. This will also insure that when you have changes in your personnel the client will not
recognize there was a change. The same superior presentation will be produced.
If there is one axiom that holds true to golf tournaments and outings is, “the only constant is change”. What we
mean by this is:
You dutifully send to the event organizer a professional email containing an attachment of an excel file.
This file, as you informed you customer, has been created to reflect how their event will be started and
organized. It will list the starting tees, if they are going to be using a shotgun start, or the timed starts.
It will then have areas defined to show them where they can enter the desired players for each tee or
starting time.
A week prior to the event you follow up with the client to see how their signups are going. They indicate
to you that they have everyone except for just a few. They then send over to you in two days the listing
of the players.
The day before the event you follow up
with the client to make sure that
everything is going well and there are no
changes, they say “Oh I am glad you
called we have a couple of changes, can
you make the change”. They then send
over the changed list in the excel file.
7:00 AM the day of the event the event
organizer shows up and indicates that
they need to make several pairing
changes. You make these changes.
8:00 AM players begin to arrive and then
the real changes start to happen. Bob
Jones will not be able to make it he asked that John Smith play in his place. Bret Anderson storms up to
the check in desk and SHE asks why have you put me on the
MENS tees? Billy Allison and Robin McInnis come to the
event organizer and ask, why am I not playing with my wife,
the organizer asks who is your wife, Billy says Robin or
course… The event organizer wants to say, but doesn’t,
’How in the world would I ever know that you were married
with different last names’…. Well you get the picture
change… change…. change.
You staff in now responsible for new:
o Scorecards
o Cart Signs
o Pairing Sheets
o Alpha Sheets
o Scoreboard changes
In order to be able to have a staff handle these
requirement you must have developed excellent
procedures. Your staff understands what still lies
ahead of each event. You have automation tools that
allow these changes to take place easily and with very little effort on your staff’s time; however, your execution
of these required changes make you once again appear head and shoulders above your competitor courses.
11. Measuring your R.O.I.
So now you have made the determination that you and your facility are going to invest the effort and resources
to be exceptional. You now recognize that you need additional equipment and software automation tools. For
example to printout
large format
Scoreboards you need a
large format printer.
This will also give you the ability to print:
Welcome Banners
Hole Sponsor Signs
Inside Clubhouse Banners
Directional signs
Organizer Advertising
Sponsor Signs
Upcoming Event Advertising
Clubhouse Specials
Food and Beverage Promotions
Each of these items exposes new revenue sources. You will
also need to find software tools that help you with the tasks
to organize events. Your staff needs to understand there will
be changes in the facility’s operating procedures. They will
need initial training for the tools and equipment you
recognize will be added to your facility. Ongoing training will
need to be provided when your vendor indicates that new
software releases are available and new features have
been added.
Event management software will need to automatically
track the additional rounds of golf, the additional up-
charges for each event and any food and beverage that
was sold in connection to the outing. Management
needs to have ad hock reporting to anticipate
merchandise, food and supply needs. Budgets need to
be setup in the software to set goals and to enable
reports that identify each department’s goals for event
outings. Actual revenues can then be compared to the
budget you as an owner/manager have set.
Once you review the initial cost of purchasing the equipment and software and support necessary for you to be
exceptional, you will then need a simple formula to determine your actual return on investment.
12. Become larger than life.
A decade or two ago business existed only as real store fronts. What we mean is that if you were in business
you had a physical building, an office, a golf course, a self contained building. You were only as big as you were.
Someone driving by could see your building - so for AT&T a 60 floor sky scraper, for Joe’s Auto Repair a two car
garage with a small office. That was who you were. There was no way to make your presence large or smaller.
Today we live in a totally different world. We live in a “virtual” or “cyber” world and this world is not measured
in bricks and mortar . It is based on your WEB presence or your internet offering. Here a company may appear
to be as large as Amazon.com, well how big is that? Does it take up one office? Does it take up a floor in a large
office building? Does it fill an entire sky scraper? You really don’t know, because it is virtual.
Becoming larger than just the physical size of your golf
facility is a good thing. This huge expansion project does
not cost you the typical construction costs. It does not does
not have the tax man standing over you year after year
asking for additional property taxes. There are not physical
maintenance costs. However, it has enormous benefits to
your overall operations. What many have realized is that by
implementing tools on the web you can actually leverage
you clients and customers to work for you for free. That is
exciting. Think of it as every player becoming a member of
your staff with no payroll cost. Each event organizer becomes a free intern, setting up their own outing,
imputing the players, organizing the pairings and setting up tees/times on their dime, not yours.
Strongly consider some of these web tools. These tools will help you grow your business and also accelerate
your productive and efficiency. They include
WEB Registration
o Private events
o Public Events
o Tournament Coordinators
o Player Leagues
o Associations
WEB Results
o Active Leader Boards
o Scoreboards
o Club Championships
o League Events
When picking these tools consider your own expertise. Are you a web master? Do you have the IT equipment
required to host these applications? Do you have staff to administer them? Do you want to actually get in this
business of WEB Hosting and IT Infrastructure? Most have found it is better to continue to do that what you do
best, and outsource this technology.
13. Network… Network… Network
As you consider the requirements needed to franchise your organization, automate the processes of event
management and create a sales and marketing book remember this is only the preverbal tip of the iceberg. In
order to maximize efficiency, you cannot afford to make computers the master. They must be the slaves. We
must use the data from one application to power another. The software vendor you select must be recognized
in the industry as having the premier product. Even more important is that the vendor’s applications need to be
recognized by other software vendors as a premier products as well. This will be exemplified by having dynamic
partnerships already in place. Most software vendors have recognized that in order to be the best they can in
their specific market they must be extremely focused on their unique offering. As a result these “best of breed”
software companies will have a very narrow, highly specific product line. They then will create partnerships with
other vendors that will complement their offerings. These partnerships will benefit your organizations by
sharing data from one application to another and one vendor to another. Partnerships can eliminate re-entry of
data, reduce employee effort and reduce the possibility of introducing errors through any redundant manual
process. An event management software package could interface to:
Point of Sale Packages
Tee Time Reservations systems
Handicap Processing Services
o GHIN
o EZLinks
o GolfNet
o ETC
GPS in Cart Systems
o Assigning players to Carts
o Pairing on Carts
o Electronic Scorecards
o Real Time Live Leader Boards in Cart
Electronic Signage solutions
Large Format Printers/Plotters
Supplies
o Blank Scorecards
o Large format materials
Score Board Paper
Banner (vinyl)
Adhesive back
papers/vinyl for hole
sponsor signs
Poster bond
Photo Gloss Papers
These kinds of alliances can create a synergy and eliminate having to seek multiple solutions. Literally
multipoint solutions right out of the box.
14. Get the answers when you need the
answers
What do Mercedes Benz, Lexus, BMW and Ferrari have in common? Yes, they are all car manufactures and they
are all premier automobiles but, there is something else. They all have a service department. They have them
even though they create excellent products. Companies that are very good want to make sure your experience
with their product is very good. Your facility is not opened from 9:00 AM till 12:00 PM, closed for lunch at 12:00
PM – 1:00 PM, and then reopened for business until 5:00 PM. No, you are open for business from sun up until
sun down. You must have a software partner that understands that. That has made the determination and
commitment to have support available when you need it. You must have the ability to for support 24 hours per
day 7 days per week. If the vendor you are considering does not have this ability, are you comfortable with the
consequences this exposes you to? Can you afford to have a failure of meeting the expectations of your clients
because you cannot get in touch with someone in support? It may be as simple as a question on how to setup a
unique event. It may be that you need some help with some customization requirement the client has in a
special report. You may need to have someone step in and run the event because your primary tournament
director is ill. Who know what you need and when you need it, you simply just need it when you need it.
Should we even mention the following possibility. Heaven forbid an employee leaves, or you promote the
person or persons that have been trained and run your events. What now? How do you get your new staff back
to the trained professionals they need to be? Your software vendor must understand that you require on-going
training and have the mechanisms to provide these solutions when you need them.
15. Dynamic solutions
Your needs change. Your clients ask for new processes, The business of golf is dynamic. Your software
tools must be proactive and flexible. As you evaluate software solutions remember that point and click menus
for the normal event are fundamental and expected. However, if this is the only option your vendor offers you
may find yourself in a predicament and unable to provide the required flexibility asked for, and yes sometimes
demanded by your clients. Introduction of new golfing formats will also require that a prospective vendor has
developers constantly working on improvements and enhancements. Static solutions will produce static results.
There is not a software company in the world that has produced the perfect bug free product! Someone will
find something that did not run as expected. When an issue is brought to the attention of the software
manufacture they must respond quickly and professionally. If the problem you have discovered impacts 20% of
your events, and the vendor indicates that the next release is schedule in 9 months how will that affect your
organization. Regularly scheduled interim releases are fundamental to a great software company; however, you
must have confidence and assurance that a known bug will be fixed and delivered to you ASAP. An attitude of
“we will get around to it when we can” might be acceptable to some, but after all it is your bottom line that gets
affected when you cannot perform and that simply that is not acceptable. Not only must the software be able
to perform “outside the box”, but the staff must as well. They need to be able to supply a specialty report when
you need it. They need to be able to listen to what you want to do, then help you massage the data to perform
your requirements. As always the greatness of a company is not measured in just the products. It is in great
part, measured by the people behind the products.
Conclusions:
This document is intended to start the creative processes at your facility, to make adjustments to your
operations and procedures. It is not always necessary to make drastic changes. In fact often small changes
implemented at your facility can have substantial returns. You are already doing providing most of what is
needed. Your task is to find a way to make things just a little better. A one, two or three percent change in your
organization can make all of the difference. For example the Indianapolis 500 race runs each Memorial Day
Weekend typically it lasts 3 to 4 hours. If someone had the ability to modify their race car so that it ran 1%
faster, or increase gas mileage or allowed the car to corner 1 or 2% better than any other car in the field, they
would experience an huge advantage. If the race lasted 3 hours, that would be 180 minutes, one percent of 180
minutes would be 1 minute 48 seconds. When was the last time you heard of the winning time of over a
minute… Never! Do not become overwhelmed with the daunting task of innovating on your own.
We have much more additional resources to support you in this process. Most of the tools you need have
already been developed. Don’t fall in the trap of trying to reinvent the wheel again. Leverage your ability with
employing “best of breed” partners. These partners have literally invested many man years in developing
product and tools to help you become more successful.
We invite you to continue the process of differentiating your golf facility from any other. We have additional
tools and services for you. Most of which are available at either no cost or a very small investment. We have
account managers that would be pleased to review your ideas, answer your additional questions or supply you
with any reports we have. Thank you for your time in reviewing this document, we hope that it has been of
great value to you.
You can contact us:
Phone: 1-888-643-1306
Fax 1-801-254-3861
Email: [email protected]
Mailing address:
Vision Perfect Software Inc.
P.O. Box 310
Riverton, Utah 84065
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