You can’t hide behind the grass

For more than nine years, I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Sean Novotny, the superintendent at Kennsington Golf Club in Canfield, Ohio. I first met Sean as a customer/golfer (all too often doing damage to his turf trying to strike my irons!). I then started working with him when I was a pro-shop attendant and most recently while enjoying my outdoor duties as a “Cart Guy.”

Insightful, business savvy and customer-focused

Throughout our conversations, I have always found Sean to be exceedingly insightful about the ecosystem and human dynamics of the Kennsington golf operation. He’s savvy about business and marketing, and committed to customer focus and engagement.

“As a superintendent, you can’t hide behind the grass,” he says. “Be out front for concerns or complaints expressed by customers.”

Here are some of Sean’s insights and examples of his customer-focused practices as he expressed them to me on a recent 27-degree morning in November as our shift was commencing.

Make direct contact

What’s Sean’s process?

“When there’s an issue, as an example, when Kennsington receives an email from a disappointed golfer/customer, if they provided a phone number, I call them directly,” he says. “I’m not going to waste my time with an email back-and-forth because you can’t distinguish a customer’s tone through an email or text, right? So, when I call, I begin with, ‘This is Sean. I’m the superintendent at Kennsington Golf Club. Thank you for sharing your concern. What’s going on?’

“Then, they explain. Then, I clarify, ‘Here’s what happened and here is what I’m dealing with.’ I am not giving excuses; I am just giving you an explanation. I am aware of it, and I am going to fix it. I WANT YOU BACK AT KENNSINGTON. Most of the time the response I get is, ‘Thank you very much for making the phone call.’”

Verbal judo on the turf (not a mat)

Sean applies turf martial arts to dealing with customers.

“My wife, Alexis, made me read the book ‘Verbal Judo,’” he says. “It teaches you to listen to the customer’s problem, you reiterate their problem, then you come up with a resolution, which is the gist of what the phenomenal book is all about. So, once I do that, usually the customer is pleased and often states, ‘I’m shocked that you even called me because I don’t think that happens a lot at golf courses.’ The customer may be thinking, ‘I can’t believe the superintendent called me!’ You must take on these problems immediately and head on.”

Golf balls and your crew

It’s common for golfers to encounter the groundskeeping staff during play. Sean’s team deploys an effective technique to keep golfers contented and moving.

“Although we try to keep ahead of golfers while working, especially when we are at our afternoon activities, there are going to be times where there are golfer/crew encounters,” he says. “A practice we use to keep golfers moving is, if for instance one of our crew is stopped and waiting for a group or golfer to complete her or his shot, then the golfer hits their ball way off in the rough, woods, weeds or, during autumn, under a pile of leaves, … rather than wait for them to find it, we’ll ask, ‘What kind of ball are you playing?’ Then, from a bag of balls we have collected on the course, our guys will toss out one that could be the same brand or better. This way, the golfer doesn’t lose the $3 or $4 they paid for the ball, the gesture is a positive interaction, and we help maintain pace of play.”

Cut the gossip cord before the calls multiply

There’s much truth to the fact that one dissatisfied customer/golfer who might not understand the context of what is going on at the course during their round can multiply and communicate their perceived “problem” by the thousands through social media or gossip at a bar. Sean expressed this frustration and what to do about it.

“How often does a group of golfers go to a bar and talk after their round? Somebody says, ‘How was your round?’ If their round wasn’t all that good, some golfers will begin their tirade of complaints, ‘Oh, I shot 72. The course is disgustingly trashed, greens are horrible, ball marks everywhere.’ So, the guy that’s across the bar hears this. Then he goes out somewhere and tells his four friends, ‘Oh, don’t go to that golf course! Ball marks everywhere. Bunkers aren’t raked.’

“Before you know it that story gets to 36 or 40 people by word of mouth. Add to that, social channels really multiply and amplify a perceived problem.

“Like the old telephone game, after several iterations and embellishments of what may have been one green that was a problem child that day after an outing, it turns into all the greens are terrible. You have to cut the cord whenever you can. That’s why when I am made aware of a complaint, I’m on it. I cut that cord. And we work hard every day so that the telephone game doesn’t get started.”

Seasonal frequency of managing customer complaints

I asked Sean how many times each season he is making direct phone calls to respond to complaints picked up via social media, or through emails or voicemails. “I average five to six per season,” he says. “Where somebody is passionate or intense, I respect that and I tell the customer. I actually thank them. What’s so amazing is — I’ve never had a bad experience once we get to talking one-on-one. The most common reaction is, ‘I can’t believe you called me directly on this.’”

We can fix most customer complaints and fortify our course’s reputation

Sean may have the answer to ending most golfer/customer disappointment issues.

“No matter what every golf course superintendent in the world does, customer complaints will occur,” he says. “It’s a battle and it’s part of our job. We gotta creatively fix it. But you also must fix the golfer first, right? When some guy figures out how to fix golfers out there just looking for flaws to nitpick or when somebody invents a ball that doesn’t leave ball marks, he’ll be a billionaire.

“But in all seriousness, our reality is the reputation of the golf course is all we have. Yeah, we are committed to the ideal that every person that walks in and out of this place has to say, ‘It was the greatest customer experience I’ve ever had. I love the greens, awesome tees. The fairways were like carpet,’ right? We must do that. We must strive. And like I tell my guys, ‘You’ll leave it better than when you found it every day. You gotta keep getting better every day.’ That’s every golf course, right? Gotta get better. And if that’s managing customers, complaints and the gossip, that’s part of the job now and always.”

Attest to Sean and his competent crew’s success

As a “Cart Guy,” I am consistent about asking golfers after their rounds, “How were the conditions for you?” I can attest. It’s so gratifying to hear that most of the remarks are positive if not glowing. I try to often text Sean to share this with him and his competent team. Sean and his groundskeeping crew are succeeding in the complex and ever-dynamic challenges of managing the Kennsington Golf Club turf and the many thousands of customers playing on it.

Sean Novotny earned a bachelor’s degree in turfgrass science at Ohio State University and further advanced at Ohio State ATI with work and studies in Ireland under Mike O’Keeffe. He has been the superintendent at Kennsington Golf Club in Canfield, Ohio, for 18 years. This is his first Turfheads Take Over contribution.

Rich Obertots is a fifth-year part-time employee at Kennsington Golf Club. He is presently working with Kennsington owner Chuck Whitman and Sean on a comprehensive culture crafting, training and development program. He has 43 years of experience in the Critical Medical Services field and his companies ThinkThroughTools, LLC, THE DAYBREAK DISPATCH of Daybreak Music and TDD Films remain active developing outreach, content marketing, training systems and software configurations. This is his second Turfheads Take Over contribution.