The time to start is now (Marketing your course)

Whoa! Where did 2005 go? As golf course operators, do you find yourself asking the same business question year after year? Have you already resolved that the end of the calendar year is near? It’s mid-November. Golf course operators still should have plenty of work to do preparing for next year. Are you making your marketing plans for next year now?

Years ago, mid-November through December represented a time for golf course personnel to give a collective sigh of marketing relief: Courses in the North were all but closed for the winter, courses in the South were starting their premier shoulder season awaiting the influx of tourists, and courses in between, well, they were in between. No more marketing work to be done for a while, right?

Many golf course owners, general managers and even superintendents viewed November as a time when there was little for marketers to do, primarily because the opportunity for sales had slowed. Even now, many golf managers are taking a breather after a long, busy summer. And sure, there are some unresolved business issues keeping managers busy. They are involved with year-end activities, such as profit plan reviews, tax filings, year-end business resolutions, and are appropriately thinking about the holidays and family.

However, from a golf marketing perspective, this time of year is ideal to reinvigorate a course’s marketing efforts by updating marketing plans and materials: rack cards, sales letters, membership documents, tournament brochures and all other golf course-related collateral. Actual sales might be slow during the holidays (Thanksgiving through New Year’s), but your marketing efforts for the following year better be in full swing. A good marketer will use this time to analyze all definable business segments the course caters to: membership, outings, league play, golf packages, senior play, etc. You can use this sales downtime to plan your marketing strategies to increase play from most, if not all, of your primary sources of income.

Once your new marketing strategies are developed and support materials are redesigned to accommodate new goals, an appropriate initiative at this time is to plan and send direct-mail teasers that market golf outings, leagues or a new planned service at a club/course for the following year.

One of the realities of this time of year is that it takes time to meet with people in person about booking business for next year, and most people aren’t interested or prepared to commit to giving you business at this time. Because you’re proactively planning to visit your prospects early in the year, send them an unobtrusive reminder that you, your course and your facility can fulfill a need or desire they have: membership, outing, summer league, food-and-beverage function, meeting room, banquet hall, non-golf event, etc.

All of the marketing prep work that needs to be finished between now and Jan. 2 needs to be organized and ready to go, so come Jan. 2, effective marketers can refocus their attention to sales and directly solicit potential clients or business with appropriate marketing materials.

My marketing planning goals are simple: If the sales goals are realistic, I expect the golf club sales and marketing person to have two-thirds of their annual sales goals met – i.e., contracts and deposits in hand, files appropriately stored in a master file – between Jan. 2 and the end of March or by Easter. That’s a critical benchmark when trying to tell if a sales person is working effectively. And that’s why the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is perfect for refining your marketing plan for the coming year.

Surprisingly, only 15 percent to 20 percent of U.S. golf clubs/courses are using this time to revamp their marketing and sales strategies and tactics for next year. The other 80 percent or more are taking a breather after a busy season or before the in-season in the South. But before they know it, it will be March 31, the next golf sales season will be upon them, and it will be too late to plan any proactive marketing to increase revenue and net operating income from strategic business targets. Another course or facility will have its business or will soon get it. Those course operators that missed the marketing planning window (Thanksgiving through New Year’s) will be back to coupons, two-for-one golf specials and other forms of discounting their golf facility. Whoever originated “ignorance is bliss” was being facetious, not prophetic.

Now, I’m not advocating work until you drop. We all want some time off, especially for the winter holidays. But start doing what many course operators are realizing they need to do: Plan your sales and marketing.

More course owners and managers recognize they need a better plan of marketing their facilities. They might need some assistance with planning, yet they realize it’s time to do things differently. For some, unfortunately, it’s survival of the more marketing adept.

Here are two examples. I recently finished a market assessment for a client in Virginia. Two of the 22 courses I surveyed for competitive data have been sold to developers intent on plowing the course under and building homes. This same situation is likely to continue for a while. The course owners might have some money in their pockets, but the original dream of golf course ownership is gone. For obvious reasons, though, when I met with those owners, they weren’t smiling.

Along similar lines, I’m finishing a market assessment for a client on the west coast of Florida. A housing developer bought a piece of land to continue a development that has a golf course on it. His question was “Now what do I do?” After researching the market, we built a marketing plan of action to attract certain segments of play that prefers this alternative type of course (par 3, executive). The research indicated the course needed some improvements, and once we identified realistic sources of play and means to attract them, the owner got right to work hiring the people needed to transform his neglected new asset. He is creating an environment that likely will realize significant play and remain profitable for years to come.

The difference between the two examples mentioned above is one person created a marketing plan for his golf course, and the other created an exit strategy.

It’s the end of the year … almost. I’ve completed most of my marketing planning for clients, and I intend to continue planning marketing endeavors in the first half of December. You should, too. GCN

Jack Brennan founded Paladin Golf Marketing in Plant City, Fla., to assist golf course owners and managers with successful marketing. He can be reached at Jackbrennan@tampabay.rr.com.