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How can clubs expert golfers to invest in them when they won't invest in themselves?

golfbusiness


For many golf clubs across the UK, cost-cutting and reductions in expenditure have been commonplace to counteract the declining revenues. The tightening of the belt was a prudent exercise to help clubs to redress the balance once the industry started to notice a significant change over a decade ago. This exercise helped to ensure that clubs were not being frivolous in their spending on unnecessary areas just because “that is the way it has always been done”.


The key issue, however, is that golf clubs have continued to cut costs, cut services and in turn diminish the very experience that golf club members had come to expect. All the while membership prices are continuing to rise with many looking to justify a yearly increase of 5% to ensure the club is sustainable for the future. Golf clubs appear to have stopped investing in themselves, stopped backing themselves to deliver a quality experience and most importantly are not prepared to pay the price for doing so.


I have sat with many golf club committees who believe that all members should be paying full price, they bemoan golfers who are on the lookout for a deal and hate the thought of the membership offer. Yet, when you put in front of them the solution to this problem, they immediately look to negotiate on price and look for a deal. How can clubs expect golfers to pay full price if the club themselves are not prepared to invest the necessary time and money to acquire them and deliver the right service and experience?


It is unrealistic to continue to increase the price of membership whilst reducing costs and reducing the very elements of the club that make the price of membership sustainable. I have experienced this first hand at many many golf clubs who have not been prepared to pay the going rate for a top-class marketing campaign, ask for a reduced price and then say they are against reducing their membership price as it devalues their product.


Clubs need to learn to stop trying to cut corners, start investing in themselves, start having belief in themselves that they can deliver a quality experience and in turn start expecting to receive full price for a worthy membership product. They have to start treating the suppliers and employees in the same way they expect their club members to view the club. I am big believer that you reap what you sow in this world and if your club wants to reap the rewards of having full members paying full membership price then you should treat all your club dealings with the same level of respect and expectation.


Given the current economic climate we find ourselves in this has never been more vital than it is now. A study from the 2008 recession showed that during the economic downturn golfers spent 18% less on their golf compared to previous years. This will inevitably lead to the survival of the fittest and the golf industry will certainly not be exempt from this. Those clubs who are delivering the best experience, the best value in their membership and have priced themselves appropriately will be the ones who come out of the other side with their revenues and their golf club intact.

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