Frontofshop
FRONTOFSHOP
Are you selling what the customer wants to buy?
If you could just focus on creating as many engagements with golfers as possible, around what it is they want to buy, you would blow sales records away. Ian James examines whether you are stocking the right products for your customers
There’s nothing that they’re doing that any PGA Professional at a green- grass account can’t do. There’s nothing magic. It takes some focus, and real passion for the golfer.
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Here’s their list of DO’s and DON’Ts: 1. They’ve stopped talking about price. Don’t talk about price. Don’t offer deals. 2. In their marketing they don’t even talk about specific product, aſter all products are just commodities. There’s no margin in a commodity. But there’s real margin in your expertise.
3. They do talk about improvement and more fun, distance and more fun, accuracy and more fun, consistency and more fun. Everything is about what they can do for the golfer.
4. They create engagement events every week where golfers can come and test a skill with the Professionals. And these are fun events. Yes more fun!
5. They’ve set aside regular times each week when golfers know they can come and have an assessment or fitting. No-one has to commit to buy. It’s an opportunity to spend time with a Professional to see how big an improvement is possible.
How do you want to engage with golfers? In a conversation around price or a result they might get? If it’s a result you want to talk about, then don’t create campaigns that use a deal or offer or price to inspire them. If it’s a result you want them to talk about to you, then talk about the result to them.
Everyone wins The benefits to everyone of this Professional’s engagement with golfers
is huge. Retail sales are booming, so the suppliers are very happy. So is ac- tivity at the club. Management is thrilled. Golfers are having more fun. Man- agement is even happier. It’s a great cycle.
The Professionals are also having fun. They’re doing what only PGA
Professionals can do. And they’re doing it while selling golfers what they want to buy.
e have a customer in the UK who has nearly doubled iron sales vs 2014 year to date. They’re as good as 200% up on metalwood sales. They’ve also added a couple of points to gross margin.
It is huge fun selling what the golfer wants to buy Golfers don’t want to buy a new Wedge with a laser milled face. They
want to buy a short pitch or chip that checks on the 2nd bounce. That thrills them. Golfers don’t want to buy a face balanced, high MOI Putter. They want to
buy the sound of the ball dropping into the hole more oſten, or the praise of their playing partners for another long putt that finishes within 2 feet. And you know they don’t want to buy a new Driver, whatever the sale
price you’re offering. You know they’re hoping for tee shots fizzing off the face and going further than they thought possible. They love being furthest in their four-ball.
Simple Secrets to Success There are two
secrets to retail success for PGA Professionals on the green grass. • Sell what the customer wants to buy
•Create engagement around what they’re trying to buy
There’s nothing original in this advice One of the problems for the golf industry is that the green-grass
Professional spends too much time looking at how Golfsmith or DirectGolf or other large discounters go about it. Why don’t we try looking at how Apple do it? In their advertising, price,
and oſten product, isn’t mentioned. They talk about what experience you can have with the product. In the retail stores there’s lots of engagement with the product to experience what it can do for you. And the geniuses (the equivalent of the PGA Professional) are there to help you see how much more value you can get out of the product. • Stop talking about price. • Talk more about the experience and the improvement. • Create more engagement with more golfers. • Sell them what they really want to buy.
SGBGOLF 15
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