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Bells, whistles and People
Text: John Botha. Article from the January 2012 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
In an attempt to impress golfers, be they members or visitors, club managers have come up with all manner of innovative ideas, but without the right attitude to service and hospitality, they are unlikely to achieve 5-Star status.
The debate concerning the factors separating truly excellent golfing experiences from the merely ‘good’ is one that is not easily resolved, as different golfers consider different aspects to be more important than others. There is one school of thought that suggests a golf experience only begins when a golfer steps onto the first tee, while others attach great importance to the ‘frills’, beginning with arrival and ending with a raised boom and a friendly wave goodbye.
For example, at many top country clubs in America, a car valet service is in place. As a member or guest arrives at the front door, there is an effusive greeting, someone will open the car’s door and the vehicle will be parked for the golfer. One of the few places in South Africa that offers this service is the Palace of the Lost City in Sun City – albeit when guests check into the hotel. But in South Africa people are unaccustomed to handing over the keys to their cars. Apart from when their car is being serviced, many are conditioned to believe that once they let someone drive off in their beloved wheels, they are unlikely to ever see it again. No golf clubs offer this service – and there is no demand for it. A car-wash service is another matter, and although this has never really caught on at golf clubs, there are ‘informal’ enterprises often set up by caddies looking to make a few extra rands.
A truly 5-Star experience arguably begins well before the security-gate, when a golfer wishes to book a tee time. Online booking works well and is widely used, but often a golfer will want to telephone to make special food and beverage arrangements or enquire about rules, etc. It is in this department that many clubs fall short. Even contacting the more upmarket facilities can be a frustrating exercise – the phone can ring for an eternity; taped messages offer various options interspersed with electronic music; more often than not you end up leaving a message for someone who is out of the office and even if a receptionist eventually answers the call, the odds of finding the right person to handle a query are slim.
Once the booking is made and the golfer arrives at the club, running the security gamut can be another frustrating exercise, particularly at golf estates. The most effective systems are those where the visitor has been given a code to gain access, but besides the fact that this method of screening has inherent weaknesses (the code can be passed on to anyone), the problem arises when the person in front of you at the gate does not have a security code.The gate guard, conscientiously doing his job, must now phone the club to establish the credentials of this person while you cool your heels. Some estates are better than others, but generally the person at the club should explain that in order for the visitor to be on time, they should budget another half an hour at the gate. At certain golf estates (and one in Pretoria springs to mind), an early tee time can mean waiting at the gate while an army of domestic workers and others on foot line up with their identity documents in hand to be scanned by the security guard while you wait. The taxis that have transported these workers now have to make a U-turn, causing severe congestion. Throw in a few delivery trucks to compound the problem and you could be there for quite some time. This is hardly the way for a visitor to be introduced to the golf experience – and remember, first impressions are lasting.
The welcome, be it at reception or the pro shop, is all-important, and while some get it right, others fail miserably. It shouldn’t be difficult for anyone in the front line of a business to pretend to be pleased to see a paying customer, but all too often there’s a distinct air of indifference shown – and in extreme cases one gains the impression that the club is doing the golfer a huge favour by taking his or her money. At peak times it can be easily accepted that things cannot go as swiftly as they might, but even if one waits to pay a greenfee, this minor inconvenience can be made more bearable if the staff are friendly and helpful or, when necessary, apologetic. At too many clubs the staff might incorrectly assume that the visitor knows what to do or where to go, so taking a minute to explain where the locker-room is situated, or the starting procedure, goes a long way to making sure the visitor feels welcome.
Having a starter who is also friendly and informative is a tried and tested way to get a round off on the right note. If there is one area where many clubs miss the boat, it is relying on a blaring public address system to manage a full field of players. All too often someone hasn’t arrived, players are left to try to sort themselves out, there is a golf cart traffic jam or players cannot find their caddies and clubs – ie general pandemonium. A good starter should be a mini event organiser – and can make a massive difference to the smooth running of a full field.
Speaking of full fields, there are many challenges associated with clubs trying to squeeze too many players onto their course – classic examples of this are found at holiday courses during high season. Add to this the problem of not having course marshals, or marshals that are hopelessly ineffective, and a day on the course can be ruined. Six hours in the sun, most of this time spent waiting, does not appeal to even the most fanatical player.
One favoured solution, but an anathema of the game, is the ‘shotgun’ start, where everyone arrives at the same time, starts on different holes and finishes at the same time. On bigger courses that are more spread out, transporting players can be a headache, and when the full field returns to the locker-rooms, there is another bun fight, not to mention the sudden pressure put on the bar when a hundred-plus thirsty golfers all arrive at the same time.
It is understandable that, particularly in the current economic climate, clubs are out to make as much money as they can when the opportunities arise, but to herd too many players onto the course is a sure way of killing the golden goose. Surely it makes good business sense to aim to accommodate fewer players who thoroughly enjoy their round, rather than having a poorly-organised full field of disgruntled customers?
One of the things that we can learn from the Americans is to be as interested in the visitor after their money has been taken as before. For instance, at few clubs is the effort made to talk to golfers after their round – to establish what they liked and what they didn’t. Besides being a method of finding out just how to improve on service, every golfer feels special if they believe their opinion is valued.
But if there is one factor that outweighs all the rest it is the human factor – and having an attentive manager on duty is a big plus. No golfer, whether a visitor or member, can reasonably expect everything to go smoothly all the time. A drinks order may go awry, the locker-room may run out of fresh towels, or a food order may be mixed up, but as long as there is someone on hand to rectify the problem, or least make a genuine attempt to make the customer feel important, a litany of glitches can be forgiven. Is there one single golfing facility in South Africa that consistently gets everything right every time? Of course not, but there will always be that handful of clubs that have their customers looking forward to their next visit.
The major factors that influence the ranking of golf courses have to do with the facility’s location, design and condition.
But in truth, very few golfers actually analyse these. Not every club can have the impressive views of a Pinnacle Point, a design as good as the Gary Player Country Club or the almost unmatchable conditioning of Leopard Creek. But what every club can do is make their customers feel valued, and that is dependent on the attitude of everyone who comes into contact with the visiting golfer. This is the cornerstone of the whole 5-Star experience.
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