One of the most overlooked parts of marketing any business successfully is service! Good service drives repeat business, referrals and long term relationships. There is a lot of talk about giving service in the golf business, about making your members and guests feel special. We all want it and yet so few places deliver it! In fact when you ask the managers at most clubs what good service is you won’t get a very straight answer. Instead you will get a bunch of vague platitudes about being friendly and taking care of our customers needs. All very nice but if you are really honest how often do you feel that the service you got was not just good but exceptional? Not just exceptional but outrageously great?
I just had the pleasure of playing golf at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Manassas, Virginia. It’s the third time I have played in a tournament there, which only goes to prove that the exceptional experience I have had there is not a fluke but in fact a tradition of outrageously great service!
I find it hard to quantify just why my experiences at RTJ are so great, like many I am quick to tell you when service is not good. Also far slower to appreciate exceptional service so I thought I would try to quantify just why the experience there is so great in the hope that it may help you in setting standards you can measure at your club.
- First of all the course was immaculate. From the greens that ran 13 on the stip to the tees that look like greens.
- The setting and design along the shores of Lake Manassas with the dogwoods and azaleas in bloom is truly exceptional.
- The clubhouse is immaculate and tasteful.
- The pro, Cary greeted me by name although he had not seen me in 363 days. He also greeted the rest of the group by name and no doubt the majority of the 21 other 4 man teams!
- The wait staff knew my drink of choice and offered it at once on the second day. (It was like being on a cruise)
- The caddie I had, Dennis was as knowledgeable and professional as anyone on the PGA Tour. Plus he read the greens really well.
- When we walked into the locker room they already had our names on lockers.
- We were given pin sheets even for the practice round.
- When I left my golf shoes in my locker with a missing spike, the following day my shoes had a NEW SET of spikes!
- The food was a good as any restaurant I have ever eaten in, anywhere in the world.
- The accommodations in the clubhouse were on par with the finest hotels in the world.
- The tee gift was memorable and something I will keep and use unlike the dozen Titelest NSX golf balls I got for paying $1,000 to enter my club’s member guest tournament. (I was also told I could not swap them for the balls I actually play since they said member guest on them. Like anybody real cares!!!!!!)
- The tournament was run professionally with a full printout of standings delivered at lunch and dinner to each table.
- Camaraderie was promoted and encouraged as much as the competition itself.
- Last and by no means least I played well, but even if I hadn’t it would still have been an awesome experience!
While it’s easy to dismiss this as a high-end club with the money to do it right, that fact is only a small part of the equation. Plus there are lots of high end clubs that don’t do it right! Not everyone can have a world class club in perfect condition but the commitment to world class service can be had, even at a nine hole public course in Michigan. It’s all about vision, desire, attitude and most importantly trying to quantify, measure and develop a service program that takes any course regardless of it’s social, economic status and makes it a world class experience.
