Hiring to the Culture

The Reserve Club

Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will.
                                                                                    -     Kate Zabriskie

In 2010 I posted an article explaining the content of the manual "The Winning Golf Culture" with some testimonials. In 2016 I put up Chapter 1 of that manual "The Culture" which got a lot of response. I've just come from the golf show in Orlando and had a number of readers of the manual tell me it the best thing written about the industry they have read and that it sits on the corner of their desk. Obviously this is humbling, especially when some, who have become friends at this point, volunteer that it is mandatory reading for new hires at their club. With this as mantra and at the request of some of those that made these comments I'm posting another chapter from the manual.

Hiring to the Culture

To quote Jack Mitchell, author of “Hug Your Customer” and one of the owners of a 65 million dollar retail clothing business in a Connecticut town of 28,000 people, hiring to the culture is “the big secret.” Hire well; surround yourself with good people who take ownership and everything else becomes incredibly easier. The attributes they look for at Mitchells and Richards in prospective employees are the following:

1.      Competence

2.      Confidence

3.      Positive attitude

4.      Passion to be the best

5.      Integrity

NSW Golf Club - South Wales

Another company known for its service and hiring practices is Enterprise Car Rental. There are some similarities between Enterprise offices and golf facilities in that Enterprise keeps their management pipeline, as well as their counters, manned by hiring college interns who are then, when deemed qualified, offered positions with the company as seniors. Many of these offers are accepted because the Enterprise entry on a resume says all the right things about customer care. They ask open –ended questions at the interview that require applicants to directly relate examples of how they have helped people in the past. They look for the following skills:

1.      A passion for taking care of customers.

2.      A willingness to be flexible. (Taking care of customers isn’t about reciting policy, it requires listening.)

3.      A work ethic based on dedication to the company and it’s mission.

4.      An eagerness to learn and work their way up.

5.      Self- motivation and goal orientation.

6.      Persuasive sales skills.

7.      Excellent communication skills.

8.      Leadership ability.

The attributes I feel are most important to gauge during the hiring, interviewing process are the following:

-          ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE – Is it crystal clear that this candidate is bursting at the seams to get this job? Body language is sometimes as revealing as their answer in that everyone is trying to land the job or they wouldn’t be there. If they are not super enthusiastic now they may be totally disinterested six months from now. Do they look the part and seem like someone your customers will enjoy getting to know? Most importantly, does their personality seem as though it will mesh with and not perch itself above or fall below the culture. If the prospective employee does not get along with the rest of the team they will produce contention that will eventually become a priority that you as a Leader do not need. The candidate will only improve your team by becoming an accepted part of it.

-          ABILITY TO THINK ON YOUR FEET – This is easy to determine if you include one or two open-ended questions in the interview that can only be answered with a story that couldn’t be rehearsed. When I first interviewed to be a golf rep 100 years ago I was asked “What have you done in your life that you are most proud of.” That was it, one question. I guess they liked my answer. I still use that question and at times other than interviews. Another one I like is to ask the candidate to sell me the pad I’m using to take notes. 

-          EMPATHY – Empathy is an important team value but more importantly if you believe in the maxim that “people do business with people they like” then the genuinely empathetic candidate is the only one to consider. Empathetic people are curious and good listeners. They look you in the eye when speaking to you. They are creative because it is part of their nature to put themselves in the customer’s shoes and direct the conversation accordingly instead of reciting the script. Those candidates who don’t convey this quality are usually doomed to shallow relationships and are complainers and blamers rather than problem solvers. During the interview ask them to describe the most empathetic thing they have done lately either at the last job or with family or friends. If they don’t know the definition of empathy help them with a synonym they understand but if, at that point, they are still stuck for an answer – move on.

Vancouver Golf Club

 Any golf facility can hire a great staff with some hard work, patience and a little luck doesn’t hurt. Set the bar high from the first meeting not only about the service culture but what will be expected from them as they fit themselves into the team. Educate often, evaluate those sessions and empower when the time is right.

Reward employees for good service and for salesmanship. Cash incentives and spiffs work well but are not the only way to say “job well done”. Awards, time-off and recognition in a 

newsletter or at staff meetings are powerful culture builders. Treat your salesman of the month to dinner and a movie for them and a significant other.

Inverness Golf Club

 In order for a culture dedicated to customer service excellence to thrive and survive the Leader must have a burning desire that spreads to all staff members on a daily basis.

Everyone from day one needs to understand that they work for the customer. You cannot have a great golf facility without having a great staff.

In Summary, hiring good people is the most important part of creating a winning culture.

Specific actions to improve the hiring process:

ü  Realize that resumes and references alone do not make all-stars and an all-star team is our goal.

ü  Structure the interview process to include the following:

1.      More than one interview. We are not in a hurry. Think of it more as due diligence.

2.      Have sessions with key staff present as well as yourself.

3.      Ask open-ended questions that allow you to determine the customer friendliness and team spirit of the candidate.

4.      Lay the groundwork of an understanding of what will be expected in terms of service and sales effort.

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[i] Kazanjian, K.,  Exceeding Customer Expectations, New York, NY: Doubleday, 2007.

Pre-show Thoughts

Given the nature and history of this site, today’s topic may initially seem redundant, it may seem “goes without saying” and yet as I travel around I am convinced that golf shop retail is often not the priority it should be. I find this amazing when I encounter it because almost everyone in the industry would agree on the following:

• ·         Creating more rounds may or not be desirable, but creating more dollars per round is always desirable.

• ·         The image of the shop and facility and perception of existing customers is what creates loyal patronage.

• ·         Given budgets, weather, etc. the easiest aspects of the business to improve are the look of the golf shop, the quality of service and aggressiveness of marketing both of these elements.

Retail dollars per round can be increased with promotions, coupons, product educated golf staff and improved product mix and presentation. Any vendor fitting day or trunk show activity, if properly planned and promoted, is usually successful. E-commerce and affiliate marketing is growing rapidly and in some cases meaningfully and can lead to increasing corporate business which at most facilities remains underdeveloped.

Typically, the first thing that golfers experience upon arrival is either the bag drop or bag room service. The golf shop is the next stop 95% of the time. Regulars have an expectation as to the look and ambiance of the golf shop but anyone new to the facility will have the natural reaction to first impressions. There will be an immediate decision made that will pigeon hole the shop into “Needs to be further investigated”, “Looks like any other I’ve been in lately”, or, worst case scenario, “There is no reason to come back here.”

Golf shop dollars per round are not the only way to increase revenue per customer. No matter what the mode for providing food and beverage, it should be promoted aggressively and as part of the golf experience. I’ve seen everything as simple as a coupon for a free draft beer when you pay your greens fee to clubs that have Sunday 8 o’clock shotguns during football season and big screen 1 p.m. games at the end of the round with a buffet.

Thinking outside the box to reprioritize the retail part of your operation begins with commitment and ideas.  Since the commitment needs to be a total buy-in from the staff and this is where the best ideas are generated, announce the desire for both at the next staff meeting. Topics of conversation and questions to be asked could be:

“What can we do short term to significantly improve the look of the shop?  Long term?”

“What is the most customer friendly thing that has happened since our last meeting?”

“What can we do on a per customer basis to wow them with the value, personality and professionalism of what we do?”

Many golf staffs and operational models seem so focused on answering the phone to create a tee time and collecting the dollars for the round that all other revenue opportunities become insignificantly secondary. The best way to increase revenue per round, it seems, is to reverse this completely.  Perhaps if all tee times and greens fees were booked and paid for on-line similar to airline tickets, then all interaction the day of the event could be about improving and enlarging an incredible experience.

The best idea could be to hire someone to just work the phone - answering all incoming as well as making pre-service, promotional and post-play calls. Keep in touch with and in front of members, key tournament negotiators and loyal patrons with suggestions as to how you can better serve their needs.
Incorporate informal polling into the conversation while announcing the latest feature that has been added to the tournament package. Call and thank last week's ten biggest sale purchasers in the shop and offer them something on next purchase. 

I will be at the show Thursday hanging out at the Imperial booth. Any one wanting to stop by and say hey, I'll be the one with a blue blazer.