Page 36 - GBC Spring 2021 English

Peter Smith
Peter is the CEO of Players 1st Inc, an International company that uses advanced data analytics to allow golf course owners and operators to get detailed insights into the performance of their operations to help them retain and recruit golfers. Contact Peter at peter.smith@players1stgroup.com.
Stick a fork in it – 2020 is now thankfully a fading image in the rearview mirror. Rather than (again) relive its highs and lows, now is the time to get focused on the pandemic’s silver lining for golf, those new faces now frequenting your course.
Looking ahead to the 2021 season, the consensus seems to be that while golf will not experience another similar surge of new golfers, ongoing concerns related to the pandemic will continue to boost rounds due to golf’s some- what unique value proposition as a COVID-19-safe activity. However, now that vaccines are available, competition for people’s time will soon be returning and the question on many operators’ minds is, “How can I maintain the momen- tum of 2020 and convert the new entrants and lapsed golfers that returned to the game into regular players at my facility?”
GOLF’S ACHILLES HEEL
The golf business has historically done a great job in attracting new entrants to the game through various initiatives targeting new consumer segments.
According to U.S. data from the NGF, over the past five years more than 12 million people played a round of golf for the first time. However, during that same time, the total number of golfers has increased
Keep Them
36 Golf Business Canada
Coming Back
Using customer experience data to retain new members and guests in 2021
by only 200,000. This data shows that despite the success of these programs in attracting new players to the sport, onboarding and reten- tion remain a fundamental challenge to sustained growth in golf.
This dynamic is also evident at the individual club level. Most clubs invest considerable time and marketing dollars to attract new players to their course, with relatively little focus on under- standing the player journey and leveraging this feedback to align operations to customer expectations and increase retention.
Given that it is 5 to 7 times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing one, it begs the question as to why more focus is not placed on
building customer loyalty and leveraging the oldest and most effective form of marketing; word-of-mouth. With the pandemic delivering levels of participation not seen since the heady days of the early 2000s, now is the time to seriously reevaluate golf’s business-as-usual approach if we are to capitalize on the biggest growth opportunity in decades.
TIME FOR A NEW APPROACH?
What do we need to do to keep our regular players and help the new golfers return to the course and embrace the sport? During the 2020 Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show, a poll revealed that 2 out of 3 attendees do not have a retention plan in place.