Page 20 - Fall 2017 english

Everyone involved in the operation of the golf course knows how frustrating it can be to see a golfer leave a divot or a welt in the green untended. Wouldn’t it be great if what’s important to the golf course was important to its customers? Here’s another important rule: “Think mobile, be mobile.”
This is the rule for any business that wants to connect with existing and prospective customers. Connect means everything from advertisements to email campaigns to websites to booking tee times and reservations. Here’s the longer version of the “Think mobile, be mobile” rule:
“Just about everybody owns a smartphone now. I’m far more likely to be checking my email, visiting your website, trying to find your golf course, or booking my tee time on a mobile device than a desktop computer. So make it easy and awesome for me on my iPhone (or other smartphone)... or else I’m going to find a golf course that does. I’m mobile. Help me out, would ya?”
Yikes! It’s like customers are saying “Wouldn’t it be great if what’s important to me was important to the golf course, too?” Don’t worry. By the end of
this article the new mobile reality will be laid out in full and you will have actionable steps to take immediately so you don’t miss out on the opportunity that mobile presents.
To understand thinking and being mobile better, let’s break it down into two important parts: Dominant Technology and Customer Behaviour.
DOMINANT TECHNOLOGY
Dominant doesn’t just mean better. Dominant means so much better, it becomes the standard. Tiger Woods defined dominant technology in the 2000 PGA Tour season.
That year, he won the US Open at Pebble Beach by 15 strokes. At 12-under, he was the only player to shoot below par. The next month, he won the British Open by 8 strokes. So, what was the secret to Tiger’s Dominance?
In May that year, Tiger switched to a new solid-core golf ball, the Nike Tour Accuracy. Over the next twelve months, he would win 9 tournaments including all four Majors.
At the 2000 Masters, 62% of the field used a solid-core ball. In 2001, that number jumped to 96%. This is dominant technology. Tiger’s remarkable success with the solid-core ball, along with all
“Mobile is how people use their technology, consume information, and interact online. It is how people consume, communicate, share, socialize, and organize. This is not an emerging trend; it is how things are done.“
the lab testing data showing that it flies farther and straighter than a wound golf ball, was all virtually every tour player needed to know. The solid-core ball is now standard. Do they even make wound golf balls anymore?
Similarly, smartphones are dominant technology. In 2007, Apple debuted the iPhone and sold 7 million units. In 2008, they sold 25 million. To date, they’ve sold over one Billion.
Nearly 80% of people have a smartphone. Basically, there are three smartphones in every foursome that tees it up.
CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
The other factor to consider is Customer Behaviour. People use their smartphones for seemingly everything. You can read articles and studies about mobile phone adoption and usage rates to prove this. Or, you could simply look around the coffee shop, the pub, the mall, the bus, or any public area to see how many people are deeply connected to their smartphones.
Mobile doesn’t solely describe devices like iPhones and iPads. Mobile is how people use their technology, consume information,
20 Golf Business Canada