Page 11 - GBC spring 2016

Some of you either sought out the golf business because of an unbridled passion for the sport or because you couldn’t fathom the idea of sitting in a cubicle, engag- ing in inter-office politics, or having to blatantly lie just to squeeze in a quick 9 holes. It’s your life.
But as great as it is, there have been some challenges lately, haven’t there?
WHERE TO START?
In the past, it was pretty easy to identify problems and solutions. You could examine your pricing, your member services, your pro shop, courses in the surrounding area, the quality of instruction, the marketing program, or even the type of beer or chicken wings you were serving in the clubhouse.
Well, now it’s just more com- plicated, isn’t it? Not only do you have to stay current on all innova- tions specific to golf, you have to be informed on macro issues that are changing consumer behaviour. You started out as a golf pro and now you’re expected to be a social media maven who responds to a Facebook post within seconds while you’re curating a steady stream of content to your Pinterest page.
Economy
How To
Thrive In An
Expression
Live Your Values To Build Loyalty
You got into this business because of the golf but the biggest threats to your career have nothing to do with it. What do you do? Where do you look? Who do you trust? Well, contrary to what aging rock stars tell you, the answer isn’t blowin’ in the wind. It’s right here in this article. Hop in and come along for the ride.
WELCOME TO THE EXPRESSION ECONOMY
Your marketing team is constantly interrupting you with random things like, “Facebook”, “Twitter”, and “Forget the greens, we need an app”. Technology, mobile-responsive websites, and social media are all impor- tant but they’re not most important.
Since you started reading this article, the major tech players have created 3 new smart phones, discontinued 8 tablets, and have purchased 27 apps that have promised, “We’ll be the Uber of... something”. For the foreseeable future, technology will continue to change at breakneck speeds. Buckle up and hold on tight.
More importantly, two things have happened that have fundamen- tally changed the way we interact with our colleagues, our customers, our partners, and our prospects: The cost of production came down drastically (you can shoot and edit a TV show with the smart phone in your pocket), and we created instantaneous global distribution (it’s called the Internet and it’s not going away).
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