Ian James is an expert. Not on playing golf per se, but on understanding and tapping into the wants and needs of golfers or better yet, golf consumers. He is a “consumer expert.” He built his entire career on helping major retailers (e.g. grocery store chains) and major brands understand how to reach consumers with their marketing more effectively. When Ian started RetailTribe, he did so to bring his expertise around consumers to a place he’s passionate about, the game and business of golf. With that background, I can say that Ian is one of my favorite resources for ways to think and/or be thoughtful. He never suggests what to think, but he pushes “how to think” and nudges us to “think differently” or at least “more thoughtfully” about what we are doing in planning our operation, our programming, etc.
Recently, on one of his Thoughtful Friday shares, Ian asked this question and it’s one I believe all of us should ask right now: WHO EVER ASKS YOU TO BE CREATIVE?
Ian James’ post continued with, “You undoubtedly often get asked to operate. But when did you last get asked to ‘create a solution’? When I speak to chairpersons, general managers, committee members, even facility marketing leaders, they’re either unsure what creativity to ask for or even how creativity could help their business. There’s a very definite limitation to the scope of expectation club management and leadership have regarding PGA Professionals. I often hear them complaining that their Professional team isn’t doing enough. They’re just not sure ‘enough of what’.”
I’m reminded of Henry Ford’s creativity vision to create the affordable automobile. When everyone wanted “a faster horse”, he created an automobile that was not only faster than a horse, it was stronger and more durable. In other words, he didn’t improve the status quo, he developed and created a workable solution.
Ian continues in his post with, “Creativity is a word we don’t readily associate with the profession of golf. But it’s a skill we need to appreciate if we want to grow the game.”
He then posed questions (bolded below) requiring creative answers that he believes Club leaders should be asking more often and more about. Under his questions, I will pose questions I believe will drive more creativity and more solutions for us as PGA professionals.
- How can you improve the value our golfers get from their playing experience?
- What is value for our golfers? (More than just price, it is experience based.)
- How can we incrementally improve the experience for our golfers:
- At arrival?
- At the golf shop?
- At the practice facility?
- At the first tee?
- At the turn, or the F&B at the turn?
- At the end of their round?
- What creative resource shifts or reallocations will allow us to improve their experience (and thus, improve the value for them?)
- How can you make golfers more connected to our golf community?
- Based on their ability, age, family status and tenure at our facility, how connected are our golfers? (How can we help them be known?)
- How can we incrementally improve the connection (and being known) for our golfers:
- When they join the Club, join one of the home clubs or similar?
- At the practice facility?
- At the golf shop?
- On the course?
- At the end of their round?
- Between their last round and their next round?
- What creative resource shifts or reallocations will allow us to improve their connection (and thus, improve the value of the community for them?)
- How can you make our club more important to golfers?
- What is the current priority for a specific segment of our golfers? (How can we help them feel like they are a priority for us, while not leaving other segments unattended.)
- For their golf game?
- For the relationships they value? (e.g. family and friends)
- For their family/friends relationship values?
- For this period of their tenure at the Club/facility? (e.g. new, 2-5 years, 6-10 years, etc.)
- Between the end of the round and the start of next season?
- What creative resource shifts or reallocations will allow us to improve their connection (and thus, improve the value of the community for them?)
As Ian James states, “These are questions that challenge you to CREATE solutions that build stronger and more loyal connections between golfers and the game; golfers and the community; golfers and the club.”
Here’s three final questions that Ian and I would like to ask you to ask yourself:
- How has your past training and what you’re currently doing to develop your professional skillset equip you to answer those questions?
- For this season, what steps are you going to take now to start equipping yourself to be more creative and more capable to turn ideas into workable solutions?
- For the long term, what important disciplines can you gain between the end of the season and next year to be more creative, more resourceful and more influential with your Club/facility leadership?
And, just in case you didn’t know, I am “all in” to help you find the creative solutions to any of these questions above when you have time. Hope to see you around the Section sometime soon.
Monte Koch, PGA Certified Professional/Player Development | Career Consultant
PGA Career Services | PGA of America
Serving PGA professionals, employers in the Pacific NW & Rocky Mountain PGA Sections
Email: Mkoch@pgahq.com Cell: 206/335-5260
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