Doubling our annual sales, not once, but twice came from the culture and community we built around Great River. Yes, we revamped our entire golf shop operation and made sure we did all the little things perfectly – from merchandise, displays and promotions to customer service. But our sales growth came more from the type of club and relationships we created.
When I arrived at Great River, it was a very transient club where most people showed up, played golf and left. Over the last few years, we completely flipped the service standards and created a tournament schedule to get our golfers playing together, which was the birth of our golf community and now a membership of almost 400 total members (197 when I arrived). The creation of this community was single handedly the difference maker in our golf shop’s (and club’s) success.
The members of the club are now proud to belong to something special and in return, their support has been extremely generous. A successful golf retail business needs the ABCs of a retail operation, but when faced with a limited consumer base, your relationships will be what sets the best from the rest. It doesn’t matter if you are a small public course or high-end private facility or resort, your relationship with your consumers will be the biggest factor in your success.