Do you feel this way?
Last time I checked, we were in a recession. Competition for the public golfer’s wallet has never been more fierce.
I think Sam Walton said it best “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everyone in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”
So would it surprise you when I told you that I have heard multiple times from key staff members at golf courses tell me that they don’t care what their customers think. I just heard it this week. I was speaking with a Director of Golf for a multi facility operator who told me “The last thing I want to know is what my customers don’t like!” He went on to say that “we play a lot of rounds and just received an award for our golf course, so why would I want to know what my customers think?”
Nice… My hunch is that this Director of Golf probably has a sweetheart job and the last thing he wants to learn is that he has a major problem with customer loyalty.
The first post of this blog was more subtle as I discussed If Word of Mouth is So Valuable Why Does No One Invest?
So now I am not going to be as subtle. One of the greatest problems in the golf industry is… APATHY. Many key department heads at golf courses just don’t care. They don’t. Possibly the person I spoke to today was having a bad day. But I have to give this gentleman credit for at least telling me candidly the way he feels. The sad thing is I have heard this from others before. It makes you wonder if people actually are telling me that they don’t care what their customers think, how many more thousands of employees in the golf industry also feel this way but just don’t say it? Actions speak louder than words, and if your course is not investing in your customers, then maybe you hate your customers and don’t care what they think?
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