Mark’s Retail Thoughts on Work Anniversary

 

It's party time this week, as two key members of the team celebrate a big birthday with Crossover. We drag Business Development Director, Mark, away from the pro shops to get the low down on the last 15 years. 15 YEARS!

 

So you’ve worked at Crossover for 15 years now. How are you celebrating?

By actually playing some golf! One of the downsides of driving around the country to meet with the majority of golf clubs in the UK, is that I very rarely get to play the sport – too busy!  But I know that's a complaint we hear from many Pro's, too.

 

 How did you get the job, and what was your role initially?

Obviously. when I started the company was A LOT smaller. I think we only had something like 150 customers back then.

I had an interesting first interview with Chairman, Phil, at his Mum & Dad’s house. Phil was about 45 minutes late, so I had time to read his Mum’s Wild Birds magazine collection in their front lounge, whilst they prepared dinner!

I came from a technical background and the role was initially to establish a Support Team function within the company. Over the years, I've seen my role grow a great deal, and I now oversee everything from Installations, Sales and Business Development.

 

What are the biggest changes you've seen in Retail?

While it's easy to focus on the negatives in the current environment, I can’t help but notice just how well Golf Retail has performed, compared to the rest of the industry. It’s a nod to the way we have adapted to the changes in the way customers buy, and how maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves.

 

What are the greatest challenges facing Golf Retailers?

Time management. Most Golf Retailers struggle to manage the vast number of roles that they have to manage – and it’s often hard to see the wood for the trees. Take the time to plan and organise yourself, and the team, and it will pay huge dividends. We designed XPOS to be used by all staff members, not just the Head Pro!

 

How important is technology, and what's the future of Retail Tech?

With life generally being so time critical, Retail Tech has a huge part to play in how to reduce those wasted hours of admin. The industry needs to be more joined up, and each player should to maximise the power of AI to automate every task that a retailer has to perform. Crossover has so many exciting plans coming up over the next few months and years, and I can’t wait to see them come to fruition!