Strategies for Effective Follow Up

 

After a long winter, running a pro shop can go from zero to ‘full-on’ overnight. Just when you think you're in control, suddenly you start to miss things. How many times can you remember a shop customer showing interest in a product but not actually making a purchase?  The chances are this happens every day and it could be costing you thousands of pounds each year.

Following up with customers can significantly impact turnover, customer loyalty and repeat business.  Despite this, most pro shops do not actively do it.

David Fulcher is a PGA Professional and Director of Golf and Operations at Edgbaston Golf Club. David has responsibility for the whole of the golf club as well as an agreement to provide golf services including tuition and retail.  This month we talked to him about his team’s strategies for successful customer follow up.

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“The challenge for me, and many Professionals, is that I’m not in the shop day in and day out. As a result, weekly meetings with the team are a crucial time to agree how we are going to work towards hitting our targets that week.

In golf, we start each month at zero sales so, unless something is planned, such as an event or product launch, we need to find a way to get those sales ourselves.

 “Following up means we aren’t just waiting for sales to come to us.”

The pro shop team captures ‘leads’ on a basic Excel sheet. It may be that these members have expressed an interest in a product when it hadn’t been launched; we may have noticed their grips were worn during a lesson; or it could be that a customer wanted a certain shirt size that we didn’t previously have in stock.

We have a different strategy for each individual and we agree how to follow up the sale during our team meeting.  Follow ups are usually face to face on the range or in the shop, via a personal email or phone call.

 

Competition Winners

We ran a competition to win a qi10 driver and charged members £5 to enter. Over 100 members took part, which more than covered the cost of the driver.  As a result, we also had a list of golfers who might be in the market for a new driver.  When we followed up, 10% went on to make a purchase – that’s 10-15 people we weren’t aware of beforehand.

 

Customer Feel Good

Xmail plays an important role in our follow up strategy in looking after customers. We set up the email templates in our Xpos system and it sends personalised emails to follow up on high value purchases including shoes and clubs, and to nudge golfers to renew warranties or have their clubs regripped.  The great thing about Xmail emails is that they look like they come directly from the pro shop and are very personal.

 

David’s Key Takeaways

-Don’t just wait for sales to come to you

-Find customers before they look elsewhere

-It’s an online world so having some information about golfers you can target is key

 

To find out more about Xmail, visit www.crossovertec.co.uk/products/xmail or email hello@xpos.co.uk