Loyalty at the Golf Course

Golf has experienced unprecedented growth in the last few years. With an estimated 3.5 million golfers who take up the sport annually and over 450 new courses built annually in the last 5 years, golf course operators have a critical challenge to stay competitive and be strategic in retaining their newly acquired customers.

A recent article by Peppers & Rogers' 1to1 Magazine, entitled "Improving Their CRM Game - Golf Courses Swing Toward Moving Customers Up The Value Ladder", provides valuable advice to golf course operators on the importance of investigating CRM programs to capitalize on the growing interest in the sport and to be able to instill
long-term customer loyalty.

According to a 2001 National Golf Foundation study, "avid" golfers (25 or more rounds annually) and "moderate" golfers (eight to 24 rounds annually) account for 94 percent of rounds played.

As identified by author Eric Yoder in the article, the 3 main challenges that make building close customer relationship difficult are:

1. Golf course ownership is very diffuse,
2. Lack of customer data, and
3. Lack of integrated software that connects all points-of-sale.

	"Our rewards program allows us to more effectively manage our reciprocal play between the courses and it has given us a great deal of data about the playing habits of the people involved in the program." Bill LeClair Vice President of GolfBC (courses include Nicklaus North, Furry Creek and The Bear Course).

Although these challenges were identified as unique to the golfing business, in reality, these issues apply to almost any customer-facing business today. Marketing and IS executives are challenged daily to introduce or execute on network-wide technologies that can identify, track, and market to customers, anywhere they choose to make a purchase.

Today, Ernex clients from the sporting goods and golf industries such as GolfBC, Golf North Properties, Eaglequest Golf Centers, DiMarco Golf, Nike Canada, and Sports Zone are beginning to address their critical customer retention issues with leading edge real-time marketing technology.

Stay tuned for more case studies and results from Ernex programs in the golf industry. To read the Peppers & Rogers article, go to www.1to1.com, or click here.