RT Fitting Whitepaper You are not selling equipmentcdn.retailtribe.com/websites/company/downloads/RT_Fitting... · 2013-12-17 · Fitting!whitepaper! ! ©2013RetailTribeLtd.All!Rights!Reserved!!

Fitting whitepaper

You are not selling equipment Ian James

Fitting whitepaper

© 2013 RetailTribe Ltd. All Rights Reserved 2

You are not selling equipment

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... 2

You’re not selling Equipment ......................................................................................................... 3

Selling equipment in the golf shop ................................................................................................. 5

Stake and Claim your position ........................................................................................................ 7

Using ‘Theatre’ to help establish VALUE ........................................................................................ 9

‘Active Marketing’ creates theatre and VALUE ............................................................................ 11

A culture of improvement will help you ...................................................................................... 13

Summary ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Fitting whitepaper



You’re not selling equipment

As a PGA Professional your relationship with the golfer is not a traditional retailer-‐consumer relationship. A mass-‐market retailer must see the consumer as an ‘entity’ or ‘component’ of the mass-‐market. The golfer, except at the very leading retailers, is not an individual.

Your relationships are with golfers as individuals who you know. Their expectation is that you are the expert who is a gateway to better golf and more enjoyment. A mass-‐market retailer is selling equipment with hope.

In starting any conversation about selling equipment, we need to step back and understand you are NOT selling equipment. You are selling a result. You start your conversation from that point, all of your marketing has to re-‐enforce the UNIQUE PROPOSITION you offer.

If a golfer buys a Driver from you that isn’t delivering results, then the rest of the four-‐ball will hear how you sold them "a dog"; and it's you who doesn't know what you are talking about.

And why does anyone buy a new Driver anyhow? To impress their friends? Because Rory McIlroy plays it? No, they buy a new Driver because they want to get 10 or 20 yards further down the fairway than their playing partners. They open their wallet in the “hope” of achieving that result.

Fitting whitepaper



Each of your individual golfers is different. Their requirements for a new Driver or Iron or Wedge will reflect their current handicap and their own personal challenges, but essentially you can say that:

You are not selling Drivers You are selling added distance and more fairways hit

You are not selling Fairways and Hybrids You are selling longer clubs that get the ball airborne easier, taking it more consistently down the fairway towards the target

You are not selling Irons You are selling more greens hit offering more Pars and even birdies

You are not selling Wedges You are selling greater control over the ball, one hop and stop, more up and downs,

You are not selling Putters You are selling the end of missed short Putts, and the thrill of the sound of the ball falling into the hole.

The first rule of any business is to understand what your product is. You are selling ‘Better golf and more enjoyment’. The first rule to making money out of golf equipment is to start by selling the result to an individual golfer you care about. A golfer whose game you want to improve. It’s the ‘Why they buy’.

In presentations I give, I use the real example of PGA Professional, over 10 years ago haggling with a golfer in his shop about the price of a new Mizuno MP 001. The golfer wanted a bigger discount and he was squealing about his profit. Without the request for my assistance, I intervened (I knew the member) and asked him why he wanted the new Driver. He had heard that it was easy to hit and went a mile. So I suggested that the PGA Professional sell the golfer the Driver at cost with a FREE Fitting, but that he should pay the Professional a fee for every yard he added to the golfer’s Tee shot distance compared to the model he had dragged off the shelf. Setting up the golfer with the right shaft and loft, the PGA Professional added over 20 yards to this golfer’s Tee shots.

Fitting whitepaper



Selling equipment in the golf shop A lot of professionals have made an investment in launch monitors, fitting carts, simulators, and their own fitting expertise. Fortunately the cost of the technology required to support fitting continues to fall.

Fitting and the ability to get the golfer into an equipment solution, which will deliver them a superior result is a translation of the professional’s expertise into better golf for the golfer. ‘Fitting’ is part of the MORE that a hands-‐on PGA professional offers to the consumer.

There are other parts of ‘MORE’ that a PGA professional can offer, but first, let’s examine why I’m going to try and get you to focus on your ‘MORE’.

In Retail Marketing theory there a number of positions you can occupy in the retail landscape. The caveat being you can only occupy one position at any given point.

Retail positioning defined

More for More A retailer that offers a superior product, quality, and service who charges more for it. A good example in the USA would be Starbucks.

More for the Same

This is a retailer that offers a superior product, quality, service but charges no more than the other retailers. Edwin Watts tries very hard to occupy this space in the USA.

More for Less You will struggle to find these retailers, as it is a quick way to failure. A superior product, quality, service for less than anyone else delivers less. However, really smart retailers have found ways to create an illusion of lower price.

Same for the Same

It is very difficult to make this a competitive position – many have tried it and ‘Every Day Low Pricing’ comes out of this position but many have failed spectacularly because the consumer is always looking for either a better product or a better deal. JC Penney in the USA has just lost a CEO to this strategy.

Same for Less This is where you’ll find a lot of retailers. Goldsmith, and Walmart are good examples in the USA.

Less for Less This is the deep discounter. They offer less quality of experience and less choice and probably fewer services but they also cost consistently less, often a lot less.

Fitting whitepaper



The challenge of whether to charge for a ‘fitting’ and what to charge can be easily made depending on where you want to position yourself on this chart.

If you want to market yourself as a ‘More for the Same’ retailer then when a Golfer buys a new set of irons they also get additional services (MORE) such as an assessment and fitting, from you at no extra cost. I find Professionals who are more inclined to see a ‘Customer for Life’ and long-‐term profitability per customer will be much more comfortable with this approach.

Those who are concerned with the ‘profit’ from the individual transaction will be much more inclined to MORE for MORE. These professionals believe the margin they make on the equipment is fair and that additional services such as a fitting, ought to be paid for.

I have met a professional who was selling the equipment at cost, and then charging for the fitting. I guess you could mark this down as MORE for LESS, but in reality the consumer was paying the same or more for a set of irons than they would of if they had bought them on the High Street or on the Internet.

The important fact for you though, is to be clear about where you stand, in your retail business. If you’re not clear, then there’s no chance your customers will understand. In fact there’s a good chance they’ll stray towards the SAME for MORE or even LESS for MORE. Both of which are fatal positions for you.

Fitting whitepaper



Stake and Claim your position

Having established your position and decided how you are going to ‘price’ fitting, you now need to make a lot of noise about it. And I mean a lot of noise. Your golfers need to UNDERSTAND your proposition.

For the PGA Professional at a golf facility, this is easy. You can create a single sign and print it on a poster for use in the following areas: (1) your shop window and below your counter; (2) on a shelf talker for the wall near to where your equipment is merchandised’ (3) on A4 posters on the noticeboard and in the locker rooms; (4) on postcards with contact details to leave on tables in the bar; (5) your shop counter, and even if you wish to leave with bags as golfers come off the 18th tee.

Watch the adverts on television. How often do you see the same insurance company advertising the same message, which is repeated inside every magazine you see on the newsstand? And on the main motorways, the same message is on the billboards. It seems a lot of money spent on a lot of the same message in a lot of different places. That’s because the brands know that they need the consumer to see their message at least 25 times before the message actually sinks in. To have real association with it, they need to see it at least another 25 times.

Fitting whitepaper



If you use the RetailTribe service this proposition should be on your homepage, in your web pages as a clear offer with equipment, in your local content at least three weeks out of four, in banners you have included in your email from time to time, and as links to posts you send out in your own Social Network and to your Facebook and Twitter networks. Don’t change the message. Repeat it again and again.

I would have a simple script that makes the proposition and, at every prize giving and every other occasion at the Club where you speak, repeat your ‘Fitting’ mantra.

Make sure every board member, member of the management group, both captains and future captains have experienced what you can do for them with a fitting, even if they don’t buy.

Every time your staff walk up to a customer near the equipment, or a customer asks about equipment, make your proposition clear as you move the conversation into a discussion about what the golfer wants to achieve as a result.

You need to be clear about your proposition but the golfer should not be able to escape it. Every golfer in your Club and every visitor should know what your fitting proposition is.

Using your email and social posts, drive golfers to these web pages

Fitting whitepaper



Using ‘Theatre’ to help establish VALUE

I know that there are many PGA Professionals, especially the more experienced, who can fit with very limited facilities. Their eye and knowledge allows them to read the ball flight and deduce key facts about the launch conditions, and to relate those back to both the golf swing and the equipment in use.

Whatever it takes with your methodologies, you do need to have the facilities and resources to fit a golfer properly, and then the ability to turn this into theatre for the golfer.

Do NOT under-‐estimate the power of theatre with the customer. Let me be very clear, this is NOT a suggestion that you can’t do the job without technology. The technology becomes a prop for the customer NOT for you.

Look at the diagram below. It shows the customer very clearly what their figures are now, and what the improvement could be with an improved ball flight.

We started this whitepaper by making it clear that you are NOT selling equipment, you are selling a result. The ‘value proposition’ you offer is a better result than the High Street and

Fitting whitepaper



Online stores. When the customer looks at the ‘gap’ above, they can clearly see the ‘result’, -‐ the ‘value’ they gain from your ‘fitting process’.

Rewind to the Dave Christie story in this whitepaper and you can see the parallels here. A golfer will more happily open their wallet for a ‘result’. It is an easier purchase than ‘hope’.

We are NOT selling FlightScope to you, or, indeed, any other Launch Monitor or fitting studio aid. Fortunately new technologies are emerging that are much more mobile and much less expensive.

And, by the way, the technology is of no real use if you don’t know what you’re looking for or how to conduct a fitting. You still need to have that expertise. It also re-‐enforces your expertise when you tell the golfer what you think happens and then the numbers back it up.

Can I repeat: this is not about you. It’s a fact that people consume information far more effectively if it is presented in picture form. For that reason we would advocate that you have some form of fitting technology to add theatre for the golfer.

By the way, it also helps a golfer to intuitively place a value on the fitting process if there is a physical and/or technology theatre around it. As many of you know, some members feel that your time is free to them anyhow! A launch monitor or some form of technology differentiates the process from a casual conversation where you are giving your expertise into a formal service, which has a clear value.

We have met many PGA Professionals who have managed to get their Golf Club to ‘fund’ a Fitting Studio with Launch Monitor, Simulator, Swing Analysis software, etc. In some cases such as with Cameron Doan at Preston Trail Country Club, the management approached him with a proposition. In most cases the PGA Professional took the idea to their board or management. And of course there are many cases where a proposition has been presented and it has been turned down by the Club.

If you are building a proposition, please make sure you are selling this to the Board or management in terms that offer them benefits. You need to link it to increased revenue and member retention, better value on corporate days and member satisfaction.

In the example of Cameron Doan, he was ‘made’ to give up Thursday afternoons as a free assessment time on the Trackman. He now considers that the best marketing tool. He has gone from maybe 20% of his members buying their equipment from him, to almost all the members buying their equipment from him.

Fitting whitepaper



In the previous section we talked about the need to create a simple set of signage and messages in your web, email and social communication. When doing that, remember that the golfer doesn’t want to buy the ‘what’, they want to buy the result. That is the value they are after.

‘Active Marketing’ creates theatre and VALUE The most powerful form of advertising to golfers is for them to experience the VALUE you can offer through the Fitting and Equipment Assessment process.

A golfer that experiences the benefits of a fitting will ‘TRUST’ your ability to deliver ‘better golf’. And TRUST is the sweet spot of marketing.

There are a numbers of ways you can help a golfer to experience the value you offer in the ‘Fitting and Equipment Assessment’ process. Short activities you can conduct at the Club can create the theatre of the result. We carry a full list of activities that have worked elsewhere and how to implement them. Below are just 2 examples:

Event Description Selling notes

10-‐Yard Challenge

In this event golfers book to spend 15 minutes with the Professional who measures off their average Tee shot distance from 3 reasonable strikes. By changing equipment and / or any tips the Professional challenges that he/she can add at least 10 yards to the golfers Tee shots.

This a great opportunity to sell:

• New technology Drivers with the right configuration;

• New shafts in Drivers where the golfer does not want to replace the head;

• Lessons to improve the swing

The 10-‐shot Challenge

Seek out three golfers, all with different handicaps to play ‘a modified’ 9/18 holes with the Professional.

Each of the players would play as normal until their balls get within 110 yards of the green; the Professional then takes over and finishes out the hole. Record the score for each golfer’s ball on each hole. At the end of the round work out each golfer’s nett score; each should have improved on their handicap by some margin.

Use the scorecard and the improvement in score to highlight the importance of the short game. From there you have a great opportunity to sell:

• Short-‐game lesson packages, • Course Management Lessons, • Gap and Lob Wedges, • Whole new Wedge configurations.

Fitting whitepaper



The purpose of these activities is to expose as many golfers as possible to the reality of your expertise when it comes to equipment and improving their golf game. They need to see your ‘Brand in Action’. If they can experience or see with their own eyes (even in a non-‐purchase situation) the delivered benefit of the correct fitted equipment, it will help them appreciate the extent of the VALUE you offer and the SCALE of the benefit you offer.

Whether your Fitting has a cost or is free this is important

Golfers need to VALUE your fitting service whether you charge for a fitting or you offer it for nothing. Obviously, if you are charging there is a clear value transaction. The customer pays, they want to know they are going to get a result. They need to TRUST they will get the result.

But the same applies if you are offering your Fitting service for free. If you are offering it for free, then you are implying a saving against a service that has a value. Who wants something for free that offers no value.

You’ll be amazed at the difference you make

The examples above will all create great results for golfers. In fact, I’m betting you’ll surprise yourself. The ’10-‐Yard Challenge’ is a great one. We have Professionals who have added an average of 47 yards to golfers in their challenge afternoon.

Forty-‐seven yards of added distance is an incredible result, but think about it. How many golfers are playing with Drivers that are over four or five years old? How many have the wrong flex shaft? How many are playing with the wrong loft and create too much backspin? How many fail to tee the ball high enough? Take a reading on their current tee shot and then put them in a new Driver creating the right launch conditions, with the right flex shaft and an ascending blow on the golf ball and they are probably going a lot further.

Now spread the word

Once you’ve run one of these events, you will have ‘built trust’ with every golfer you have touched. Now you need to amplify that reach. You need to publish the results you achieved to your whole database. And add ‘testimony’ and ‘quotes’ from your participants. A message from one of your customers will have a greater influence over other golfers than any other form of marketing.

Fitting whitepaper



‘Active Marketing’ is the most important weapon in your Marketing armoury

The unique proposition of a PGA Professional is that they can improve a golfer’s swing through coaching and the right equipment. You can tell everyone that is your proposition, and you should. But the most powerful form of ‘story telling’ is ‘show and tell’.

Every time you work with a golfer to improve their game through a fitting and you make a difference, their UNDERSTANDING of the process improves, they VALUE the process more and their TRUST in your ability to improve their golf grows. It is your ‘Brand in Action’.

A culture of improvement will help you

A golfer who is committed to improving their golf game will spend more money on equipment and coaching. They’ll also play more golf, which is great for the Golf Club.

It is up to you to lead the Club in creating that culture. You need to be encouraging your golfers to want to improve and to want to play golf more often.

We have mentioned in this article ‘theatre’ on several occasions. There is a ‘theatre of improvement’, which you should be creating in all of your public areas and especially your Fitting Studio and Shop. This will also help to create a culture of improvement. That creates the momentum of demand from the customer for both coaching and new equipment.

Some of the suggestions are a smart, professional improvement board, which carries:

a) The three biggest distance gains this year by individual golfers (in your distance challenge);

b) The three biggest handicap drops this year; c) The best three short-‐game handicap golfers and the top three from your last challenge; d) The top three 10-‐foot champions – the number of consecutive 10-‐foot putts sunk in a

10-‐Foot Challenge; e) The most improved performance last week

Invest some time and effort into making sure this looks professional and that it is properly maintained. Each week should see updates posted. You want golfers to want to get their name up in lights.

I am sure you can think of others to add to this board. You want golfers to see the very suggestion of improvement all around them. That should include your digital platforms. If you

Fitting whitepaper



are a RetailTribe customer, have this board created online for you, and then maintain it with your Community Manager.

Each week highlight in your newsletter and on your social posts the ‘improvement of the week’ and any changes to your running monthly and annual leader boards.

And, where those results have been assisted by a fitting with new equipment, do not be shy. Make the point, and add to the explanation what it was that you changed that created the improvement.

Summary

I hope that in reading this whitepaper you can feel our passion for a number of things. We want more golfers playing golf more often. They’ll do that if they have a good time with friends and play better golf.

We believe the person best positioned to create better golf is the PGA Professional. Golfers who have been coached by their PGA Professional will usually show that benefit on the course. Golfers with correctly fitted golf equipment that matches their swing will definitely play better golf compared to their performance with the wrong equipment.

We believe that the golfer needs to see you as the equipment expert, especially if you are retailing golf equipment. Your competitive advantage is your ability to fit them into the right equipment and right specification for their golf game.

Having the reputation for fitting professionally is not just good for your business with golfers; it is good for your job tenure and your position with the Club Management. You can’t replace the Professional with a layman if the members all want to be ‘fitted’ for their golf equipment.

You do need to make sure that your golfers and members UNDERSTAND that you fit them and what the benefit and cost of that is to them. Whether you charge or you don’t, you still need to establish and keep established the VALUE for them in the ‘fitting process’. The golfer wants to buy the ‘result’. It is better than buying ‘hope’. With a ‘fitting’ you are not selling equipment, you are selling the best result.

You should invest in theatre around the Fitting process. You can do that without technology, but technology helps to create theatre. It also re-‐enforces your ‘value’ through the clear presentation of the result.

Fitting whitepaper



You should add to the theatre with short activities, which show the added yards, the greater accuracy, the sharper short game and better putting, you can deliver. That builds trust in you. And that’s the sweet spot of marketing.

Your conversation in the real world and in the digital spaces should be highlighting the results you deliver, through the improvements in performance of the golfers you work with.

With equipment and fitting: be clear about your pricing, stake out your position and make it yours, tell everyone all the time, find opportunities to demonstrate the value you add, and tell everyone again. You should be the expert at your Club, and they should know it.

Documents

RT Fitting Whitepaper You are not selling equipmentcdn.retailtribe.com/websites/company/downloads/RT_Fitting... · 2013-12-17 · Fitting!whitepaper! ! ©2013RetailTribeLtd.All!Rights!Reserved!!