Maximizing Technology - Internet Tee Time Reservations

Technology evolves at a fast pace, and it can be difficult to sort out which new applications make sense for your business and which may not. Technology usage is definitely a “hot topic” these days, as I regularly field questions from operators regarding Internet tee times, social media, e-mail marketing, third-party services and website management. I can relate to most golf course operators that find the vast amount of technology concepts sometimes overwhelming or confusing at best. With many tools available to utilize and multiple applications to choose from, I think the key is to determine which solutions make good business sense yet easy to implement and manage. Whether you like it or not, technology is here to stay, and businesses that learn to use it wisely will perform better than those that do not.   

Due to the importance of technology adaptation, the next three articles (beginning with this month’s) are inter-related, focusing on how to maximize technology through Internet reservations, strategic marketing and marketing “partnerships”. I’ll examine usage and cost, limitations you may face and best practices that can help you succeed with technology implementation. As we work our way through these articles, I hope you will better understand why investing in technology is a good decision and can learn how to use these tools better.

One of the most important things we all need to understand, is that technology can help us do fundamental business functions better. This may be best exemplified by the 75%+ adoption rate of electronic tee sheets at daily fee golf courses. Since the electronic tee sheet, when I began tracking the use of technology in golf operations, there have been tremendous advances in the golf industry. Of these advances there are four basic technology tools that every golf course should utilize, all of which can grow your facility’s Internet reservations and effectively harness technology to improve your business. I want to point out that technology, however, is not a substitute for sound management; and along with these advances, our industry still faces integration challenges which I’ll explore further. Let’s take a closer look at the “big four” golf technology tools.

1. Integrated Electronic Tee Sheet, Point of Sale and Online Booking System – Most of you use the Fore! Reservations tee sheet and Fore! Sell point of sale system. Your tee sheet is your biggest asset that drives nearly all revenues generated at your facility, so having the tee sheet integrated to your point of sale to ensure accurate transactions, enable proper tracking and increase security makes very good business sense. In order to increase revenues, your tee sheet should have complete customer information tied to each reservation. The goal of every golf course operator should be to obtain customer contact information for every person that gives you money to put into your cash drawer. An online booking system like the Fore! Internet product makes the start of that process easier, as complete data is collected at the point of reservation. Utilizing all three products streamlines your operation, increases efficiencies and expands the customers’ options to make tee times.

2. Internet Access – When installing Internet at your facility and launching your website, a good question to ask is: How good is my connection in terms of speed, reliability and cost? Many technology applications require “broadband” and 24/7 connectivity. Contrary to popular perception, real “broadband” is not available for many ex-urban and rural courses, especially for many Canadian courses. Reliability is also an issue for many of the satellite and tower-based wireless access systems. It should be noted that Fore! Reservations offers very high functionality for courses with limited bandwidth options and/or Internet connectivity. With a little research, everyone should be able to get online. In addition to being online, your website should offer online bookings to meet the needs of today’s golfer.

3. Website Design and Booking Tools – A website that brands your course and integrates booking technology to drive rounds and revenue is a key component to the success of your online business. Questions to consider include: Is the design functional and site easily updatable? Is the booking link prominently displayed on the home page? Do online reservations carry down to your local tee sheet in real-time? How much are you paying for design, hosting and updates? Are web registrations added to your customer database on a regular basis and how easy is the process? Do you have tools to control pricing? Do you have tools implemented that can increase Internet reservations?

4. Broadcast E-mail Service – E-mail marketing is a great way to maximize technology by making your marketing efforts less expensive, more targeted and more effective. Nearly all of you are using a broadcast e-mail service from a variety of vendors. Questions to consider include: What is the cost? How is the quality of the work? How easy is it to segment your customers? Does it leverage your customer database or make extra work for you through multiple databases? Is it easy to utilize? How good is the reporting? Do your e-mails drive customers to visit your website and book online?

So how do we make implementation of these four tools easy? Unfortunately, there is not a “one stop shop” for these basic needs. Different companies offer different combinations of the above, so this means that a golf course must use multiple vendors to obtain the basics. Then the question really becomes how well can multiple vendors be integrated to best enhance the marketing efforts of the golf course?

In my opinion, Fore! Reservations makes this as easy as possible for the golf course operator. By utilizing all of their tools (tee sheet, point of sale, online tee times and automated e-mail marketing product), you just need “two stops”: Fore! Reservations and a website provider that incorporates your Fore! Reservations tools (all of which are able to do so). If this sums up your technology vendors, you are as close to best practices as you can get in today’s technology environment. In short, you’ve assembled an integrated package that takes care of your new technology needs that tie into your tee sheet and point of sale.

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Now that you've got the tools in place, what will separate the good operators from the great operators is how well you maximize your technology. Here are four ways to integrate your marketing technology to make sure you get the most from your investment and effectively drive customers to your website:

1. Actively promote your website - Is your web address on every scorecard, e-mail template, piece of stationery, envelope, logo golf ball, matchbook and cocktail napkin? Does your voicemail/holding message encourage golfers to visit your website? Do you have QR Codes on your printed clubhouse promotions?
2. Make it easy to book online - How prominent is your book a tee time link?
3. Offer new convenient ways to book tee times - Do you offer mobile booking?
4. Utilize e-mail marketing services that make an impact - Do your e-mails include links that drive customers to your site and through your golf shop doors?

Why is it important to drive as much traffic to your website as possible? To paraphrase William Shakespeare – let me count the ways:

1. Reduce golf shop phone calls - How many phone calls do you get to make tee times or for directions to the course?
2. Offer 24/7 reservations - How many people want to make reservations when your golf shop is closed?
3. Increase customer data collected - How many more customer fields are collected with online reservations?
4. Provide better customer service - How long are customers waiting on hold or getting a busy signal when they want to make a tee time during your peak reservation windows?

The last step of this Internet marketing examination is probably the most important, and that is tracking. Tracking the fruit of your technology labor should be done regularly so you can monitor what’s working, what could be done better, and then make the necessary changes. Here are a few tracking tools:

1. Google Analytics – Google Analytics provides helpful website traffic data in less than five minutes and for no cost. Type “Google Analytics” into your search bar to go to the site to submit your website address for a report.
2. Fore! Reservations Online Booking Reports – Track the number of online reservations made at your website as well as bookings by third-party affiliates. You can also view demographic, price performance and mobile booking statistics.
3. E-mail Marketing Statistics – Your e-mail marketing service provider should be able to provide information such as open rates or tee time booking statistics.
4. Phone Company “Line Study” – Contact your phone company to perform a line study. They can tell you how many busy signals you have, by the hour, for every day of the week. The goal is to reduce that number as more and more people book online.

What if you’ve taken most of these steps and invested in all this technology, but your Internet reservations are not increasing as fast as you had hoped?

First, it’s important to realize it’s going to take a full season to train your customers to go to your website for their booking needs. Second, make sure you really are implementing all of the tools available. Perhaps you found some applications are not as easy to use for us “non-geeks”, but allocate the time to implement the tools so you can get meaningful results. Third, try promotion methods you haven’t used before to drive customers to your website. For example, actively promote your low rate guarantee, offer an incentive to book online like a free cart, or discourage phone reservations with a $1 fee for tee times not made online. Fourth, demographic reasons could account for lackluster results. Pew Research data tells us that people 55 and older have the lowest level of Internet usage, and this age group accounts for 50% of all golf rounds played. Forrester Research also tells us that the great majority of Internet usage is still for “research purposes” and a great number of the population is still reluctant to make online purchases.

The real challenge for vendors (like Fore! Reservations) is to help golf courses overcome technology obstacles by providing solutions are easier to implement. Higher implementation helps you maximize your technology investment and reduce unnecessary costs. As you’ll discover in upcoming articles where I talk about marketing costs in more detail, by using the tools available in Fore! Reservations, you have, in the words of the holy knight to Indiana Jones – “chosen wisely”. Stay tuned for next month’s article on strategic marketing tools that are small on the budget, yet big on results.

Stuart Lindsay

"Lindsay, a lifelong Milwaukeean, has made a career of a seemingly thankless task: Helping businesses and individuals understand the inner workings of the golf industry. He began delving into golf course economics while with Deere & Co., and continued after founding Edgehill Golf Advisors in 1989. The work combines his naturally analytical mind with his passion for golf." - Golfweek, April 2008

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Edgehill Golf Advisors
10134 N. Port Washington Road
Mequon, WI 53092
Telephone: 262.241.7088
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it