Fore! Your Information - October 2011
Free Email Blast Created For You!
Does your email marketing need a new look? Has a busy fall made it difficult to find time to create email promotions? If so, we can help! The Marketing Department is offering a free email blast during the month of October for any golf course that would like to utilize our services. See the difference we can make in the overall appearance and effectiveness of your course’s emails. Let us help you promote an upcoming event such as your course’s Chili Open, Halloween event, Turkey Shoot, Fall Tee Time Specials, or anything at all. You pick the promotion and we’ll create a great looking email that’s sure to make an impact! Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you’re interested in this opportunity.
Mobile Booking Takes Off
Hundreds of courses are using the Fore! Reservations Mobile Booking Interface this season, offering customers a convenient way to book tee times right from their smart phones. Nearly 15,000 rounds have been booked through Mobile Booking since its recent release this past spring. Stonebrooke Golf Club (Shakopee, MN) leads the way with nearly 700 mobile rounds booked, while courses are averaging approximately 90 rounds booked so far this season. To view your course’s mobile booking statistics log into the Fore! Internet Dashboard, select Analytics | Internet Performance Reports | Run the Report and scroll down to the Bookings By Source – Detailed table to view your Web App (Mobile) data.
Mobile Booking is FREE with Fore! Internet 2011 and can be activated in very little time. Click here to see the interface or here to watch a video. Click here for Mobile Booking Best Practices to get tips on how to maximize this feature. Contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to activate Mobile Booking.
QR Code on Receipts in 3 Easy Steps
QR Codes are popping up everywhere these days and we’ve found another place for you to put yours – on sales receipts! Enable customers to scan your QR Code through their smart phone to go to your website (or any url of your choosing) right from a golf shop receipt. QR Codes are FREE to generate, offer unlimited use, can be used anytime and anywhere, are tracked easily, and provide yet another way to drive golfers to book online. Setup is done in three easy steps. Click here for the three-step procedure.
Create More Online Customer Profiles
Online Customer Profiles help golfers make faster tee time reservations and golf courses collect complete customer database information. Increasing the number of customers with online profiles comes with many benefits and we’ve got a new tool to do just that. Push Profiles enables courses to create online profiles for those customers who should have a profile based on their customer type but have not yet created one. With Push Profiles, members can have online profiles without a credit card and customers can have different online booking thresholds; making this feature ideal for courses using the Rules Wizard.
Push Profiles is also beneficial for those courses using Fore! Marketing as it enables more customers to be identified by customer type for your targeted email campaigns. This will increase your audience receiving emails determined by offer (i.e. send this offer to members only) and allow different offers to be sent to different customer types (i.e. members get a free drink at the turn vs non-members receive a free hot dog lunch). Fore! Reservations 2011 is required for Push Profiles. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it t to setup Push Profiles at your facility.
Users Corner: Users Galore in New Golf Business
Fore! Reservations users cover the pages of Golf Business yet again, and it’s no surprise to us that you continue to be showcased as industry leaders. Featured in the September cover story “Into the Great Wide Open” are Midwest operators Sam Taylor (pictured on the cover), Stony Creek Golf Club (Noblesville, IN), Carolyn Olson, Elmbrook Golf Club (Traverse City, MI), and Pat Shay, Thousand Hills Resort (Branson, MO). In the article “Coming Together”, Fore! Reservations user Chris Meade, Murder Rock Golf Club (Branson, MO), is featured with fellow operators discussing how different courses collectively promote their region; illustrating that cooperation rather than competition can be a formidable strategy. Other users getting Golf Business ink include Tony Krebs, Black Squirrel Golf Club (Elkhart, IN) in “Against the Grain”, Eric Claxton, Wolfdancer Golf Club (Bastrop, TX) in “Testing the Waters”, and David Mervis Stonebridge Golf Club (Ann Arbor, MI) in “Golf & the Gridiron”.
While on the topic of Golf Business, other articles we found worth the read in the September issue include “Speak Your Piece”, “From the Editor”, “From the CEO” and “Looking Over the Fence” which outlines tips the golf industry can take from four other industries to benefit our businesses. Pour a cup of coffee, sit back and really dive into the September issue; there’s a lot of good information and great success stories to learn from.
Harry’s Blog: Don’t Leave Your Customers In The Dark
This month, Harry discovers a disconcerting pattern after calling several golf courses and shares a few thoughts on a simple change that can go along way when it comes to your facility’s telephone holding message. Click here or the Harry’s Blog button at the bottom of this newsletter to read his recent post, share your comments and start a discussion with fellow users.
Did You Know?
Did you know we have a new and improved Bar and Grill Functionality Online Video Series? Click here to access the video menu to sharpen your bar and grill system skills!
What’s New
Utilize the Fore! Internet Offline Alert Tool to receive notification via text and/or email in the event your course’s Fore! Internet connections goes offline. Activate online through the Internet Dashboard, select Fore! Internet | select Offline Alert Settings. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any questions or for assistance activating this feature.
Tip of the Month
When a customer asks to be removed from an email sent through Fore! Marketing, and you want to manually update your local Fore! Reservations customer database, simply uncheck the “Mail” box in the customer’s profile and DO NOT remove the email address from the “Email” field. This will ensure the customer doesn’t receive email blasts but you will still have his/her email on file.
Upcoming Events
• October 10-11 – Rocky Mountain Golf Salesman’s Merchandise Show (Denver, CO)
• October 11-12 – Pennsylvania Golf Course Owners Annual Meeting (State College, PA)
• October 17 – Pacific Northwest Regional Users Conference (Portland, OR)
• October 18-19 – Pacific Northwest PGA Merchandise Show (Portland, OR)
• October 24 – Iowa PGA Merchandise Show (Riverside, IA)
• October 26 – Manitoba Regional Users Conference (Winnipeg, MB)
• November 1 – Indiana Regional Users Conference (French Lick, IN)
• November 2-3 – Indiana Golf Course Owners Association Annual Conference (French Lick, IN)
• November 2 – Midwest Golf Course Owners Association Annual Conference (Oakdale, MN)
• November 3 – Minnesota Regional Users Conference (Oakdale, MN)
• November 8 – Michigan Regional Users Conference (Burton, MI)
• November 9 – New England Golf Course Owners Association Annual Meeting (Canton, MA)
• November 22 – Ontario Regional Users Conference (Aurora, ON)
• November 30 – Michigan Golf Business Annual Conference (Troy, MI)
View the entire conference schedule and register online!
View the entire trade show schedule online!
