Fore!mula For Success - Internet Reservations - July 2008

It’s a fact. If your customers aren’t booking their tee times online, you’re losing money and you’re probably losing customers.

The Internet has changed the face of business and the golf industry is no exception. Offering a range of incentives from reduced costs or post-click giveaways, to actual penalties such as added fees, industries across the board including airlines, hotels and entertainment, are driving customers to use the Internet. And with Fore! Reservations Internet Premium, you should be too.

“It’s changed the way we are running our business,” says Toby Sherman, manager, Colony West Country Club, Tamarac, FL. “In this market, our customers tend to book just one day in advance, so when there is a weak spot in the tee sheet, I send out an email blast with a special for a specific time or date, and without fail, it pays off with major dividends.”  Located in the highly competitive Ft. Lauderdale market, this 36-hole course is primarily daily-fee dependent.

“I believe we need to rely on ourselves for customers and not give away our tee times to an outside vendor,” Toby says. “When customers make an online reservation, staff members are more available to talk with and assist customers in the clubhouse because they aren’t on the phone taking reservations. It is saving us a lot in advertising fees, and, it’s important to not just look at revenue in terms of green fees. When customers are here, they’re purchasing food and drinks and shopping in the pro shop.”

In the past year, the number of Colony West customers making online reservations has increased dramatically each month. According to Toby, online reservations account for more than 25 percent of total reservations, up 90 percent from May to June this year, and up 58 percent from January-June 2007 to the same time period in 2008.

According to Scott Pruden, head golf professional for Farmstead Golf & Country Club in Lafayette, NJ, where 60-70 percent of all reservations are made online, anyone not using Fore! Reservations Internet Premium and Dashboard is missing out on customers and not maximizing their tee sheet. “We offer a standard 10 percent discount year-round off the green fee for booking online. Every month we offer some kind of a special – discounts off Family Packs, 9-hole Beat-the-Heat rates, $5 off green fees to cover the cost of gas – to make sure that we keep them coming throughout the week. I look at the tee sheet every day and when I see a slow period, I’ll offer an Internet Special to fill the time.”  Farmstead is a 27-hole, privately owned, daily fee public course that also services some 200-250 outings each year.

As Internet Premium users report, the benefits of online booking create a win-win for everyone. Golfers are able to take advantage of:

•  Specials and incentives only available online,

•  The convenience of viewing all available times at once and booking anytime day or night, which is especially helpful in coordinating times with schedules of the other golfers in the party, and

•  A one-time registration to capture all essential information.

 For the course owners/managers, online reservations

•  Reduce the amount of phone calls, enabling staff to attend to on-site customers or accomplish other tasks,

• Ensure a busier tee sheet as customers take advantage of Internet-only specials or incentives,

• Reduce the amount of no-shows, since customers who secure their reservation with  a credit card are more likely to honor the reservation, and most importantly as users report

• Capture accurate, legitimate customer email addresses.

“The single biggest advantage to us is that we instantly capture the customer’s email address to build our database,” says Brad Peister, general manager, Innerkip Highlands Golf Club, near Kitchener, Ontario. “Staff is just too busy to capture an accurate email address on the phone or for walk-ins. By having an accurate email address, we can communicate with our customers quickly and efficiently and we don’t have problems of duplicate addresses in the system. It’s the only database we use.”

For Innerkip Highlands, an 18-hole, daily-fee championship course designed for the avid golfer, Fore! Reservations’ Internet Premium and Dashboard helps ensure a full tee sheet. “We offer a time advantage for customers who book online. The tee sheet is open 10 days in advance to customers who book online so they are able to secure the best tee times, while phone reservations or walk-ins can book just seven days in advance. The further in advance we book, the better chance we have of having a full course. Though there is no financial incentive, customers who book online get the best tee times.  We do one thing and it works really well for us.

“In 2007, 34 percent of all reservations were made online, and we’re running at 38 percent so far this year and we’re even busier,” Brad says. “Every morning I find that many new bookings have come in.”

“Without Internet Premium and email blasts to customers, we would not have as busy of a tee sheet,” Toby Sherman says. “We grab as much from Fore! Reservations as possible and it works.”