Fore!mula For Success - Multi-Course Functionality - August 2009

Introduced within the past year - Customer Database Synchronization, My Network Booking, and Regional Course Bookings - are helping multi-course operators use the power of the Internet to eliminate inefficient, time-consuming processes, achieve greater staff productivity, ensure a more convenient customer experience, and ultimately provide for a healthier bottom line. 

"We offer reciprocity between our clubs, so prior to Customer Database Synchronization, because each of our courses maintained a separate, unique database, we had to send an e-mail out to all the courses to update their databases anytime a new member was added or a change was made at one of the courses," says Gene Roper, Director of Golf Operations, Leroy Springs and Company, Inc., Fort Mill, SC. "The lists would get out of date really quickly, so it was hard to confirm if a membership lapsed or someone was really a member at one of the sister courses."

With the database synchronization feature, updates are nearly instantaneous. "Now each course has the most current information and when necessary, we're able to accurately identify all the members at all the courses," Gene says. "It really saves on staff time - changes and names are entered just once, not four times like before." With some 40,000+ names in the Leroy Springs database, the efficiencies are clear.

LeroySprings operates four courses in South Carolina - Fort Mill Golf Club, Lancaster Golf Club, Springfield Golf Club and Chester Golf Club - all within a 35 mile radius of each other. "We're also able to do our marketing all together which is really important and helpful," Gene adds.

Customer Database Synchronization and My Network Booking nicely complement one another, and are features the City of Livonia Golf Division, which operates three courses in Livonia, MI, credits for better integrating their operations. "The Customer Database Synchronization reduces redundant labor by allowing one employee to update database information rather than three individual tasks," says Operations Manager Bill Durham. "Before, it would be one person driving to and from each course to perform the work since others were busy. The end result is we have lower fuel costs and additional time for other tasks to be performed and labor savings."

In tough economic times, these benefits are especially valuable. "Between the three courses, this year we are even in revenue and down in payroll, and while it is tough to attach a concrete number, I can say we are not spread so thin because staff is performing redundant tasks. Though we did make a few cuts in anticipation of a slower year, to date we are operating the pro shop staff at about $18,000 less than last year, and our staff seems to have time on their hands with less people working. I attribute some of these savings - especially the elimination of redundant work - to the new Fore! Reservations features," Bill says.

My Network Booking is a great solution for the Livonia courses as it enables their staff to easily book tee times for customers at one of the other courses should they not have availability on their tee sheet. "Our courses are very close in proximity so we often have leagues or outings booked at one of the courses. Often customers would call to book a tee time and if a course didn't have availability the customer would not want to be transferred to one of the other courses or the transfer would get dropped or lost. When we followed up with the staff at the other courses to learn if the customer booked a time, we found that they went somewhere else to play," Bill states. "Now with the My Network Booking feature we're able to capture the customer in one phone call without the risk of losing them in a phone transfer or a last-minute decision to call the next course on their list," he adds.

Like Leroy Springs, the City of Livonia Golf Division also finds that one of the greatest overall benefits is the ability to centralize sales and marketing efforts. "When customers call to book a tee time, they've now started asking if we can check available tee times at the other courses and many customers have commented positively about the fact they are already in the database yet they have only played one of the other courses," Bill says.

Another multi-course product that enhances the customer experience is Regional Course Bookings. This feature provides courses with the ability to package tee time reservations together in one convenient online environment. "We've used Regional Course Bookings since it was first available and are very pleased with the product. It's convenient for our customers and good for us because we can market all of our courses together in one location on our website," states Steve Whillock, Director of Golf, Oak Marsh Golf Club, Oakdale, MN.

Oak Marsh Golf Club is a member of Wendell Pittenger Golf Operations that operates four courses in Minnesota. "Our website has always featured all of our courses, and with Regional Course Bookings, customers can now search tee times at all of our courses without ever leaving our website," Steve adds. "It keeps our customers from searching availability at other courses."

Customers that visit www.wpgolf.com have the option of searching tee times at one course or all four courses at once. For golfers that want to play at a particular tee time this feature helps them search for the best time available by searching multiple Wendell Pittenger courses. Click here to view their Regional Course Bookings web page. "We've particularly seen great results here at Oak Marsh and Lost Spur since we're in the same area," Steve says. "Before using Regional Course Bookings on the website, customers may not have thought of the other course as an option, but now if we don't have availability at Oak Marsh golfers can readily view tee times at Lost Spur and vice-versa. It's been good for all of our businesses."

For information on how to implement multi-course features and functionality, please contact the Sales Team at 630-789-9705.