Fore!mula For Success - Marketing Assistance Program - November 2010
Discover Your "Money Making Machine" with the Marketing Assistance Program
What do Cardinal Hill Golf Course (Liberty, MO), Eagle Creek Golf Club (La Grange, KY) and Four Seasons Golf Course (Landisville, PA) all have in common? Each course finished the 2010 season up in rounds and revenue, with a sizeable increase in Internet reservations and a significantly larger customer e-mail database. All three facilities achieved this by capitalizing on technology available in their Fore! Reservations system and each course is also a member of the Fore! Reservations Marketing Assistance Program (MAP).“The Marketing Assistance Program has been a life saver,” says Cardinal Hill Golf Course General Manager Jim Jamis. “We made several large-scaled changes this season to improve our facility and brand reputation, making our marketing efforts and customer service critical. We have a small staff and not a lot of time to spend on marketing, so MAP enabled me to leave the marketing to the experts who know what works and allowed us to devote our time to improving the daily operation.”
Under the direction of the Marketing Assistance Program, Cardinal Hill utilized targeted e-mail marketing campaigns designed by the MAP staff to drive customers to the course’s website to book tee times online, signup for their birthday club, book value-added promotions and learn about course events. This improved marketing strategy resulted in 15% more rounds played, 2,000 more rounds booked online, the course’s e-mail database growing by 193% and an increase of 11% in green fee revenue.
“Our biggest achievement this year was implementing webpage booking tools and software features that generated revenue we weren’t getting before; it’s like found money,” Jim says. Cardinal Hill generated an impressive $16,344 in additional revenue through its Fore! Internet Specials Calendar alone. The course also made an extra $3,000 by implementing a Comeback Coupon targeted at bringing customers back to the course during slow periods identified by MAP reporting services.
Like Cardinal Hill, Eagle Creek Golf Club also grew its business while in MAP this season. Eagle Creek lead the program in customer database growth; growing by 1,200 quality e-mail addresses. This growth resulted from implementing one Fore! Reservations software feature.
“Our MAP Account Manager recommended we start an Awards Program and our e-mail database grew as a result,” explains Director of Operations Melissa Breeds. “Customers that provide their e-mail receive 10% awards on any purchase. Not only does it help increase repeat play, we’re now able to reach a larger target audience through e-mail marketing with very little cost to the course. We consistently increased our rounds and revenue every month because we kept our name in front of our customers, and I have MAP to thank for helping us achieve that.”
Eagle Creek also utilized the Marketing Assistance Program to uncover ways to fill their tee sheet during slow time periods. “Like many courses, the hour before twilight is a slow time on our tee sheet but we struggled to figure out how to fill that time,” adds Melissa. “Taking Fore! Reservations advice, we offered an hour before twilight special on our website. We were able to increase play, collect more e-mail addresses because of the online only special and generated $3,800 in additional revenue.”
Another revenue source for all MAP participants is Fore! Marketing. On average courses generated $5,000 in revenue from the automated marketing product. Four Seasons Golf Course Manager Terri Morton notes the benefits of using Fore! Marketing while under the guidance of MAP. “Being a part of MAP ensured we utilized products like Fore! Marketing to the fullest,” says Terri. “Our Account Manager did an excellent job recommending what incentives to offer for the greatest return on rounds without lowering our average green fee.”
Four Seasons raised its rates in 2010 and Terri was skeptical about the likelihood of maintaining rounds. But the course outperformed expectations and increased rounds and revenue largely in part to the helpful services received in the Marketing Assistance Program. “MAP got us on the right track this year achieving all of our marketing objectives we couldn’t do on our own,” Terri says. “The quality of work, marketing expertise and technology knowledge helped elevate our business and we saw immediate results. We’re definitely doing the program again next year and aren’t turning back.”
“With the way the economy is going, operators have to wear so many different hats when running a golf course,” says Melissa. “The Marketing Assistance Program ensured that our marketing didn’t fall into the background this season, in fact, we took our marketing to a higher level.”
“I would recommend the Marketing Assistance Program to any golf course looking to strengthen your marketing strategy, ensure you’re maximizing your software and improve your business overall,” concludes Jim.
*Courses in the 2010 Marketing Assistance Program on average grew their customer database by 73%, increased Internet reservations by 98%, generated $14,000 in Internet Specials, $5,000 in Fore! Marketing revenue, $2,000 from the Comeback Coupon, and held steady on overall rounds and revenue compared to the previous season.
If your course would like to learn more about the Marketing Assistance Program, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 630.789.9705 to setup a FREE consultation on how our services can help.
