Customer Service: Dream or Nightmare?

It’s Halloween time so it seems fitting to talk about horror stories.

Imagine this nightmare: losing a longtime course member because of bad customer service.

Once while I was attending a management training seminar, the speaker asked the audience if anyone could share an experience of excellent customer service. I saw eyes in the audience shift up as trying to recall a specific memory of great service. The speaker then asked if anyone could recall an incidence of bad customer service. Time barely passed when an assortment of hands shot up in the air to share or rather vent their occurrences. The speaker’s point was that bad customer service is always more memorable than satisfactory customer service.

Think about it this way – if you went to get an oil change and your car was returned within a fair amount of time, you were charged the price advertised, and were able to drive away with your oil having been changed, would you be so excited that you would want to tell all your friends all about it?

Now, say the mechanic made you wait for two hours, he returned the car with oil pressed into the floor mats and seats, tried to sell you unnecessary maintenance to your car and then proceeded to charge you more than the advertised cost. Would you then tell your friends? The horror story is more likely to be told and not just around Halloween time.

To the same effect, would you rush to book a tee time at a course where you heard the staff was unknowledgable, the pro shop was nearly empty and the food and beverage servers were slow and rude? Probably not.

Customers are going to be your best or worst advertisement so don’t be so focused on filling tee sheets that you forget the best way to do that – keeping customers happy.

Think of every customer as a walking advertisement.

So what happens when customer service goes bad?

The following are some suggestions to turn an unhappy customer to a satisfied one:

Be available – A customer should feel they know where to go with their needs. If the customer feels helpless when a problem arises, quite probably they simply won’t return out of principal, anger, irritation, etc. And they will generally take their recommendation of your course with them. By making yourself available and taking ownership as the person who can fix the problem, you have the power to make it right.

Train and retrain – Quite possibly the single most important factor in customer service is well trained employees. Employees that are not only well versed in the game of golf, but understand how to treat a golfer and their needs. Employees should know company policies; especially the policies for dealing with customer issues.

*Financially it makes sense to put time and money into proper training because a better trained staff can handle more work and keep customers coming back.

Know your customers – Consider Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as necessary. By using technology like Cypress Golf Solutions, you are getting the advantage to find out what your customers are looking for. By knowing that your biggest players only use Titleist balls, you can keep the pro shop stocked. By knowing your customers golfing habits, you can cater to them.

Fix the problem - If there is a problem, fix it, and fix it fast. If it can’t be solved immediately, then be involved with sincerity and communicate with the customer about the steps you are taking to solve the issue. Always follow up by a phone call, e-mail or handwritten letter. Make sure the customer feels satisfied. If they still are unhappy then throw in a free tee time for the customer and three friends, or dinner in the clubhouse. Think about what is really worth losing a loyal customer over.

Finally, remember an apology can go a long way. Turn the nightmare around into a dream and watch the same customers come back to relive it.