Why one business scored while the other fumbled?
You take a few deep, cleansing breaths on the tee box. This drive will be a test. After checking stance, posture, ball position, and grip, you torque your body, harnessing every ounce of power.
THWACK.
Metal strikes ball and the resonant sound of driver crushing the white orb bounces through the Florida pines.
A crisply-struck 3-wood rises in the distance, hangs in the air, reaches its crescendo, and falls gently to the grass.
A perfectly-read putt bends across the fescue grass, dangles at the hole’s edge, and disappears – a fist-pump to rival Tiger Woods punctuates the moment.
I recently played two magnificent golf rounds in Florida’s Panhandle. The memories were epic and are forever etched. The golf was memorable, yet there were two distinct, divergent exchanges with staff that left very different lingering effects.
The good:
One course opened arms (and doors – literally) to welcome us into their world.
The young gentlemen who helped us place our golf bags into our cart were genuinely happy to see us.
They asked us:
“Where’s home?”
“How long are you staying?”
“Have you played here before”?
After the round during lunch, the wait staff were magnetized to our table, making sure all of our needs were being met. We left this course happy, satisfied, and ready to tell a friend about the splendid time.
Turn the page.
The other side: a mess.
The young gentleman who took the golf bags from our car appeared tense, irritable, and not interested in any type of conversation. The silence was deafening and left us burdened as we approached the driving range.
Later in the day, the golf cart lady approached and grunted, “Want anything?”
Her frown nearly drooped to the ground.
No interest in making a connection, just a transaction.
How does your business or service want to be remembered?
Are you going the ‘extra mile’ to know your customers?
Are you considering your ‘business exchanges’ opportunities for connection (YES!!) or mere transactions (NO!!)?
Don’t be a sourpuss. Be happy to see and serve your customers and they’ll come back.
A big bonus: the ‘happy’ customers will probably tell their friends. You can’t buy that type of advertising.
One more thing (listen up if you’re a golfer): Don’t ‘break down’ at the top of the golf swing. When I got into trouble, I egregiously lost the ‘light’ tension that needs to be there at the top of the backswing.
If that makes no sense to you, just ‘grip it and rip it’.
Until next time,
Dan Naden
