As we approach June, I wanted to send a reminder about best practices for a successful fitting event. You have heard me say it before, but sometimes a refresher is worth reading.

I know you’re busy. I do. I get it. Members have demands on your time. The superintendent needs to chat. There’s a meeting with the tournament committee about a member-member, a lesson that just can’t seem to find a good time to schedule, men’s league is going out, the cart kid’s sick so you have to do his job, toilets are dirty, I’m the chef today… I get it. I’ve been there. Everything need to be your priority and you’re being pulled in 14 different directions. It happens. All summer long.

Certain things require and demand your attention, though. Tournaments, leagues, lessons, meetings with the GM, etc… You have to prioritize those things. Typically, the higher the profile, the higher up your flagpole they are. Profile is generally equivalent to two things – how much revenue does it generate, and how many members does it touch? Sometimes we lose sight of what we should be doing as other less important, but, more fun or pressing or “I just don’t want to do it” things come up. 

Like imagine if you had to give a lesson and you sent a member down to the range with a YouTube video and said “I’ll be in the shop if you have any questions.” After all, You Tube is qualified to teach, right? Or if you left a power washer near the bag drop and asked a member to wash his own cart. Or a box of Sharpies near the scoreboard so the players could write their own scores in. Maybe a player wants to try a driver. Just tell him to go to the simulator and pick one he likes, wrenches are in there to tweak as you like. Surely he’ll buy it… (you have a better chance of him stealing it than buying it). All of this is unthinkable. A fitting event, though, is different, right? These are self serve events where the members will figure out when the event is, show up in a scheduled manner, go through the process on their own, then run up to the shop to plunk down $2000. They can’t get their money out of their wallets fast enough. Of course, Yeags and his guys are great fitters and can take care of my members. These things run themselves. Not so fast… A fitting event is a profit generator for you, not an obligation or a box to check. It’s a way to service your membership and make you and the facility look great. It’s success hinges on you – just like the success of any other event at the club.

A couple things to keep in mind:

The average Callaway fitting event with 10 appointments generates $7500 in sales and over $2000 in profit. The type of facility does not matter. Most Professionals who work to promote and prepare for these events will generate upwards of DOUBLE that number of appointments (while those who don’t often get less than half). Clubs with “money” yield results that are no different that ones that are filled with daily fee muni players. Your members buy equipment. The equipment industry is a $6 Billion dollar industry. Whether you like it or not, they are buying equipment. A fitting event gives them the avenue to get a unique experience and get equipment that truly suits their game – and buy it from you. YOU are the one who provides that service to them due to your relationship and partnership with the manufacturers that you work with. YOU should benefit from this event, and HOW you conduct this event will determine how much you benefit. 

First, a fitting event can be one of your biggest profit generators for you or your club if done right. Your involvement in that event is 100% critical. It may be more important than my involvement in the event. Your responsibility is to get the right people there – not just people, but the people who legitimately are interested and want to buy. I can’t do that for you. You have to do that if the event will be a success. If this is an afterthought, the event will not be a success. These events need to be prepared for, talked about (promoted), planned for, and executed – just like any other event at a club. Let’s say you have a “Mudders” season starting kick off event. You get 100 players and charge $50 per player. The club made $5000 for this event, and you might make a few dollars on tee gifts. Would you send out the announcement for this event a week (or less) before the event and then leave the players on their own to make tee times, pairings, results, etc. Of course you wouldn’t. How would you staff an event like this? Would you book lessons during sign in and when the event is coming in? Would you give your bag staff the day off so your assistants can run carts? Would you let your assistants go play somewhere else that day. Of course you wouldn’t. You’d want all hands on deck to ensure the event’s success. If you don’t prepare for a fitting event on a larger scale with a similar timeline as an event like that, you are not preparing for it correctly.

How else are you going to make $2000+ in 4 hours? Lessons at $100/ hour = 20 hours of lessons. If you make $5/ per player in a club tournament, at 100 players per event, you’d need to run 4 of those – that would take a minimum of 40 hours. Consider the payroll to make either of those happen…

You don’t have to be overbearing on promoting the event. You see a member at the club in the hallway walking to the locker room “Hey Doc, Callaway is gonna be here Saturday. I didn’t see your name on the list. They’re your brand!! You’re not coming to at least check it out??”

Second, These are your members and this is your show. You run the show, not the company that is there for the event. The event is YOURS to run. The company fitters are there to support you and your members. We fit them WITH you, not FOR you. They know and trust you. They don’t know the company fitters. Many think that company fitters are paid for what they fit and sell. At Callaway, our guys get an hourly rate and they do not make any additional money if something is bought or not. Ironically, If a set of irons is sold, I make $20 – $40 depending on the set, while the account holder (facility or Pro who owns the shop) can make north of $500 depending on the set. Your enthusiasm instills excitement. Your presence instills confidence and trust in your members. If you trust us, your members trust us. If you approve of the fitting we do, your member approves of the fitting we do. You have to be there and be engaged to give your stamp of approval. Trust and approval leads to confidence, which leads to sales. Your show should equate to sales and profit dollars for you. Why bother with it if you aren’t going to maximize the event? 

Third, instruction. Most players come to these events thinking they can buy a game. Not all members have the best golf swings and many need some help. Often they are limited by their swings, technique, ability, AND their equipment. Sometime a quick tip is in order. YOU need to be on hand to give this instruction to YOUR members, players and students. If a player needs instruction, you should be there to suggest and book instruction. If he needs a quick tip – you giving him a free, quick tip, will go a long way towards the future relationship with the player. It will also make it exponentially easier to sell him the new equipment that he wants. 

Fourth, when the fitting is complete, and player, fitter and Golf Professional all agree that it is the right fit, it’s time to sell it. How are you going to grant your consent that the fit is a good one for the player if you are not there, and did not observe the fitting? Your consent and role in the process – whether you put a club in the players hands or not, whether you offer instruction or not, or whether you even say anything or not – you’re consent is vital to the process. Your member, player or student trusts you. If you buy in, they buy in. Once that happens, if the player is going to buy, he will be more ready to buy than at any other point during the process. This equipment is YOURS to sell. We can not sell it for you – YOU set the prices, not us. Me discussing prices for you is price fixing (manufacturer who sold it to you dictates what you have to sell it for) and is illegal. I’m not even supposed to discuss pricing with a consumer. This is 100% up to you. If you are not there to sell it, how is it going to get sold?? The short answer is it probably won’t. The player may go home and think about it, change his mind. 6 out of 10 do if you’re not there. Strike while the iron is hot – take the player and the fitting sheet to the golf shop, figure a price and close the deal. That’s why YOU make the profit on the sale. 

Fitting events at facilities with professionals who actively participate in them are significantly more profitable and successful than those who don’t. Fittings result in sales at over a 90% rate at these events vs. less than 25% at events where the Professional is not involved or not present. If you look at the 10 appointment event referenced above, that means that 9 of the 10 people buy from you if you are there, and less than 3 buy from you if you aren’t. Guess what. The member is still sold on the equipment – he may shop around and buy elsewhere if you aren’t there. We don’t give the player his specs, but he may remember only some of it and buy mis-fit clubs because he wants to get something. Remember, It’s a $6 Billion dollar industry, and the other 6+ players who didn’t buy from you might buy from someone else. People are looking for a reason to support their pro and their facility, but they will go elsewhere if the feeling isn’t reciprocated. 

These events are a tremendous opportunity for you to provide a service to your membership that they can only get from you. Plan for it, promote it, participate in it and profit from it, just like you would any other major event at your facility. Clear your schedule to participate, and be involved. Yes, you’re spending time with “just” 10 of your 300 members in that 4 hour block, but that relationship with those members will get even better as a result of your dedication to them. Maybe you gain some lesson opportunities at the same time. Not only that, you have given your membership no reason to go anywhere but to you for all their golf needs. Hosting events like this showcase your ability to provide for the membership and be “the Man or Woman” – The authority that members want to seek out. All of this, and, you put a couple thousand bucks in your pocket at the same time. 

I hope this helps!! Happy Fitting.