_Dec/equippedforsales.jpg "Equipped for Sales")
At Franconia Golf Course, success is linked—literally and figuratively—to ensuring customers are well equipped. Management of the Springfield, Massachusetts, course offers a popular club restoration and tune-up for $129 that entices golfers to make Franconia their preferred golf retail outlet.
“We have a lot of repeat customers,” says general manager Kevin Kennedy, whose firm also oversees Springfield’s Veterans Memorial Golf Course and owns both courses’ retail and club repair operations. “We make sure our customers get everything they need here so they don’t go somewhere else. If they go somewhere else, they might find they like somewhere else.”
The three-year-old service includes an eight-step process to completely inspect, repair and restore a golfer’s entire set. To date, Kennedy and his staff have performed in excess of 1,000 club tune-ups, including more than 400 in 2014. Factoring the fee and up-charges, three-year gross revenue is “definitely six figures-plus,” Kennedy says.
“The success was kind of accidental,” he adds. “We didn’t think it would be this popular. We work year-round.”
The biggest surprise to Kennedy is the willingness of customers to buy up. “They’ll up-charge to a more costly grip, and next thing you know the $129 service turns into $200,” he says. “People are still willing to spend a lot of money on their clubs, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a lot less than buying a new set.”
In addition to repair revenue, the program has led to new club sales. Kennedy often has to inform golfers their clubs aren’t worth the $129 fee, and for those who can’t afford a new set of irons, he’ll offer $50 or $60 in trade for a new club or maybe $200 for a set of irons.
“I’d say 20 percent coming in for the restoration/tune-up go to newer clubs,” Kennedy says. “All roads lead to sales.”
—Steve Donahue