Discovery Golf Brings Business
and People Together
TravelGolf.com
Staff Report
Better Golf, better business ... It's about people.
Just about all business is about people. More so if your job happens to be in the service sector, such as lawyer, accountant or medical. Ask yourself the following. What part of any business does not depend on people to sell, make, service or deliver? OK, so if these people are understood, motivated, happy and passionate, how will they perform?
Harvard Business School can provide a number of case studies that prove that loyal employees create loyal customers. Isn't that what we all want?
Discovery Golf, a unique London-based company, offers a refreshing approach to ensuring a company benefits from loyal, happy and passionate employees. It uses the game of golf to help employees develop better business relationships with clients, other staff within the company and also improves personal performance. Setting goals and personal growth is as important in golf as it is in business.
Whilst we might assume that people have the skill to win (sufficient ability to do their job), very often they do not possess the will to win (desire) and Discovery Golf motivates people to do better and continuously set new and achievable goals.
People learn most effectively when they are involved and when they enjoy the learning experience. As Confucius says, " Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand." When was the last time you really enjoyed sitting in a classroom for six hours listening to a speaker? Discovery Golf training combines both the indoor and outdoor learning experience.
The end result is a more efficient organisation with higher staff retention, improved sales performance and greater customer retention.
Why golf and business?
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Golf, more closely than most other sports, resembles the business environment. The game is played on surfaces of varying length, not always on a level playing surface and subject to weather changes, hidden hazards etc. Business, like the game of golf, is an ever-changing experience. Those employees that can retain focus and manage their emotions under pressure, without becoming caught up in the hectic flow of day to day events, will perform better at both golf and business.
Golf is a prestige sport and both customers and staff will feel more valued if invited to a day's golf than, for example, an outward-bound rock climbing day, quad bikes, or a day at the races.
The informality of the golf course is often a more conducive place to discuss important business matters, so that competing egos do not get in the way as they might in an office environment.
Most importantly, if you ring a potential customer and ask for a meeting, you are likely to get 30 minutes of their time. vSuggest a game of golf and you can expect three to four hours of quality time, during which you can observe their behaviour and how that person reacts to and handles challenges.
It is this observation of behaviour that is the key to all Discovery Golf services. How people react, what they say and do in certain situations, is all relevant to developing the important business relationships.
People will often do things to the detriment of their company and themselves simply because they like the other person. They will make the decision emotionally and justify it later. A good salesperson knows to sell themselves first and the service second.
Discovery Golf's training aspect also differs from 'traditional' training. Instead of focusing on what is wrong with the employee/company and how to put it right, our trainers look at the corporate objective and how to get there.
This 'fast-track' approach means that training can be completed in a matter of hours rather than days/weeks, and as such, is consequently often less expensive than traditional training methods.
The range of Discovery Golf programmes covers aspects of leadership, client relationship management, team dynamics, staff retention and many other relevant management issues.
The Discovery Golf concept can also easily be added to a firms' existing Corporate Hospitality event. In todays difficult economic environment, where we are all not just doing business with customers, but are actually in business with customers, there is a serious need to justify the expenditure of taking customers on hospitality days. In these events, what does the host company get out of the day other than an intangible benefit that hopefully the guests will stay loyal as customers? With Discovery Golf, the added value comes from involving your customers in an informal training opportunity ( better golf, better business), understanding clearly how each of them wishes to be treated, and offering them something a little different from the normal 27 holes of golf and dinner! It can also be assigned to the training budget as opposed to promotion/hospitality budget and therefore may provide certain tax advantages.
Simply send your business details to Discovery Golf and they will provide you with their unique Personal Golfing Profile, free of charge and without obligation.
The profile illustrates your golfing style and suggests ways to improve performance under pressure. It encourages you to raise your standards, both in the work and golf environment to achieve better golf and better business.
E-mail info@discoverygolf.com, fax on 0207 618 8001, or write to Discovery Golf plc, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6NQ. There is also a web site at: bettergolfbetterbusiness.com for those that have a relationship with their screens instead of other people!
