Throughout the industrial era of modern history, thinkers have railed against the real and imagined evils of technological “progress.” From Dickens (Oliver Twist) to Thoreau (Walden) to Carson (Silent Spring), writers have decried the loss of some tangible good to the grindstone of advancement.

We have all felt it in our lives- bottled water, spam, oxygen bars, cell phones, identity theft and the list goes on and on. One of the more annoying facts of modern life is the loss of that personal touch in areas such as customer service. Everyone has experienced the frustration of automated messaging services that never quite reach the needed information. There are entire organizations that exist just to circumvent these systems.

Golf, as an industry, is not immune from this pitfall. With the constant pressure to maximize profitability, the allure of cost-cutting technological deployment is certainly necessary; but how far is too far?

There is nothing wrong with having an automated phone system, as long as it offers the ability to reach a live person (I particularly like clubs that have a good Scottish brogue on their system). Too many clubs, particularly private clubs, use the phone system as a way of taking the responsibility of answering the phone out of everyone’s job desciption. The result tends to be that only the pleasant calls are returned and the disgruntled are left to stew. Technology can lead to a lack of communication.

Technology can also lead to too much of the wrong kind of communication. This is most prevalent in public courses with a variety of amenities. These days you hear a lot of lip service paid to the necessity of consistent email marketing. I am one of the biggest advocates of this ideology. However sending information [emails / ezines/ newsletters/ specials] needs to be constrained by certain parameters. Three really common mistakes are made with email marketing programs.

1) Frequency issues- Too frequent communications are the cardinal sin of email marketing. There are a couple of ways to establish consistent, effective communication- use a periodic newsletter approach (e.g. a monthly ezine that appears on the same day each month) or a less systematic communique that is ONLY triggered when you have something IMPORTANT to communicate.
2) Irrelevant content- Regardless of how structured your frequency is, you MUST transmit relevant content. This is a function of having a properly segmented database and recognizing what messages are appropriate for the different segments within your database.
3) Ill-formulated content- Your communications should be clearly written and as succinct as possible. You have just a second or two to peak the interest of your subscriber. Otherwise your message will be banished to the trash bin. Don’t get too cute and flowerly. Put your top offer at the top and don’t make the reader dig for it. Have a good hook and present it early.

There are certainly other ways in which technology can impinge on a club’s relationship with its clientele, but the potential to communicate more effectively utilizing these tools is infinitely greater than any problems caused. I went to the course to play deliberately….Bad pun. Sorry Mr. Thoreau.

Next time- using technology to communicate effectively.