Customer Satisfaction - 2
Lately I've been shopping around this idea I have to conduct an industry-wide survey for golf resorts. A lot of people seem interested, virtually everyone agrees it would be beneficial - for golfers who travel as well as for the golf resorts who want them - but so far no sponsors.
Imagine: the equivalent of what JD Power does for autos, airlines and, now, even healthcare (!). Measuring delivery on the service promise, customer satisfaction and intent - man, it's the Mother Lode!
Why am I interested in doing this?
- BURRIS no longer works with a golf resort, and in addition to the fact that I believe we should be, we have quite a bit of knowledge and experience that could be put to good use in leading such a study.
- I am a golf traveler myself (you can tell that on my "other" blog, "Golfography"), and over the years my experience tells me that golf resorts don't pay enough attention to their customers: what they want and what they think.
- I believe such a survey has ongoing value, that ultimately there's a research subscription model here, one where the very same resorts we'll be surveying pay a fee to see the results, verbatims, and comparisons with their competitive set.
- And, finally, perhaps it may lead to what I refer to as "hire the inspector" business. (When the Terminix guy finds evidence of termites, who do you hire to get rid of the little buggers?) The natural question at Wild Dunes or Sea Island after learning that their guests aren't likely to return or recommend the resort to their friends is to drill into the problem areas and develop marketing (and other) solutions.
Let's face it: this is an increasingly transparent consumer society; the web has made it so. Customers can find out the real factory invoice cost for a new car before going to the dealer; we can check special sites such as Epinions.com to see what others have said about a camera or vacation we're considering. And at eBay and Amazon virtually every transaction, every product and every seller is rated by the buyers. Netflix asks me to rate the movies I rent; now they even ask if I want to recommend what I watch to a friend.
So if resorts fear their guests or prospects might react negatively - that is, not come, stay and play - then all I can tell them is that genie's already out of the bottle.
Look! More than 75% of golf travelers take at least one golf trip per year. If they come to your place, you'd better deliver them satisfaction, and if you don't, you'd better know how you failed...so you can fix it. Why? Because they won't come back, and they won't recommend you to their friends, family or associates.
This is a small market, these "affluent avids." Just how many there are, we're going to find out. What they think about where they go, where they want to go next - we're going to find that out too.
Imagine: the equivalent of what JD Power does for autos, airlines and, now, even healthcare (!). Measuring delivery on the service promise, customer satisfaction and intent - man, it's the Mother Lode!
Why am I interested in doing this?
- BURRIS no longer works with a golf resort, and in addition to the fact that I believe we should be, we have quite a bit of knowledge and experience that could be put to good use in leading such a study.
- I am a golf traveler myself (you can tell that on my "other" blog, "Golfography"), and over the years my experience tells me that golf resorts don't pay enough attention to their customers: what they want and what they think.
- I believe such a survey has ongoing value, that ultimately there's a research subscription model here, one where the very same resorts we'll be surveying pay a fee to see the results, verbatims, and comparisons with their competitive set.
- And, finally, perhaps it may lead to what I refer to as "hire the inspector" business. (When the Terminix guy finds evidence of termites, who do you hire to get rid of the little buggers?) The natural question at Wild Dunes or Sea Island after learning that their guests aren't likely to return or recommend the resort to their friends is to drill into the problem areas and develop marketing (and other) solutions.
Let's face it: this is an increasingly transparent consumer society; the web has made it so. Customers can find out the real factory invoice cost for a new car before going to the dealer; we can check special sites such as Epinions.com to see what others have said about a camera or vacation we're considering. And at eBay and Amazon virtually every transaction, every product and every seller is rated by the buyers. Netflix asks me to rate the movies I rent; now they even ask if I want to recommend what I watch to a friend.
So if resorts fear their guests or prospects might react negatively - that is, not come, stay and play - then all I can tell them is that genie's already out of the bottle.
Look! More than 75% of golf travelers take at least one golf trip per year. If they come to your place, you'd better deliver them satisfaction, and if you don't, you'd better know how you failed...so you can fix it. Why? Because they won't come back, and they won't recommend you to their friends, family or associates.
This is a small market, these "affluent avids." Just how many there are, we're going to find out. What they think about where they go, where they want to go next - we're going to find that out too.
posted by Mark Burris - BURRIS at 5/30/2005 11:54:00 AM
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