Sunday, May 08, 2005

Customer Satisfaction

Jeff Foster at The Golf Channel says that I'm at my best when identifying problems I can then help solve. I think he's right.

My latest obsession is golf and travel. Although the numbers may be just a tad off, here's the way I frame it up:

There are 6.3 million "avid" golfers in the U.S. (An "avid" is defined as one who plays at least 25 rounds per year.) And there are approximately 1.5 million "affluent avid" golfers (avids with more than $125k in HHI). Affluent avids take three golf trips per year.

So if you're running or marketing a golf destination - especially an upscale property - your primary opportunity is sitting right there in paragraph 3: affluent avid golfers taking golf trips.

Where do they go? Where do they want to go?

They are twice as likely to choose their next destination based on a referral than due to a mailer they receive or an ad they read. They are more likely to go where they go because someone they know tells them they should consider it.

Golf professionals, avid golfers, writers we enjoy and trust - these are the true influencers in golf travel.

So, there are, let's say, 1.5 million candidates for visiting your golf resort. Some have been there before. Will they return? Will they bring a group with them? Will they recommend that their friends visit?

What? You don't know? You don't know if they had a good trip, what they liked, what they didn't like?

That 1.5 million opportunity gets pretty small if you're not delivering customer satisfaction.

And how do you know if you're delivering or not if you're not measuring it?

I am obsessed with developing a customer satisfaction measurement model that can transcend performance from one resort to the other, capture the data, help the resorts compare their deliveries to others in their competitive set, and, most important, with this knowledge improve in key areas so that they can grow and perpetuate a kind of "virtuous circle" of excellence.

4 Comments:

Blogger Mark Burris - BURRIS said...

Jay, thanks for filling in some of the background. God knows, the tools are there - or could be rather easily. You're right: it's getting the owner, company or brand interested enough in using them - to help themselves.

6:46 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I know this post is really old but I have been doing some research about customer service. Have you had any recent developments with your ideas? I just took a customer service survey</a that quizzes you about your understanding of customer service. I missed a lot but it helped me to see what I need to strengthen when it comes to customer service.

1:45 PM  
Blogger Mark Burris - BURRIS said...

Carrie, no, I was unable to market or monetize my quest to measure satisfaction across multiple resorts.

2:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The tools are out there! Here are a few places you can obtain them. A website Mindshare which has been VERY helpful to me and aslo a book customer service book that I really enjoyed. Hope these help! P.s. Golf and Travel are great thing to be interested in :)

9:47 PM  

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