Knowledge is power

TGI Golf Partnership retail consultant for Scotland, Ricky Gray, discusses how customer surveys can help to gain a full understanding of your customers, which in turn, will help you to run an efficient and successful business.

In the retail world, knowledge is power, and if the pandemic taught us anything, it highlighted the crucial importance of having customer data to drive footfall to your business.

This was especially vital when we were closed to the public and had to rely on other means of selling.

Post-pandemic, capturing customer data has become the most important thing a business can do to protect itself and drive footfall both to physical stores and online businesses.

So, how do we do it? Among the TGI partners, we have seen significant success recently with partners distributing data capture surveys to their existing database via email marketing or through their club database.

Customer surveys offer a multitude of benefits that extend far beyond mere feedback collection. They provide a huge opportunity to get to know our customers better and gather valuable information about their likes, dislikes, specific needs and preferences within golf retail.

Understanding how survey data can help a golf retailer run their business better can be illustrated in two examples…

Pre-booking period

Having data on your customers regarding their sizes and brand preferences can help you bring the right products into the shop at the right time.

For instance, we can identify the most popular hardware brands, enabling us to engage with the majority of customers within our community.

In apparel, having the customer data allows you to stock a representative selection of brands that you know will resonate with your footfall. This gives you and your business a significant advantage when making buying decisions, as well as ensuring that the size runs you bring in will hit the mark because you have that data on your customers.

On the flip side, getting feedback on customer dislikes and brands to avoid will save you time, money and effort by preventing you from stocking the wrong products.

Selling period

At the end of the season, when we are trying to clear out-of-season stock from the pro shop, having a database with customer-specific data is incredibly beneficial.

It allows you to target customers with tailored products and offers. For example, if we have 12 pairs of size nine shoes left at the end of the year and our database indicates that we have 62 customers who wear size nine, we can send a targeted email marketing communication to those 62 people offering them shoes in their size to help clear the stock.

If you want to be super fancy, you could also tailor the communication to include their favourite shoe brands, as we have that data too, providing them with an incredibly bespoke offer that will likely see great success.

But the advantages of customer surveys and data collection go further than these examples.

Surveys can also reveal trends and shifts in customer preferences over time, helping you stay ahead of the curve. For instance, if a particular brand starts falling out of favour, you’ll know to reduce your orders for that brand before it becomes a problem.

On the flip side, if a new brand is gaining popularity, you’ll be able to consider stocking it to meet the new demand.

Additionally, surveys can help you understand the demographics of your customer base, such as age, gender and handicap / ability. This information can help you create lesson packages to suit their needs and abilities and send them to the right people via your email marketing.

We can also survey their understanding of custom fitting, which will help you to educate the right customers on its importance and the benefits being fitted can bring to their enjoyment of the game.

Customer surveys can also help you identify potential areas for expansion. If you discover that many of your customers are interested in a product or service that you don’t currently offer, you might consider adding it to your line up – an indoor studio for example or perhaps overseas coaching trips. This can open new revenue streams and help you grow your business to new heights.

Finally, customer surveys can help build stronger relationships with your customers – it shows you care about them.

By asking for their opinions and acting on their feedback, you show that you value their input and are committed to providing the best possible service within the pro shop. This can lead to increased customer loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals within their fourball, which are invaluable for any business.

To summarise, capturing customer data through surveys is not just about gathering information. It’s about using that information to make informed decisions that benefit both your business and your customers.

By understanding their information, you can provide a better customer experience within the pro shop, improved customer satisfaction and ultimately drive footfall to your shop.

Whether you’re in the buying period for next season, planning your shop layout and stock, in the middle of the selling season, clearing old stock, having detailed customer data is a game-changer for your retail business.