It has taken a while to get the initiative off the ground. We weren’t sure in the middle whether it was worth the money, but we stuck to our guns and carried on. I felt in my bones that it should work, a feeling that persistence would pay off and it has. Here’s how it happened.
I’m referring to the orange advert you see regularly on this page stating that the ‘Best Coaching in the Algarve’ is available for €67.50. Ok, it’s a touch bold to say that anything is the ‘best’ but we needed to catch the eye so that the reader would pick up the phone and enquire.
We got the idea from the Pestana advert on this page, which states that they offer the ‘Best Golf in the Algarve’ and since we are based at a Pestana venue, it seemed to make sense to have a similar message. So we started an advertising campaign, sounds very grand for me, a Golf Coach, who’s only knowledge about advertising and marketing comes from my oldest friend who works in the industry. Over the years, what he has said to me is that the central premise of any marketing is to be consistent, to almost be outrageous in your claim, to be able to back up your claim and make sure the advert has a route to contacting you.
Simple really, but very difficult when you start and nothing happens. It took weeks before the first person phoned and enquired. We said if we were going to advertise, the duration had to be a year to really gauge its effectiveness. Which is remarkably difficult when part of your brain really hopes that the twenty odd thousand people, who read this paper weekly, all will have a burning desire to improve their game. Fanciful delusions fill your head imagining that the phone would ring off the hook and we would need to hire another coach to take care of the demand.
Didn’t happen. Never will happen.
Back to reality, what we started advertising is ‘Fundamentals’ group coaching; a course of six hourly lessons over six weeks. We restrict the numbers in the class to six so that everybody gets a chance to have some individual coaching. This in turn enables me to record the swings at the start of the lessons and show how they have developed over the weeks.
We cover all of the fundamentals within golf including the swing, putting, chipping and bunkers. All of this for €67,50. Our main goal is to give the player the opportunity to understand and get the basics correct, so everything from then on is easily implemented, without having to go back to the drawing board.
The cross section of players who have attended the courses has been a revelation, nothing at all like we expected. There appears to be a rich vein of players who have tried to play before but the game never ‘stuck’ or the bug never ‘bit’. So they are willing to give it another try. Unfortunately, one the hardest parts of the game is finding someone at the same stage as you who can empathise with what you are going through. Patience in this situation is not necessary as everybody is at the same stage.
What’s great about the experiment is that we have brought all of these likeminded players together, developed their skills, increased their confidence and shown them the route to competence on the course.
The formula has worked so well that we have now added a ‘Fundamentals Plus’ course where the group size is reduced to four, so there can be more one-to-one attention. We have even recruited a Physiotherapist for one of the six sessions, to make our players more aware of the best warm-up routine and additional stretches to help maintain tone and strength for the coming golfing years. Getting older doesn’t have to mean getting shorter or worse.
We have, in the pipeline, a social event in April and a potential competition in the autumn. Not bad considering the phone, for these courses, didn’t really start ringing until four months after the first advert. Sometimes, I guess, you have to wait for momentum to gather.
If you think you, or a friend or family member could benefit from this refreshing approach to golf coaching then look for the orange advert on this page, make the call and start the journey. The golf bug may bite this time…