How and Why Your Golf Course Should Attend Consumer GOLFEXPOS

Consumer Trade Shows
There are a whole list of consumer focused trade shows coming up this spring, some golf specific and others that golf courses may still benefit from attending. Here are our reasons why you should attend at least one targeted trade show this spring and our tips to get the biggest return on your investment.

Why Your Golf Course Should Attend A Consumer Golf Show This Spring
The reasons below are good ones… but here is the real secret as to why you should be attending consumer shows… you can sell shit at them! (Pre-season cash flow is never a bad thing.)

Three, five, ten game packs etc. are all good ideas. Consumers come to these shows to buy, make them a great offer! We’ve heard numbers as high as $50,000 in a weekend of sales. Not bad for a small investment. But you have to put in the work too!

1. Buying decisions are influenced by what consumers can see and touch.
2. Visitors will tell others about what they saw.
3. According to a study by Exhibit Surveys, 50% of attendees will make a purchase as a result of attending a show.
4. Pre-season is the right time to make a lasting impression.
5. Relationships with customers and potential customers can be built in a few minutes face-to-face.

How To Attend a Consumer Golf Show
Again the stuff below is good but… decide what you are going to sell. It has to be a compelling offer and perceived as a ‘deal’. From our experience what we have learned is that about 15 – 20% of gift cards/ rounds of golf never get redeemed. Think about that for a minute… if you discount a round of golf by 20% (to generate cash flow) your yield will like not change because of the burn rate! You have nothing to lose.

1. Take time to figure out how you are going to present at your best. What can you do to stand out in a crowd?
2. Decide on ONLY one or two key messages. You may have only a minute with each consumer so make the most of it.
3. Make your booth open and inviting, don’t place the table across the front. And no chairs. Interact, don’t sit. Engage with each person that walks by with at minimum a smile.
4. Discuss how you will engage visitors to collect as many names as possible for your database.
5. Keep a special log of highly engaged visitors such as those that enquire about a tournament, lesson package, banquet etc. and offer to follow up with them with more specific information within a week.
6. Give your staff a pre-show pep-talk. Encourage them to engage – move towards visitors coming into the booth, make eye contact and pose questions.
7. Make sure that each of your staff in attendance gets a chance to walk the entire show floor to look at competitor and supplier booths for ideas and inspirations.

8. Networking is a valuable part of exhibiting, don’t just talk to visitors, take some time to connect with your fellow exhibitors, you never know what can come from the connections you create.

We, Jeff and Tara Ciecko of CK Golf write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other an Industry Blog where we comment on general business and internet marketing best practices, sales strategies and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf for 9 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. As of August 2016 our life and our business will be ‘location independent’. Our 19th Hole Blog is about the places we visit and the things we do. If you have any questions or comments, or happen to be in the same location as us please reach out and contact us anytime.