The historic increases in demand for many golf course operators in 2020 begs the question “How can I maximize the opportunity for increasing average revenue per customer?”. The answer: Upsell and Cross-Sell
We’ve put together 6 strategies for successfully upselling and cross-selling customers.
1. Know your Customer and Design Targeted Promotions
Organizing your customers in segments based on their goals will help you send targeted messages. Are they a beginner or advanced? Are they weekend warriors? Do they only play mid-week in the late afternoon? Do they visit your restaurant or buy merchandise? Do they pay your peak rate? Maybe they spend a lot of time practicing? Knowing some answers to these questions and properly segmenting them in your POS and email marketing software allows for more precise messages aimed at addressing their goals as a customer, which in turn increases engagement and conversion rates.
2. Use Social Proof to Make the Case
Social proof is defined as people mimicking the actions of others because they think it’s the right behavior. An easy example is online reviews because people make purchasing decisions based on positive or negative reviews. If you’d like to get a free look at your online presence, you can submit your website here. Another example might be to highlight specific stories in your marketing of how customers benefited from amenities, experiences, and programming at your facility.
3. Highlight the Benefits to the Customer of the Upsell or Cross-Sell
Be sure to focus on what your offer can do for them. How would this improve the experience or value to your customer? It’s always about them and how you can help them accomplish their goal.
4. Include Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities in the Standard Processes
An example of this might be showing tee times 2 weeks in advance with a message that encourages them to upgrade to your loyalty program and take advantage of the 2-week advanced tee times. At check-in, you could also offer them an upsell of merchandise or food and beverage, making them compelling bundles. Or, after they book a tee time, maybe the page redirects to a landing page with an offer suggesting bundles that are “Frequently Bought Together” (e.g. “Many customers also added a bucket of range balls and cooler of beer”).
5. Offer a Quick Win to the Customer
This might include giving them a complimentary bucket of balls, invite to a free golf clinic, maybe a beverage, etc. This shows your customer that you really do want to deliver tangible value to them. They will also pay more attention to your promotions because they’ve already benefited from them early in the relationship.
6. Create Urgency or Scarcity
It’s commonly known that creating a sense of urgency or scarcity can make a compelling offer, motivating the customer to act so they don’t miss out. Specifying the number available or placing a countdown ticker with a deadline for purchasing the offer can drive more sales.
We encourage you to look at all your touch points with customers to determine when and where it might fit to add upsell and cross-sell opportunities. As always, please reach out to me anytime if you’d like to discuss ideas and solutions for your marketing. You can reach me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and (407) 395-4705.
