Taking these phone bookings can be difficult for your business. Not having a strategy for handling these calls can hurt your business, especially by tying up your resources. This has a significant impact on your revenue.
Golf courses need a better strategy for handling phone calls. You might think that online bookings have reduced the number of calls for many golf courses. Yet, 80% of tee times are still not booked online, meaning most golfers are still calling to make their reservations.
The good news is that there is an easy way to handle these phone calls: outsource your phone line to a departure reservation call center! This is not a crazy idea. When you think about it, it makes sense to send these calls to an organization with trained specialists who can handle reservations quickly and efficiently at all times.
Are you skeptical? Here are four reasons why outbound call centers are a great option to reduce costs and increase revenue.
1. Data collection is guaranteed
Players who call to book tee times are what we typically call “walk-ins,” or customers qatar number for whatsapp who are not yet cardholders, are unknown to the business, and may not have played the course in the past. This means that the player’s email, phone number, and credit card are not yet stored in your club’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
Capturing this data is essential for your marketing efforts . Having a customer’s email or phone number allows golf courses to increase visits through automated email and SMS marketing campaigns . Having a customer’s credit card number reduces hassle when purchasing a round and increases the likelihood that the player will return.
The problem is that when a member of your team answers the phone on a busy day, the chances of them capturing customer data and entering it into the CRM are very low. This represents a missed opportunity for you.
When you implement a call center strategy, you ensure that a specialist can calmly ask for the player’s personal information, and accurately enter it into your golf club’s CRM. The point here is that once you have captured this data, you can start promoting your offers to these players to encourage repeat visits.
2. Return on investment
If you're not sure how call centers can help you increase your revenue, let us explain.
Most golf courses are open between 6am and 6pm, which means that these are the only times when customers can call and reasonably expect to get a reservation over the phone. The problem is that customers don’t always call during business hours; they may call early in the morning or the night before. A golfer who calls to book a round at 5am wants to play golf somewhere, whether it’s on your course or off. Not taking that call represents a missed opportunity and lost revenue.
Call centers are open 24/7, so you can’t miss a call. This is a huge advantage. Consider the increase in revenue you would see if you added 100 extra after-hours departures per month. At an average of $50 per tour, that’s a loss of $5,000 per month.
Of course, there are costs associated with using a call center, about $2.50 per booked departure. However, these costs can be easily justified in terms of ROI when considering additional bookings outside of business hours. As in the example above, would you spend $250 to generate $5,000?
3. Better customer service
There is nothing worse than being put on hold and having to converse with stressed employees. Such experiences do not represent the level of service that golf clubs aspire to.
Call centers offer customers a relaxed and friendly telephone booking experience without rushing. These employees are committed to providing the best possible service.
A good booking experience is more important than you think since it represents the first point of contact a customer has with your business. So, think about the image your customer will have of your club if they receive poor service on their first call because your staff is too busy.
4. Efficiency and cost reduction
Your employees shouldn't have to answer the phone all day. It doesn't make sense for your team members to be on the phone when they could be registering players, selling equipment, or giving lessons.
Using a call center strategy is one way to increase efficiency and distribute tasks to a focused team of specialists. Busier golf courses could even reduce staffing costs by adopting such an approach.