A Sales Guy | Sales Advice | Sales Coaching Going Golfing | A Sales Guy | Sales Advice

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

It’s 6:30 a.m. and I’m getting ready to go golfing. This is my first time out this year and only the 3rd time in the last year.

I used to be a good golfer, OK decent. My lowest handicap was a 12. Now, who knows. Besides having 3 kids under the age of 4, the reason I don’t golf as much anymore is it’s not part of my sales stack.

Golfing used to be a big part of the sales process 10-15 years ago. There was a time when I’d have two or three client golf outings a month. It’s how business got done and even more important, it’s how relationships were managed.

Today’s selling and business worlds have changed. I haven’t had a customer golf outing in 5 years. People are just too busy. They don’t have the time or inclination to spend a day on the golf course in order to get things done. Jill Konrath‘s new book Snap Selling talks about this very issue.

Now that golf has lost it’s grip as a customary sales tool, my game has gone to crap. I’m looking forward to playing this a.m. It’s going to be fun. I’m playing with a friend and former employee. He’s still a good golfer, I don’t know how he does it.

Business no longer subsidizes my golf. I’m going to have to find a new way to get out on the course more often. I do enjoy golf. It would be great to make the goal I set a long time ago — to have a single digit handicap.

I took my daughters to the driving range twice last week. Maybe that’s my ticket. We’ll see.

Is golf still part of your sales stack?

http://www.training-insights.com SueSchnorr

Hi Jim,
Same story for me. I hadn't touched my clubs in the 8 years since my older daughter came along! And, like you say, no one can afford a day out of the office anymore! I took my daughter to a par 3 course, and she did great for her first time. Me, not so much! :0 We are going to play on a parent/child league at this little course; so maybe at least my short game will improve! Happy golfing and selling!
http://asalesguy.com Keenan

Four triples in a row, not the prettiest round of golf in the world.
Oh for the good old days.

My customers kept my game in the 90's

//keenan
http://scottschnaars.com Scott Schnaars

Golf hasn't been part of my sales stack in 8 or 10 years. After clients stopped playing, it was a great team building thing and I'd take my team the first day of every quarter. Unfortunately, not too many of them play now, so I'm playing less business golf than ever. I have found though, that for the right opportunity, you can get them on the course. I'm pretty sure I could call up a customer and say 'let's go play Pebble' and they will be in the car on the way over. If I say, 'let's go play the local muni', I'll lose that deal every time. Like anything you're selling, the opportunity needs to be special.

I still manage to get out a few times a month though. One of the benefits of living in the Bay Area is year round golf. I have a great 1:1 relationship with my wife. She takes the kids for a day and I golf, I take the kids for a day and she does her thing. It's allowed me to hang on to a fairly respectable index, though a far cry from my pre-kids index.

Next time you're in the bay area, let's be sure to play.

Going Golfing

Keenan 411

Keenan a Top 50 Sales and Marketing Influencer for 2012

Get My Newsletter

Archives

Categories

Translation