In case you missed the other four parts and are completely lost with How to Play Business golf I have the links below:
Part 1: The Plan
Part 2: The Invitation
Part 3: The Show
Part 4: The Chat
But, knowing how busy most people are here are my CTTC (Cut To The Chase) notes.
You should now have filled in your calendar with your first wave of business golf outings for initiating of “The Plan”. You also now understand the importance of making the business connection solid with “The Invitation”. You have learned how important the Plan is for the day of the golf outing or what to do at ‘The Show’ as I refer to it here. And…you now know where the business part of business golf is started in “The Chat”. Now for the Grand Finale of the round of business golf that is the most important by-product produced from playing golf with someone and the relationship developed with that person… This is were you start the process of moving the business from the golf course to the meeting room.
Final Step: The Follow-Up
There is one aspect of golf only a golfer truly understands about golf and that is the Respect initially developed from playing golf with someone. In Golf, who wins or loses is secondary to how the person won or lost and how they handled winning or losing. Golf is a game of skill that mirrors the person’s true character. The more skillful a golfer becomes the more they demonstrate and develop their inherent character traits. Golf can tame the beast in a person’s character and develop tremendous positive character traits just from the experience gained by playing golf. Golf is underestimated by many due to this lack of understanding only someone who plays golf holds.
As a result of the respect golfers have for one another Trust is established. It is that Trust built from a round of business golf that sets it apart from any other form of business relationship development. With each round of golf a person plays with a person more trust is developed. Each time a round of business golf is played with a person a deposit is made in the Solid Business Relationship Trust (SBRT) account which is the initial ROI on the round of business golf. Once you gained trust of someone then the respect for acquiring that honor develops into a true solid fruitful business relationship
Trust Opens Doors
The level of trust established during the relative short period of time of a round of business golf is significant. It is that trust that makes the last part of the round of business golf more powerful and productive than any other form of business development
It is now time to make a withdraw from the SBRT by initiating the Follow Up. Yes, the real business part of business golf. However, do not think or be drawn into feeling this is where you make the kill. This is just the follow up and depending on what type or kind of business each party conducts will depend on if there is enough Trust deposited in the SBRT. It could be that additional deposits need to be made. The important part is to not try to open the door to doing business with the person you played business golf with if the level of trust built is not sufficient. Worst thing to do is write a hot check on your SBRT account.
Use the cordial approach established through out the entire round or process of playing business golf. The initial follow-up, as you will learn, is just the first withdrawal you will make on your trust account. Pushing or shoving thinking you are entitled to now put the hard pitch on the person is jus as worst as if you had spent the entire round of golf pitching the person. Aggression will bankrupt the SBRT account and will damage your credibility in the business arena…or place you with a bad credit rating.
Aggression or push sales pitches are a thing of the past (thank goodness). If you wee one of those people, then business golf can help reestablish your credit worthiness if done well and here is when you can take the stage with someone to change that image.
Patience is the Key
Many scoff at this part of the round of business golf as a..
..complete waste of time. If the guy was going to do business with me he would have made a commitment before we made the turn on the golf course.
or…
..who had this kind of time to pitch a deal? I am held to a quota of so many sales a day and I can’t be spending my time with some bozo that is going to lead me on.
You can take from just these examples of comments I have actually received from people that truly golf and business golf is not for everyone. Interesting enough, these same people who made these comments have now found that when they play business golf correctly the effort in pitching someone and screening out the people who would have lead them on was done with more certainly which changed their minds a little in their initial impression of playing a round of business golf.
Patience is a core value of golf and holds true that a golfer has to develop patience in playing the game in order to be accomplished at playing golf. Same holds true in business. In today’s economy business people have to have patience and be claim in the fast of a failed economy. Same goes for business golf.
Tangible Rewards
Now that you have the round of business golf behind you the fist thing needing to be done is to work towards scheduling a meeting with your guest. This is more of a Thank You than a ritual “Can We Talk” type message. A mild comment on getting in touch with your guest soon should be added to the follow-up message. The Follow-up thank you can be a note dropped in the mail, which stays in tuned with the way you invited the contact to play golf. Or..in today’s tech world, the email could be an alternative..just remember, each contact made from now on is making either a deposit or debt from your SBRT account so default to what best works to keep the building of the business relationship growing. Professionalism should be the default.
After making the initial follow up and including a remark on giving the person a call make sure to make good on that call. One of the tangible rewards from a successful round of business golf is how you now have gained a higher status on your guest’s pecking order. Your call now will have a 90% better chance of going through to you new business golf partner than if you had just had a cup of coffee with that person.
My studies, from the interviews I have done with business golfers who did everything well during the round of business golf, show the guest will 99% of the time pick up their call. In a comparison study on the trust that is built from other forms of initial business development, like business lunches, chats at the coffee shop or face to face pitch meetings, the results of who the guest built the most trust from these contacts was from the person they played golf with.
The study test results showed that if each person who made a contact using the other forms of business development was to call this person at the same time, 9 times out of 10 the Business Golfer would be picked as the person who is answered.
THAT one factor is, in a nutshell,..the Power of Business Golf.
Realities
Now that you have seen almost the entire picture of How to Play Business Golf the realities have to be mentioned. As I mentioned in the first part, Business Golf offers a 85% better chance of developing a solid business relationship with someone over other conventional methods of meeting someone and eventually doing business with them. This means not every round of business golf is going to be successful.
In reality, there will be many of the rounds that will be complete disasters which will push you to think less of the value of playing business golf. It is this instinct that people have to bolt from anything that does not work consistently that will have to be changed. Again, statistically, obtaining a foot into the door of a business execs office for a chat about business is achieved from playing golf with them more so than if you just chatted over coffee.
Which would you rather failed at..not making a business deal after a round of golf at a wonder facility on a wonderful day, or in a crowded coffee shop in between a dozen of other meetings you and your guest have scheduled because you both feel you are on a coffee break?? Yaw, you are only out ten minutes and a cup of coffee with one and out a round of golf with the other..both are business expenses if it is declared business golf..I know which one I get more satisfaction from failing at and it does not include being over caffeinated.
Its your decision and your business… I suggest you try using the five steps of playing business golf before answering which had more overall reward to your business and your health. I hope you now knowing how business golf is played has offered you a better understanding why more people should learn to play business golf. And..I wish you luck with your efforts.
Carry on and let me know how I can help.
