PGAjay Golf Business Podcast

Before you promote a high performer, ensure the promotion will put them in a position to continue to display the skills that got them the recognition in the first place.

Being openly critical of our own ideas and plans is a great way to show your value within an organization. It shows that not only were you creative enough to come up with a good idea, you were smart enough to know when that idea needed to be adjusted or killed. Be your own best critic, before someone else becomes your worst.

Sometimes a PGA Professionals and humans, we feel trapped like we don’t have any control over our career, life, or golf game. But by taking a few seconds to really look at we think is holding us back, you might be surprised at how much control you do have. Even if the decision you make doesn’t move you forward, at least it’s your decision and that’s the part that matters.

In an episode inspired by a game of catch with my son, we discuss how dropping the ball is all part of the process of learning to catch it. We discuss how this advice applies to your career as a golf professional and as a player. We also, talk specifically about how you can use this advice to help you pass the PAT after a first missed attempt.

Passing your PAT to become a PGA member can be on of the hardest steps in becoming a PGA Member. Even for the most accomplished player, the format of knowing the score you need to shoot messes with your head. Use these three tips to help overcome the challenge.

It’s hard to know if an idea is good or not and if you should keep going forward with it. So, instead of trying to figure out if the idea is good. Find out if you like the work of going after it.

In poker, you can make a good decision with the odds in your favor and still end up losing. The same can happen in your job and in life. The key is not letting those results cause you to make worse decisions next time around. Make the best decision you can based on what you know, and let the cards fall where they may.

We all had a lot planned for their year before fate intervened and threw that all on its ear. But when things change, do you have a purpose that you can fall back on to collect yourself and help you determine your next plan?

References for jobs always seem like that left step in the process of applying for a job and often get overlooked. In this episode I give a tip on how many defenses you should have and how to get the right ones for the right situation.

As golf courses and clubs around the world report record rounds and membership sales, let’s not all forget how we got here. Just because Golf is enjoying a surge in activity lately doesn’t actually translate to growth.

Picking new lines for the golf shop is always tough. And you never really know how it will do, and what your margins will be, until you have had time to sell it all through. This can take weeks or most often months to see the whole picture. In this episode I provide a tip for how to find out how an item will do much faster.

I’m not saying that clubs should, but is there a case to be made for charging a premium for green fees amidst the restrictions created by vivid-19? Is it price gouging? Aren’t you providing a better products under some of these restrictions? I look forward to hearing your reaction to the topics brought up in this episode and to any feedback you have on if you are doing this at your club.

With many golf shops still closed, inventory levels can remain higher than where you want them. Now is the time to look at where you need to be by the end of the year and start offering promotions to help get you there. You may have to give up the margins you were looking for for this year. But, just make sure you don’t sacrifice next year too by trying to hold out for higher prices. Use what communications channels you have to start some one day hot sales by email, social or website to start moving things now, before it’s too late.

There has been a lot of longing for life and golf to “Get back to normal.” But don’t forget to look at the changes you have been forced for make at your facility and ask yourself the question, “What parts of what we are doing are actually working better than before?”

Being more efficient managing your costs can be a good thing. But just make sure the systems you put in place to become more efficient, don’t create friction for your customers. You may end up making more per customer, but just having a lot less customers... and profits.

Last night a listing that I had for a broken rangefinder completed with the auction price going well over $100. This made me suspect considering that most of them go for about a third of that in broken condition, so I emailed the person that bought it and reminded them it was in not working condition rather than send it with the no reruns policy in this item that I had listed. He asked to cancel of course, but maybe the rangefinder came back for a reason?

I killed my Inventory, Order and Sales Tracking system by accident. But at least there may be a happy ending to the backwards battery rangefinder saga. 

A couple days ago I thought I was being scammed by a buyer on Amazon. Today I’m not sure I have that right.

I'm no Professional Seller but I think I know a sketchy deal when I see one. In this episode, I share my first 24 hours of experience with what I think maybe my first buyer trying to scam me.

Sometimes we have an idea of how a plan will come together, other times we just need to start telling a story and let the ending reveal itself. This was a paraphrasing if a quote by Rose Tremain by the way. Hers was better but too long for the title. “ In the planning stages of a book, don’t plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it.”

There is no grand plan. But I just want to start sharing what I’m up to, without having to worry about where it’s going or what I’m trying to do with it. Let’s just enjoy the process together and I hope that helps more than anything.

With courses closing around the world, many Golf Professionals and Facilities are scrambling to find sources of revenue. With it being the start of the season, many golf shops are loaded with merchandise they can’t sell, and many golf pros are out of work. Over the weeks and months ahead I hope to share my own process of building and online golf shop to help golf shops do the same for themselves. I will also be sharing what I have learned about buying and reselling on eBay and Amazon in the hopes some out of work pros can make a little extra money during these tough times.

Based on a very unofficial pole I ran across socials it appears that the number of golf courses that are closing is on the rise as many cities and states mandate the closure of non-essential business.

With the recent non-essential business closures in many cities (including mind). The situation for Golf Professionals remains a very dynamic one. I’m trying to get a sense form all of you what’s happening so I can get and idea of what I can do to be helpful. So email me at jay@pgajay.com or DM me on socials with an update.

Sometimes you don’t have to know exactly what to do. You just have to focus on keeping your speed and your spirits up so that you avoid stalling out.

It’s not always about making the right decision, but making the decision right.

In this episode we discuss the relationship between accountability and autonomy and how managers and employees are held responsible for results.

This episode elaborates in a quote I put on Instagram (@pgajay) the other day. It was “Stop telling your employees to smile and be kind to customers. Instead, make them want to smile and be kind to customers.”

Giving an end of season gift that members will use on the off season will help ensure they return for another year.

The game of golf as we think of it most of the time, 18 regulation holes over 4-6 hours, doesn’t fit in to many peoples busy lives anymore. What if we started thinking about ways we can shape and adjust the golf experiences to satisfy the core needs of golfers without being stymied to traditional restrictions?

This Idea for a Skins / Horse Race event at your club could be just the ticket for drumming up some excitement around a short event at your club.

Giving free lessons has always been an effective way for new golf professionals (or professionals who are new to an area) to build up a client list. In this episode I talk about using Instagram to do this can be even more effective.

Splitting your members into different buying profiles can help you determine what is actually driving your golf shop profits and losses.

Sometimes the members you think are most valuable are actually the ones that are costing you the most.

In an recent poll I did among my followers on social media, I found out that 85% to 95% of Golf Professionals, don’t get paid for member referrals. In this episode find out how to change that trend.

November 19, 2019 Marks my first day as just PGAjay.

An original article posted on PGAjay.com. How young and old golf professionals can use their skill-sets to tackle social media together.

In this podcast, I talk about where I will be storing and organizing all fo the new educational content on social media for golf pros. Working to update my website PGAjay.com will be the perfect place to store it all where I can have a little more control. It's a work in progress still but you can go check it out at www.pgajay.com and while you are there be sure to subscribe for updates by email. And, let me know what you think when you visit so I can make it better for everyone.

Ok.... So not all Golf Professionals "Hate" Social Media. And there are some examples out there of clubs and pros that have used these platforms to increase very traditional metrics like, selling more outings, increasing rounds and many other things that are important. But it takes understanding what the Golf Professional faces every day and the capabilities of the platforms to start to understand where we should focus our efforts. I hope to create some videos base around specific interests of different Golf Professional roles and types of clubs, and share very specific but easy to adopt practices on some of these platforms.

In this episode. Golf Professionals and Instructors can lean how to make a little tweak to their golf content videos that will separate them from the crowd of other golf coaches and help them connect more with the people that matter the most.

There are a lot of great benefits to having an exclusive golf shop with one brand across all lines. There is also a huge perceived risk in making the all or nothing’s switch. Here’s and idea on how to test out being exclusive without over committing.

Creating a video with your Merchandise sales reps is a great way to build excitement around your golf shop, and to even pre-sell some merch. Thanks for the show idea Jake! He’s @jbutta on Instagram go check him out.

Never leave it to somebody else to make the right decision.

A great way to find out if you can or can’t do without something is to take it away and see what happens. From golf shop merchandise to extended teaching hours, sometimes cutting things out has less of an impact than you think it will. But sometimes the taking away will actually prove how impactful that thing is.

Make sure to make space for yourself to be exceptional in your career. Even if you current job responsibilities don’t include being exceptional. Make it a part of your job and your life.

I heard a great idea on how to handle credit book so members can’t clean you out at a discount at the end of the year sale.

Published 9-21-19. Recently started posting some VLOG videos. I did it because I needed to confront a little bit of fear about being judged and putting out content for people to see. But it was also a way for me to start thinking creatively again and see the world in a fresh way. I also think being able to produce an edit videos as a golf professional is a great skill to have an a great resource for any golf course to have as well.

How to use basic technology like email and text to offer your members a customized pre-order apparel offering.

Great little life and professional insight I picked up from someone recently.

Creating something new and different often requires pulling from all types of areas of expertise. In this episode I discuss how even creating something new requires us to educate ourselves and continue to educate ourselves through the process.

How to get members to customers to tune in, and keep tuning into your golf shop merchandising podcast or social media content.