112 - Top Golf Marketing Awareness Challenge (Scottsdale Arizona)
If you’ve been tuning in over the past couple of weeks, you’d be aware that I’ve recorded the last two podcasts in Vancouver and Powell River. This week I travelled from Canada to the United States to attend one of my favourite events of the year, Business Black Ops in Arizona, organised by Dave Frees.
You may recall the name Dave Frees as he’s been a guest on my podcast twice already, Episode #2: Communication, Persuasion & Influence and a Bonus Episode Force Multipliers.
Awareness & Alignment
The theme for this year's Business black Ops was Awareness and Alignment, and it was once again a brilliant three days of learning and networking.
On the second day, we did a field trip to Top Golf in Scottsdale.
Now if you’ve never heard of Top Golf, I’d like to point out that it’s more than just a driving range and a place to wack a few golf balls. Top Golf, as described on their website, is a global sports entertainment company, and I have to agree it’s a pretty amazing place.
Marketing Mission
Identify as many marketing strategies and tactics as we could.
Now it’s impossible to try and explain everything we observed, but what I can tell you straight off the bat is the importance of awareness.
I visited Top Golf in July this year, and even though I thought it was a fantastic place back then, I never stopped and considered all the subtle marketing that was taking place right under my nose.
But, as soon as my reticular activating system was kicked into gear and I was told to look for marketing strategies and tactics, it was a completely different experience.
The Offerings
As soon as you arrive you are greeted with signage about coaching lessons for adults and juniors. So immediately you know this venue is for all ages, not just adults, and on each level, they promote College Night for students.
The signage at the front also mentioned group lessons and corporate events. Of course, we were there for a corporate event, but not everyone that visits is, so sometimes it’s important to point out the obvious.
Never assume your clients and customers know about all the services and products you offer.
Repetition
In their entry, or as they called it Guest Services, there was merchandise for sale, billboards promoting food items (burgers, ribs and beers) and how much it was to play at Top Golf, and this information was on multiple walls so it could not be missed.
Apparently, a simple message repeated numerous times is a good idea.
Memberships and Up-Sells
They also had membership options so you could become part of the Top Golf family. If you’ve ever been part of a club or association, you’ll appreciate that memberships, when done well, can be a powerful thing.
Each bay only cost $25 - $50 per hour for up to 6 people per bay, depending on the time of the day, which is quite cheap, but apparently they don’t make their money from offering cheap bays, it’s all the add-ons and up-sells, that’s where the real money is.
Do you have add-ons and up-sells in your business? If not, maybe you should think about it.
Training and Values
Another thing that was quite obvious, they had well-trained team members that knew their roles, right from the guest services to the people taking the food and drink orders. So training their team members must be a high priority.
They also displayed their five core values in plain sight on large billboards. (fun, one team, excellence, edgy spirit, and caring). These core value billboards were clearly displayed throughout the complex, which is beneficial for both the customer and their team.
Do you and your team know your core business values? If not, start working on them and feel proud to display them.
Logo Placement
No matter where you looked the Top Golf logo could be seen. Even when you reached for the sauce, Top Golf was on the tray, and if you happened to visit the bathroom, they got you there as well.
No Clutter
I could go on and list another fifty things my team identified, and I think we did end up with a list closer to sixty, but what’s important to note is at no stage did any of their marketing look cluttered or feel tacky.
Every inch of Top Golf has been well thought out, and it goes to prove you can market what you do extensively throughout your business and still look professional, as long as it aligns with your brand. At no time did I see a laminated sign or sheet of white paper stuck to a wall with adhesive tape. Isn’t that interesting.
Increasing Your Awareness
But this podcast episode is not about promoting Top Golf; it’s about expanding your awareness towards your own business, the people you work with, your customer and client needs and also the businesses around you.
The next time you walk into a business that you know is ‘crushing it’, don’t just walk in and take what they are doing for granted, instead kick your reticular activating system into gear and start observing why they are doing well.
What can you learn from what you observe and can you use this information in your own business?
But don’t stop there, be aware of the business that are doing things poorly and makes sure you’re not doing this yourself.
Use Your Smartphone
It’s easy to become complacent, so here’s a strategy you may find helpful. Grab your Smartphone and add an alarm that says ‘Be Aware’ and you could schedule it to go off multiple times per day.
Every time it goes off, stop and become aware of what is going on around you, you may be surprised by what you see.
I hope you get something from today’s podcast and if you have any questions, please send me an email at
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