Your ROI from a great golf lesson

I believe that I give good value for money in the golf services I deliver. But I’ve always found it pretty difficult to quantify what that ‘value’ means for my clients i.e what’s it really worth to them to get better at golf? 

I am now 4 months into a “Business Start-Up Accelerator” course delivered by Dent Global (dent.global). Many businesses have this past year been forced to “pivot” to survive, and for golf coaches it is no different - so I decided to take action, build my coaching business from a more solid platform and see if my creativity, and better connectivity, could open up new golfing avenues for me. It’s already been a great learning and proactive business experience. And I now have a pretty good answer to the critical question of, “What is the return on investment (ROI) from a great golf lesson?” 

Let’s say, as a professional business person you charge CHF 300.- per hour, and I charge CHF 120.- per hour for a golf lesson. Do you walk away with more than CHF 420.- worth of value, your ROI, for the one hour investment of your time and money? 

Your ROI from a great golf lesson:

1. Enjoyment from the lesson - if you’ve had a great golf lesson, and enjoyed the time spent with me in a comfortable learning environment, then there’s already an ROI. OK, difficult to put a price on it but the emotional uplift it gave was CHF 120.- well spent. 
2. Enjoyment from playing better golf - if, because of the great golf lesson, you start to play better golf, then your whole golfing experience of practice and play is adding to the quality of your life. Priceless! OK, I’m maybe getting ahead of myself but it’s worth a few hundred francs per hour, to spend quality, rewarding time in an endeavour that you love, right?
3. Efficient use of your practice time - if the practice plan I give you brings quicker improvement than if you’d spent hours on the range, thrashing balls, trying to find the solutions yourself, then that’s a time saver. There’s another few hundred francs.
4. Credibility as a player with your peers and business associates/clients. Many deals are done on the golf course. If you’re able to stay calm, think clearly, and have constructive conversations in the beautiful surroundings that the course offers, it’s easier to get the deal done. If you’re nervous about playing well, constantly searching for your balls in the rough or losing your composure because you’re hacking it around, then it could cost you respect, and serious money! The ROI on that great golf lesson is now increasing exponentially!
5. Precious time with your loved ones, friends and new acquaintances in a harmonious atmosphere. It’s not a prerequisite for having a great time on the course with your nearest and dearest, but playing good golf will put you in a better mood than playing bad golf. And while the sport lends itself to socialising across all age groups, being in nature, no phones or headphones, and away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, playing well just adds to the pleasure and the bonding opportunity that golf offers. Can’t put a price on that one. 

So if that 1 hour lesson contributed to any or all of the above, then the ROI for the client was way in excess of the CHF 420.- time and money investment. At the very least, that puts my mind more at ease that I really do deliver value for money. It will probably put my prices up too!! (only kidding……maybe). Although the ROI is still difficult to quantify financially, whats equally, if not more important to me is that your enjoyment and quality of life was positively affected. That IS priceless.

Andrew Cullen PGA BSc(Hons) Dipl.Sports Psychology

"Golf is Mental" - Think Better - Improve Fast. Online Course by Andrew Cullen

acgolf.ch