GBN University Podcast

Jim Smith, Jr. is the Director of Golf at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in Flourtown, PA.  A Past President of the Philadelphia Section, Jim has been awarded that sections’s Bill Strausbaugh award twice, the Merchandiser of the Year award, as well as Golf Professional of the Year in 2005.  

Jim has become a “go-to” guy for career advice and operational insight.  He has successfully guided many of his staff members on to their own Head Professional positions and continues to recruit and train at a very high level.

In this episode, Jim shares his keys to staying organized and succeeding in such a high volume and fast-paced environment.  As well as his experiences in coaching Assistants through the Head Professional interview process.  

He also explains his model for collecting feedback from his membership so he can be responsive and keep his finger on the pulse of the club...it’s a simple system, but as you’ll learn, it takes a consistent commitment.

And as promised in the title, we also go into his background and the “non-traditional” path he navigated to land as the Director of Golf at a Top 100 Club.  I think that may be the most valuable insight in this episode for many of you out there that may fall into the same situation.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Have you had trouble attracting interns to your facility?  If so, you're not alone.  The market for seasonal labor at such an affordable cost is very competitive.  If you're like some facilities, you might have just stopped trying.

This episode has the potential to put you back on the right track to developing an attractive internship program at your club.

We’re talking with Brian Soule, Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator at Penn State’s PGA Golf Management Program.  Since Brian speaks with each of his 100 students that go out on internships every year, he has direct knowledge of what facilities are doing well, which helps attract interns for the future as well as maximize the interns contribution to your operation, but he also hears what makes for a bad internship experience and how that can kill your aspirations to utilize interns on a regular basis.

Enjoy.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Kevin Muldoon is the Director of Golf at the Jupiter Hills Club in Florida. During a successful stint as the Head Professional at the Country Club of York in Pennsylvania, Kevin was likely in a position that he could have remained in for years, maybe for his entire career.

But as he tells us, his desire to continue his career progression and to expand his experiences, lead him to seek more. So, what was he doing to prepare himself for this new position where he’s doubled his levels of responsibility and is now leading twice as many team members? And what challenges was he facing as he stepped into this job?

Find out in this episode and learn what you can do to help keep your career moving on the right trajectory.

In addition, if you're an Assistant Professional, check out what Kevin looks for in hiring new team members and where you can focus to make yourself attractive to future employers.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

When something goes wrong and you're faced with an unhappy customer, what do you do? More often than not, we explain why the situation happened, or tell them we understand that they're unhappy, or worse...we defend our actions and tell them that they're wrong.

And how does that usually turn out?

What about being polite and professional? That usually helps diffuse the situation, doesn't it? As it turns out, politely proving that you're right and the customer is wrong doesn't make him feel any better. So as it turns out, there’s a better way. There are actual skills and techniques you can learn so that even when you’re faced with that member or customer that just wants to get in your face and make your life difficult, you can flip that situation on its head and turn it into a positive.

Once we understand that acknowledging the plight of the customer is paramount to an acceptable resolution, we can truly become an advocate for our customers rather than an adversary.

This episode has the potential to change your career for the better. Learning and mastering these customer service skills will limit the chances of a disgruntled member talking badly about you to others...or worse.

Our guest in this episode is Richard S. Gallagher, the author of the "Customer Service Survival Kit: What to Say to Defuse Even the Worst Customer Situations"

From Amazon.com: "The Customer Service Survival Kit explains how to use the right words to turn volatile scenarios into calm and productive customer encounters. Anyone can learn this delicate art with the book’s blend of clear techniques, lessons from behavioral science, case studies, situation-specific advice, and practice exercises. Readers will discover:

• The power of leaning into criticism

• Trigger phrases that can make bad situations worse

• The secret to helping people feel deeply heard in a crisis

• How to use the divide-and-conquer approach to safely deliver bad news

• Indispensable problem-solving tools

• How to become immune to intimidation

• How to wrap up transactions so that customers are happy

• And more!

Best yet, learning to handle worst-case scenarios has the spillover effect of boosting the skills and confidence needed to deal effectively with ANY customer—the key to radical improvements in every organization."

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode, we finish our interview with Tony Pancake, the Director of Golf and Operations at Crooked Stick Golf Club. 

In Part II, we discuss Tony’s path to Crooked Stick and learn his advice for young Professionals to set themselves up on a positive career track. We uncover the moment that he can pinpoint that seemed to set his career on a successful track, as well as how his definition of success has evolved over time. And at the end of the interview, he has some great advice for aspiring Professionals on the one thing you should do set yourself up on the right path.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Do ever feel like the constant ping of email and text messages are keeping you from getting your most important work done each and every day? Ever feel like it’s the only thing you do and that as a Golf Professional, your job is too centered around a computer screen and a cell phone? I know I do.

In my conversation with today’s guest, Tony Pancake the Director of Golf and Operations at Crooked Stick Golf Club, we learn from a 30+ year Head Golf Professional how he’s managing the expectations of the digital age. He outlines how his mindset was forced to change as he became busier and busier, and how he’s learned to delegate in a way that benefits his staff and himself.

A decorated PGA Professional, he is a 2-time PGA Section Junior Golf award winner, 2-time PGA Section Horton Smith Award winner, 2-time PGA Section Golf Professional of the Year, PGA Section Merchandiser of the Year, and PGA Section Bill Strausbaugh award winner. An accomplished player, playing college golf at the University of Alabama, in 2014 Tony won the Indiana State Senior Open.

As a mentor to many, Tony has helped develop over 30 former Assistants and Interns into current Head Professionals. His knowledge and experience is valuable to any Golf Professional.

Enjoy!

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

In this episode, we finish our conversation with Patrick Seither, the President and CEO of the Golf Business Network. He tells us what's happening with GBN and what services he's providing in the network to help solve some of the challenges that PGA Professionals face everyday.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.

Welcome to the Getting Better Now Podcast! In the first episode, we talk with Patrick Seither, the President and CEO of the Golf Business Network in part one of our two part conversation. Patrick talks about the route he took to end up in his current position and why he's passionate about helping his fellow PGA Professionals enhance their careers and their lives.

GBN is the leading  private network for today's most successful PGA Professionals.  Exclusive events at premier facilities, vendor partnerships to grow your business, education to increase your knowledge, and access to the top Professionals in the industry are just some of what membership in Golf Business Network will get you.  Go to www.golfbusinessnetwork.com to find out more and become a member.