Fairway To Sealing The Deal | How to get business done on the golf course
While not many will ever achieve the goal of being a scratch golfer, nearly everyone can get business done between greens.
The Worcester Business Journal spoke to Dudley Darling, general manager and vice president of Juniper Hill Golf Course in Northborough, and David Frem, general manager at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston, for the do’s and don’ts of doing business on the links. Here are four simple rules to follow:
Rule 1: Stay Competitive
A good golfer may be tempted to sand bag when playing with a less-skilled business associate. Both Darling and Frem advise resisting that urge. The reason for playing as well as you can is simple: honesty is the best policy.
“The concept of losing to someone never made sense to me,” Frem said. It’s likely that your business associate will see through your ruse and take away that you’re a dishonest person based on your behavior on the course, he said.
Rule 2: Seize the Opportunity
“One of the nice things about golf is that you have a lot of time and opportunities to close the deal — unless you’re not a good closer,” Darling said.
The best way to prevent leaving the golf course empty-handed? Just shut up.
“I’ve seen too many people just keep talking and lose the opportunity to close a deal,” Darling said.
Rule 3: Pay Attention
There are a ton of rules in the game of golf, so many you could spend a lifetime studying the nuances. But for Frem, getting a grasp on good golf etiquette is simple: Just pay attention to what’s around you. “You just have to know what to do and where to go,” Frem said, adding that at a minimum every novice golfer should know where and how to drive a golf cart and understand where to stand when others are teeing off.
Frem also said new golfers should do a little Internet research to brush up on the rules of the game.
Rule 4: Don’t Be Self-Conscious
If you’ve never played golf before, that doesn’t mean you can’t make a good impression on a business associate. You just have to be up front about your skill level with your host, according to Darling.
“Set [your hosts] expectations low enough so that they know up front that you’re not a good golfer...That way they’re not expecting an Arnold Palmer.”
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