NEWS
GOLF AS A BUSINESS TOOL
Thursday, 2 March 2023
We sat down with AJ, Co-Founder of SGH Events to discuss why he thinks golf is a force to be reckoned with, when it comes to building brands, forging relationships and offering a cleaner, healthier environment in which to do business.
We sat down with Andrew Jennings, Co-Founder of SGH Events to discuss why he thinks golf is a force to be reckoned with, when it comes to building brands, forging relationships and offering a cleaner, healthier environment in which to do business in 2023.
Golf - Your secret weapon?
There’s an age-old adage, that tells us something along the lines of, ‘the best ideas don’t always come from the boardroom’, which we tend to agree with. In fact, we could go even further and suggest that long lasting relationships in sports, life and business are mostly outside of Zoom and email inboxes. In an online driven, content-laden world, attention spans have never been shorter, and meaningful 1:1’s, or 2:2’s, are few and far between. Or do they have to be?
Enter, golf. The game we all know, play, and love. What if we told you that golf could be the most potent tool in your armoury for winning business, forming new relationships, retaining talent and offering your brand a key point of difference?
Sport is often deemed a great ‘leveller’ and gives individuals a chance to form relationships with those they may not interact with on a day-to-day basis in the workplace.
Using the tranquillity of the course to cut through the noise.
Work related events don’t have to be confined to stuffy exhibition halls, or ‘cut and paste’ after work networking drinks. Conference or exhibition sponsorship can often amount to the thousands, in the hope of retaining a prospect’s attention for a brief five-minute conversation, with sometimes little, or no follow up, once the dust has settled post show. Using a golf day as a business tool gives you the opportunity to form relationships, discuss mutual objectives and evaluate proposals at length.
As well as this, providing colleagues, prospects and customers with an opportunity to golf alongside a former European Tour professional, will more than likely live longer in their memory and increase the chance of follow up conversation than an evening in a local restaurant or bar. Creating positive memories, whilst communicating your key messages will provide longevity for your brand - and an annual placemark on your guest’s calendar for years to come.
A recent survey of over 2,000 UK workers and 250 employers by TotalJobs, detailed that 60% of participants want their employers to change how we socialise at work. With this in mind, it’s fair to suggest that the business world is seeing a shift away from the run of the mill booze-centred networking, towards a healthier option, whereby guests can get some steps in, engage in meaningful discussion and build a rapport providing an opportunity like few other sports or activities.
Besides, there is nothing to suggest that an evening programme of entertainment, food and drink won’t act as the perfect complementary activity to discuss the day’s antics with your wider group - no matter how big or small!
It doesn’t have to be 18 holes…
Your corporate golf day can be an inclusive event for all. From the newbie, to the hobbyists, to the pros, and even the ‘don’t knows’ - a golf day can cater for everyone. At SGH, we can produce a Golf Day for everyone which will be equally impactful from a branding and enjoyment perspective. This could be a first lesson for an employee, a closest to the pin competition to encourage some healthy competition amongst your workforce, or a chance for your customers or colleagues to ‘Play With Their Hero’. Golf can be an inclusive activity for groups of all ages, and experiences can be catered to suit the very needs of you and your business.
If you are thinking about organising a corporate golf day to help your business stand out from the crowd, please get in touch - we’d love to hear more about your plans and tell you more about some of the previous projects we have undertaken with clients. Feel free to say hello, by dropping us a note at team@sgh.events