) the balls were free.
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Demo days and ball fees.
Forums → Golf Equipment | 73 posts
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I was shocked to find out that at demo days now, you have to buy
your own balls. As every demo day I had been to before (All at
MGA From the driving ranges perspective I can understand the opportunity to make money but from a marketers view you want anything you can do to entice someone to buy your brand of club. I also find this a little humorous because some shops will give you clubs for free to take out and hit on course. Fair enough that they are looking directly at a sale, but the marketers are too from a slightly more distant angle otherwise they wouldnt bother letting people try their clubs at a demo day.
Petrol's expensive, testing a club costs money and I'm
not wealthy enough to attend the ISG workshop, atleast water
hazards offer me the prospect of free balls.
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I disagree with you plenty. Demo days involve the enormous frustration of a huge percentage of punters not the least bit interested in buying the gear, or some who just might, but never from the supporting venue at the time. If I was looking for a club or two at $150-600 a pop, then an average size bucket isn't going to turn me away. Especially if I can try out a decent range of gear in the process. That's the key: Nobody who might buy or commit on the night is worried about the ball fee. And since they are who it is largely for, then nobody is inconvenienced. Even private club pro shops often charge a nominal fee for a member to take a demo club out for a spin. Who wants to keep hosting these demo days if the patrons aren't likely to buy and aren't necessarily loyal to the venue at other times? If the venues stay happy and make money, then good demo days will continue.
Next time you want to attend a demo day that charges a ball fee,
drop by my place or find me at work on your way, and I'll
donate $5 towards your bucket if that makes you feel better
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My thoughts exactly! Sorry but not wanting to pay the $5-$15 to try before you buy and then commenting on fishing balls out of the lake places you squarely in the tight arse catergory...
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I cant agreee more with you ttheridge. I've just come back from 2 days fitting in NSW and charging for time and range balls certinally sorts out the people who are interested and people who aren't.
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Aren't you the guy who posted acouple of weeks back, about wanting to find a driving range/practise f/way close to home,SE burbs ?
Didn't you say in that post that you had like 2-3 lessons per
week with your pro, at MGA ? Funny how you post things & they come back to bite you on the arse ?
Dude, if you're going to B/S try not to trip over your own
feet...
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Generally those who trip over their own feet... are clowns!
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Fair enough, I disagree with a few points there if they would like to make a few extra sales but I'm too lazy to debate points that in the end will probably be put down to opinion.
But will you donate an extra $5 for the petrol used to get to
you?
Hi, I'm Tiger Woods, you may have seen me on a golf course somewhere.
In a few weeks from now will I see this?
Hmm, my arse seems to be covered, how about yours? You may also want to tie any loose strings, maybe around the area of your feet.
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my_wallet_hurts, maybe we can all pitch in and pass the hat around for you? What are they charging for 100 balls these days? $10? $12?
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What's $5 when you could be spending $800 on a new driver..
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Surprise - another voice with the majority. Tirekickers are a pain in the a$$, and in the long run they cost the genuine buyer money. Funnily enough, demo clubs don't drop out of trees at no cost. Doesnt matter if the supplier is a small retail outlet, a major chain or a manufacturer. The thing has a cost, which is either passed on to the few who buy, or has to be recouped in the demo process. It's doubly difficult in today's market. Used to be that the seller could afford to "burn" a club as a demo, knowing that in due course it could be sold to a price savvy customer as an ex-demo at around wholesale price - no loss. Trouble now is that product lines change so quickly that the savvy customers know that if they wait six more months they can have a brand new one sold as superceded stock and probably at less than original wholesale. So this is not a matter of opinion. If you think there should never be a cost to using a demo, then that is directly equivalent to a belief that the genuine buyer is somehow obliged to pay the real cost of your recreational tinkering. And the thing that really steams me day to day is that when the demohound has used a heap of time and resources having his fun and actually buys something, he'll likely go to ebay and buy from some cowboy for a ten buck saving. So personally I laugh loudly when these aholes take delivery of a genuine Tailor Mode driver with a recycled aluminium head and non adjustable plastic weights.
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oh woe is me, another burnt so badly by ebay... give me a break. If anyone is idiotic enough to buy fake on this board then they get what they deserve... Go spend your $10 on a demo day bucket of balls, then save $150 by buying it on ebay. All your wives would be proud of the bargain you are getting !!!!
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Who let the dog back in?
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Just stretching
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and why does he have a 454 as his avatar? Does that mean there is
a cheap FT-3 coming up?
down and out…did ya get that? |
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I like this idea, could you also throw a few spare chocolate bars in too, they also seem to be a rip-off at the moment.
What's a bogey when you're 3 under.
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I won't speak for how it should be but at my club there is no fee when they have a demo day. In fact, I went to the Ping demo day just because I was at the club putting my name down for the next week and they happened to be there so I though it would be a good chance to hit some free balls.
In the end they didn't end up free. They ended up costing me
over a grand. At least they came with a new set of G2 irons!
Had they charged $5 up front for the balls I wouldn't have bothered and would have saved over a $1,000.
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well, I think you should be PM'ing me young man, mines not
up, but several others are
Will change that image shortly
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myshouldershurt, If a few dollars on balls is going to hurt, then I'm guessing that on the night, you aren't going to spend $500 on a golf club. Did you buy the driver on the night that you liked? In that case, the demo day is not for you, and you shouldn't go. EASY. Money saved! The main benefit of charging for balls is that the staff trying to sell gear don't have to put up with 90% of the patrons not being the least bit interested in purchasing, and taking their time away from attending to those who are. You would HATE it if you went to one with the intention of trying three drivers you've been interested in and buying one on the spot, only to have to wait for ever and get no service or info from the staff there because they had to give the same smiles and politeness to a bunch of guys who've rolled up after work to hit balls for free and couldn't give a stuff if anyone behind them is a genuine customer or not. If you don't want a product or service, don't use it, and then you don't have to pay for it. The product or service here is demonstrating with clubs to decide which one to buy, or at least in being open minded about genuinely buying (and from the seller involved). It is not a product or service provided for the purpose of you or anyone other tyre kicker hitting free balls with cool gear, and then p!ssing off.
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As I said before I cant be bothered going into a detailed
argument over this (in hindsight I probably shouldnt have posted
the topic
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Yes it is. Would you pay for a test drive of a car before purchasing. I doubt it. To stick with your argument, I guess you'll say you would. But to test, have you ever offered to pay for fuel used on such a test. Wine tasting used to be free, then that got stuffed due to the GST. Demo days are exactly that. Demonstration. Its not try before you buy day. Its about selling to those that need more convincing, or who have never hit a different brand of clubs. If you are any good as a salesperson, then your job is too sell the clubs to the guys or girls not really interested. Those that are interested would most likely buy the club regardless of whether they could try it or not.
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leighthebee, I think ttitheridge's point was that the number of non-genuine customers (ie. tyre kickers) makes it harder for the salesperson to focus on the genuine customers. I actually disagree with him a little - I think the non-genuine customers can be almost as important as the genuine ones. Obviously the #1 priority for the salesperson should be those with a real interest in purchasing clubs on the spot. But even if a person has no interest in buying a club, he or she can still try it out and then tell all their future playing partners what a good stick it is: ie. "I hit that new XXX at a demo day last week. Sweet club, felt really solid. If I wasn't so happy with my current driver I probably would have bought one on the spot". Free advertising - you don't get the cash on the demo night, but if your product is a good one a lot of these 'tyre kickers' will be out on the 1st tee Saturday morning telling (potentially) genuine customers about it.
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Sales isn't all about preaching to the converted. The sales hard yards are in convincing the tyre-kickers that the product is what they need. Anyone can sell on a "pull-through" basis. The real sales people are the ones that sell on a "push through" basis.
I have just bought a new vehicle and the majority of dealer sales staff simply assume that you are a tyre-kicker until you somehow prove otherwise. I may be old-fashioned but I was under the impression that the job of a salesperson was to convince me to buy something from them and not for me to have to convince them to sell me something.
Beware of cheap imitations - Especially from the US |
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exactly. if you want to weed out uninterested customers, your not much of a salesman.
someone that clearly has no interest in buying something is easy
to spot. if you show them the time of day whilst both knowing
they are not intending to buy, then this can form one of the
strongest loyal relationships there is.
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I kind of wonder how many of the authorities on sales actually have any experience in the field? Knowing what you want as a customer doesn't count. Seriously. Put 50 lifelong consumers in a room and they'll all have different views on how they want the shopping experience to pan out.
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