EP 013: How to Say "No" - The Golf Professional's New Dilemma
With the record numbers we're seeing at courses throughout the country, Golf Professional's are now faced with the challenge of often having to say no to their members and customers. No there aren't any tee times, no there isn't any space in that event, no we can't host your outing...and so on. This is new for many of us since we've been trained to say "Yes" and to constantly seek out ways to grow rounds and revenues. As I found out in a conversation a few years ago, knowing how to say no and tell someone something they don’t want to hear, is literally a science. Experts in behavioral psychology have studied the tactics that are most effective at delivering your message in a way that diffuses angry situations and will limit the push-back you get from our now disgruntled members and customers. Our expert that we’re learning from is Richard S. Gallagher, author of “The Customer Service Survival Kit”. Some of the critical lessons we’ll hear from him are: being nice and polite is great, but it doesn’t help an upset person feel better, leaning into criticism is much more effective than explaining “why” or playing defense, and the key to diffusing a difficult situation begins with acknowledgement.