American Golf or...

[KeeleDrivingRange]

As I work for an independent golf company and would love as many people as possible to dump American Golf and come to us I'd like to know what reasons people visit AG are. The local branch of AG has pushy staff who offer no discount and offer bad advice. On another thread I see a poster saying they wish AG was at their local range and others saying they only shop at AG. Is pushy sales staff not a common thing at AG then? What is it that keeps you going back? If you don't use AG, what are your reasons and where do you get your golf purchases from instead?

 

[Junior]

As I work for an independent golf company and would love as many people as possible to dump American Golf and come to us I'd like to know what reasons people visit AG are. The local branch of AG has pushy staff who offer no discount and offer bad advice. On another thread I see a poster saying they wish AG was at their local range and others saying they only shop at AG. Is pushy sales staff not a common thing at AG then? What is it that keeps you going back? If you don't use AG, what are your reasons and where do you get your golf purchases from instead?

The staff at my local AG are really friendly and not pushy at all. There is a pro there who gives free advice and you can demo clubs etc. That said, I always try and buy from my club pro, or more recently I bought a new set of irons from Clubhousegolf because the store did interest free credit, and whilst not necessarily a requirement, it helped the cash flow given I'd just paid for a holiday.

I think it comes down to :

What manufacturers fitting options you have in store to try, what custom fitting equipment you have (launch monitor etc) and obviously the price too. Good luck, I really hope you succeed.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

My reasons for going there:

1. Its linked to my local driving range
2. The staff aren't pushy at all
3. The prices are already cheap, so they don't need to offer extra discount
4. I don't believe I've had bad advice from them. In fact the only bad "advice" I've had was from an independent that fitted me with incorrect clubs.

My impression of independents generally is.....more expensive and less choice.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

My local AG is in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. The staff leave you alone unless you ask for help. Not at all pushy but actually pretty friendly. Pushy is clearly not a training style, perhaps it relates to each individual store manager.

Why do I go there? Very wide range of products, prices are about right with the rest of the market. I can go in and not feel obliged to buy, big shop, you get lost with other customers. I don't want to be in a shop where it is just me and the pro who is looking at me hopefully. That is not relaxing.

I don't quite get the anti AG feeling. They are not evil, they offer probably the best range of golf gear around. Yes you get standalone shops ie Clubhouse which are very good but these are one off sites.

I probably would not go there for a custom fit but I would say it does a pretty good job.

 

[louise_a]

The staff at my local AG (Trafford) are very good, no signs of pushiness and always friendly.

 

[Karl102]

As I work for an independent golf company and would love as many people as possible to dump American Golf and come to us I'd like to know what reasons people visit AG are. The local branch of AG has pushy staff who offer no discount and offer bad advice. On another thread I see a poster saying they wish AG was at their local range and others saying they only shop at AG. Is pushy sales staff not a common thing at AG then? What is it that keeps you going back? If you don't use AG, what are your reasons and where do you get your golf purchases from instead?

Wanting people to 'dump AG' is a bit of a harsh statement imo. Like some have said, my local AG is good and the guys there are great. However, I have been to an AG where the staff were not as friendly and won't go back there.
You are in a very competitive market with several online retailers and other companies like 'used ping' and 'golfbidder' offering the latest gear for less.
I would say establish a great loyal customer base, maybe invite a few guys off here to your place (there must be a few) and word will soon spread....

Good luck with your ventures

 

[351DRIVER]

As I work for an independent golf company and would love as many people as possible to dump American Golf and come to us I'd like to know what reasons people visit AG are. The local branch of AG has pushy staff who offer no discount and offer bad advice. On another thread I see a poster saying they wish AG was at their local range and others saying they only shop at AG. Is pushy sales staff not a common thing at AG then? What is it that keeps you going back? If you don't use AG, what are your reasons and where do you get your golf purchases from instead?

American golf are the TESCOS of golf

Everyone moans about them before saying, WOW they have a sale on and go visit.

Ignoring those who have strong reasons to go or not go, the bulk of why people go is simply down to strong marketing, they are the market leader and they can communicate their current offers with you better than you can.

They are known, something goes wrong, rightly or wrongly the golfing public will expect a big company like AG to sort it.

They have a wider range than you do

They can offer better prices than you can

Parking

Location


American golf are just like tescos, they do many things at a price and convenience that makes sense, and likes tescos they are in your mind first when it comes to golf

You CANNOT compete with them on a like for like basis, you can become a niche operator of some type, fitting, components, tech but trying to do what they do only better is not really a path to success

 

[Lord Tyrion]

351 - Smart bit of analysis :thup:

 

[Deleted member 18588]

The one thing I would question from the above responses is cost.

In my experience it is generally possible to improve upon their prices.

All the other points I agree with.

 

[351DRIVER]

Defining your business as lowest cost often means lots of work and little margin and a jump start on the road to ruin.

 

[ger147]

As I work for an independent golf company and would love as many people as possible to dump American Golf and come to us I'd like to know what reasons people visit AG are. The local branch of AG has pushy staff who offer no discount and offer bad advice. On another thread I see a poster saying they wish AG was at their local range and others saying they only shop at AG. Is pushy sales staff not a common thing at AG then? What is it that keeps you going back? If you don't use AG, what are your reasons and where do you get your golf purchases from instead?

My local AG is a great place to get stuff. It's attached to the driving range I use, it has an excellent range to choose from, competitive prices and the staff are all knowledgeable and helpful, get most of my golf purchases there.

 

[KeeleDrivingRange]

As a point we do match clubhouse and AG for price and we have more pros working here than at AG, would just like to see a few more faces up here.

One example of our local AG "advice" Guy 6"4 goes down to be fitted for Cobra Max irons. AG fit him and tell him his clubs will be custom made. He then goes back to collect his clubs only to find out AG have sent him one of the 10000 standard fit sets they ordered from Cobra...

Thanks for the replies so far btw, very insightful and useful for me.

 

[pokerjoke]

As has been said its a saturated market and to be successful in any business you have to offer excellent prices and excellent service and imo my local AG in Exeter do that.

They also have really knowledgeable staff who never push and will always price match.

Although I have never had anything go wrong on any of my purchases I am sure I could take it back and it will be fixed with no questions asked.

You will always get stories of someone who feels he or she has been poorly advised in any retailer.

Good luck in your venture but it sounds to me your doing something wrong or not enough at this moment in time.

 

[Marshy77]

bring a new member of my club I haven't used my pro yet so unsure of the deals that can be had but I went to AG on Sat as I had a voucher to use. I mainly use them if I need something now rather than waiting for an online order. Went Sat and as soon as I walked through the door I was welcomed but instantly asked what I was looking for, informed them that I was just browsing and wondered over to a couple of stands of drivers etc. The same guy came over and again asked if it was a driver I was interested in, again said I'm just browsing. I was asked 3 more times whilst I was in there. I like AG and in the end I bought some trousers which they price matched but the constant following around the store was really annoying.

 

[Deleted member 18588]

bring a new member of my club I haven't used my pro yet so unsure of the deals that can be had but I went to AG on Sat as I had a voucher to use. I mainly use them if I need something now rather than waiting for an online order. Went Sat and as soon as I walked through the door I was welcomed but instantly asked what I was looking for, informed them that I was just browsing and wondered over to a couple of stands of drivers etc. The same guy came over and again asked if it was a driver I was interested in, again said I'm just browsing. I was asked 3 more times whilst I was in there. I like AG and in the end I bought some trousers which they price matched but the constant following around the store was really annoying.

But you have to understand that AG is first and foremost a retail business and that is what retailers do; try to sell you something.

Whilst many of their staff are really nice guys and knowledgeable their job is to sell to generate profit for the private equity company that owns the business.

They are not, and never will be, the same as club pro's who are usually being paid a retainer by the Club in order to provide a service to members. This service may or may not include selling equipment to members.

 

[jamielaing]

I really rate my local AG although there is another attached to a driving range near me which I am not keen on mainly due to the staff.

My local AG (Corstorphine in Edinburgh seen as it is a good review)-

At the end of my road firstly!
Very friendly and accommodating staff
Good prices and will also price match!
Happy to give advice and generally not wrong in what they are saying
Will happily chat away about golf for a while

A story that demonstrates their quality- I bought a bag from ebay some time ago and this ripped in a couple of places (was around a year old). I couldn't be bothered returning this to the ebay seller and was sure this would be a hassle. AG returned the bag for me despite me not buying it from them and sorted it all out for me. I'm not sure there are many other shops that would do this for me.

On a side note, I do share my golf purchases between this store and my pro as I like to support the pro at my club. That said, if my pro was charging more than someone else for a product I would certainly be going elsewhere.

 

[Shooter McPowick]

I'll fill you in on a recent experience...

For various reasons I've not been golfing for the past few years, but my son showed a sudden interest - more like obsession so I took him down to our local American golf (Camberley) after several sessions at top golf with their crappy generic clubs. Honestly, I cannot think of anywhere else to go in our area, it's the only golf shop I'm aware of - other than another AG.

A quiet sunday morning, a few customers are browsing but we are generally left alone to familiarise ourselves with the store. After 5 minutes or so a chap appears and says "just let me know if I can be of any help". We started chatting about junior clubs etc etc my son was measured and fell right between 2 sizes. He advised to go for the slightly longer set as they would last longer and we wouldn't be replacing them if he has a growth spurt - solid advice IMO. Showed us a few options but made a recommendation which we followed.

The swing analysis bay was empty and before we had even paid for the clubs he let my son hit as many balls as he liked. Kids being kids I couldn't get him off there but it wasn't a problem unless someone else wanted to test something out. While this was going on I was eyeing up the mizuno irons, I started playing golf aged 11 and I have always had a thing for mizuno irons ever since. Even though I was walking around drooling all over the place I was left alone until I asked if I could try a few and he happily obliged. he said we could do a full no obligation fitting session if I wanted but it would take an hour. Why not eh, my clubs are 20+ years old and in need of replacement!

Anyway after trying all sorts for club and shaft combos from all the major manufacturers I settled on the mizuno 850 forged. Hadn't got a clue what they were on the rack for but without prompting him he said we can price match any deal you can find. A quick google here and there sorted a good deal but to be honest I thought sod it, it's been such a helpful and friendly encounter I'm happy to just order them.

So i signed signed up th their club card which doesn't offer discounts but apparently you do get a few rounds of golf for free each year - I'll see what happens but it's free anyway so what's to loose?

in conclusion and all my opinion of course:

Solid advice from start to finish.
Literally bent over backward to help.
Friendly, polite and not pushy in the slightest.
Price match.
In my area, I don't know of another walk in golf store.
Good selection despite not being a massive store.

 

[351DRIVER]

I really rate my local AG although there is another attached to a driving range near me which I am not keen on mainly due to the staff.

My local AG (Corstorphine in Edinburgh seen as it is a good review)-

At the end of my road firstly!
Very friendly and accommodating staff
Good prices and will also price match!
Happy to give advice and generally not wrong in what they are saying
Will happily chat away about golf for a while

A story that demonstrates their quality- I bought a bag from ebay some time ago and this ripped in a couple of places (was around a year old). I couldn't be bothered returning this to the ebay seller and was sure this would be a hassle. AG returned the bag for me despite me not buying it from them and sorted it all out for me. I'm not sure there are many other shops that would do this for me.

On a side note, I do share my golf purchases between this store and my pro as I like to support the pro at my club. That said, if my pro was charging more than someone else for a product I would certainly be going elsewhere.

I used to live in Liberton and as a golfing teenager, me and my pals would get on a 31bus and travel to that store (Passing by others on the way) why? because you KNOW AG will have all the stuff you just read about in the golf mag, other stores may not.

The fact that people often talk about PRICE MATCHING ag shows that AG offers great pricing, you do not go to AG and say can you price match my local store as they are already better value.

People in general do not want to ask for a discount, they want the best available price 1st time

 

[Marshy77]

But you have to understand that AG is first and foremost a retail business and that is what retailers do; try to sell you something.

Whilst many of their staff are really nice guys and knowledgeable their job is to sell to generate profit for the private equity company that owns the business.

They are not, and never will be, the same as club pro's who are usually being paid a retainer by the Club in order to provide a service to members. This service may or may not include selling equipment to members.

Yes I totally get all of that but the sales pitch was just too much on Sat, before it's been ok and I do like AG and will continue to shop there.

 

[need_my_wedge]

As a point we do match clubhouse and AG for price and we have more pros working here than at AG, would just like to see a few more faces up here.

One example of our local AG "advice" Guy 6"4 goes down to be fitted for Cobra Max irons. AG fit him and tell him his clubs will be custom made. He then goes back to collect his clubs only to find out AG have sent him one of the 10000 standard fit sets they ordered from Cobra...

Thanks for the replies so far btw, very insightful and useful for me.

Almost an identical experience at my local AG. My son is 6'5" and was custom fitted by their tour van for Cobra driver for a tour flex stiff shaft upgrade with two wraps. We went to order a couple of weeks later and were told that the options were not available. I called Cobra direct and was told that they absolutely were available with plenty of stock. Went back to AG as order had to come from Cobra dealer, discussed with the manager, who checked with Cobra, confirmed availability and ordered. When it arrived 4 days later, it came with a regular flex shaft. Took another three weeks for Cobra to despatch the correct configuration, even though they were apparently going to expedite due to the mess up, blamed on Cobra.

Most of the time our AG is good, not pushy, competitive pricing, decent selection of gear etc. I'll put this one down to Cobra as informed....