American Golf or...

A (free) piece of advice from a major seller in a non-related industry. Sell on your own merits, don't slag off the opposition.

Have a read back through the thread and ask the question, how many people have supported my position....

There's the evidence to how much harm you've done to your business.
 
Hehe funny thread! Question for the OP. What do you offer that AG do not? Please don't say "power tees" as that is clearly for you and not your customers. Serious questions, what do you offer that AG do not?
 
KeeleDrivingRange said:
I got the quote straight out of an Arnolds book "A Golfers Life"..either way..I am quite sure we don't want sanctimonious and pompous are soles as customers so don't worry about helping with my query, thanks.

ONe more thing, I am not a golf shop, I am a human being. I won't become a perfect internet robot that never offends or takes offence. If that puts you off perhaps you should stick to going into your chainstores and enjoy being served by robots.
Click to expand...

This is my final point on this thread as quite frankly you are boring me.

A Golfer's Life was first published in 1999. Gary Player said it in the 80s, but I digress.

You've missed my point. Earlier I said I support my local pro as well as going to other stores. I spend my money where I fancy, I have little allegiance to a store. Where you have again made a massive mistake in your latest comment is to assume that I am being 'served by robots'.

Also, I am not perfect. I am not a robot either. I make mistakes, make comments I wish I could take back and sometimes do some stupid stuff including online posts. Do I do this under the name of my business/ employer? Certainly not.

I have a feeling this morning will have done your business more damage than you will realise.
 
Alex1975 said:
Hehe funny thread! Question for the OP. What do you offer that AG do not? Please don't say "power tees" as that is clearly for you and not your customers. Serious questions, what do you offer that AG do not?
Click to expand...

We offer a range facility where customers can demo our range of clubs instead of hitting into a simulator screen. We have coaching facilities and 3 pros working in the shop or coaching out on the range. We offer a trade in service for your old clubs. We offer custom fitting on a GC2 monitor and have a trackman in the coaching bay. We have more experts, matching or lower prices and a better place to hit golf balls.
 
KeeleDrivingRange said:
We offer a range facility where customers can demo our range of clubs instead of hitting into a simulator screen. We have coaching facilities and 3 pros working in the shop or coaching out on the range. We offer a trade in service for your old clubs. We offer custom fitting on a GC2 monitor and have a trackman in the coaching bay. We have more experts, matching or lower prices and a better place to hit golf balls.
Click to expand...

Sounds remarkably similar to this :D : www.americangolf.co.uk/content/WhyShopatAG.html.
 
KeeleDrivingRange said:
Jates you should come and try our facilities, we have the latest power tees and a large well stocked shop. Come down the M6 a couple of junctions and give us a go :)
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jamielaing said:
Keele Driving Range- I would like to enlighten you about a couple of things, I just hope you listen.

1) There are a lot of people on this forum. Generally we are a supportive bunch. There are a number of members who's livelihood comes from golf and they receive support from some of use be it lessons, buying products or purely supportive thoughts. They have developed a relationship with the forum, much like most of us have and we come here a lot to talk about our hobby and passion. Most people introduce themselves, contribute a few posts and chat to each other. Your first post here should never be 'xxx are cr*p, spend your money with me' which is essentially what you have written. You would have got on much better be honest and say AG have a huge market share, I don't. How can I make this better in your opinion.
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Jamielaing has it the nail on the head here, I have been a member of this forum only a short amount of time but I would like to think, i could well be wrong, but my opinions are respected and i would regard the other members of this forum as Friends/acquaintances, some of them at least.

I would rather line AG's pockets than yours from the way you have conducted yourself this forum. You have been abrasive, challenging and in fairness just downright rude. I will tell the members of my club about how you have acted also because I wouldnt want them to drive out of their way to be greeted by you. First impressions count a lot and you have let not just yourself down, but your business also.
 
KeeleDrivingRange said:
I'm sorry, is Jack a customer or just a guy on a forum?
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As he stated, he works in our local area regularly, so yeah he is a customer. Anyone who you're looking to sell to is a customer. By addressing the forum as a whole, we are all customers here. We travel all around the country for meets and to play new courses so people could drop in at any time.
 
Ha ha this guy isn't for real, no one with half a clue would come onto a forum and try to bully people into spending money with them.

Just some numpty with time on their hands.
 
Jates12 said:
As he stated, he works in our local area regularly, so yeah he is a customer. Anyone who you're looking to sell to is a customer. By addressing the forum as a whole, we are all customers here. We travel all around the country for meets and to play new courses so people could drop in at any time.
Click to expand...

Clearly we have got off on the wrong foot. We as a business have been at this site for 2.5 years and have a number of shops across Staffordshire/Shropshire. The American Golf in Stoke is the worst one of the lot by the sounds of it but clearly a lot of you guys have had a great experience with AG, and have put across reasons why the service was good. If you (or any other members) decided to drop by any of the shops you would be pleasantly surprised and receive as good customer service as anywhere else. Perhaps I should leave this thread now and as I post on other threads hopefully first impressions that have clearly not been great will be washed away.
 
Did anyone else see the Facebook argument between the venue and the bride after the bride posted a question on a wedding forum and the woman that ran the venue got annoyed. This thread has the potential to go the same way.

For those who don't know what I'm on about Google "Balgonie Castle Facebook row". The OP seems to have a similar attitude to the woman that runs the venue.
 
KeeleDrivingRange said:
Clearly we have got off on the wrong foot. We as a business have been at this site for 2.5 years and have a number of shops across Staffordshire/Shropshire. The American Golf in Stoke is the worst one of the lot by the sounds of it but clearly a lot of you guys have had a great experience with AG, and have put across reasons why the service was good. If you (or any other members) decided to drop by any of the shops you would be pleasantly surprised and receive as good customer service as anywhere else. Perhaps I should leave this thread now and as I post on other threads hopefully first impressions that have clearly not been great will be washed away.
Click to expand...

Good plan. I get why the you posted but your wording and the subsequent discussion has taken the thread downhill a bit . Stick around KeelDrivingRange, if your a golf nut you will fit right in here !

As I said, good luck with the business. I love driving ranges, especially in winter as it kills an hour of the evening .....far too many are closing down these days !
 
Please tell me this a wind up and the OP is actually just playing a trick!

I live quite away from Mansfield... But still go out my way to go to golf support... Likewise if I'm up Manchester way I'll pop to clubhouse!

No wonder local shops close if they have the mentality like that. Disappointed.
 
Hi all,as some of you know I frequent the forum as firstly i'm a golf nut who can't help reading about the game I also occasionally post on behalf of Ag

This thread clearly caught my attention and it has been fantastic to read through the many comments that clearly demonstrate that our retail colleagues regularly deliver great service.
However we realize we don't always get it right and this feedback inspires us to improve.

We are aware that consumers have a choice and there are many fantastic examples of independent retailers out there but we will keep doing all we can to make Ag the number 1 choice for golf equipment and advice.

Sorry to hijack the debate.
It was a nice distraction from wondering how I was the only person in the Ag office who did not back Willet :-)
 
I have had a number of issues with AG at various stores near me, all well documented on here. However reading your opening post, my reaction would be how arrogant and how rude to blindly demand people boycott AG. Also, as an aside, did you clear the blatant advertising for your own business via the mods?

I'm sorry but your post did nothing to entice me in at all and if anything I'd be more likely to go back to my AG. They still do some good deals on clothing and accessories and from that side of things I'd definitely deal with them again. I wouldn't trust them to fit me again but as I've said that's in the past and well documented
 
elmoag said:
Hi all,as some of you know I frequent the forum as firstly i'm a golf nut who can't help reading about the game I also occasionally post on behalf of Ag

This thread clearly caught my attention and it has been fantastic to read through the many comments that clearly demonstrate that our retail colleagues regularly deliver great service.
However we realize we don't always get it right and this feedback inspires us to improve.

We are aware that consumers have a choice and there are many fantastic examples of independent retailers out there but we will keep doing all we can to make Ag the number 1 choice for golf equipment and advice.

Sorry to hijack the debate.
It was a nice distraction from wondering how I was the only person in the Ag office who did not back Willet :-)
Click to expand...

My irony alarm has just gone off. And just in case the OP missed it, someone from AG who you want us to dump to use your facility instead has just demonstrated to you how customer service should be done. Basically "Good to hear your great feedback. We know we sometimes balls things up but we try to learn from it" and acknowledging the competition without a hint of slagging them off.
 
elmoag said:
Hi all,as some of you know I frequent the forum as firstly i'm a golf nut who can't help reading about the game I also occasionally post on behalf of Ag

This thread clearly caught my attention and it has been fantastic to read through the many comments that clearly demonstrate that our retail colleagues regularly deliver great service.
However we realize we don't always get it right and this feedback inspires us to improve.

We are aware that consumers have a choice and there are many fantastic examples of independent retailers out there but we will keep doing all we can to make Ag the number 1 choice for golf equipment and advice.

Sorry to hijack the debate.
It was a nice distraction from wondering how I was the only person in the Ag office who did not back Willet :-)
Click to expand...

The blueprint of corporate, business-minded internet chat:

-Has existing relationship with the forum
-Responds to feedback in a measured way, thanking the customer base for the positive AND negative
-Doesn't take the bait of a lesser businessperson, instead praising the indie industry
-Promotes company
-Ends with light-hearted comment

Bravo, sir/madam.

Customer service really isn't hard- just be nice, responsive and aware of the impact of negative feedback.

*I await my £100 AG voucher.
 
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