Mark Mielke is the PGA Teaching Professional at High Ridge Country Club in Lantana, Florida.

Mark Mielke on the importance of streamlining the lesson booking process:

I love taking golfers onto the course and specifically bringing them to their least favorite hole or their most feared shot. I like to see what their routines are. We see different things on the course than the range – how fast they are; how slow. I like to work on the mind game on the golf course more. I want you to go into a positive state of mind. Visualize a good outcome before hitting the shot. Why is that important for an article about making the process easier for students trying to book a lesson with me? Because I’m instructing all day, every day. I’ve had to try to get students to book two weeks in advance. They can’t just show up anymore. I’m busy from morning until dark. And I’m not around the shop. So anything that can simplify the process is huge for me and I believe using an app has done exactly that.

Mark Mielke on the business impact of streamlining the lesson booking process:

I didn’t want my employees inside the golf shop wasting time trying to book my lessons. That back and forth has been rendered moot because of technology. For me it’s an app, for others it may be a website or other online booking destination. But the bottom line is that these services allow golfers to book a lesson weeks or months in advance (for mine it’s six months), they can see all the times available, and I can see my calendar at any time to see if there’s been a cancelation or adjustment. Furthermore, because I enjoy taking members out on the course, I’ve needed to make a change on what time of day I’m taking these players out so that I don’t disrupt member play. The app has allowed me to easily add early morning and evening lessons, allowing me to give the best possible lesson and still teach on the range all day amidst golf’s surge in popularity. So if your teaching schedule has become more complicated, look for ways to simplify parts of it. For me, streamlining the booking process has been a big gamechanger.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email milkmangolf@yahoo.com.