Ricky Kline is the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Sittler Golf Center in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania.
Ricky Kline on the importance of engaging golfers in the custom clubfitting experience:
Over the past 32 years, we have conducted over 25,000 clubfittings. This engagement has led to long-term customers and vital golf club revenue in our retail golf shop. Our fitters have more than 80 years of club fitting experience and have earned awards from Golf Digest, the Golf Range Association of America (GRAA) and Top 100 awards from various manufacturers. The custom clubfitting process begins with a conversation about their goals and expectations. Many golfers have never been custom fit before, so we take a good look at their current equipment, and more often than not, they can use an upgrade. We’ll look at the golf shafts across their full set of clubs to ensure they are consistent with the golfer’s body type and skill level. The clubfitting process can take anywhere from one to four hours, and depending upon where our focus lies, we can hit indoors or outdoors using our launch monitor to analyze the golfer’s swing. In this analysis, we look at swing speed, ball flight, launch conditions and more. We use that data to determine what the golfers are struggling with and work with them to explain where their challenges reside. Throughout the fitting process, we try different combinations of head, shaft, length, lie, loft and grip to see if we can help manipulate the numbers and get golfers to their most ideal launch conditions. All of our fitters are golf coaches, so our fittings are very educational. For most, it is considered taboo to teach during a clubfitting; however, the reason people come to us for fittings is that they are not happy with their current setup and need help. Sometimes it’s not new equipment that is needed, but a lesson, which is why it’s important that every fitter at our facility is a teacher, and every teacher is a clubfitter.
Ricky Kline on the business impact of engaging golfers in the custom clubfitting experience:
Our facility thrives on our reputation, and we value the trust our clients place in us. Because our clubfittings begin with a simple conversation, we can build connections with our golfers. From the get-go, we ask if there is a certain brand they prefer, but also ask that they keep an open mind during the process. We fit them for the brand they have in mind, but if we see something that could be better, we always ask if they would like to try something else, increasing sales across all the equipment vendors we carry. With this being said, we recently started incorporating in-house demo days. These events encourage golfers to book personal fittings with our professionals and help them keep up with our social media. We get a lot of customers based on the educational process of our fittings. Roughly 90 to 95 percent of fitting customers buy on the spot. Our elite fitting experience motivates people to come back to our facility for lessons. As part of our family business, I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, and we continue to adapt to the changing times. I always tell people, it’s not about the sale, it’s about being here for you throughout your whole golfing experience.
If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email ricky@sittlergolf.com.
