The old wives’ tale postulates that golf is a critical skill to business development and potential sales on the golf course.  Golf is viewed as a critical skill for the sales function of any organization.  A secondary norm of this postulate is that the salesperson or company executive should always allow the customer to win the match irrespective of the skill of the players.  Sometimes winning is accomplished by using the handicap system to give the customer enough strokes to win the competition easily.  Other times, the salesperson might just “unfortunately” whack a ball or two out of bounds to ensure customer victory–make sure you lose to the customer.

I personally find this practice to be despicable and insulting to the game of golf and the customer.  Golf is a game meant to be played honestly, and the handicap system enables players of different or similar skill sets to play competitively.  No other sport has the format to enable competitors of unequal of similar ability to compete against each other fairly.  Playing the game to lose deliberately to curry favor with a potential customer is disrespectful to the customer by demeaning their own ability and potential.  If I were the customer and suspected that my competitor was deliberately losing the match through hitting errant shots or missing easy putts, I would disqualify that company from getting a purchase order from me.  The practice of “tanking” to a customer on the golf course is despicable, nauseating and unacceptable.  Golf is a microcosm of life and a competitor who might also be a customer should be treated as an equal and afforded the dignity and respect as if sitting in any business environment.  It’s also important to treat the customer with respect and empathy particularly if the customer isn’t as skilled or comfortable on the golf course.

In one instance, I took an AT&T senior executive to Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Pebble Beach, California.  AT&T was a very significant customer, and I believed it would important to show this guy a good time.  I had no idea what his skill level was but watching him hit some practice balls gave me some cause for concern. Spyglass Hill is a seriously tough golf course and the toughness starts on the very first hole.  Unfortunately, my guest’s struggle with Spyglass would begin with his opening tee shot that went flying as a horrible slice into the driving range on the right.  The next 15 minutes would prove to be pure horror as he mashed a bunch of horrible shots finally finding the ice plants behind the green.  After 7 mighty blows and 3 putts, a ten on the scorecard had me scrambling to figure out what to do here.  The second and third holes would prove to be no better as his frustration and aggravation were beginning to mount.  I was praying for something good to happen especially by the fourth, which is another treacherous hole to say the least.  I never give instruction on the golf course as I feel that I’m the least qualified to be able to do so with any credibility.  Besides, I don’t think you can ever fix a swing problem on the golf course.   I merely told him that the opening patch of Spyglass was difficult for everybody, and good things were about to happen.  He simply had to get used to this environment.  I stayed empathetic and indifferent to the carnage going on around me, and I truly believed that he appreciated my attitude while enabling him to focus a bit better.  The gods of golf answered my prayers on the par 3, 5th hole whereby he flushed a six iron onto the green and made par.  The look of anger and give up disappeared from his face and a pleasant smile emerged as I congratulated him for his two putt par.  The game went from “I think I’m going to quit” to a very pleasant “all right!” as he proceeded to play decently for the rest of the day.  Respect and empathy for his initial plight on the opening hole paved the way for what turned out to be a good experience.

I had another completely different experience in Japan, which I round to be pretty unusual for the Japanese.  I had a reputation of being a “decent” player with my company and the Japanese company decided to set up a match with one of their senior executives who was also touted to be a “very good” player.  The golf outing was turning into a serious match between the two of us, which I had not expected.  It seemed that the Japanese company thought maybe I wasn’t that good and seemed to want to see me take a serious ‘trouncing” from their executive.  There was a sense in the air that this was going to be a competition and not a relationship building walk in the park.  My competitive juices began to flow and there was no way that I was going to lose willingly to my Japanese competitor.  I started the round with a birdie on the first hole and proceeded to go 4 up at the turn in the match.  I could sense that my Japanese competitor was not happy as there was a bit of a gallery of Japanese company staff following us, while I was pretty much alone with my caddy.  The match was over by the 14th as I won the event 5 and 4 (match play parlance).  I have to admit that it felt a bit weird about this match because what was supposed to be a relationship type of low key affair became something completely different to the Japanese company.  I did play a bit better than normal shooting 78, but I treated the victory with a pleasant demeanor and did not celebrate the win with arrogance or spite after the initial surprise.  The win enhanced my reputation there as well as my company’s, but more importantly I gained some respect and a new relationship from the defeated executive.

There are countless numbers and varieties of customer golfing experiences.  My summary advice is always to be yourself and play your best irrespective of how it turns out.