Ever heard the saying, “Friendship is made on the first 18 holes, while closing happens on the 19th?” The 19th hole is slang for pub or bar, usually at the clubhouse. The relationship between golf and business is nothing new.
Golf is one of the oldest sports in the world. The oldest golf course in the world, St. Andrews, dates back to 1552.
You see a lot of businessmen, executives, as well as salespeople playing golf with each other on a day-to-day basis.
As a salesperson, time is of the essence. Why should we spend hours of our valuable time on the golf course?
Investment in Others
Successful people invest in the quality of time spent. You get to spend an entire day with a prospect. Everyone playing together is investing time into each other.
To be able to invest that much time with a prospect in a short time is a luxury by most standards. Usually, we may grab lunch, coffee, dinner in addition to meeting in the office. Those short interactions don’t provide anyone with a moment to relax. Everyone is thinking about what is next on their schedule and how much work they need to get done that day.
When you are on the golf course, everything changes. Other than people in your flight (up to 4 people), it’s unlikely you will see anyone else. No one is in a hurry to get anywhere and their minds aren’t pre-occupied with other thoughts.
When you agree to play golf with someone, you are expected to spend the majority of your day with them, with few exceptions. If you only have half a day, you can play 9 holes. The other option is picking an early morning tee so that you can be back in the office by the afternoon.
If someone agrees to spend a day to play a round of golf with you, they want to get to know you better and think you are worth their precious time. After all, they could’ve opted for a short coffee instead.
Getting To Know Your Customer
Golf shares a close resemblance to business and life. In golf, you can get a glimpse into their character, and their personality that you would otherwise not be able to see in shorter interactions.
It’s easy to put on a front and fake who you are for an hour-long meeting. Not so much if someone spends an entire day with you. Things that are normally concealed will make itself known quite quickly.
For example, if your playing partner makes a bad shot and throws a fit or tantrum, it’s very likely that they are to do that in business and other parts of their life. After all, golf is a relaxing and calm sport. If you get carried away by your emotions, it’s very telling what you might do if the stakes were a lot higher.
As the saying goes, “how you do anything is how you do everything.”
Another example would be how they respond when you make a good or bad shot. Do they hold resentment? Or genuine appreciation? Do they encourage you or ignore you?
The size of someone’s ego can be easily measured on the golf course. Look at how they map out their approach. Are they making overly aggressive and risky plays, such as trying to hit a fairway around the corner with trees or water in front of him? Or are they making more sensible and safer shots by breaking the approach into two shots instead of one?
Are they cheating on their strokes? This is probably one of the biggest tells. Golf is all about integrity and honesty. Often times, you cannot see every shot that people make, you rely on their honesty and integrity. If they cheat in golf, it’s very likely they will cheat you on a business deal or do things behind your back.
Some executives and professionals even use a round of golf as a determining factor for whether to work with a new business associate or potential partner. This works both ways. The prospect might be displaying behavior that may highlight some potential issues in working with them.
Conclusion
Remember that I talked about the 19th hole? By the time we finish one round with a person, rapport has been built and many items of the deal may have already been presented. All that is needed is to work towards the close during the time following the round at the bar.
A close is not guaranteed, but there’s a pretty good chance that your investment in your relationship will pay off. Even if a close does not happen, both you and the prospect might become good golf buddies. Also, you never know if a referral might just come out of the blue.
We don’t have to pick up golf tomorrow if that’s not our cup of tea, but we can learn the principles that we can apply to our own interactions with our prospects to build a solid relationship with them and end up with a closed deal. Even if you don’t play golf remember to invest in quality time with the prospect. Focus on building a deeper relationship with them and getting to know them outside of the office. If the relationship is solid, the deal will come.
