Getting Fitted

A friend of mine sent some of us in our golf group a photo of some clubs he is thinking of buying.  The clubs were displayed with a sale price and his caption was “better golf through MasterCard?”  It’s a common thought among golfers – I’ll just buy a better game.  As one who is constantly in search of that elusive improvement, I’ve stood in many a golf superstore and felt exactly the same way.

As it turns out, the advice I gave him isn’t bad advice for business.  You see, I’ve worked with companies who thought they could buy their way to a better game too.  Let me share with you what I told my friend and I think you’ll see how it applies to the companies as well.

Two words (as you can probably guess from the title): get fitted.  Take your current clubs to a place with a launch monitor, have them measure your swing tendencies, get a few clubs that are built for your swing speed and swing plane, and then choose one of them – whichever seems to feel best and is priced reasonably.

Shift the discussion to tools (which is what golf clubs are, after all) like social media, web analytics, and others. Many companies just take whatever is available (and maybe priced at a discount) without giving thought to their own needs and tendencies. “Let’s get on Twitter!” might not be a bad idea, but it requires some analysis – some time on the figurative monitor – to figure out what the real needs are. Throwing a company or brand page up on Facebook or LinkedIn can be a very bad idea that actually hurts your game, just as a driver I once bought on a friend’s recommendation killed mine for a month (I sold it to a buddy who is still hitting it beautifully).

There are many places to find a pro and get your clubs fitted.  I’m one of the pros who can help you get your digital clubs fitted and there are lots of us out here.  In either case, going out to play with off the shelf tools can assure you of a lousy outcome.

How’s your game today?