24: The Gratitude Invitational
How golf tournaments done right enable the best of revenue relationships.
Traditional, business golf tournaments are sub par.
That’s not the most alarming part though… what’s really the problem is most people don’t even know what good is.
Nearly every day a golf tournament like this, is happening somewhere in the business world…
A host invites clients and/or prospects to a golf course. Foursomes are self-service, pay-your-way style. Something like $500? $1,000 to participate? Maybe there is some element of sponsorships, a hole here or there with a yard sign, a junior sales person hard pitching their must-have service; offering entrance to an air pod or yeti cooler giveaway if you drop a business card or write email address down. Participants come, mingle amongst their known friends (usually just their foursome) maybe stay for some awards after but probably not, and then bounce with a handbag full of yet another branded Stanley cup, golf balls, maybe a cool shirt or pullover. Little to zero long term relationship value created among host, sponsors, attendees.
Sound familiar? And repetitive? And stereotypical?
The missing piece? Enabling real relationship building.
The Gratitude Invitational is one of the best business-to-business events on the planet IMHO. Not by happenstance though. Through collaborating on a series of tournaments in the past, taking lessons learned, and executing on a few strategies, it’s become a hole-in-one caliber experience in revenue relationships.
» Curate a Community
The Gratitude Invitational is specific, if not down right rigorous, in it’s curated audience. Rather than open-forum, anyone register, participants must contact a sponsoring partner to be admitted.
The mistake many tournaments make is they invite one contact (a client, prospect, partner) and let that individual control the remaining foursome members with zero parameters. Some may be of the same company, same industry, same role, or entirely different. Some may be their 16 year old son. That’s cool, at a certain time and place, but for most b2b events that’s a fail.
When you do repeat that laissez-faire approach 18, or 36 times over, your core audience gets diluted crazy fast.
Make your event inclusionary, by being exclusionary. Be maniacal about the community that makes the most sense to attend, and by so doing your attendees will find significantly more value in the relevance of one another.
Rob Marriott taught me this principle and his fingerprints are all over the Gratitude Invitational.👇
» Partner, Partner, Partner
Sponsors are a dime a dozen, find partners. What’s the difference?
A sponsorship is transactional, it’s often just a money and numbers game. Sponsor gives you money, you give them contact details of people who attend. End of story.
A partnership is collaborative. Partners share your desire for a curated community and will support you in bringing the right people to the tee box. They’ll also buy into the revenue relationship philosophy of building rapport more than contact lists.
Their presence at a hole will be a seasoned veteran in business development, one whose primary goal is conversing, not convincing. They’ll generate great conversations with people who will naturally want to explore their business solutions without gimmicky contests.
A partner will invest time, energy, effort into a great course experience that reflects amazingly on themselves and tournament hosts.
Colt Passey taught me this principle and his fingerprints are all over the Gratitude Invitational. 👇
» Fill Out the Course
Tournaments are inherently slow. You’re stacked (sometimes two foursomes to a hole) back to back. Some are scratch golfers, many are not.
Bring some excitement beyond the course. Food, games, interactions that entertain. Learn from the best, like the NBA. You think the only thing going on at a basketball game is basketball? Look again.
Same goes for a golf tournament. If the day is to be long, make sure there’s food, drink, and added experiences beyond the strokes.
One of my favorites, a 360 Photo Booth. You literally cannot go wrong with one of these things on a course. People love them.
Ben Bingham taught me this principle and his fingerprints are all over the Gratitude Invitational. 👇
Mind the Little Things
I’d be genuinely curious to see the repeat rates most tournaments have on sponsoring partners, because so often those flipping the bill (literally) are the afterthought of the whole experience.
The sponsoring partners as individuals are as important, if not more important, than any individual who attends as a golfer.
In one occasion, I hosted a golf tournament where the hole sponsors didn’t have on-demand transport (aka their own cart) to and from the holes. Think how annoying that is… transitioning staff, delivering supplies, going to the restroom, getting back to clubhouse at conclusion in timeline manner?
It was a small thing, but that one item has had significant partner experience returns.
There’s also the idea of food on the course. And by food, I mean good grub. J Dawgs has become a staple for course cuisine for good reason. It’s fast, easy, and delicious.
Lots of people say, “We’ll get them lunch in clubhouse after. Some to-go sandwiches will do…”
No, sweat the small stuff. Put a microscope on it, figure out ways to make the experience better (especially for a sponsoring business).
Jared Van Orden taught me this principle and his fingerprints are all over the Gratitude Invitational. 👇
Invest in What Matters Most
Golf tourneys are replete with token giveaways and trinkets. It’s “send-them-away-with-a-bunch-of-crap-and-maybe-they’ll-feel-like-they-got-a-lot-of-value” mentality. It’s dumb.
Plastic branded tees of the worst quality? No.
Golf balls, again, branded? Yea sure… but that’s it?
Or what about expensive giveaways like drivers and even trips to exotic golf courses?
Maybe…
Just like you curate your community, curate the prizes to be of value, but across the spectrum. Not just one dimensional if that everyone gets a hat, or everyone gets entered to win a Traeger.
Do giveaways for whoever finds the trolls in the rough (one of my favs), best dressed, last place, all the contests you can think of.
Make the prizes a mixture of practical and golf related. Lots of people would rather return home with movie tickets for them and their spouse than with a driver they’ll never use because they already have one they like.
In some ways, cash is king. Give it away.
Be conscientious about what the impact awards and prizes do and don’t have. Sometimes going big is a big waste, and going too small yields small potatoes. Strike a middle ground of common sense that keeps people around smiling.
You can tell a good tournament from a great one by how many people stick around for awards and prizes post a long day of golf.
Devin Taylor taught me this principle and his fingerprints are all over the Gratitude Invitational. 👇
These are just a few (of many money) strategies I have learned through collaborating with stellar partners like Rob, Colt, Ben, Jared, Devin who have nearly 100 years combined business development experience.
If you’re interested in experiencing first hand the results, two tournaments that may be for you as a sponsor or participant in 2024…
If you want to collaborate on maximizing the revenue relationships of one of your own golf events, whether you’re hosting / sponsoring / attending, let’s connect.
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Whether you’re a business or an individual, I bring people together for events (i.e. Golf Tournaments) that generate revenue relationships. See my hosted events at lu.ma/PartnerPhilosophy. I also help companies know what and how to attend, sponsor or host events that build meaningful relationships. It can be as simple as a business group meal, a golf tournament, or even as sophisticated as a retreat / seminar / conference.
Let’s collaborate via email brian@partnerphilosophy.com