Business of Instruction: The Business of Teaching & Coaching

Whether you are teaching and coaching at a golf course, driving range or indoor facility, here are some best practices to immediately increase and maximize your income.

1. Specialize- Find a niche in the Teaching & Coaching industry that you enjoy:  Elite players, Juniors, Women, Seniors, Beginners, Disabled or special needs, short game, distance, club fitting, PGA Junior league or High School golf coach.

I found a niche in the beginning of my career that nobody was doing which provided me immediate substantial income and has become an integral part of my current programs.  I formed “Tiny Tees”, which focuses on juniors 3-6 years of age.  This involves group lessons which is the fundamental core for maximizing income.

2. Organize, Plan and Communicate – Organize multi-week group sessions, with a plan of improving specific parts of the student’s game such as mechanics, short game, distance, rules and etiquette, or playing the game. Plan your schedule according to your weekly availability and put it on a calendar.  Utilize your facilities communication assets such as their website, social media, and in-house marketing/promotion to post your schedule.  Communicate and negotiate with your facility about the revenue and exposure benefit these programs will generate.  Make sure these benefits are measurable and tracked, such as range usage, new memberships, food and beverage, equipment and tournament sales.

Communication with your clients is extremely important for retention and referrals to grow and sustain your business.  Establish a line of constant communication with your students through email, text, or use an app.  A phone call (which is a lost art) to see how things are doing pays heavy dividends at the end of a student’s series and programs.  Build your own website, which you can do for free or at a minimal cost.  Invest in services such as TextMagic (SMS), Mailchimp (email), SwingU (business app), V1 golf (video app) as your data base grows.

3. Focus on groups & RAISE your individual lesson fees – Do not be afraid of raising your individual lesson rates! What I have experienced in my career is that when I have raised my price I did not lose any business and actually got busier.  The perception to many is that when you are more expensive, you must be better.  I grandfather current students to their original rates and guide new students to semi-private or group sessions

Here is an example of how to go about pricing yourself into your market:  Do some research on the average individual lesson rates in your area.  In our case, in Orange County $100 is an average rate for a 45-minute to 1- hour lesson.  Raise your individual rate at least 20%.  By combining two clients for a semi-private lesson, the students save 40% and you can increase your hourly rate by 40%.  You can double your income by promoting groups of four or more.

Before                 Rate                         After/per hour Rate % increase/per hour

Individual            $100/hr                   $120                                        20%

Semi-private        N/A                        $70 ea.  $140                          40%

Group 3                 N/A                                   $50 ea.  $150                          50%

Group 4+              N/A                        $50 ea.  $200                          100%

Most people getting into the game of golf like to do it with a friend or family member and will be incentivized by the savings.  You should also package this pricing into a series of lessons with a plan to become better at whatever their specific objectives are.

4. Just Getting Started – If you are just getting your teaching and coaching career started or want to immediately enhance and generate more income and exposure to your brand, here is what to do:

*Get certified as a PGA.coach.  Visit www.pga.coach.com and go through the videos and testing which takes approximately 3 hours.  There is no charge.  What this certification will do is educate you on the physical and mental development of our juniors and learning characteristics at different stages of their lives.  Once certified, you can set up a profile on PGA.com website that promotes certified professionals and directs the public in your area to you.

*Organize a PGA Junior league team.  Educate yourself and your facility on the financial and promotional benefits of this PGA owned program, www.pgajrleague.com.  This program is extremely easy to get started and is supported by your Section. It can turn into a year-round activity that generates income for coaches and incremental revenue for your facility.

*Choose or have a Mentor assigned to you in your specific field or expertise.  Contact your Chapter membership/associate chairperson or contact the section www.scpga.com.

Randy Chang, PGA

Director of Instruction

Randy Chang Golf Schools

Journey at Pechanga

Talega Golf Club

LOR Golf & Fitness Lab