NGCOA's 2012 Annual Conference Puts Focus on Customers as Course's Most Important Asset

Golf industry's largest gathering of owners, operators scheduled Feb. 27-March 2 in Las Vegas

(CHARLESTON, S.C.) - The 2012 NGCOA Annual Conference will present course owners and operators with new ways to break out of a sluggish economic environment by treating customers as their most important business asset.

The conference, which will be Feb. 27 - March 2 in Las Vegas, is the golf industry's largest gathering of owners and operators of daily fee, private, resort and municipal courses.

"Most facilities have cut expenses as much as they can and are running as efficiently as they know how," said Anne Lyndrup, the NGCOA's director of conference and trade show. "Now they've got to figure out how to be as productive as possible, and that starts with a focus on customers. This conference will help owners do that."

Management consultant and business strategist Don Peppers will discuss strategies for attracting, retaining and improving customer value when he kicks off the conference on Feb. 27 with the event's keynote address.

"The common denominator that characterizes every consistently successful business is that it takes a strategic approach to its single most important business asset - customers and customer relationships," Peppers says. Peppers, who is widely credited with kick-starting the global CRM revolution over the last 15 years, will share customer-oriented strategies to improve sales and profitability.

The conference opens with a day of education and best practices at the Angel Park Golf Club. Interactive sessions will highlight alternative golf formats, successful food and beverage operations, special events, sustainable maintenance practices, winning merchandise displays and innovative range concepts.

James Chung, a marketing expert and research consultant, will start the conference's second day by discussing the opportunities afforded by shifting consumer and demographic trends. Breakout sessions following Chung's keynote will offer specific ways to take advantage of these trends and demonstrate examples of what successful operators are doing to meet the needs of today's consumers.

The conference's third day will feature the NGCOA's annual awards presentation and Listserv Live, a free-flowing idea-sharing session, as well as the opening day of the Golf Industry Show. The Golf Industry Show showcases the golf industry's latest products and services throughout an expansive exhibit area and offers additional educational opportunities for attendees. Popular television personality David Feherty will deliver the show's keynote address on March 1.

NGCOA members and non-members can register for the conference at www.ngcoa.org/conference. Registrants save $200 on the on-site registration fees through Jan. 13.

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