Tom Patri improved business by starting his own (Part 2, Conclusion)

Continued from blog entry – “Trends in Teaching: Company Man (Part 1)”

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What required more work was to build up a client base. Patri kept his eyes open and his nose to the ground – and he got organized. His efforts have resulted in a database of more than 2,000 personal contacts cultivated largely through his teaching at Westchester. T.P. Golf Services now does a newsletter mailing four times a year and an e-mail campaign. and will soon launch a Web site.

In the beginning, Patri researched what people expect from a golf school. But he also thought about what he want­ed his students to have. “What was important to me was that they benefitted from the experience and came away feeling as though people really cared about them and whether they progressed or not,” he says. Thus, the numbers were kept small;
the workshops are designed for eight to 12 students and maintain a 4:1 student-teacher ratio.

In the first two years of operation, Patri did six three-day schools each winter. The third year he did 28. Forty workshop dates are planned for this coming winter, and T.P. Golf Services added two full-time employees in July. Among the factors Patri sees as essential to a good site: proximity to an airport with a variety of flights to choose from; plenty of entertainment options, and lodging on or near the campus. He found all of these elements in Orlando, Fla. where he will conduct his schools at the new Orange County National golf facility.

Can anyone do what Patri has done? His situation – an exclusive club with 1,500 families and New York City out his back door – cer­tainly is unique. And it’s important to realize that Patri invested a great deal of time and money during the initial stages and is only now starting to turn a profit. But the man himself thinks that anyone bright, organized and able and willing to market themselves and their product (like many successful teachers, Patri is a good and unapolo­getic self-promoter) can follow his lead.

Patri suggests pros begin by marketing at their clubs, putting items in the club newsletter and on locker room bulletin boards and offer­ing free instructional clinics. Developing lasting personal relationships with members and students is crucial; Patri recommends keeping files on students recording information about their progress and the content of each lesson.

He also encourages professionals interested in developing a winter teaching business to be persistent. Many of the doors he has been knocking on for the last three years are just now beginning to open for T.P. Golf Services “What I do may not be for everybody, but there are many talented professionals who should explore where their mar­ket in teaching is, and how they can best position themselves in it – and have a wonderful time in the process,” says Patri.