Susan Vail on Coaching: Use Technology to Expand Reach

Susan Vail, the 2018 PGA South Florida Section Player Development Award Recipient, is a PGA Teaching Professional at Abacoa Golf Club, in Jupiter, Florida.

Susan Vail on the importance of using technology to expand reach:

When striving to expand one’s player development programs, it is important to offer opportunities that students want and need, and once you have their attention, the opportunity is then yours to continue that growth. Over the past five years, our women’s program has grown by leaps and bounds. Throughout my career as a PGA Professional, I have traveled extensively with members and students, enjoying all that the game has to offer, on storied courses in countries worldwide. That global pursuit goes beyond expensive travel – it is also a philosophy that provides unending possibilities for business and teaching growth, being able to reach golfers across the globe. Thanks to technological advances in golf instruction and communications, this endeavor is more possible than ever. To attract students globally, and retain my lessons locally, I developed an application for iOS and Android. Pink PEG is an interactive app that contains dozens of videos for students to view and allows them to upload their own swing video for analysis and feedback. Pink PEG videos explain the ABC’s of being a golfer, offer full swing tips, provide drills for improvement, and help better their short game skills and putting. Pairing this information with the content on my website provides current and potential new students with the full package of information that will help them ease into the game as beginners and progress into golfers, as their knowledge and skills are enhanced, their mental game improves, and their confidence grows. With the growing database of women worldwide, I can keep up with their games, stay abreast of their progress, and remain in contact as well.

Susan Vail on the business impact of using technology to expand reach:

After more than two decades in the business, technology has allowed me to set greater goals than ever before; my five-year plan includes reaching as many women across the planet as possible. My ever-increasing database of women remains the basis for the Pink PEG platform and its continued growth, as it helps women everywhere make golf an important part of their lives. The Pink PEG brand is growing online, with plans of bringing it home locally in the not so distant future. As that brand becomes more recognizable, it becomes attractive to advertisers and vendors whose primary customer base matches up with those in my database. The relationships with such vendors will create long-term advertising, merchandising, and social opportunities. With a lesson book that’s pretty maxed out, reaching women online literally creates endless possibilities for growth. This combination of local clientele and unlimited potential online has caused me to re-evaluate my business goals and realize the great possibilities for the future.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email susanvail@pga.com.

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