Account Management
Client Success Playbook
A strategic playbook for GolfBack Account Managers to coach clients proactively, improve client health, drive product adoption, and create measurable growth outcomes.
When to use this resource
Use this playbook when planning account strategy, preparing monthly reviews, responding to client requests, identifying growth opportunities, reviewing product adoption, or coaching at-risk accounts back to health.
Purpose and mission
The Client Success Playbook gives GolfBack Account Managers a repeatable system for moving beyond reactive support and becoming proactive growth partners for golf courses. The focus is helping clients improve visibility, booking conversion, rounds, revenue, repeat engagement, product adoption, and referrals.
- Support success across websites, online booking, marketing, Tee Time Guarantee, other GolfBack products, client communication, and relationship growth.
- Center every account conversation on growth outcomes, not just task completion.
- Help clients get more measurable value from GolfBack over time.
Core outcomes and AM responsibilities
Account Managers help golf courses get more value from GolfBack by focusing on measurable business outcomes and owning the relationship with a proactive mindset.
- Grow online visibility so golfers can find the course more easily.
- Improve booking conversion by turning more visitors into booked tee times.
- Increase rounds and revenue by promoting inventory while protecting tee time value.
- Build repeat golfer activity through stronger email marketing, eClub growth, and communication.
- Drive adoption of GolfBack features that match each client's needs.
- Strengthen trust, monitor client health, route issues clearly, and ask happy clients for referrals.
Client lifecycle stages
Each stage has a different account management priority. Use the client lifecycle to adjust how you communicate, coach, and recommend next steps.
- New client / onboarding: confirm contacts, goals, products, website and booking setup, launch priorities, and communication expectations.
- Active client: respond quickly, review booking flow and website performance, encourage marketing, introduce useful features, and track health.
- Growth client: recommend additional products, improve conversion, promote Tee Time Guarantee when relevant, and ask for referrals or testimonials.
- At-risk client: identify the main pain point, confirm the decision-maker, resolve open requests, avoid aggressive upsells, and create a simple recovery plan.
Client health score framework
Use a simple 100-point monthly score to evaluate relationship strength, product usage, growth momentum, and risk. This keeps outreach prioritized and makes account reviews more consistent.
- Relationship and communication: 20 points.
- Product adoption: 25 points.
- Online booking and conversion activity: 20 points.
- Marketing and repeat golfer growth: 15 points.
- Business growth opportunity: 10 points.
- Referral and advocacy potential: 10 points.
- Healthy: 80 to 100. Watch: 60 to 79. At risk: 0 to 59.
Monthly client review workflow
Priority clients should receive a simple monthly review that covers relationship health, website performance, booking flow, marketing activity, product adoption, and growth recommendations.
- Relationship: primary contact, decision-maker, last touchpoint, sentiment, and open concerns.
- Website: visible booking buttons, accurate rates and hours, current content, strong mobile experience, and current forms or event pages.
- Booking flow: direct links to GolfBack booking, correct inventory links, mobile-friendly steps, and clear calls to action.
- Marketing: recent campaigns, eClub visibility, seasonal opportunities, and repeat golfer communication.
- Product adoption: online booking engine, website support, email marketing, Tee Time Guarantee, dynamic pricing, reporting, and other GolfBack tools.
- Growth opportunities: identify one to three actions tied to more rounds, more revenue, better conversion, better communication, or more event inquiries.
Reactive support workflow
When a client submits a request, the AM should classify it, clarify the business goal, complete or route it with clean context, and add a proactive recommendation when appropriate.
- Classify the request: website update, booking issue, marketing request, product question, reporting question, technical issue, billing question, or growth opportunity.
- Ask internally what the client is trying to accomplish: more tee times, better mobile experience, updated information, more event leads, more eClub signups, or clearer communication.
- If routing the issue, include client name, request summary, affected page or product, screenshots, priority, deadline, and business impact.
- Whenever possible, pair the completed request with one simple next-step recommendation that supports growth.
Proactive success workflow
Account Managers should regularly look for ways to help clients before the client asks. Small proactive notes often create outsized trust and better client outcomes.
- Look for outdated content, weak booking buttons, broken or missing booking links, low marketing activity, weak repeat golfer communication, missing seasonal promotions, and referral opportunities.
- Use a simple outreach format: quick opportunity, why it matters, recommended action, and a low-friction next step.
- Tie proactive ideas directly to bookings, inquiries, repeat play, or revenue so the recommendation feels practical and relevant.
Website, booking, and marketing success playbooks
Strong account management includes regular checks on the client's website, direct booking path, and golfer communication strategy. These are some of the biggest levers for course growth.
- Website checklist: clear Book a Tee Time button, mobile-friendly layout, accurate hours and contact information, visible eClub signup, working forms, updated SEO titles and descriptions, and helpful FAQs.
- Website growth triggers: no clear call to action, buried booking buttons, outdated content, weak outing or event promotion, hard-to-find forms, or strong amenities that are not showcased clearly.
- Booking checklist: easy-to-find booking buttons, correct GolfBack links, mobile-friendly booking flow, clear policies, and minimal leakage to third-party marketplaces.
- Marketing checklist: confirm audience, goal, offer, call to action, booking or inquiry link, timing, images, and approval path before recommending or sending a campaign.
- Common campaign themes: weekend availability, weekday specials, twilight golf, holiday promotions, league signups, outings, memberships, gift cards, restaurant events, course conditions, tournaments, and eClub growth.
Product adoption and Tee Time Guarantee positioning
The AM role is not just support. It also includes matching each client's needs to the right GolfBack capabilities and following through after implementation.
- Product adoption process: identify the need, match it to a feature, explain the benefit simply, recommend the next step, and follow up after implementation.
- Common matches: direct bookings to online booking engine, fewer no-shows to Tee Time Guarantee, better conversion to website updates, repeat golfers to email marketing, and stronger visibility to website and SEO improvements.
- Use Tee Time Guarantee when clients mention no-shows, late cancellations, lost tee time revenue, unused high-demand inventory, or staff frustration around unreliable bookings.
Referrals, AI use, and communication templates
Happy clients can create more growth for GolfBack, and AI can help AMs work more proactively and efficiently when used carefully and reviewed before anything goes to a client.
- Ask for referrals when a client gives positive feedback, sees results, mentions another course, belongs to a management group, or has strong industry relationships.
- Qualified referral targets include public, semiprivate, and strong 9-hole courses, management companies, and courses with engaged decision-makers.
- Use ChatGPT for Business for drafting client emails, summarizing notes, creating campaign ideas, reviewing website content, writing FAQs, preparing monthly reviews, and turning support requests into growth opportunities.
- Review every AI-assisted output for accuracy, tone, dates, prices, links, product details, and golf industry relevance before sending.
- Keep ready-to-use templates for request received, request completed, monthly account check-ins, and Tee Time Guarantee introductions.
Operating cadence, escalation, and documentation
Consistent weekly and monthly habits keep accounts healthy, surface risk early, and make internal handoffs cleaner when an issue needs escalation.
- Weekly: review open requests, route outstanding items, identify at-risk clients, find one growth opportunity per priority client, recommend relevant features, review marketing opportunities, and ask happy clients for referrals when appropriate.
- Monthly: complete health reviews, update scores, review websites and booking flows, review marketing activity, identify adoption opportunities, send check-ins, and document risks and next steps.
- Escalate when a client is upset, bookings are affected, links are broken, campaigns contain incorrect information, forms are failing, revenue or reputation is at risk, cancellation is mentioned, or issues remain unresolved.
- Escalation notes should include the client name, issue summary, business impact, timeline, screenshots or examples, what has already been done, and the recommended next step.
- Document consistently: main contact, decision-maker, products, goals, recent requests, open issues, growth opportunities, referral potential, health score, owner, due date, and next step.
Client success metrics and summary
The strongest Account Managers combine relationship-building, product knowledge, proactive thinking, clear communication, and AI-assisted workflows to help every client get more value from GolfBack.
- Track value through online bookings, conversion opportunities, website updates completed, campaigns sent, eClub growth, repeat golfer communication, Tee Time Guarantee adoption, overall product adoption, retention, referrals, and testimonials.
- Use the playbook to help courses get found online, convert more golfers, book more rounds, grow revenue, communicate better, build repeat play, use more GolfBack tools, protect tee time revenue, and stay engaged with GolfBack.
Simple AM mindset
In every client interaction, ask how this conversation can help the course grow bookings, revenue, repeat golfers, or product value.
Related resources
GolfBack Team Wiki — Internal use only. Back to home