New golf feedback site launches

A new free-to-use golf feedback site, golftell, which provides ‘trusted’ reviews, has registered more than 400 users within its first few weeks of operation.

The reviews of those users’ recent golf experiences already span 11 countries and within a short period, golftell is becoming the ‘go to’ review site for golfers, providing a valuable insight when searching for inspiration of where to play next and for those looking to join a club.

It enables potential visitors to quickly pinpoint a venue’s strengths and weaknesses to ascertain if it’s the best choice for them. The site enables golfers to review all areas of their golf experience – from the golf course condition, food quality and general facilities through to the standard of service offered by club staff. Feedback in these areas can be as simple as posting a rating – great, good, average or poor – or the golfer can also add comments to support their ratings if they wish.

Posting a review takes from just a few seconds and the system is free to use and can be accessed by mobile, tablet, laptop or computer. Golfers are incentivised by being entered into a monthly draw for every two ‘tells’ they submit per month.

The engine for this tool is provided by 59club, Europe’s leading golf-specific, customer service benchmarking and training provider, and takes much of its inspiration from the systems operated by the company. Unlike less quantifiable feedback sites, the system also offers clubs the ability to validate the ‘teller’s’ presence on the course before the review is made public, ensuring fake reviews are minimised.

Simon Wordsworth, chief executive at 59club and a fellow of the PGA, explained: “Review sites have sprung up in many industries in recent years, with, arguably, the most universally recognisable in the travel sector. The problem with many of them, however, is they are susceptible to manipulation with unscrupulous firms and individuals able to make negative comments on competitor pages, to the detriment of the rival.

“Fake customer reviews have tainted public perception of many sites, yet they still retain the capability of influencing a purchasing decision one way or the other, albeit, on occasion, by nefarious means. Trust is key when consulting a review site and golftell can provide that. In addition, their sole purpose is often to gain the golfers’ data to enable third-party resellers to market the venue’s products however, since it’s the clubs themselves working in conjunction with golftell to drive traffic to their individual pages there are no third-party sellers here – so trust really is key.”

For more information, visit www.golftell.net