Why Golf is Still A Worthwhile Business Expense

I play golf. I don’t play nearly as much as I’d like or as much as I did before my wife and I started raising children, but I love the game and will play whenever I can sneak away to get in 18 holes. Heck, I’ll take 9 if that’s all I can get in. I’ll also play with just about anyone. Man, woman, senior citizen, little old ladies and little kids. I have friends I enjoy playing with, but I’ve never been averse to taking my clubs to the course alone and finding a group to play with. You always meet interesting people when you join others.

Several years ago, tax laws changed in America disqualifying green fees as a tax-deductible business expense. Okay, it’s a bummer, but let’s get over it, we can all still benefit from a game that can do so much to help build business relationships.

You’ve heard it before, but it’s true, you can learn a great deal about someone on a golf course. First of all, spend 4-5 hours with anyone and chances are they’ll show you several sides of their personality. Throw in a game that challenges your skill, temper and athleticism and you’ve got all the ingredients for a heck of an afternoon.

More than that, think of what you can show a business associate or customer about YOU in that time. What kind of impression can you make on a customer? What kind of impression do you want to make in that amount of time and in that setting? What are your objectives where your relationship with that person is concerned?

One of the things I love about playing golf with people I don’t know well is that it’s an opportunity to build a relationship with a complete stranger. You begin the day as strangers and end the day with a handshake and sometimes exchanging business cards.

Take this one level further and invite a prospect to play golf. Leave the work in the office and take the 4-5 hours as nothing more than an opportunity to better get to know someone. Can that pay off? Absolutely! Maybe not that day and maybe not in a week, but that month, maybe later that year or the next it can pay off.

Here’s the key: don’t rush it. Building a solid business relationship is like building any other relationship - it takes time. Did you ever see the episode of The Office, when Jim is trying to close a deal on the golf course? His customer doesn’t want anything to do with the discussion, he just wants to play golf and Jim looks like a fool. Don’t be a fool. Take your time and leave the work AT work. If you build the relationship the right way, the business will be there when the time is right. It probably just won’t be on the first tee.

One more thing for those of you trying to figure out social media – it works the same way (I had to get that in!).

Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.

Tags: build a relationship, business relationships, golf, Good Business, social media, The Office

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