Player Development

It should not surprise you in the least bit that I'm in charge of Player Development in my local Pickleball Club, now should it?

We have a program in place to teach players serves, returns of serve, ground strokes, dinking, drop shots, lobs, and overheads. The coursework is similar, but is modified for players who are at a 2.5 level vs. players who are 3.5 or above.

The goal, of course, is to accelerate the development of players. If we can accelerate the development of players, then we have more good players and more good competition and happier club members. Everybody wins!

The concept of Player Development directly ties to two issues that we talk about.

• Customer Development.
• Merchandise Development.

If you can speed up the time between a first purchase and a second purchase, you improve the Development of the Customer and ultimately generate more downstream profit. Yeah, Welcome Programs.

If you can speed up the sales launch of a new item, you improve the Development of the Product and ultimately generate more downstream profit. Yeah, New Product Programs are important ... not just offering 'em but finding creative ways to expose customers to the newness you already have. No, an email with a subject like of "NEW ITEMS" doesn't count.

Take Player Development tactics and apply them to Customers and to Merchandise.