Golf is Dead

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Is the sales pitch conducted on the fairway a thing of the past? Simona Covel of the Wall Street Journal believes it is. She profiles a small company that brings prospects to a cooking class instead.

She writes: "For this small company, it's one way to avoid competing with big businesses that throw cash around, treating their prospective clients to box seats and steak dinners. Prospects remember the uniqueness of the cooking class and the smaller company doesn't have to try to compete on flash."

A commenter on Covel's blog posting suggests another reason why it's not a great idea to take a client golfing. "If the potential client stinks up the course and the sales rep has to 'f' up his game to try not to win'¦ it usually creates a bad atmosphere," the poster writes.

What do you think? Is a round of golf still a great way to close a sale, or has it gone the way of the handshake deal and the man in the grey flannel suit?

Mike Hofman

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City.