CALLAWAY: UNIQUE EUROPEAN CALL CENTRE
Colin Callendar

	It is 11.00 am on a typical working morning and there is an air of quiet efficiency pervading through Callaway Golf’s Call Centre at its European headquarters near to the Chessington World of Adventure in Surrey, United Kingdom. At one of the 40 or so work stations dotted about the room, Karl Swan
is talking down the phone to one of Callaway’s numerous British customers. At another, Elisa Franken is conversing in German with one of her clients over there and one can also hear snatches of conversations in French, Swedish and several other European languages besides.

Business would seem to be booming because scarcely does one phone call finish but another one starts. It is an impressive sight, made all the more memorable by the array of national flags which embellish most of the computer terminals in the room, and at the heart of it all is a large portrait of the man who caused it all to happen.

Ely Callaway has a reputation as a successful business but it is debateable that even he could have envisaged the success he would achieve when he bought into a small and struggling golf company back in 1982. Back then, at the start of the 80s, the company he purchased was struggling to sell a single product known as a Hickory Stick. But now, renamed and transformed, it is a worldwide business that sold about 5.6 million premium golf clubs in 1999.

Callaway is one of the great success stories in the game of golf (alongside Titleist, Ping and one or two others) and the nub of its European operation is the international Call Centre in which we are standing. It is here that all of Callaway’s 3,300 European account holders can call when they want to replenish their stocks of Callaway clubs and balls. It is from here that Callaway’s international

sales force makes the calls to ensure that its retailers are being serviced correctly and it is here that credit sales can be arranged.

All major golf manufacturers are required to set up systems to sell their products in what is still a rather fractured European golf market but what differentiates Callaway’s from most others is the enormous efforts they have taken to tailor their system to suit local requirements.  

Some major American companies are blinkered enough to believe that it is sufficient simply to impose their own national sales system onto their international markets but Callaway is not one of them. Instead, the company has adopted a much more international approach. It realised that the best way to maximise its business, in Britain, France, and elsewhere in Europe was to employ people who can speak the language, and understand the culture, and it is a policy which has paid off because Callaway International (ie. the company’s operation outside the US) is now the fifth largest golf company in the world.

At last count, individuals from 18 different countries, speaking 17 different languages, work in Callaway’s Call Centre at Chessington. They handle accounts in 15 different European countries and that will increase later this year when the Call Centre also takes over the responsibility for the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian markets.

At the centre of it all is Heike O’Leary, who, appropriately enough, is half German and half Irish, and who realises the importance of tailoring their systems to suit all the different markets in which they work.

“That’s vital,” she said. “And it’s not sufficient just to be able to speak the language, because you also have to understand a country’s culture, too. For example, here in Britain, one of my team could call you up, or write you a letter, and address you as  Colin. But, in Germany, it would be different. Over there, its much more formal. There, a customer would be expected to be greeted as Mr Callander, or whatever, and, if he wasn’t, it would make him uncomfortable and might even create a doubt in his mind about our ability to conduct business in his market.”

	O’Leary has a background in Tele Sales but she is keen to point out that the system she, and her team, have adopted at Callaway is not just about taking orders. Each of Callaway’s 3,300 European customers is expected to make a financial commitment to Callaway but, in return, he or she can expect, not just an efficient sales and distribution system, but also a high level of customer care.
“Some companies adopt what I would describe as a chicken farm approach to Tele Sales but we are not one of them,” O’Leary said. “Of course, like everybody else, we want to maximise our sales but, to do it, we know we have to keep our customers happy. Here, the emphasis is on customer services rather than sales.”

Thus, once on board, one of Callaway’s customers can expect considerable support. The company has recently introduced a PRP programme (Preferred Retailers Programme) and each of those retailers can expect, not just the products they need, but also support with advertising, in-shop advertising, demo days, product training and much more beside.

But, at the centre of it all, is the Call Centre. Each day, Call Centre staff answer about 1000-1500 calls from customers. Monday tends to be the busiest day (except in Germany where pro shops are shut on that day) but, whatever day a customer phones once he gets through, he can expect to conduct his business, not just in his own language, but also with someone who understands the local conditions.

As if to illustrate that point, just as we were leaving, there was a surge of phone calls. Suddenly, voices could be heard conversing not just in English, but also in French, German, Swedish and what might, or might not, have been Finnish.

“It seems to be working,” said O’Leary with a smile.