Winet Customer Story: Golfers Paradise
The partnership between Golfers Paradise and Winet
In this article, learn how Golfers Paradise and Winet work together and get a glimpse into day-to-day operations from CEO Marc Rohr.
We had the pleasure of conducting an engaging interview at the Golfers Paradise location in Dietikon between Marc Rohr (CEO of Golfers Paradise) and Daniel Maier (CEO of Winet). Under Marc Rohr’s leadership, Golfers Paradise operates throughout Switzerland with 90 employees and 13 locations. We first got to know Golfers Paradise three years ago and have been providing them with telecommunications services ever since.
Below is the interview between Marc Rohr and Daniel Maier:
How did you actually come up with the idea of getting into the golf business?
«That’s a good question, because I’ve been asked it often myself. When I took over and bought the company four years ago, I wasn’t even a golfer back then. However, I am a passionate retailer (also known as a retail business owner), and I knew that this was where my passion lay. Opening new stores and managing and leading products, customers, and staff has been a constant in my life. I’ve also had the opportunity to gain this experience with large international companies. And so I had no reservations about taking over Golfers Paradise with its 13 locations (which makes it no small retail chain) and continuing my work. As an athlete, I was naturally looking forward to trying a new sport. Because now I’m a die-hard golfer. I’m not that good yet, but I’ve had the golf bug ever since.»
After taking inventory at the various branches, it seems that several areas for improvement have emerged. What did you focus on in that regard?
«Yes, I tend to be a bit impatient in that regard, because ideally I would have wanted to change and overhaul everything I saw that needed optimization right from the start. But of course, all these processes also involved people who needed to go along with the changes. So we definitely took about a year at the beginning to figure out what was most important and where to focus our efforts. And one very important area is digital transformation as a whole—which is also one reason why we’re familiar with Winet today. And when it came to digitalization, Golfers Paradise AG was virtually nowhere to be found before I took over. For example, emails were still being printed out to read, and in general, a lot of work was still being done on paper. So I very quickly made the digital infrastructure in my business a priority and expanded it. To that end, many changes were planned and implemented.»
Why did you want to replace the phone system?
«On the one hand, there was the issue of having a phone system. In other words, back then, for example, we would call our main branch using a regular phone number. That’s because there was no internal phone system either. We didn’t have any digital systems or management software to handle that back then.»
«One example of this would be the automated voice messages played outside of business hours, which we can now set up and control via software on the display. Back then, we also had a very old ISDN phone system that was due for replacement anyway. So, from a purely technical standpoint, we had to upgrade our phone system and replace it with a modern one.»
How did you go about conducting the evaluation?
«The thing is, we did our homework very thoroughly. We looked at various providers and realized that this is a specialized field that requires a tremendous amount of expertise. Even when we talk to the Winet team today, we see that expertise and professionalism. It’s like professionals talking to nerds. Nevertheless, we had our own requirements, which I’d already outlined a bit at the beginning. So initially, we turned to the traditional providers, who didn’t meet our needs. After further research, I came across Winet’s website and watched your video (Daniel Maier, CEO of Winet), which I found incredibly personal—and I was pleased to see that, as CEO, you truly stand behind your products. That same day, I filled out a digital contact form, and the very next day, a friendly Winet representative reached out to me directly. This direct and personal approach convinced me to choose Winet’s offering over that of the large, traditional providers. And since that evaluation, we’ve remained with Winet to this day, which also speaks to our satisfaction with Winet’s telephony solution.»
What was the deciding factor in awarding the contract to Winet?
«Compared to the larger providers, I really appreciated Winet’s friendly, personal, and prompt approach. We received excellent service right from the start—just as I’ve come to expect and value from others. With the larger providers, we had to call back and follow up ourselves, and there was no direct contact. It felt as though they were already counting on us to sign with them, since we needed a new phone system. However, they were wrong about that.”.
In contrast, working with Winet was a pleasure from the very beginning because there were real people behind the company; our issues were taken seriously, and Winet quickly offered us a solution. With Winet, I very quickly felt that we were in good hands—not only when it came to the sales process, but also with installation and ongoing support. In the end, it wasn’t just the technical expertise and the digital solution that made the difference—it was also the people behind Winet.»
What was your experience with the implementation process alongside the Winet team?
«The best part was that we didn’t have to «go through» anything, since we didn’t have to do anything ourselves. Winet handled 100% of the implementation, and suddenly we had all the phones we wanted, which have been working ever since. In fact, we didn’t just set up the phones with you—we also handled the server connection, the internet at headquarters and in all branches, and, most importantly, secure, private internet connections for customers. Winet provided us with the technical solutions, which were suddenly in place. The only thing we had to do during the implementation was select the phone devices we liked. We decided to use cordless phones that our employees can carry around and use flexibly.»
«The support and the entire setup were included in the total price. In other words, you took care of all those extras for us, and I didn’t see any additional bill—it was actually part of your service. I think it’s absolutely great that we didn’t have to do much ourselves. There was one instance where Winet even made sure a suitable electrician was on site quickly. And these experiences personally saved me a lot of time and eased my worries. It couldn’t have gone any better.»
What was your experience with the implementation process alongside the Winet team?
«The best part was that we didn’t have to «go through» anything, since we didn’t have to do anything ourselves. Winet handled 100% of the implementation, and suddenly we had all the phones we wanted, which have been working ever since. In fact, we didn’t just set up the phones with you—we also handled the server connection, the internet at headquarters and in all branches, and, most importantly, secure, private internet connections for customers. Winet provided us with the technical solutions, which were suddenly in place. The only thing we had to do during the implementation was select the phone devices we liked. We decided to use cordless phones that our employees can carry around and use flexibly.»
«The support and the entire setup were included in the total price. In other words, you took care of all those extras for us, and I didn’t see any additional bill—it was actually part of your service. I think it’s absolutely great that we didn’t have to do much ourselves. There was one instance where Winet even made sure a suitable electrician was on site quickly. And these experiences personally saved me a lot of time and eased my worries. It couldn’t have gone any better.»
Can you tell us a little about the savings compared to before?
«When we look at our monthly bills, we’ve definitely saved 40–50% compared to our former provider, Swisscom. But the biggest savings came from the reduced workload—we didn’t have to do any extra work ourselves. In the past, we even had someone dedicated to maintaining our network, our servers, and our phone system. We also had specific maintenance contracts that we no longer have. That’s an additional few thousand—or even tens of thousands—of Swiss francs that we’re saving. On top of that, we now have a hotline we can call, and within minutes, a solution is already in place. Most of the time, the Winet technicians already know where the problem lies before we even call, and they can describe it precisely and resolve it every time. For this reason, there are certainly incredible savings that we can’t even quantify. But the phone bill alone is definitely 40–50% cheaper than what we used to pay. The only thing is, we no longer have our own server to maintain, because everything now runs through Winet. And that’s included, too.»
Three years have now passed. How would you rate your collaboration with Winet?
«I think I’ve already emphasized this two or three times. It’s the people, above all, who make the whole thing work, and you seem to have a knack for bringing really great people onto your team. You also seem to have certain high standards for the people you hire. You also told me once that it’s difficult in general to hire good people. That makes it all the more reason for me to congratulate you on having not only the best of the few good ones, but also the friendliest ones—the ones who put their heart and soul into taking care of their customers.»
«We couldn’t be happier. Over the past three years, we’ve only had one or two outages, and Winet wasn’t directly to blame for either of them. Because, as I understand it from a technical standpoint, Winet is also connected to Swisscom’s major backbone networks and is therefore dependent on Swisscom maintaining its lines properly. And whenever there are major Switzerland-wide outages at Swisscom, we’re inevitably affected as well. But even despite these problems, you’ve always been there for us. Even you, as CEO, often answer the phones yourself, which I find amazing. You also make sure to maintain direct contact with customers. So we really couldn’t be happier with our partnership.»
Would you recommend Winet to others?
«Yes, of course, absolutely! I feel that switching to Winet has also opened our eyes to the fact that we don’t always have to go with the biggest and best-known partner. And it’s the little things that have made the difference—they allow us to respond flexibly and ensure a personal touch. The decision to choose a smaller partner over a better-known and larger one was a very good one, and we’re happy to continue down this path. Working with Winet has also taught me a lot in many areas. I’d almost have to recommend it. I would definitely recommend working with Winet to any potential customer looking for a new telephony solution.»
You can reach Golfers Paradise at:
Winet Customer Stories as a Source for Further Development
Since we began publishing our Winet Customer Stories, we have had even more opportunities to receive direct feedback on our own offerings and solutions.
Among other things, this has led us to introduce a new, innovative Cloud PBX have added to our product line so that we can continue to offer our customers the best possible solutions.
In addition to its standard features, this PBX offers highlights such as UCC (video and chat functionality), modern user interfaces, visual navigation options (e.g., in the IVR), and, in the future, various integrations (e.g., with Microsoft Teams).
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