Most everyone knows the phrase, “If you build it, they will come.” In last month’s issue of Club Director, we discussed how to develop and build a successful membership recruitment program to help your club maintain an active, strong membership.
Now, the flip side of that famous phrase is this: once you have them—in this case, club members—how do you keep them?
Membership retention at private clubs is as pressing an issue as recruitment. Clubs are currently facing daunting factors affecting their membership, including rapid area growth and decreases in population, economic challenges, competition from local, high-end restaurants, spas, and resorts, and the varying interests and demands of the baby boomers and Generations X and Y.
Some of these outside factors are certainly uncontrollable and perhaps even inevitable. However, today’s club leaders should still anticipate the reasons why members may leave or be looking to leave a club so that they and other club staff can do everything possible to ensure members are nothing but satisfied with their club experience.
This article, excerpted from the National Club Association’s newly revised Essentials of Marketing, looks at what makes members join and stay at clubs, tools for effective communication with members, reasons for member resignation, and research tools managers can use to stay abreast of members’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the club.
Psychology of Club Membership
Research conducted by ClubCorp with the firm GSD&M showed a hierarchy of experiences were related to the typical club member’s decision to join a club and remain a member.
At the bottom of the pyramid of reasons was the knowledge that the club was a known and proven provider of facilities and services upon which the member could rely. The risk of bad service, inferior quality food, or uninteresting events was lower than in the public sector, which in turn gave members a sense of value and the ability to relax and enjoy the club experience.
The research also showed that another advantage of clubs was that they fulfill a variety of members’ needs—personal, familial, and business. Within this sphere, the club enhances the member’s various roles in life—whether as parent, spouse, mentor, business or community leader, or client. This well-rounded experience gives the member the sense of being simultaneously rewarded and able to relax and recuperate.
Included in the hierarchy was the fact that members also want to feel stimulated by their experience at the club. Are they able to meet interesting people and interact with them in a way that leaves them feeling uplifted? Do they feel a sense of belonging, as with a home away from home? Do they feel recognized? Do they have opportunities to give something back to their community?
At the top of the hierarchy is the value that members place on social connections. Are they able to create authentic relationships and meet people outside of work or home, with whom they have a genuine connection? Are they able to bring their families and socialize with like-minded people? In this context, do they have access to satisfying, quality family activities?
ClubCorp’s research suggests that if the answer to the majority of these questions is “yes,” then members will derive a sense of value from their club experience and be more likely to stay.
And, in a world filled with abundant quality recreational, dining, and social experiences, this value model is likely to be what sets your club apart from other competitive offerings.
Research Options to Consider
So, how do you know whether your club is offering those special programs, amenities, and experiences to its members? How do you know if your club is providing superior services to members and guests?
Marketing research is a fundamental marketing tool that can help clubs uncover valuable insights about their membership’s needs and concerns. Generally, the three most common types of market research are surveys, focus groups, and personal interviews.
These three market research methods can be used in a series allowing management to “drill down” toward a definitive conclusion. For example, surveys are often the first market research method used because surveys usually capture very general insights. These general insights can then be used to conduct focus groups that capture even more specific member information. Finally, the information gathered in focus groups can be used to gather very specific member insights in personal, one-on-one interviews with members.
In the end, the manager should decide whether to use all three market research methods to systemically “drill down” through the research, or simply use one of the methods. This decision is dependent on numerous factors, including time, money, and the potential return from conducting either simple or complex marketing research.
All three research methods will be explained, but for the majority of the clubs, membership surveys are the most prolific and useful market research tool.
Membership Surveys
Membership surveys can be used to capture both demographic information about your members, such as age and income, as well as member’s insights, such as preferences for new products and services or satisfaction with existing products and services.
The main challenge with membership surveys is that they are highly unique, and there is no standard template to work from. The demographic questions are relatively standard, but the member’s insight questions are far from standard because each club has a unique set of challenges and opportunities, requiring highly customized survey questions.
The first hurdle for any club leader to cross is deciding whether to produce a membership survey internally or go to an external source.
For the majority of clubs, outsourcing the membership survey provides the most value. The general challenge in creating a survey internally is to construct questions relevant to the club’s business and to write questions that can be quantified into usable data.
An independent contractor or agency will likely be able to develop highly relevant and personal survey questions for your club. The following are some questions that will help determine the scope of the survey:
• What is the purpose of the survey? Retention, recruitment, satisfaction, new products and services?
• Are there any specific threats facing the club? Opportunities?
• Is the survey designed to measure satisfaction among members or gauge interested among nonmembers?
• Do you want to capture demographic data?
• Are you measuring potential expenditures of the member’s money?
• Is the survey designed for food and beverage? Lodging? Athletic facilities?
• How is the survey going to be administered? Hard copies or electronically?
• How is the data going to be tabulated? By computer? Which program?
• How is the data going to be analyzed? Numerically or statistically?
The process of identifying, constructing, tabulating, and analyzing a membership survey can be very complex. By outsourcing, you can rely on specialists who will help you capture data relevant to making key decisions. Numerous small or large companies are available both within and outside the club industry. To achieve the best results from a membership survey, we recommend that the process of survey design, creation, administration, tabulation, and analysis is left to professional agencies.
Focus Groups
Focus groups are an excellent survey tool that can be used to get a better understanding of a particular issue concerning the club. For example, if the survey suggests members are interested in updating the fitness facility, then focus groups can be arranged to uncover more specific consumer insights. Are members looking for an updated facility or a brand new one? What type of equipment and services do they expect the new facility to have? How will members react to the proposed cost of a new membership facility?
Using focus groups is also a good way to survey of number of individuals who feel strongly about a particular issue or topic and to brainstorm or generate multiple solutions to that issue. Similar to surveys, there are no standard focus group questions. Creating effective questions is highly dependent on the specific objectives of the market research and your members.
Personal Interviews
Personal interviews are similar to focus groups in that they should be conducted after a general survey is administered. Also, performing personal interviews can uncover very specific member insights without tainting the member’s reaction by group pressure, as sometimes happens in focus groups.
With regard to clubs, personal interviews are probably the least used of membership survey tools. However, they are effective at eliciting honest feedback from influential decision-makers in the club’s membership.
Why Do Members Resign?
Because a club’s success depends partially on controlling the number of member resignations, it is essential that the professional and volunteer leaders receive regular information about who is leaving the club and why. Although it is not possible to eliminate every resignation, club leaders should strive to keep the number of exiting members low and predictable.
Many clubs conduct exit interviews with or give surveys/questionnaires to departing or former members who have canceled their membership. This type of research can provide feedback about what makes a member unhappy or dissatisfied, which is also useful when reviewing the success of various action items in the club’s marketing plan.
Club Culture. The community culture and activities or programs the club provides to its members is one of the most important aspects of membership retention. Creating that community among such a diverse membership—in age, interests, and backgrounds—can be difficult, but is absolutely vital to retaining members.
Let’s look at the Union League of Philadelphia. In an effort to help foster relationships with the busy, business-lunch crowd, the Union League created a program involving “club tables” in the dining rooms. The tables are separated by interest areas, such as architecture, skiing, and hunting, and by joining a club table, members who come to the club for lunch can sit and chat with fellow members who have similar interests, and not worry about dining alone. These club tables also host monthly events, whether it’s having a prominent speaker come to the club or touring a local museum—but always specific to the interests of that group. Club leaders at the Union League say this program has helped to create strong community connections within its membership.
In fact, arranging special events for specific age groups or groups of members who share common interests is becoming more and more popular, as clubs look to host a greater number of small events rather than just a few big events throughout the year.
A membership marketing director’s job in helping to create a rich, supportive and communal culture within a club resides largely in the ability to recognize and respond to club members’ needs, to implement programs or services accordingly, and to distinguish potential members who would add to the club’s culture. Otherwise, members who bring different backgrounds and interests to the club may not feel as though their needs at the club are being met, thus causing them to terminate membership or look elsewhere for the club experience.
Leaving a club because needs aren’t being met or because there is a culture clash is certainly a common enough reason for membership termination. However, members leave clubs for a few other reasons as well, some of which club leaders don’t have control over.
Relocation. More and more families are moving every couple of years in pursuit of new job opportunities and schools . Clubs can be a great resource for families such as this, because the club can provide an immediate community atmosphere and connections. However, club membership can also suffer from this increasing trend of the nomadic family.
Also, a couple who joined the club before owning a house may terminate their membership after moving to a different suburban area, making the commute to the club long and inconvenient. These external causes are beyond the club’s control.
Age. Many clubs offer junior memberships or reduced memberships for younger members (i.e.,35 years of age). However, when that member reaches the age where he/she is required to change membership categories—with related dues increase—clubs usually take a hit. Oftentimes, the member isn’t in a financial position to afford the higher membership dues or has reached the point where other younger members have married, moved, or left the club for another reason.
Seniors are another age group that can be tricky for clubs to retain. Seniors may find that they don’t use the club often enough to warrant the membership dues or have moved to retirement facilities that offer the social and community aspects of a club.
Lack of Use. Some reasons for membership termination may be under the club’s control.
For example, many club officers report that the reason why members resign from the club is because, “They don’t use it anymore,” or “They can’t afford it.” Taken at face value, these are perfectly valid reasons.
However, the real questions to ask might be, “Why aren’t members using the club anymore?” What about the club or the member’s experience has changed to make it less valuable or less of a priority?
The answers to these last questions can yield better operational and planning results, but only if the club takes the time to uncover the real reasons behind resignations and analyze them for trends.
Keep formal records about why members resign, whether it’s a simple card that the member fills out or an electronic questionnaire. Include a list of common reasons along with room for comments. A member should not be considered “resigned” until this form is filled out.
In addition, call every member who resigns. Unless the reason is something beyond the club’s control, e.g., job relocation, the interviewer should try to elicit feedback about how the club can improve its service. A manager could easily call a resigning member and say, “In an attempt to make this a better club, we call everyone who resigns to find out why they are leaving. Could you tell us what we did or didn’t do that made you want to leave?”
The results of the questionnaires and personal calls should be recorded and charted for trend analysis. Any trends that emerge—positive or negative—should be addressed by the management and membership marketing teams.
Tools for Marketing and Communication
One way to help stave off resignations involves placing greater emphasis on building and maintaining strong, two-way communication with members to develop and foster solid relationships and a sense of community.
Communication materials—in the form of magazines, newsletters, or Web sites—are an integral part of strengthening member relationships and maintaining a successful recruitment and retention program at your club. If used effectively, these communications serve as major vehicles for members to learn about events taking place at the club and for management to notify members of club business.
By establishing a dialogue with members, club staff gains a clearer understanding of and appreciation for the unique expectations and requirements of each member, thereby enabling the club to meet members’ needs, predict future member needs, and strengthen the club’s overall member retention.
Different tools work for different types of clubs, but all are fundamentally the same in their effort to share information efficiently and wisely. Let’s take a closer look at some of the communication vehicles clubs are using today.
Newsletters
Newsletters are by far the most popular method of communication. Almost all clubs—country clubs, golf clubs, city/dining/athletic clubs, and yacht clubs—have a newsletter according to a 2004 McMahon Group report, and the majority of clubs publish their newsletter on a monthly basis.
Nearly all of these clubs also send their newsletters by regular mail. However, an increasing number of clubs are distributing newsletters by regular mail and electronically, via e-mail or a Web site. To determine which method best suits your club, managers need to know the preferences and tendencies of their members.
The format of a newsletter lends itself well to a club’s need to distribute information succinctly and easily to members. Newsletters can include a calendar, listings of upcoming club and community events, updates on building or renovation projects, a list of new members, key contacts at the club, advertisements, membership news, a president’s message, and more.
Newsletters vary in size, length, scope, and delivery time based on the unique needs of your membership. Your club might consider alternating between sending a smaller newsletter one month and a larger newsletter another month, to cut costs but still deliver important news on a timely basis to your membership.
Although regular mail is still a popular, traditional method of communication, many of today’s club members struggle to balance hectic work and personal schedules and are relying on the speed and ease of communicating by e-mail on Blackberries, PDAs, cell phones, and other mobile communication devices.
Also, many club members have their club mail sent to office addresses, meaning they may be more likely to ignore or not notice a club’s newsletter or magazine amid a stack of work-related mail. Whether we like it or not, we now live in an online world, so why not connect with your membership online?
Corresponding with your members via e-mail allows club managers to be in direct contact with any member at any given moment. And, although spam and other e-mail solicitations are bothersome, delivering targeted messages addressing key interests and topics is convenient, efficient, and effective—for both managers and members—and may be a more cost-efficient means of communication for your club.
Aside from sending the club’s newsletter electronically, e-mail can also be used to send targeted messages to specific club members and groups. For example, if your club is having a sale on golf gear at the pro shop, you may consider sending an e-mail highlighting the sale to your active golf members, thus driving sales and creating excitement in your membership. According to the 2004 McMahon Group report, nearly 75 percent of clubs use e-mail to publicize special events to their membership.
E-mail also can be used as a quick educational tool, advising members of recent schedule changes, new programs, and special events. Since e-mail delivery is instantaneous, members don’t have to wait until the next monthly newsletter or their next visit to the club to stay abreast of changes and news announcements.
Web Sites
In addition to e-mail, an up-to-date Web site also allows members to stay on top of club news on a daily basis. And, since more members are wired to the Internet, club Web sites are becoming increasingly popular.
The 2004 McMahon Group report found that 80 percent of all country clubs have a Web site, and according to recent Nielsen ratings data, 70 percent of the U.S. population uses the Internet daily—versus 44 percent of the population in 2000. With numbers such as those, a club shouldn’t waste a convenient and important communication tool such as a Web site.
For clubs that have created their own Web sites, the most common feature is a calendar of club events, which is present in 82 percent of Web sites, according to the McMahon Group. An online version of the newsletter is the second most common feature, and the majority of sites also included management news and an online club brochure.
However, depending on and reflecting the tastes, preferences, and interests of its membership, an effective club Web site will obviously include much more. A Web site could feature a membership roster, board news, committee news, dining reservations and menus, tee time reservations, event or tournament information and sign-ups, and community events or involvement at the club. Another feature to consider is the creation of a “Members-Only” section, where members have the option of being able to pay dues online or update their contact information as well as access member-specific news at the club.
Both members and managers might benefit from a message board feature, which creates a forum atmosphere to exchange opinions, suggestions, information, and questions about the club and its services. Ultimately, the more interactive and comprehensive a club’s Web site, the more effectively it will serve as a superior communication tool between the club and its members.
Web sites are also an advantageous tool managers can use to market the club’s image to current members and potential members. The site should reflect the club’s atmosphere, delivering a clear and concise message to its visitors as to what to expect from the club.
For example, an “About” section or a “Club’s History and Mission” page on the Web site would give visitors the opportunity to understand the club’s values and direction. A “Staff” page, outlining work history, education, and personal interests of club staff members, would highlight the highly trained and qualified individuals working at the club. A “Dining” page would allow visitors to peruse menus and wine lists before coming to the club to eat.
All of these types of pages give the club a chance to market its superior services to potential members and to reinforce the club’s commitment to quality and excellence. Including photos of both members and the club facilities on these pages will also help create an accurate, attractive image of the club.
To promote visits to your Web page, be sure to include the URL of your Web site on all of your marketing and membership material, and be sure members and potential members are aware of the various services and conveniences that the club offers online.
Stay Tuned
Much more can be said on the ways in which club leaders can cut down on member resignation and strengthen member retention. To read further about this important topic and about membership recruitment, look for NCA’s updated Essentials of Marketing, set for release in late Spring.
Club Director Editors Mary Embody and Marique Newell contributed to this report.