Technology revolutions always take longer than predicted, but arrive faster than anticipated. –Michael S. Malone
Private clubs have approached technology and communications in an evolutionary—rather than revolutionary way. But it didn’t happen overnight. As clubs adapted and incorporated technology’s advancements, clubs became increasingly alert to new applications and approaches.
Perhaps nowhere is this approach of evolving to meet organizational and membership needs better illustrated than The Country Club, located just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
One of the early efforts of this club to utilize digital technology to improve club operations dates back to October 2006, when the scheduling of 300 curling activities each season went live on the club’s website—forging ahead of online reservations for golf tee times (which took place the following year).
The Country Club never looked back. The chronology illustrates how this club has consistently and carefully kept pace with the capabilities and applications of digital communications technology.
A Strategic Approach
The “Communication Timeline” (see sidebar, page XX) illustrates how marketing communications practices in progressive private clubs have now established a range of “best practices” that put in motion a strategic and fully integrated approach to managing communications. Clubs intending to stay current would do well to consider these policies:
1. Support with long-range planning and key talent. Update and refresh website and mobile capabilities on a regular cycle. Hire specialists as needed and as digital applications expand.
2. Leverage experience and success. The Country Club had its first “win” with online reservations when curling went interactive. Many more club activities followed suit: golf, racquet sports, bridge, dining and—most recently—skeet.
3. Offer paperless/“green” options. The Country Club has gradually evolved toward more sustainable and efficient modes of communications. The club has chosen to eliminate certain hard-copy publications—especially for annual sporting and activities reporting—and also gives members the choice to “opt-out” of other high-frequency publications.
4. Monitor and measure. As digital communications technology spreads, the club’s Communications & Technology Director, Jackie Singleton, increasingly relies on the analytics that digital can so efficiently provide. For example, Singleton and her staff are able to gauge interest in various digital communications through tracking open and click-through rates. Internet traffic linked to The Country Club’s website and other marketing platforms can also be broken down so that the club knows the number of viewers using desktop versus mobile or iOS versus Windows operating system or even browser preference (e.g., Safari, Firefox, Chrome). See graph below of year-to-year statistics for The Country Club’s website usage.
The Next Phase
The Country Club has, over the past year or so, aimed its communications focus more and more toward its governance system, seeking to improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which its committees and board of governors operate. With over 200 members participating in committees, and 16-24 meetings per month, there had to be better way to organize the staff and members. Committee communication was turned over to the website in 2010, but the club knew there was more to gain with this web traffic.
The club now has a web-based portal, within the member website, that is used to schedule, coordinate and archive club committee activities. Based on a regimented schedule, each committee receives its information via an email that includes links to the portal where more information can be found. These emails require authentication on the website in order to view the attachments so that if someone received them accidentally the person would not actually have access to the attachments.
No longer are invitations, minutes and reports attached to email messages that increasingly contribute to an overtaxed, general-purpose email system. No longer do club committee members have to search through old emails to find the meeting time and date for this-or-that key document. Club staff that schedules and supports these committees no longer has to scramble at the eleventh hour as committee chairs and members are similarly challenged to pull together essential meeting materials.
As communications improve and as these advancements continue to come online, the club benefits in many important ways. The activities and operations of the club achieve a greater level of transparency, and, in the process, misinformation and miscommunications get minimized, as do occasions for misunderstandings and dissatisfaction. Now as the board chairs or committee positions turnover there is one place to reference all of the minutes and initiatives, as well as committee charter pages, which makes the “onboarding” of governors a much more efficient process.
Knowledge is power. Building new and better communications capabilities amplify this knowledge across the club. In the process, members’ engagement deepens, their participation in its activities broadens and their connection with the club strengthens.
Timeline Sidebar:
Communication Timeline at The Country Club
Over the past ten years the technology has evolved from a “plug and play” method using various vendors to a more cohesive approach, minimizing the number of vendors and strengthening the integration between applications, all of which creates a more user-friendly experience for the members and lessens the points of failure for the staff.
2002 Website is create
September 2006 Communications Director position is added
October 2006 Curling is interactive on the website
December 2006 First Weekly e-Bulletin is sent
March 2007 Golf tee times are interactive on the website
April 2007 First Junior Newsletter is printed
July 2007 First Bi-Monthly Bulletin is printed (the newsletter mailed to the membership goes from a monthly publication to a bi-monthly publication)
September 2007 Racquet sports reservations are interactive
October 2007 Curling eliminates its annual publication
Spring 2008 Golf eliminates its annual hard-copy publication
April 2008 The Club launches new club management (accounting) software; golf and tennis are still managed by a separate module and the financials are produced through a separate module as well.
September 2008 Racquet sports eliminates its annual hard-copy publication
October 2008 Members’ statements are available electronically
April 2009 Members may “opt out” of hard-copy statements
July 2009 Members may “opt out” of hard-copy social mailings
September 2009 Bridge reservations are interactive on the website
January 2010 Committee information and communication goes live on the website
March 2010 Redesign of member website to update look/navigation
May 2010 Club initiates annual “Go Green, Save Green” effort to reduce hard-copy printing (statements and social mailings)
July 2011 Golf lessons are interactive on the website
August 2011 Club events and a la carte are interactive on the website
May 2012 Website administrator position is added to the department
Spring 2013 Grounds eliminates its annual hard-copy publication
July 2013 First quarterly Bulletin is printed (the newsletter
previously sent bi-monthly moves to a quarterly publication)
March 2014 Redesign of member website to update look/navigation
May 2014 Club unveils online golf shop for members only
Summer 2014 Summer program registration is interactive on the website
October 2014 Board of Governors introduces the departmental targeted e-mail policy
November 2014 Members must “opt in” and pay for hard-copy of Green Book (only 20% opt to still receive the hard-copy publication)
January 2015 Admissions cocktail party invitations and registration are managed electronically
Spring 2015 Golf tournaments managed online
September 2015 New registration and information for major bonspiels is interactive on the website
November 2015 Committee portal is interactive and fully functional (following partial launch/rollout in 2014) on the website
December 2015 Skeet reservations are interactive on the website
April 2016 The Club launches new club management software that encompasses all areas of the club.
Sidebar: What’s your club’s aptitude for analytics?
Each Thursday, Jackie Singleton shares a weekly analytics report with her club communicators. This snapshot is of The Country Club’s e-Bulletin, which is its weekly e-mail outreach. Last June, these insights were gleaned:
• e-Bulletin reach: Sent to 1905 member and spouse e-mail addresses
• e-Bulletin awareness: 814 of those e-mail addresses opened the e-mail
• Multiple exposures: It was opened a total of 1,387 times (people opening more than once)
• Call to action: This particular e-Bulletin included 23 links
• Website entry: 315 links were clicked on, which then generate more page-views
Club Trends Spring 2016