In 1992, the first club I managed, Boulder Ridge Country Club in the Chicago suburbs, had only three computers in the entire clubhouse operation. One each for the controller and club secretary and one in the pro shop. All other club activities were written in pencil on chits. There was no point of sales (POS) system. Our daily dining cover counts, entrée selections and member comments were recorded on a legal pad after each meal period, three-hole-punched and filed in a notebook. Banquet event orders (BEOs) where handwritten. At the end of each month, chits signed by each member during that month were bundled in date order with a rubber band and placed in each member’s locker for their review and recollection.
Club staff did a good job of learning and knowing almost every member and family members by names along with their favorite guests. There was a member photo board in the lobby outside the pro shop, and employees acquainted themselves with their pictures and their names. The club was young, successful and growing at a fast pace. Members and ownership told management and staff often how much they appreciated the close attention to the details of operations and how happy they were with the service and experiences they received daily.
The Digital Era
Fast forward 15 years to 2007, managers were discussing with industry peers whether clubs should embrace installing Wi-Fi networks and allow members to bring their laptops and this new device called a smartphone into clubs. After all, the club is a place for play, recreation and social engagement; not a work environment. A popular topic among fellow managers was solutions to keep cell phones out of the hands of employees while they were on the clock. These nuisance devices were an impediment to a traditional quality country club experience.
Today, the hallmarks of a quality club experience still include members being recognized by name, feeling a sense of belonging, and receiving personalized service upon every visit to the club. What has changed for some clubs is how they create the member experience.
Technology for private clubs includes digital systems, such as beacon technology, for informing employees when members are arriving. These systems display the member name, member number, list of all their family members, along with dates of birthdays and anniversaries and their favorite golf ball, glove, drinks, edibles and seating preferences.
Technology records and bundles all this essential member data in an easily retrievable format accessible instantaneously upon a member’s arrival at the club. This new data source, how to retrieve it, and the importance of using it is embedded into every new employee orientation and onboarding session. It ends the need for every employee to study and remember every member’s name personally—or does it?
The latest software systems make this data readily available on tablets and smartphones. In a decade, we have come full circle with employees regarding their cell phones. Some clubs now require them to have a personal digital assistant (PDA) or tablet on their person as part of their uniform—as a tool that provides them with essential member data that will assist them in delivering a high-quality, individualized member experience.
An unintended consequence of staff becoming completely reliant on this technology may be less motivation for club employees to learn member’s names and preferences. The PDA will know, but the employee without the PDA may not, even after working at the club season to season. After all, service teams need to be well rehearsed when the power goes out, or the batteries die, and the digital data is not readily available.
What’s New and Growing in the Industry?
The big four private club proprietary software firms, Jonas Clubessentials, ClubTech and NorthStar, have been providing the private club industry with solid club management software for more than 20 years. Each firm continues to invest and reinvent to keep a competitive edge and maintain their status as a leader in the industry. The biggest improvements over the past five to eight years have been within communications, social media and marketing. Today, these firms are seeking the next big thing that will revolutionize club software—and becoming the panacea for the next generation of creating higher levels of member experience. Their software platforms continue to offer the industry a very stable foundation from which to invest and operate, while individual clubs use nuanced technology resources to personalize the member experiences to fit their culture.
Beacon Technology and Geo-fence are technology terms club general managers should know. Geo-fencing is the practice of using global positioning (GPS) or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define a geographic boundary (the club). Then, once this “virtual barrier” is established, the administrator can set up triggers that send a text message, email alert or app notification when a mobile device enters (or exits) the club. Think of all the applications there will be downstream once this technology is integrated with other platforms. Pacesetter, one of the latest club software apps to hit the private club market, also enhances the golf and country club experience by combining beacon technology and name recognition for a better bag drop experience, a convenient way for golfers to communicate with the club, and a simple way to speed up the F&B process on or off the course.
Club Trends wrote about Humm Tablets in the winter 2017 issue, and it has proven to have staying power in its application at clubs. It is a member dining experience feedback system presented with the chit portfolio at the end of each member’s dining experience. The Polo Club of Boca Raton was an early adopter in embracing this feedback system, and now Cherokee Town and Country Club in Atlanta has embraced it fully. Kim Crandal, the Town Club’s manager, monitors five levels of data collected from Humm’s database on their members’ dining experiences: Accuracy, Experience, Server, Speed and Food Quality. It is the perfect data source to quiet the few and give a valid representation of how the club is delivering on its overall dining member experiences. She says the feedback survey takes less than 30 seconds to complete and reports more than half of their members presented with the device participate.
Human Resource (HR) Software aimed at helping companies in the area of compliance, payroll and benefits have positively changed the business community. One company providing HR software aimed exclusively at the private club industry uses technology that offers an alternative to many of the traditional methods of performance management and assessment. Paisano Performance Partners, headed by John Finley, CCM, a former club general manager, developed software focused on enhancing club employees’ experiences after they are hired. The software is aimed at improving their performance, which in turn directly affects a member’s daily experience at their club. The creative software uses gamification and targets new hire orientation and team building, internet-based hospitality training, and systematizes performance evaluations that provide the valuable and prompt feedback that enables them to feel fulfilled in their job and enhances employee retention.
Technology is a Tool
Technology assists private clubs in improving their club amenities, delivering services to members, heightening ease of use and growing the fun at clubs. Technology alone will not enhance the member experience or club operations if management systems are not already part of the operational ethos of the club the technology is supposed to embellish. Highly satisfied members existed at private clubs long before technology and automation became a reality. No technology will ever replace the relationships that grow between members and staff, which is the foundation of private club communities. Technology will not replace personalized service. However, when developed with purpose and implemented effectively, technology will make information easier to obtain, knowledge more complete, and minimize the errors of humans.
Club Trends Summer 2018