The real issue? People are leaving and new people aren’t joining...

Which is easier, maximizing your sales via your current members or bringing in new ones?  

Same answer, different question...which is less costly, getting new members or keeping the current ones you have really happy?

If you know the (obvious) answer to both of these questions, than why doesn’t your club address them?

You want three better questions?

How many members have you lost in the last two years?  30, 40, 60?

How many have you called back, sat down with, addressed issues with, and brought back?

How much money has it cost your club?

Let’s see, 1 member x $350 per month x 12 months = $4,200.  Let’s say this hypothetical member brings in a guest or three per year, eat a few meals, takes a cart every now and again...could the number be closer to $5,000 per year?  Probably.

Multiply that one hypothetical member by twenty years...and your club has lost $100,000 on just one person!  Multiply that by the forty members that have resigned and you have lost an astounding $4,000,000.  

You want the worst news of all?  These people are still playing golf...but not at your club.

You want to stop the bleeding?  Start dialing, stop ignoring, and do whatever it takes to plug the $4,000,000 hole.  Don’t spend another marketing dollar getting new members until you have called EVERY one of you former one’s back because:

1. They will probably come back if you fix their issue(s).

2. It is easier and less costly to bring them back than get brand new members.

3. Knowing how may ounces of mayo and ketchup you have in the Kitchen or how much fertilizer you buy per year to the gnat’s hair doesn’t address the main issue: REVENUE.

“Look, we do the best we can.  People quit.  When we surveyed our members last year it looked like for the most part...we were doing pretty well when you consider the economy”.

Please don’t tell me you wrote a survey that included questions like:

“How would you rate the condition of the course on a 1 to 10 scale?”

“How would you rate our food...?”

“How satisfied are you with our service...?”

“How would you rate the club overall with regard to the price you pay...?”

Why?  Because you probably already know these answers right?  What you don’t know is why people are leaving and new people aren’t joining?  Isn’t that the main issue?

You want a better survey (this is going to anger you analytical types)?

1. What are three things the club could do a better job of (let that be its own

separate page--I dare you)?

2.  How many guests do you estimate you brought last year and how many of them joined the club?  

3.  If they didn’t join, why do you think that is?

4.  How did our staff Wow you in the last 60 days?

5.  Except for keeping our course in top condition, what other top priority would you say the club needs to work on?

6.  Would you be open to meeting for lunch to discuss how we can serve you better (that one is a yes/no response by the way)?

The results of this (better) survey should give you a year's worth of ideas and should make the monthly board meeting a blast!