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Can golf turn short term demand into long term gain?

golfbusiness

This has been a very extreme and intriguing few months for the golf industry. Having been furloughed from my role since March, this unusual scenario has allowed me the time and freedom to sit back and observe how golf clubs have gone through various phases during the pandemic.


What happened before and during full lockdown was extremely difficult for many clubs. Faced with a situation none of us has ever had to deal with before and in conditions that seemed to be changing so rapidly, any decision making proved largely redundant the following day.


Since golf reopened in mid-May however, I have been utterly intrigued by the way many golf clubs have reacted to the heightened demand, changes to standard operating procedures and a challenging financial landscape.


I can only say that a lot of what I have seen has concerned me greatly. 


The hugely increased demand is no doubt a great opportunity for the sport but long term gain has to be placed above a short term boom in demand. I have been horrified by the reaction of some clubs boasting about how many new members they have obtained as if they were right all along. All it has taken is a global pandemic for them to be proven correct and for the traditional forms of membership to become popular again. The only important figures in this regard are the net gain of membership and increased revenue.


I appreciate that many golf clubs have not had much to celebrate in the last decade and a flurry of new members without even trying is a nice uplift. But once those clubs have finished the backslapping on a job well done, the reality is we are still in very uncertain times and those new members will only mean something if they can be retained.


When a club announces that a significant net gain of membership has been held for 1 or 2 years then you may have cause for celebration as you are moving in the right direction. You then need to hold onto them for 10 or 20 years, do you have a plan in place for this?


My fear as always with golf is short-sighted thinking and I would go as far as saying the arrogance of some will mean that we fail to capitalise on this opportunity and in 12 months we may be staring at a very bleak picture.


Not only are we seeing a “job done” mentality with regards to membership, that arrogance creeps in further when clubs believe they can go back to treating green fee payers like second class citizens. Those same green fee payers who have delivered vital revenue that has kept many clubs afloat are now being asked to pay highly inflated green fees and told they can either take it or join the golf club. Demand is up, I get that but there is no excuse for alienating loyal customers.


In 12 months when the boom is over and tee sheets are back to normal, you may well be begging those visitors to come back to prop the club up once again.


How you act now and how you treat your customers now matters more than ever. If you want to know how your membership numbers will look in 1, 2 or even 10 years, look at what you are doing right now.


Membership retention has long been an issue for many golf clubs with the yearly churn of membership increasing all the time. Is it the arrogance of some clubs, the resistance to any kind of change or the lack of understanding of what their members really want? I suspect for most clubs it is a combination of all of the above.


So what will happen to all these new members clubs have been boasting about?


The key reason golf clubs will miss out on this huge opportunity is that many of these “new members” are lapsed members from years gone by, who will see that nothing has changed. Meanwhile, those who are joining a club for the first time will have their reservations justified and will get back to paying green fees as quickly as they can.


The reasons why membership has been in decline for the last decade still plague the industry and we risk losing these golfers forever once they see our lack of progress.


I write this article now as the opportunity is still there for golf clubs to buck the trend and ensure this does not become yet another “what could have been”. Over the last few years, I have seen many clubs make great strides in the area of membership retention and increase their membership numbers year on year.


Clubs need to act now!


Developing and implementing a full membership retention strategy can be a daunting process but you have to act now. Is there something you could do every single day that no matter how small could improve the experience of your members?


Simple things such as tidying up your notice boards, handling issues in an effective and timely manner, being consistent with your communications and listening can go a long way.

Integration into the golf club will be absolutely vital for new members that have recently joined your club and in these times, you may need to be inventive but there is no excuse for inaction.


Can you do a welcome to all new members over a conference call?

Can you do one on one calls to find out how they are settling in and if they have any questions?

Can you send a quick survey to get some solid data on what you are doing well and what areas you need to improve?

Can you engage your pro into giving 10-minute swing assessments?

Can you link up with another club to provide reciprocal golf and add value?


I fully understand that the golf club office is a fast-paced and rather hectic environment at the moment but carving out half an hour each day to reach out to new members could potentially deliver huge long term benefits.


Earlier in the article, it stated, if you want to know how your membership numbers will look in 2 years then look at what you are doing right now. If you can start to implement one small change, one phone call, one email each day, in two years you will have done over 700 individual acts all geared towards member retention and improving the member experience at your club.


It could be the difference between solid new foundations on which to build or yet another missed opportunity taking the club back to the daily firefighting it has become so accustomed to.

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