Tag: Planning

Bringing Innovation and Creativity to Events (Case Study)

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However big or small the event, there’s always reason to inject creativity and innovation to make it memorable for all involved. This is an approach Medinah Country Club has pioneered for over 95 years. So, what are they doing, and what can you learn? We turned to General Manager and Chief Operating Officer, Robert Sereci, for the answers.

In what ways have you brought innovation and creativity to the events you have hosted?

While we have brought innovation to many events, at Medinah Country Club we view innovation as a strategic advantage that we leverage across all facets of club operations. From food and beverage to technology, innovation plays a critical role in our success.

Despite our significant recent investments in amenities, we realize that, ultimately, these amenities are only vehicles to facilitate relationships and strengthen our community.

Our approach to events focuses on larger, traditional club events like Easter, Mother’s Day and Halloween, while consistently developing smaller events, focused on appealing to a targeted demographic who share similar interests and passions.

We also work around the seasons. Many are surprised that a golf-centric club like Medinah hosts events around ice skating, sledding, and cross-country skiing in the winter months. But this keeps members engaged, mixing with other members and makes the club more a part of their everyday lives. We even host roller skating, where we convert our ballroom into a roller rink!

Family involvement is also key, and offers an opportunity for us to be creative. For instance, we invite families to join our executive chef for an educational experience as he taps our trees for maple syrup, to learn about egg production from our farm hens, and to learn how honey is harvested from our three bee colonies, all on our club property.

We also sprinkle in ingredients which are true to Medinah, and showcase the best of what we have to offer. Our Medinah Food Truck regularly roves around the property serving parties, and we use our portable wood burning oven or smoker to supplement indoor and outdoor club events.

Who drives this commitment to innovation, and why is it so integral at Medinah?

In our case, my team and I drive this commitment. I suspect this is not that different for most other clubs. Club Boards genuinely demand innovation from their management team, yet they embrace and find comfort in conformity. Clubs are notorious for conforming with the majority and have learned to embrace the status quo in order to align with the opinions and behaviors of neighboring clubs. This pressure to conform can have a significant negative impact on management’s engagement, creativity, and ability to innovate, and ultimately the club suffers.

Innovation is not important for innovation sake. As more clubs expand their offerings and amenities become ubiquitous, we, as clubs, must shift our focus from building structures to building memories. Like the corporate world outside our gates, we have migrated into an “experience economy,” where our members place greater importance on experience. Fitness centers, spas, and racquet courts are now the norm and very few members get impressed by these shiny new toys. Today’s members are looking for, and paying for, memorable unique experiences. These unique experiences are what makes successful clubs stand out in the eyes of the current and prospective membership.

How do you capture new, creative ideas AND make them happen?

Capturing ideas is the easy part – getting buy-in and execution is the hard part.

There is no shortage of ideas. My team and I look not only to our peers for ideas, but more importantly, we look at what others outside of our industry are doing and determine if and how it is applicable to us. The truth is, many of our innovative ideas at Medinah may be innovative for the club space, but in reality, they are almost common practice in the public space. Clubs are too quick to dismiss ideas from other segments by thinking “that would never work here.” While that may sometimes be true, we seek out those principles or ideas that would work and determine what we would need to do in order for those ideas to be successful at Medinah.

What’s your best example of bringing innovation to a high-profile event? What made it successful?

While many clubs go out of their way to squash nonconformity, at Medinah, we encourage it. I genuinely promote constructive nonconformity. That type of thinking is how we introduced the Tiny House Hospitality Package during the recent BMW Championship hosted at Medinah. The goals were twofold:

How can we create a unique memorable spectator experience and capture additional hospitality at a mid-range price point? The answer – place several Tiny Homes at specific locations on the golf course.

This was the pitch – Ever dream of watching a professional golf tournament from your backyard? Now you can. Introducing the Tiny House Hospitality Package for the 2019 BMW Championship. Invite your friends and colleagues to watch the top 70 players tee off just feet from your fenced backyard. In addition to witnessing the tournament up close, you will have access to a tiny house with all the accommodations of a home.

Not only was this the first time a Tiny House has been used in this way, but also the first time a Tiny House has been featured on a course during a professional tournament. This was a massive success and will likely now be a standard hospitality offering for future tournaments. The positive press we received was truly remarkable.

What else can other clubs learn from Medinah, whether they are staging high-profile events or member events?

In order to foster innovation, you must have a culture that not only encourages those who are innovative, but, more importantly, doesn’t penalize those who fail. Too many clubs focus on the ideas and innovation, and not enough on developing a culture of trust, where innovation and creativity is celebrated.

As the COO at Medinah, I have worked tirelessly to strengthen the trust between myself and the board. The board has provided me with a large safety net. In return, I have provided my team with an even larger safety net, allowing them to take risks and challenge the status quo. There are very few mistakes my team can make that I cannot get them out of.

Clubs must become comfortable with the unknown. If you want to accomplish something unique and memorable, you must be willing to take on risk. In general, clubs are culturally rigid and, as a result, are very risk averse. Club boards and members have a very low tolerance for failure and so club managers take fewer risks, thus, innovation comes to a standstill. Arguably, clubs with greater recognition and resources can afford to take more risk, but I believe the exact opposite to be true. When a small, unrecognizable club fails, the city may be aware; however, when a club with a global brand fails, the whole world will know.

Make Time for Strategic Thinking

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Do executives at your club know what a strategic plan really is?

Club executives often confuse a strategic plan with a master plan, a capital expense budget or standard operating procedures when in fact it is none of those things.

“A strategic plan is an all-encompassing game plan. It is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. It is a tight, clear-cut statement of what it is your club is trying to do,” explained Henry DeLozier of Global Golf Advisors during a seminar for club managers earlier this spring. “It’s a crucial document because every club needs to know where it is going.”

Strategic planning is receiving more focus in private clubs now than in the past. DeLozier believes this is due to the fact that more is expected of club leaders now (and more of leaders in general). He also says that clubs are expected to function in a more businesslike setting. Oversupplied, competitive markets require more focus and different types of clubs use different models of strategic planning. That’s why strategic planning is more important now than ever before.

The strategic plan should answer the questions what and why. It should not answer when, who or how because the answers to those questions are tactical. To keep strategy and tactics separate, DeLozier urges executives to remember the following:

Strategy = What. A primary duty of the board is to develop the strategy for the future of the club in a three to five-year life cycle. “Strategy is doing the right things for the club and its members. It is conceptually planning what the club will do and why,” he explained.

Tactics = How. This is a primary duty of management. Tactics are about executing the strategy and doing things right for the current period of time.

DeLozier urges all club executives to block off time regularly to think strategically. “Find the time to collect, study and share information. Strategy is part of a leader’s job today. Encourage strategic thinking in such a way that it becomes cultural at your club,” he concluded.

This article was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for the Private Club Advisor.

Substance Over Style

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In the old west, big talkers who didn’t deliver on what they promised were described as “All hat and no cattle.” Simply put: more image than substance.

None of us wants to be thought of in those terms. We all want to deliver the goods as promised. Doing so, while often challenging, is more achievable when you take these important steps:

1. Develop your strategic plan carefully because that’s where you lay out your promises in the form of goals and objectives. Stephen Johnston, the founder of Global Golf Advisors, often explains the importance of strategic planning by saying, “The lack of a strategic plan is not as dangerous as not having fire insurance, but it’s certainly playing with fire.”

The key components of a sound strategic plan are: (a) market analysis; (b) operational review and comparison against performance benchmarks; (c) financial measurement — especially of the sources and uses of funds; and (d) clear-eyed evaluation of governance practices. These four components assure that you have a plan that states clearly your goals and objectives and establishes a broad understanding of expectations.

Remember that an effective strategic plan answers the question: What? The business plan provides the details behind How? When? Who? and Where? The tactical plan outlines the steps that will implement the strategy.

2. Put your strategy to work. Strategy is only as good as the execution that backs it up. Putting strategic goals and objectives into action also requires a plan — one that describes in detail how you and your team will achieve the goals and objectives of the strategic plan.

3. Make sure club leaders and managers understand the plan and how their functional areas are expected to contribute to its success. In 1962, President Kennedy declared, “We will put a man on the Moon in this decade and return him safely to Earth.” Shortly thereafter, while on a tour of the NASA Space Center, the president came upon a janitor mopping the floor. When asked by the President about his job, the janitor responded, “Mr. Kennedy, I am part of the team that is going to put a man on the Moon.” That is plan buy-in and real-life awareness. The lesson: Make believers of your staff.

4. Review your plan’s success. No matter how well-intended a plan might be, careful evaluation and follow-up ensure that the plan remains relevant and purposeful. Another benefit of ongoing evaluation is evolutionary improvement and maximized understanding. Here are three steps to ensure that your plan is working at full capacity:

  • Provide quarterly strategic plan updates. Report your accomplishments and missteps with equal openness. Quarterly updates keep strategy alive in the boardroom and assure members that their board and club management are keeping their promises. Members support trustworthy leadership and trust is built on accountability in your actions.
  • Post a strategic scorecard. After the quarterly update, post the results truthfully and without acclaim. No different that posting your golf score, this is a matter of open accountability for performance. Embrace accountability for your strategic plan’s effectiveness.
  • Produce an annual report. Tell your members what has been accomplished. Align the annual report, as any major corporation would, with the strategic goals and objectives for your business and report on progress toward those goals. Provide members and stakeholders with a succinct summary of the strategic effectiveness of your plan, your board and yourself.

Strategic plans are based on the notion of having a focused plan of action on which all can rely. This step helps to make you and your work more trusted while bringing focus to what makes your facility successful.

One of the more common concerns in many golf courses and clubs is the question of vision or what it really wants to be. A carefully developed strategic plan clearly states who and what you are and establishes a trustworthy foundation for achievements. It shows people that you’re more than just a hat – it’s evidence that you’re bringing the beef.

This article was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine.

Gauging the Impact of Private Club Trends: 2019 Update

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In its recent research collaboration with Michael Leemhuis, a change leader and manager extraordinaire, GGA executed its 2019 attitudinal survey of club managers and thought-leaders.  Since its inception, the study has been repeated every three years to monitor, measure, and update the evolution of trends which are having the most significant impact on private clubs.

Read about top line trends and download the summary whitepaper below.

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This research whitepaper was developed by Global Golf Advisors in a continuation of insights pioneered by GGA Director Fred Laughlin and Michael Leemhuis, Managing Director of The Collection Clubs. 

Staying Sharp

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In his business leadership bestseller, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” Stephen Covey talks about the need to balance productivity and effectiveness in order to maximize potential.  The most successful leaders maintain their personal equilibrium, Covey says, by staying sharp through an ongoing process of personal change and improvement.  He likens the lifelong journey to “sharpening the saw,” which he says needs to happen across four dimensions: physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional.

Staying sharp is a disciplined process that takes shape over a period of time.  For anyone who wants to develop a plan for self-improvement, increasing motivation and creativity will be critical.  Here are some ideas that may help:

  • Rest your mind.  Diverting one’s attention from the problems of the day and, especially, work-related problems, invigorates the mind for expanded innovation and problem-solving.  A rested mind improves your memory and your mood.  A rested mind also empowers self-knowledge for those already skilled in their jobs.  Self-knowledge helps us be receptive to talking about other people’s problems, needs and expectations.  Improving self-knowledge helps managers learn from their mistakes and deal effectively with criticism and feedback.
  • Manage your time.  Leaders skilled in time management use their time effectively and efficiently, which allows them to focus efforts on priorities.  They are less likely to be overwhelmed by the wide assortment of challenges and demands in their jobs.  Effective time managers can address a broader range of activities and delegate with greater clarity because they recognize a start and stop to discussions, tasks and problems.

On the other hand, managers who are unskilled in time management are disorganized and wasteful of time and other important resources.  They tend to drift from problem to problem, leaving co-workers confused about priorities.  The resulting inefficiency only seems to grow with time.

  • Pursue work/life balance.  In a servant-leadership capacity, balance is sometimes fleeting because we’re always putting the needs of others before our own.  Nevertheless, pursuing balance between the professional and the personal is critical to effectiveness in each.  This balance is a direct result of taking time to sharpen the saw; it prevents leaders from becoming one-dimensional and fully capable.

Normally one is considered to be out-of-balance when he or she overdoes one at the harmful expense of the other.  At one end, workaholics seem to find never-ending demands for working while those lacking balance place greater emphasis on on-the-job fun and activities at the expense of effective professional conduct.  A clear signal of being out of whack is the inability to address priorities on either side of the balance point.

Bringing harmony to your four-dimensional needs – physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional – helps managers be more productive and fulfilled in their lives.  Covey says it’s often a matter of working smarter rather than working harder.  Here are a handful of activities to consider while sharpening your own saw:

  • Invest time and energy into learning.  Learn a new language or how to play a new instrument.  It is difficult to worry about problems at work when your mind is at work learning.
  • Read about the lives of great leaders and the challenges they overcame to reach their potential.  We’re inspired by the trials and perseverance of others, which have a way of making our challenges a little less daunting.
  • Travel to a new city, region or country.  Travel provides a literal and figurative escape that often clears our minds and brings new perspectives to problems and challenges.

Finding balance not only takes time to sharpen our saws, it also takes a plan.  We can all learn from one of the great woodcutters in history, Abraham Lincoln, who said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”

This piece was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine.

Change Shows No Sign of Slowing

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If your time to you is worth saving
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
– The Times They Are A Changin’, Bob Dylan

The songwriter, poet and social observer Bob Dylan warned us about change.  Back in 1964, he said it was a-coming.  Forty-five years later, we are reminded of his prescience.

In private clubs, change has arrived in full force and shows no signs of slowing.  As a new year reveals itself, private club leaders should be alert to change in five key areas affecting their operations.

1.  Economy – A surging economy has helped a number of clubs in North America add members in the last two years. But many experts are forecasting a softer economy in 2019.  According to the Conference Board’s November 2018 report, “Higher interest rates, and the intention of the Federal Reserve to keep raising them into 2019, will create a more challenging environment for business next year.”  That means membership recruitment and retention are still top priorities at most clubs.

Global Golf Advisors estimates that less than seven percent of the 4,400 private clubs in North America are full and working from a waiting list for admission.  Anticipating that the economy may soften, private club leaders must intensify their efforts to recruit new members while giving focused attention to retaining existing ones.

Often the solution is not a price change, but something more creative, such as ones that make the club more personal and relevant to today’s lifestyles.

What are the right moves for your club?  The answers start with knowing your members as well as your prospects and knowing what they value most in a club relationship.  If you don’t know how they define value, ask them.

2.  Delay no longer a strategy – In the heat of the recession, many businesses, including many private clubs, decided to forego capital improvements until times got better. Times got better, but many continued to delay investment.

Now many clubs are playing catch-up on deferred capital improvements. In the process, they’re discovering that new members are attracted to standards of quality that match their personal lifestyles.

That means that improvements to club facilities, programs and staff must reflect a long-term commitment to sustained quality.  Most members want their clubs to be better five years from now and club leaders are obliged to fulfill that expectation.

Club leaders do well to establish a broad standard of excellence for the club.  This is where clubs can truly be “unique,” as everyone like to profess.  The standard of excellence dictates the qualities of fit and finish for the facilities, the style and level of services and the types of recreational programs offered members.

3.  Brand takes on added significance – Private clubs are brands, and just as a particular soft drink, computer or automobile stands for something in consumers’ eyes, so does your club stand for something in the eyes of your members and prospects. Club leaders must develop an intentional branding strategy that sustains the promises on which the club has built its reputation, including course conditions, levels of service and culture.

 For brand planning in a private club, several keys apply:

  • Confirm the club’s potential tax-exempt status to ensure conformity with the U.S. Tax Code;
  • Develop and implement a proactive communications plan that reinforces primary brand pillars, and
  • Remember that the club’s brand is reflected in everything it does . . . and fails to do. Everything communicates.

When making any key decisions about the future of the club, make sure you’re staying true to your brand promise.

4.  Security and privacy concerns are increasing.  In a world rife with cyber threats, private clubs are highly vulnerable targets.  People of means gathered in one easy-to-access vault of names, addresses and possibly financial information constitute an attractive target for those ill-intentioned among us.

Members place their trust in their club to safeguard their privacy.  Break that bond and the consequences could be irreparable.  Club leaders must contract with companies expert in securing their club’s sizeable data storehouse and secure this information.  This threat will expand in 2019 at clubs that are unprepared

5.  Access and affordability of labor is changing clubs. Most clubs surveyed by GGA report increasing direct and indirect labor costs.  Many clubs are outsourcing work through contract-labor arrangements.  Some clubs are securing overseas workers for seasonal needs.  All clubs are evaluating steps to reduce the reliance on accessible labor for routine club services.

In some clubs, self-service is taking hold.  In progressive clubs, new solutions including F&B orders entered on tablets, are reducing head-count.  Some clubs are exploring making the golf halfway house and the tennis and pool snack shacks honor-system facilities, where losses are likely to be less than the labor costs to secure them.

On the flip side of Dylan’s ballad that promised change was a song titled “Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance.”  A new year gives us revived opportunities – one more chance – to get ahead of change.  We better start swimmin’.

This piece was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for BoardRoom Magazine.

Protecting Against Project Mythology

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Anyone taking on projects great or small during 2019 might consider a lesson from Phidias, the Greek sculptor, painter and architect.  Phidias is best known for his statue of Zeus, the king of the ancient gods.  However, it was his creation of the statues on the frieze of the Parthenon, the temple of the gods in Athens, from which we can draw an important lesson on project planning and management.

Phidias’s bill for his work on the heroic-scale statues was initially declined.  The bursar of Athens said that the statues should have been created in a front-only perspective, instead of Phidias’s 360-degree perspective, because the statues would be placed well above eye level and citizens would see only the front view.  Phidias replied, “The gods will know.” And his bill was paid.

Every project you plan and execute this year, whether a new swimming pool, the replacement of sand bunkers or a clubhouse remodel, will face 360-degree scrutiny.  Many will evaluate the quality of your work. Here are five important steps to help your efforts stand the test of time:

  1. Plan from start to finish. Lay out the process to be used, the materials required and who will be responsible for a successful outcome.  Organize your project team to ensure that each team member understands where he or she will pitch in and be held accountable.  See that your action plan is thorough.  Comprehensive planning anticipates the end result and establishes standards of expectations.  Ensure that the finished quality of your work is excellent.  Quality is remembered long after cost is forgotten.  Plan the post-completion “unveiling” of your results as carefully as you plan the first meeting.
  2. Set realistic schedules. Avoid over-promising and being unnecessarily conservative.  Creating a critical path of the actions required to complete the project is an important key.  Scheduling also requires a complete plan.  Many projects – and the credibility of those responsible for them – are undermined by incomplete or poor scheduling.  Establish a broad understanding of when you will execute in-process measurements and evaluations.  The things that are measured get managed. Get to work and finish ahead of schedule.
  3. Budget thoroughly. The two greatest points on which to brag about a finished project are “complete” and “under budget.”  Ensure that the budget is inclusive of all expenses, including labor, materials and post-project clean-up and finishing work.  Check and double-check unit count, whether pounds, square acres or individual item costs.  Confirm the accuracy of your costs-per-unit measurements.  These two checkpoints – unit-count and unit-pricing – protect the downside of important projects.
  4. Communicate constantly. See that all stakeholders are kept informed of progress and problems – especially the latter.  Because so many people feel invested in key projects, and think their voices should be heard, create a communications plan that includes video updates as well as written reminders and status reports.  Reduce the likelihood that stakeholders are uninformed of progress.  Likewise, update those responsible for completing the project by making sure they receive regular and routine project updates.  It is nice to know that everyone on the team is keeping up their time-sensitive tasks and sharing in the accountability.  Remember that members and regular customers like to be included with project updates.
  5. Celebrate generously. Pass around the credit and share the successful completion of the project.  See that there is plenty of credit to go around.  Recognize those who authorized your work on the project.  Name those who did the work.  Make and distribute photographs of the finished project and those who celebrated with you.  Use follow-up storytelling to identify those who are enjoying the results of the project.  Be inclusive of all who are affected by the project.

You may think that the work you did to complete a project successfully is sometimes ignored or forgotten.  In fact, in these times of tight budgets and 360-degree evaluation, very little is overlooked by management or membership.  Remember the lesson of Phidias: the quality of your work will endure and even if some people do not appreciate your contributions, the gods certainly will.

This piece was authored by GGA Partner Henry DeLozier for Golf Course Industry Magazine.

Why Business Planning is the No. 1 Trend Facing Private Clubs

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Business Planning is the number one trend in the private club sphere for 2019, with club managers citing it as having the highest impact on club operations in today’s market.
GGA Partner, Rob Hill, looks at why this was…

Private club managers are working to meet demands for a better plan.

This was the clear finding of a recent survey of managers recently conducted across North America, with valuable contributions from several leading European clubs.

While many may see this as nothing new, the survey did reveal a number of interesting reasons behind this trend, with changing markets and changing member expectations driving the need for a more forward-thinking approach among club leaders.

A wave of change

Europe and North America both face a challenging macro-environment in 2019, with Morgan Stanley Research predicting a growth drop of around 0.6% for the United States, and 0.3% in the Eurozone*. With uncertainty fueling a lack of investor and consumer confidence, both are making more careful, considered and longer-term choices.

Alongside this uncertainty in the markets, the needs, wants and demands of club members are also evolving rapidly, creating a shifting landscape in which it is no surprise that business planning has surfaced as the most impactful trend among private club managers.

Trends within trends

Of course, the notion of business planning itself is nothing new. The need to produce and update a plan with board members at regular intervals is an ever-present duty for club leaders.

That said, a closer analysis of manager’s survey responses reveals interesting trends within this process that help explain why it is only growing in importance:

Wanting more – with lower levels of consumer confidence and greater scrutiny of expenses, members are understandably looking for greater value where they do choose to spend. As one manager put it, “Members want much more nowadays – so we need to provide more services, and plan for what they are and what members need.”

Typically, this means expanding amenities and services, as well as creating greater differentiation from other competing leisure pursuits – many of which do not require the same level of time and financial commitment, making them easier to justify.

Experiences – the advent and increasing popularity of investing in experiences over products is well-documented, and is now permeating through to clubs.

Survey responses indicated that clubs are becoming more mindful of this trend, with one respondent stating the need to “develop creative solutions and unique experiences which members will value.”

While clubs are coming to understand the need to craft and deliver exceptional experiences for their members, these experiences need to be carefully informed, appropriately financed and properly planned to ensure you fulfill this ever-growing demand among the membership.

Rising costs – increased member demands for new services and amenities are contributing to rising operations costs across much of the industry. In this landscape, business planning will play a pivotal role in ensuring financial stability, mitigating the impact of increased competition, and securing the longevity of the club – both as a business and as a relevant destination to existing and prospective members.

Where to start

As important as it is to know how to start a plan, it’s just as critical to know who is responsible for it. Managers involved in the survey spoke of the need to ‘free up’ the board to think more in a strategic context, rather than just an operational one. This can empower the board to inform a far-reaching, evidence-backed vision and plan for the club which all stakeholders can unite behind.

Club managers can then operate with the freedom to develop greater agility in making real-time decisions, to source the right information to support them, and to implement process management and ‘total work’ systems that will see the plans through.

Attention to detail

In expanding their amenities and services, many clubs are evolving from small businesses into larger, multifaceted entities which require increasingly specific, detailed, and timely plans of action. A combination of economic interests, resource limitations, and evaluations of financial viability are compelling clubs to think longer-term and to plan more diligently.

In a world that continues to change at tremendous pace, it is easy for business leaders to feel out of control. And this gets to the heart of why, we believe, business planning emerged in this survey as the trend with the highest impact on clubs today.

However, by arming yourself with the best tools at your disposal, tools that will enable you to take swift, measured, evidence-backed action, you will be well-equipped to face the challenges of both the present and of the future.

*Morgan Stanley Research “2019 Global Macro Outlook: Emerging Markets Retake the Lead” (Nov. 25, 2018)

This article was authored by GGA Partner Rob Hill. 

Strategic Intelligence Overview: Part 3 of 3

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Top performing clubs around the world are finding newer, faster and more efficient ways to leverage business intelligence and create competitive advantages for their clubs. The first two articles in this three-part series included what business intelligence is and why it is important (see “Strategic Intelligence Part One,” September 2018) and how to use and implement business intelligence (see “Strategic Intelligence Part Two,” October 2018). The final article will identify desirable outcomes and key results for clubs that have leveraged data.

While the initial infrastructure set up does require an investment of time and money, business intelligence should be viewed as a tool to aid and support club leadership with sound decision making and strategy, not another chore to be completed. Informed decisions require a combination of competitor, market and operational data along with member feedback data. Many clubs use this information anecdotally and it hinders everyone from staying on the same page.

One of the most important benefits of utilizing a strategic intelligence process is the time and effort saved during board, committee and staff meetings due to reduced deliberation and off topic discussion. “It’s hard to argue with the facts,” stated Derek Johnston of Global Golf Advisors. “But those facts still need to be secured, analyzed and regularly prepared, which can be time consuming.”

Johnston shares that a Global Golf Advisors client recently had a breakthrough because of the information brought to light through its strategic intelligence process. “Club X had always raised annual dues by 2.5 percent each year but its bottom line was struggling due to labor and other cost increases. A historical trend analysis of key competitor clubs revealed that Club X’s competitors had been raising dues annually by an average of four percent for the past three years. In addition, member survey feedback identified high satisfaction in the Value for Money category. Armed with this data, Club X raised annual dues by five percent without backlash and is planning similar increases in the future as long as subsequent data supports it.”

Another client, Club Y, had recently completed a major renovation that included the addition of a fitness and racquet sports facility. The club was achieving member satisfaction ratings above comparable clubs but was struggling to recruit an ample amount of new members each year. According to Johnston, Club Y’s lead generation relied heavily on member referrals with minimal marketing effort beyond the current membership.

Using mapping, demographics and real estate trends to enhance marketing effectiveness, Club Y implemented a tracking process to identify the source of the prospective member lead along with the lead’s home address. This process exposed a significant disconnect. Leads that came from new members had a conversion rate of 17 percent over the past five years. Leads from tenured members were less than four percent. This data lead to healthy discussion and ultimately a new strategy for lead generation and membership sales.

When asked the question, “What does strategic intelligence success look like?” Johnston answers with “Readily available data in every board and management meeting that is analyzed and presented in a manner that improves the efficiency of the meetings, enables more focused discussions and results in a higher quality output. Ultimately strategic intelligence leads to a superior strategy and increased support for the decisions that club leaders make.”

This article was authored by GGA Partner Derek Johnston for the Private Club Advisor.

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