You’ve seen them on websites and whether you choose to use them or not "Chatbots" and text communication is here to stay for the foreseeable future. On the good side, text and chat can simplify your life as a website visitor, improve your efficiency and filter out your best prospects for membership. On the other hand, it can feel cold and impersonal. And yet, we’re learning how to use them to get what we want without having to wait. So what’s the secret?  Originally recorded coming out of the throughs of winter, Evan Dean from HubSpot helps us understand conversational marketing and how chatbots work best in business. You may bristle at the topic, but remember the next generation members would rather text than talk! 

Conversational Marketing for Private Clubs

Hiring outstanding people is really hard and keeping them can be equally difficult - especially if there are management or leadership issues. If you’re a leader trying to figure out how to inspire your team, elevate those who surround you or maybe you’re trying to get more out of your team you may need to take a look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself am I my own worst enemy? Do you have the kind of people who will tell you when you get off the rails? Do they help you, help yourself? If they do these things, you may have great followers and they are the people who can help you become a great leader. Dr. Sue Tinnish says great leaders need great followers. But what does that mean? And how can a leader develop great followers? Dr. Tinnish is an executive coach with a PhD in Organization Development. In this episode, we dive into the idea of great leadership and "followership".

How Great Leaders Create Great Followers

For the first time in years, many private clubs have a waitlist for new members. For the clubs who have always had waitlists, this is nothing new. On the other hand, hundreds of clubs are learning to manage a waitlist for the first time. This is both exciting and terrifying with members lined up to join clubs and with membership directors wanting to make sure these "hot" prospective members can be converted into full, dues paying members. Jason Becker, the CEO of Golf Life Navigators, recently surveyed more than 500 people to learn what people will and will not tolerate as it relates to Private Club Waitlists. In this episode, Jason shares with us the insights gained and some practical tips for those managing a waitlist for the first time.

Managing Private Club Waitlists with Jason Becker

By developing and implementing a strategic digital communications approach to the club’s marketing and communication, Cathy Zehms has created a content ecosystem at the Green Bay Country Club not seen in most private clubs. In her first 4-years membership increased more than 160%.

Strategic Club Marketing Straight from School [Ep. 30]

What does it take to keep your private club membership thriving during a crisis? Engagement and innovation. That's what Dave Porter and his team at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, AL did when the pandemic swept the country in 2020. Listen to how he helped lead his staff and membership through this incredible time.

Private Club Marketing Driven by Innovation in a Pandemic [Ep. 29]

When Minnesota golf courses were forced to close at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Joel Livingood was already preparing for the next step. It's what he's done since taking over as GM at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, MN in 2017. With solid financial footing and a steady hand, Livingood led his team and membership through one of the most extraordinary years in U.S. history.

The Crisis This GM Faced Helped His Club Through the Pandemic [Ep. 28]

At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, private clubs, like most businesses were cast into a future of uncertainty. One role that proved to be critical at Bethesda Country Club is that of the membership director. Kris Butterfield, Director of Membership Marketing and Communications expanded her responsibilities in ways she never would have expected and it paid off for her club and for her professionally. 

The Impact of the Coronavirus on the role of the Membership Director [Ep. 27]

If the goal of private club marketing is to influence thinking and behavior, then a basic understanding of the brain can increase the chances of success. In this episode, we speak with Laura Leszczynski, Vice President of Marketing and Brand Strategy at Strategic Club Solutions.

What Club Marketers Should Know About Neuromarketing and New Members [Ep. 26]

Adding "Traction" and Structure for Private Club Management [Ep. 25]

Chris DeConna is a marketing coordinator and graphic designer at The Ranch Country Club in Westminster, Colorado – and he’s changing the game for club communications. Even though he’s spent about 4 years working in private clubs, Chris’s background is outside the industry. His most formative communications training coming while working in college athletics as a media relations specialist.          By following and observing what athletic departments from the University of Michigan, the University of Texas, and Duke University were doing, Chris recognized they were on to something.

Turning Your Club Communications into a Member Engagement Asset

Getting your club to buy into the idea of social media and starting a Facebook or Twitter account is challenging enough. Getting your staff to participate with meaningful and helpful content can be even more difficult. Yet, Chris Tritabaugh, Superintendent at Hazeltine National Golf Club is elevating his club's international prominence, engaging members and building his personal brand through his Twitter handle @CT_turf. Chris started his account in 2009, a time when Twitter was just stepping into the light as a communication platform. At the time it had already established itself for those "in the know" as a new social media tool, but for most people in the private club space, it was perceived as risky at best and reckless at worst. Still, Tritabaugh began setting fire to a community of avid golf fans and turf experts around the globe.

Talking Twitter with Hazeltine Superintendent [Ep. 23]

Proactive communication using social media and video kept the team at Pelican Isle Yacht Club ahead of the conversation when it came to a multi-million dollar remodeling project. It was also a key part in a record-setting membership drive that occurred once the renovation was complete.   We connected with Pelican Isle's Kathie Pedit, marketing sales and membership director, and Megan Somerville, membership coordinator, to learn their secrets to success.

How Overcommunication Helped This Club Grow Membership During Renovations

You want a younger membership yet you need to retain your existing legacy members, as well. But each demographic has different needs and interests. What’s more, each demographic values things like luxury, status, and relaxation differently. While some of your older members may go to the club to get away from work, your younger members may want a place to hunker down and treat the club as a second home or office. If you find that hard to believe, then you’ll want to check out this episode of Crushing Club Marketing. Our guest, Amy Lynch, CEO of Generational Edge, is a generational expert and breaks down all you need to know about marketing to different generations.

Club Marketing for Multiple Generations

Adapting to a changing industry is difficult no matter the business, and the private club industry is going through that today. The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, is one of the most historic country clubs in the industry, yet they’ve been able to stay on top of the latest marketing and communications trends. This club may ring a bell to some of our listeners who tuned into an earlier Crushing Club Marketing episode with guest Jackie Singleton, the director of communications and technology at The Country Club. In this week's episode, we take a look at how The Country Club has created a strong culture that begins with exceptional leadership. Assistant General Manager Kristen LaCount shares how clear vision and strong leadership have propelled the Country Club on a steady path of embracing and implementing change.

How Strong Leadership Can Propel Your Club Marketing Efforts

What if finding your ideal golf club was like online dating? You get matched with the club that’s right for you based on location, commonalities, and shared interests. It’s a concept the online service Golf Life Navigators is based on, and the site has revolutionized the way members are conducting their search. In this episode of Crushing Club Marketing, we talk with Golf Life Navigators Co-Founder and CEO Jason Becker, who shares valuable insight from the service's matching process and how it can help club marketers position themselves to potential members.

The Right Match: Online Process Connects Clubs and Prospective Members

The sales cycle in the private club industry can be a long one. It might even take years from the time a prospective member expresses interest to the time they finally become a member. Because of this, it can be a challenge for club marketers to manage, organize, and engage with contacts — all of which are crucial if you want to increase and maintain membership.  In today’s Crushing Club Marketing episode, we chat with John-Erik Pszenny, a customer relationship management (CRM) expert at HubSpot. He explains how marketers can use CRM tools to save and store both important relationship information and transcripts from conversations you’re having with everyone, from prospect to member.

Choosing a CRM that Works for Your Private Club

Feeling like you're always one step behind in your marketing efforts? If you're a club marketer, you’re probably nodding your head. It’s a perpetual feeling on this side of the club world, as marketing trends continue to evolve at a much faster pace than most can keep up with.  But before you feel overwhelmed by the thought of adding more hiccups to your current marketing plan, keep in mind that there's one thing that will always remain the same when it comes to marketing — the story behind your club. And there’s no better way to showcase your story than through video.  The ways we consume video have changed tremendously over the past decade with the rise of hosting sites like YouTube, social media and other digital platforms, which means the power of video as a marketing tool has grown exponentially. This is a trend this week's Crushing Club Marketing guest Jason Hsaio predicted when he started the web-based video creation service Animoto roughly 10 years ago.

Making Video Accessible for Your Club

Connecting with your target audience is essentially the purpose of marketing. The challenge is, relating to an audience that continues to evolve. From baby boomers, millennials and rising Gen Z-ers, your marketing tactics need to continually embrace generation change to be successful in relating your message to the right crowd. This is a hot topic and the focus of our podcast conversation with Karen Hinds, the CEO and Founder of Workplace Success Group, a firm that focuses on the next generation of leaders. Though she doesn’t work in club marketing specifically, her expertise in engaging multi-generations is well-aligned with a very present challenge for private clubs — how to address an aging membership and appeal to the “younger” generation.

From Boomers to Millennials: Club Marketing Across Generations

The road to sustainability for private clubs is one that requires vision and discipline, according to Professional Club Marketing Association Founder, Rick Coyne. And the good news is that clubs that navigated the turbulent waters of the financial meltdown in 2008 are now on the way back.   "Vision without action is a daydream, action without vision is a nightmare," he says "And I think we’ve lived in the nightmare for a number of years. Now, we’re seeing some visionary folks who see what it takes to be successful in the industry.”   Coyne is also CEO of ClubMark, a golf management and consulting company based in Dallas, TX. He believes the club industry has endured three distinct life cycles over the past 100 years, with meteoric growth over the last two and a half to three decades. Some of that growth led to overbuilding and, as we know, an alarming rate of closings beginning in the early 2000’s. Much of Coyne’s work these days focuses on helping clubs become relevant again in a dynamic and changing market.   "If we’re not relevant to the people we are trying to attract or whom we have as our existing members, we will cease to exist," he says. "Relevance is the key.”   And while relevance may be the key to attracting and retaining members, Coyne also sites a lack of structure in how clubs create an operationally healthy organization that is the backbone of a healthy club. His 8-step Enterprise Solution Model is a step-by-step diagram that breaks down the necessary elements of a well-run organization. In this episode, Rick and I break down his model to better understand how clubs can create an organization that’s built to endure and solve complicated challenges.

Financial Sustainability for Clubs Starts with Solid Club Operations

Columbine Country Club just outside of Denver Colorado has experienced exponential growth over the last three years due to what Director of Sales and Marketing Leader, Robert Cuillard says is a "sales culture" at the club. After a 7-year decline, Columbine has a new clubhouse and a full membership. What's more, Cuillard, who started with the club in 2015, also has an annual marketing budget in excess of $400,000 - a number not often associated with private clubs. He's accomplished this by taking 11 percent of all new member initiation fees and earmarking that for marketing, an aggressive play that has worked well for Cuillard in his years at Columbine and in previous positions.

Crushing Club Marketing

Crushing Club Marketing

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