A club-wide fitness awareness program at Sawgrass CC got managers involved in a “Biggest Loser” contest.
The best club managers know how to inspire their teams to “lay it all out there” in the name of enhancing the member/guest experience.
The management team at Sawgrass CC in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., took this approach to new levels after opening the club’s new fitness center and introducing healthy menu selections in its dining venues.
The Goal: Take a personal stake in promoting the benefits of a new fitness center and low-calorie menu options to members of Sawgrass CC.
The Plan: Promote a “Biggest Loser” challenge among club managers as part of a club-wide Heart Healthy Challenge. |
The benefits of the new facility and dishes were simultaneously promoted through a club-wide fitness awareness program that also included creation of a cycling club.
But instead of just stepping back after letting members know of all these new benefits and hoping they’d see the value of participating on their own, the Sawgrass team took personal stakes in the process—even if it meant swallowing a bit of their pride to show how serious they were about personally adopting the cause.
On one announcement that was distributed electronically and displayed on posters throughout the property, General Manager Barry McDonald, Food and Beverage Director Perry Kenney and Chef Marvin McClelland invited Sawgrass members to join them in taking the “Heart Healthy Challenge.” As part of that challenge, the three managers would now openly compete in a “Biggest Loser” contest that would include taking advantage of the club’s new healthy menu items—and the progress of which would be documented for all to see through before, during and after photos.
Other Sawgrass managers, including Food and Beverage Manager Shane Westerman, Golf Professional Matt Hipps, Director of Golf Greg Lecker, and Golf Club Chef Rafael Deguzman, promoted the benefits of a vegetable-juice based weight-loss program. And staff members participated in the new cycling club, which now meets on Thursday mornings for an hour of open-road riding, ending with fruit and vegetable smoothies at the Beach Club.
The managers’ high-profile (and full-gut) promotion of the program helped to drive traffic to the fitness center and the club’s dining venues and generated momentum that culminated in a Fitness Challenge celebration at the end of March, at which prizes were awarded and gym services were raffled.
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