Where Will You Be in 2018?

The real focus needs to be: What will my club look like in 10 years?

by Tom McIntyre (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
February 2008
 

Nothing stimulates ideas like the collective interplay between hard-working, creative and dedicated professionals. At our second annual Club & Resort Business/McMahon Group Excellence in Club Management Awards dinner, held at Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Fla., during the recent Golf Industry Show, the conversation and idea-sharing among the 140-plus participants was non-stop. Ideas were flowing on the ride to Isleworth, during cocktails and through dessert.  
The mood of this group was different than the usual “doom and gloom”  found in virtually every newspaper’s business section. Most club managers feel 2008 will be a good year.  The real focus during our event was longer-range, on the theme of, “What my club will look like in 10 years.”

What will membership look like?  What new initiatives will be needed for recruitment and retention? Here’s a sampling of some of the topics that stimulated the most conversation:

• Creating a family atmosphere has become critical to a club’s ability to maintain and grow membership. Things like kid-friendly rooms during dinner hours, relaxing strict dress codes to accommodate a more casual feel, having “Dive-In” movie nights at the pool, kids’ cooking nights or campouts on the course, and taking traditional holiday-themed events to the next level were all cited as good avenues to this goal. The challenge, it was agreed, is how to get club staffs revved up to keep out-performing themselves each year.

• Fitness is a critical component of what members and guests are now looking for. No matter how large or small your footprint, you need to find a way to lure people out of the separate memberships they have to Gold’s, Curves, or the YMCA. If you can do it, you’ll tap into some real disposable income. And the residual benefits (increase in F&B revenues, more membership activity and usage, etc.) will be obvious.

• Food and beverage needs to effectively compete with the best local commercial operations. While my experience is that most clubs are great at banquets, weddings and events, where I see many stumble is in the execution of well-run a la carte operations. Yes, labor will always be an issue—but too many of the problems still start with a poorly trained staff, a boring menu, and food without any “wow” factor. Food should be fun and dining should be viewed as an “experience”—not a night to satisfy a minimum requirement.

Again this year, our April issue will be devoted to many more “Ideas” that we’ve picked up to help you answer, and prepare for, the question of where you and your club are headed. And as always, we encourage your help and participation in stimulating the dialogue (see Share Your Ideas, below). While our awards dinner and the Golf Industry Show are over for this year, the value of this kind of conversation is never-ending.