We built the editorial philosophy for Club & Resort Business around actionable ideas that properties of every shape and size can implement to help drive revenues, improve operations, and enhance member/guest satisfaction. These ideas touch on all aspects of managing your club or resort’s facilities, food and beverage, course and grounds, pro shop, and back-office operations.
We must have touched a nerve, because as we now enter our third year of publishing (our inaugural issue was April 2005), you have made C&RB the most widely read and preferred magazine serving the industry. It doesn’t get much better than that for all of us involved with the magazine, and for our editorial staff in particular.
With that as a backdrop, it should come as no surprise that the special focus for this April issue, to kick off our third year, is about . . . IDEAS.
Some may argue there are few truly new ideas, and that most are simply some variation on an existing theme. Who cares? If imitation is the highest form of flattery, taking someone else’s great idea and tailoring it to your specific needs is simply smart business.
And while C&RB has become a valued source for ideas, an equally, if not even better source, lies within your own club—specifically, your managers, department heads, and staff associates. These people know your property and its members and guests inside out. They have access to a wealth of “inside” information that will lead to the best ideas.
As we show in our profiles of three clubs that have become especially adept at building their operations around new ideas (pg. 14), smart managers regularly solicit suggestions and concepts from their employee base, and then create an efficient process for implementing those they believe would be the most useful and productive.
If this issue inspires you to also get more proactive about building your operation and management style around new ideas, here are a few things to remember as you go this route:
• Be open to considering any and all new ideas, but be selective in choosing the best and most practical ones to implement. And these decisions should be made regardless of cost if you believe the benefits will clearly outweigh the expense.
• There should never be retribution for an idea that fails.
• Successes should be celebrated, and it doesn’t always have to be with formal “awards” from competitions. But credit must always be given where credit is due.
• To get momentum rolling in the right direction, start with simple, small ideas that can demonstrate quick payback in terms of driving revenues, saving costs, or enhancing member/guest satisfaction. Then sit back and watch the stream of ideas begin to flow. Big or small, the payback will be immense.
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