Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series by Denise Saari, CMP, Membership/Marketing/Communications Manager at Addison Reserve Country Club, exploring how member onboarding has evolved to meet the changing needs of today’s club memberships.
Onboarding is the process of integrating new members into the club. It is also the process of integrating existing members through changes in their club experience.
Like every other membership professional, I have traditionally thought of onboarding as it relates to new incoming members. Showering them with gift baskets and sharing all the information they need to become engaged at their new club.
We all have onboarding programs within our clubs that work for our individual memberships. Some of those programs may span a certain length of time—90 days, six months or even a year. They involve new member introductions and various touchpoints based on the members’ timeline at the club.
Programs may be multi-faceted or singular in nature, all based on the needs and culture of the membership. All are designed to welcome the new member and share information about our incredible clubs.
At Addison Reserve, we offer different categories of membership. We are welcoming younger members to the club, and a portion of our existing membership represents an aging demographic. Working with these different facets has led to the evolution of my onboarding programs.
Traditional Onboarding
We are so pleased you joined our Addison Reserve Family.
There are, of course, new members who fit the largest demographic at Addison Reserve—the 50- and 60-somethings purchasing their South Florida second home. These are the new members to whom most of my onboarding is tailored.
My onboarding includes fancy welcome baskets, Meet & Mingles, Membership Committee Ambassadors, department leader introductions, and personal orientations with me and department leaders. It is multi-faceted and starts long before the transfer of membership from the departing member takes place.
Again, this is a plug for the digital handshake that ultimately evolves into a face-to-face “Welcome Home” greeting. New members receive a comprehensive electronic orientation package after membership approval and before closing day. Providing orientation information in advance allows incoming members to begin assimilating into the club environment.
Personally, I begin by meeting the new member in the lobby of our clubhouse, and I always say, “Welcome home!”
When we visit my office, I start with their questions first. That’s just my preference. Answering a myriad of their questions seems way more important than my thoughts.
This approach has worked well for the traditional new member. But as our membership has evolved, I have realized that onboarding has had to evolve as well.
In Part 2 of this series, I’ll share how our onboarding has changed to better serve younger members and families whose needs are different from our traditional new member demographic.
