Robin Shelton, CCM, PGA Master Professional, General Manager, Newport Beach (Calif.) Country Club, believes in the ROAD Method—Rip Off And Duplicate. He utilized a variation of a membership integration technique shared by a colleague and saw a 42% retention improvement.
By Robin Shelton • CCM, PGA Master Professional, General Manager, Newport Beach Country Club
I believe in the ROAD method – Rip Off And Duplicate.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve had an original idea seen through to completion, or an idea that wasn’t influenced by others. Every time I have an idea, see an idea, or learn of an idea – I always reach out to others and see how its working or how it could be improved.
One of my mentors, Gregg Patterson, shared the best New Member Orientation with me, which I’ve ripped off and duplicated.
At many clubs, a new member joins the club, he/she pays an initiation fee, receives a welcome or congratulatory call, receives some welcome handshakes and is then “on their own” to learn the customs, traditions, and policies of the club. It can be like the first day of high school or college—excited to be there, but nervous during the first few weeks adjusting to the culture and trying to “fit in.”
Gregg taught me that every new member should go through an orientation with the Club Manager. And, not a boring group orientation about rules and regulations where the new member is “talked to,” but rather a fun and individualized interactive orientation where the member is “talked with.”
Under this orientation program, every new member receives a 30-question quiz in advance (once a mutually convenient orientation program/time has been set). At the orientation, the General Manager asks each question – every question the new member gets correct, he/she gets a drink ticket; every question the new member get incorrect, he/she has a drink ticket taken away. As the answer to each question is being discussed, a quick story is shared by the GM that explains why that question is important or the significance of each question.
This type of orientation generates the ‘BUZZ’ all clubs want, and gets members excited about the club—the intangible spirit of excitement and energy—while teaching them the 30 important parts of the club. New members walk out of the orientation with free, useful items to get more connected to the club. Current members welcome new members knowing free drinks are possible.
The purpose of the drink tickets is to help the new member get connected into the club. If they play golf with a member, see a member at the bar they might make a connection with, or their kids get along at swim practice, they can buy the existing member a drink. Everyone likes someone who buys them a drink, and it’s a great way to get “into” a group or invited back to join a golf group or a tennis match.
I used Gregg’s method and made some improvements to the orientation process that better suited my club. Gregg e-mailed the quiz in a Word document; I sent a PowerPoint/PDF with club pictures as the background. Gregg gives away 40 drink tickets; I give away 20 drink tickets and 10 event passes/dinner certificates/special invitations/prizes/etc.
Once the “one-on-one” orientation is completed, I share an e-mail with our staff membership team (more to come on this) of all the event passes/dinner certificates/special invitations/prizes won by the new member. Our staff will then reach out and encourage them to book and use their complimentary massage, tournament entry fee, pasta night, wine dinner, training session, golf lesson, etc. When our staff or department managers reach out – to both congratulate the new members on their ‘wins’ and help set up the use of their winnings – there is a connection on the phone, and then another connection when the prize is redeemed. It is a far better system than a generic “welcome-to-the-club” call.
Our staff membership team is composed of department managers and key staff influencers. Our staff membership team meets weekly to review new members, follow up to make sure new members are using their event passes/dinner certificates/special invitations/prizes, and to track and review usage patterns of members.
The BUZZ, the intangible spirit of pride, excitement, and camaraderie, that flows through a club can’t always be measured. But member retention can be measured, and we saw a 42% retention improvement using this method. The intangible spirit grew, retention improved, sponsorship increased, and club financials hit record levels.
I’m convinced that this is the best way to do New Member Orientations – all from ripping off an idea from Gregg.
By the way…even ROAD (Rip Off And Duplicate) was ripped off.
Carrie says
Fantastic! Love articles like this 🙂
Kelly says
LOVE this! Thank you for sharing! Kelly Rhoades