Relationships mattered in the days of pencil, paper and snail mail, and they still matter in the days of Instagram and Zoom. Too little tech makes us seem out of touch, yet too much makes us lose the personal contact that keeps members and prospects loyal and engaged. So how do we balance the two?

By Melissa Hansen, Director of Membership and Marketing, The Club at Olde Cypress in Naples, Fla.

Membership and marketing in the private club industry is evolving at a fast pace, and technology is rapidly becoming a critical part of the role of a membership director.  New companies and products are constantly popping up that can help us work more effectively across all channels. The membership directors who achieve the most success are the ones who are constantly up to date with the latest tools and trends. 

What skills in technology should every club membership/marketing director now have? 

Mining the Data—When it comes to marketing our clubs, data is your best friend. For internal communications, tools such as ‘low user’ reports that are pulled from your back-office software can help with retention efforts, by offering insights into the members who are not utilizing the club as they should.  

When pulling a ‘low user’ report, focus on what departments in the club a new member is not using, and then make them an offer for that amenity they can’t refuse.  If Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been actively playing golf, but have not set foot in the dining room, sending a gift card for dinner for two during a popular night of dining could make a proper introduction into that area of the club.  

For external marketing purposes, tools such as Google Analytics and member mapping let us know exactly where our members are coming from, as well as the user’s demographics, so we can target those specific areas and people.  For example, if your analytics conclude that the majority of those visiting the golf section of your website are male, ages 50 to 60, complement that section of your site by using photos of members who fit that description.  

Making a map of your members’ zip codes can also help you know where to focus your marketing efforts. If you have received an influx of new members from one geographic area, sending a direct-mail piece to target more potential members in that area can be beneficial. 

Using CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Systems—As a membership professional, it’s critical to actively utilize a CRM to track and manage leads.  The more you know about your prospects, the better you’ll be able to provide them with the kind of positive experience that really pays off. Everything they do, and every interaction they have with your club, needs to be identified, documented and recorded. 

The benefits of CRM systems include information organization, enhanced communication, automated tasks, scheduled followup, and reporting and analytical data. Once you receive a completed form from your website, you must enter the prospect’s information into your CRM.  From there, you can easily track the details of your interaction and communication with that prospect.  

What have been the most significant advances in technology that are now available to club membership/marketing directors, but still aren’t used as effectively as they could be?

Project-management tools that let membership and marketing directors manage tasks, projects and teamwork are becoming more and more popular. Software where you can input upcoming projects, such as your annual club calendar, direct mailers, social-media posts, and graphic designs, lets you visualize your workflow and organize and track all of your team’s work in one place.  

With the influx of inquiries for private club memberships, having an online appointment scheduler is critical. Scheduling software can easily connect with your calendar to automatically check availability and help you connect with your best contacts, prospects and clients.

Both for dealing with existing and prospective members, how can you properly balance personal touch and the efficiency of technology in the role of a club membership/marketing director?

Relationships mattered in the days of pencil, paper and snail mail, and they still matter in the days of Instagram and Zoom. Too little tech makes us seem out of touch, yet too much makes us lose the personal contact that keeps members and prospects loyal and engaged. So how do we balance the two?

Video Messaging—When you communicate through text alone, it’s hard to build real relationships, because text is easily forgotten. Our brains are wired to remember faces, and video messaging lets us personalize and humanize the information that our prospects and members are asking for, in a creative format they can’t forget.  

Use video messaging to invite a group of new members to an orientation, or to greet prospective members with a warm hello and an update on what’s happening at the club that week. Or simply check in on members you haven’t seen around the club in a while. The personalized touch will go far beyond that of a written e-mail. 

E-mail Tracking—With e-mail tracking software, you have the ability to know who has opened your e-mails and clicked your links, and exactly when and how many times they have done so.  This gives you ample opportunity to follow up with your connections at a time that is convenient for them.  

Live Chat—In a world of Amazon, Door Dash and Apple Pay, customers are getting accustomed to instant gratification, and the same holds true when it comes to communication. Live chat is a powerful tool that allows you to connect with customers while they are active on your website. It’s a customer-service platform that creates a chat experience, to answer questions while they are ready and eager to learn more.  

Some of the benefits of live chat include building trust, increasing engagement, providing support to your prospects at a time that is good for them, and improving the overall customer experience. Plus, it gives you an advantage over your competition.  

What additional technology would you like to see developed, to help club membership/marketing directors be even more efficient and effective in their roles?

Technology has made our lives easier in so many ways. It’s easier to communicate, it brings flexibility, and it saves time. Yet the importance of software integration is critical, because new programs don’t always play nicely together. When that’s the case, it creates work on the user’s end and makes it harder to integrate them into your current workflow. 

Having a one-stop shop for all of the necessary roles of a membership and marketing professional would be ideal. This would include a CRM system, project management, onboarding software, external e-mail campaigns, and retention software.

Finding new products is also a lot easier today than it was in the past. Today, there are far more thought leaders, news articles, and blogs sharing the latest trends and ways in which companies are taking advantage of them.

Moving forward, the landscape is going to continue to morph and expand. Yet if we look ahead five or 500 years from now, one thing is guaranteed—technology will continue to change the private-club industry scene as we know it!

Contributions on current issues in Membership and Marketing are welcomed; if you’d like to submit an article or be interviewed for one, contact [email protected].