Technology Case Study: CIMARRONHILLSG&CC, Austin, Texas
Of the prospects who attended the concert, two have already bought lots to build multi-million-dollar luxury “patio-style” homes. |
Top: E-mail marketing makes it easier for Cimarron Hills to promote large events, such as last summer’s “Celebrate America” concert featuring country singer Sammy Kershaw. Extra effort is made to send members and prospects “qualifier e-mails” and get updated contact information, to ensure delivery of the printed invitation and keep the club’s marketing database up to date. Above: Lynn and Jerry Scofield, one of the first couples to build a home in Cimarron Hills, attended the Celebrate America event. |
When Cimarron Hills Golf & Country Club, an 800-acre golf community just north of Austin, Texas, wanted to announce a new opening date for some highly anticipated casita properties, it automatically generated e-mails to a select group of 1,000 prospective homeowners who’d expressed an interest in these luxury “patio-style” homes.
After the e-mail blast went out, the club’s Director of Marketing, Kasie Noble, immediately began tracking this data: 1) how many prospects opened the e-mail, 2) the date and time they opened it, and 3) who then went to the club’s Web site to get more information on the development phase of the new units.
All of that information was then automatically relayed to the club’s sales staff, for immediate followup while the message was “top of mind” with the club’s best prospects.
This exercise in database marketing was just another example of what’s become standard operating procedure at Cimarron Hills, as it’s gained an electronic edge in the quest for new residents and members.
“We put the onus on our sales team to know their clients, and our system allows them to click on a name to see if they’ve opened an e-mail,” says Noble. “If they have someone on the ‘hot seat,’ they watch it carefully. When we’re talking about a high-priority client that’s on the brink of buying a $1.7 million home, that’s really important.”
Careful study of every detail gleaned from the responses to e-mail campaigns, says Noble, can help her detect trends that make the sales effort much more effective. For example, if high-priority prospect Mr. Smith almost always opens his e-mails around 5 p.m., the salesperson assigned to him knows that is also usually a good time to give him a call.
The ability to monitor almost any metric in real time is one of the big advantages offered by technology that not only tracks marketing efforts, but can be integrated into other management functions, too (see “The 10 Commandments of Database Marketing,” C&RB, November 2006, pg. 50). “We can search the database for golfers who have played here since January 1, and target them with an e-mail asking them to consider a membership,” says Noble. “Or, my pro can use the system to find those who have not golfed since January 1, and then send them a note to encourage them to book a tee time.”
The ability to pinpoint detailed information about members and prospects at Cimarron Hills starts when new leads come in via the club’s Web site and are automatically entered into the database. Everything else—walk-ins, phone calls, notes from the sales staff—is funneled through the receptionist in the sales office, who enters leads generated through these “traditional” methods, too. Once entered into the club’s prospect database, the lead is assigned a priority (high, medium or low). The Cimarron Hills system then automatically schedules a second, third and fourth “touch” of that prospect, and generates e-mails to remind salespeople when to follow up.
The technology Cimarron Hills uses to track member and prospect information has helped boost activity in other areas, such as increased tennis and golf participation at the community’s country club. |
Eventful Leads
Building a database just lays the foundation. Keeping it up to date and using it effectively are equally critical concerns. At Cimarron Hills, Noble uses several tactics to maintain and apply a database that has now swelled to 32,000 total names.
First, she uses “bouncebacks” from undeliverable e-mails to make a phone call, or mail a form, to get correct e-mail addresses. And once a year—usually in advance of large events for which she sends printed invitations—Noble sends members and prospects “qualifier” e-mails that ask them to update their contact information.
This pre-qualification process helped to ensure the success of a concert featuring country star Sammy Kershaw that the club held this past summer. Cimarron Hills paid big bucks to bring in Kershaw, and the response gained from holding the event had to justify those costs. The club’s system generated a series of e-mail invitations that were sent to 232 member families, plus 5,500 high-priority prospects. The event was attended by more than 530 people, including 282 members (compared to 147 members for a similar event the previous summer). Of the prospects who came, two have already purchased building lots (and club memberships).
Other benefits from the club’s system go beyond the addition of new members. “[Event] participation has picked up this year,” Noble says. “We are using [e-mail] to get the people who live here to use the club. Our ladies’ tennis program had seven players in 2005. This year, we doubled the number of players, specifically from our tennis director’s outreach using our software.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.