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Membership Marketing
This chapter was writt en and contributed by Raymond R. Ferreira,Associate Professor, Georgia State University
P
EOPLE TYPICALLY join a private club so that they can meet, socialize, and develop friendships and associations with individuals of similar backgrounds, interests, and pursuits. There is oft en a selection process involved in becoming a member of a private club, especially in those clubs that have a waiting list for membership. However, many private clubs today fi nd themselves in a new predicament: they must actively seek additional members. This has caused many private clubs to implement a membership marketing plan, something practically unheard of in the prestigious halls of private clubs prior to 1980.In this chapter, we will take a look at factors in declining club membership and other important issues that infl uence club membership marketing, including a club’s location and reasons frequently cited why marketing is not necessary for private clubs. We will identify the four P’s of marketing and go through the steps in developing a membership marketing plan. We’ll conclude the chapter by look-ing at how clubs go about att racting new members, including some relatively new strategies: employing membership directors, and using the Internet and databases to help fi nd and att ract new members.
Club Membership Marketing: An Introduction
There are many factors that aff ect club membership marketing, from declining club membership to the att itudes of current club members.
Factors in Declining Club Membership
The number of members a private club has is related somewhat to its type. Golf clubs usually have the least number of members, because members typically want easy access to the golf course and an adult-only emphasis for the club. City/athletic clubs typically have the largest number of members. The number of members at country clubs is usually somewhere in between golf clubs and city/athletic clubs (see Exhibit 1).
Without a full membership, a club may face some of the following problems: Lower revenue which forces the club to decrease operating expenses (i.e., fewer services and amenities off ered to members)
Fewer initiation fees paid, which results in fewer renovations and capital proj-ects for the club
Poor employee morale, because of cutbacks in staff and lower wages Deferred maintenance on club facilities
Renovation projects cost more per member, because there are fewer members to share the cost
Member dissatisfaction, because of the decline in the services, amenities, qual-ity of service, and appearance of the club's facilities
Higher member att rition rate, due to member dissatisfaction
As you can see, a decline in membership starts a vicious cycle of other problems (fewer services, fewer amenities, deferred maintenance, etc.) that will lead to member dissatisfaction and the loss of more members, which further aggravates the problem.
No single factor accounts for the decline in membership that some private clubs have experienced since the late 1980s (see Exhibit 2); it appears that a combi-nation of factors caused the decline:1
Economic downturns Overbuilding
More competitors Aging membership
Diff erent preferences of Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers
Economic Downturns. The recessions and economic problems of the mid-1980s through the early 1990s in North America caused many businesses to cut expenses. When revenues are down, businesses typically fi rst cut entertainment expenses, which include club memberships and client dining/entertainment expenses. More-over, many businesses implement downsizing strategies during diffi cult economic periods. These strategies typically include decreasing the number of management positions, which results in fewer individuals seeking club memberships. More-over, some companies close their doors during these periods, resulting in further decreases in the number of managers and other professionals who are normally
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Type of Club Number of Members
2002 Number of Members 2004
Golf 509 513 Country 690 697 City & City-Athletic 1,330 1,637 Average 757 847
club members. Clubs experienced their largest drop in membership because of the severe economic downturn from 1990 to 1994. From 1995 to 2000, clubs expe-rienced a modest increase in their membership size but failed to match their high membership levels of the late 1980s. Many clubs experienced another membership decline from 2000 to 2005, primarily because of the economic decline following the 9/11 terrorist att acks.2
While economic downturns aff ect all clubs, the downtown city club segment of the private club industry typically suff ers the greatest decline in membership during economic downturns. More competitors off ering upscale dining and meet-ing facilities in downtown areas, and business migration from downtown areas to city suburbs also put pressure on city clubs.3
Overbuilding. While membership levels at some individual clubs have decreased over the last decade, the overall industry demand for private club memberships (total number of members at all clubs) has actually increased slightly. In contrast to this slight increase in demand for club memberships, the supply, or number of total private clubs, has increased signifi cantly since the late 1970s. Real estate developers built numerous clubs in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s in order to make their real estate developments more att ractive, and residential developers built country/golf clubs to increase the price and appeal of the residential properties they sold. In addition, offi ce building developers built city or athletic clubs in their buildings to make leas-ing more enticleas-ing to their business tenants. The dramatic increase in the number of private clubs outpaced the modest increase in the number of new members, result-ing in some individual clubs havresult-ing fewer members (see Exhibit 3).
More Competitors. Clubs today face many competitors besides other private clubs. For years, clubs were the only place individuals could enjoy fi ne dining, quality service, outstanding facilities, and well-manicured golf courses. Today, clubs face
Reasons for Membership Decline
Economy Overbuilding More Competitors Aging Different Preferences 1970's–1980's 1990's–2000's
many competitors who provide some of these same features and who compete for members’ and prospective members’ time and money. For example:
More upscale, high-quality restaurants are conveniently located near mem-bers' residences or places of business.
Many hotels, convention facilities, and restaurants off er banquet/meeting facilities comparable to those off ered at private clubs.
Semi-private clubs with the fi nancial backing of real estate developers cater to both members and the general public with private club quality.
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Exhibit 3 Supply and Demand for Membership
The Larger Pie Is Being Divided Into Smaller Pieces
The total number of members (demand) has increased slightly, but the number of clubs (supply) has increased at a higher rate, resulting in fewer members at each club.
1980's 525 475 550 450 Club A Club B Club C Club D 2000's 500 450 525 425 325 275 Club A Club B Club C Club D Club E Club F
High-end public, daily-fee golf courses provide outstanding, well-maintained courses, and many off er services once only available at private clubs (for exam-ple, club cleaning services and bag-drop cart service from the parking lot). These businesses are able to market themselves much more aggressively than pri-vate clubs and have taken a good share of business away from clubs.
Aging Membership. The average age of a member at a country club has increased from 55 in 1998 to 57 in 2004.4 Having a membership that is perceived as “old”
is a problem, because most people do not want to join a “gray” or “blue-haired” club—a club whose membership is composed primarily of retired individuals or those near retirement. Younger people want a club that meets their needs for social, recreational, family, and business purposes.
Another concern for clubs with an aging membership is that many members in their sixties and seventies either use the club less oft en or terminate their mem-berships due to retirement, limited income, or poor health.
Diff erent Preferences of Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers. Candidates for membership and new members, those in their late twenties to early fi ft ies, desire diff erent services from those preferred by older, long-term club members. These newer members and prospective candidates for membership prefer more casual dining and faster service. Time shortages and the resurgence of a focus on family life make family club activities critical for many clubs; members want to spend their limited free time with family members. Because many membership candi-dates come from households with two adult wage earners, gender equity in the club is an important issue; clubs must accommodate and appeal to both adults in the family, not just the household’s adult male. Newer, younger members typically are also more health-conscious and seek clubs that provide healthy menu alterna-tives as well as fi tness/health activities.
A Club’s Location and Its Effect on Membership Size
An old adage in marketing says that the three most important factors for success in business are location, location, and location. This adage applies to private clubs as well. Obviously, the club’s prestige, membership composition, services, amenities, and facilities also are important in att racting new members and are usually critical factors for premier clubs. But for most clubs, their location and easy accessibility for members and potential members are critical as well. We live in a time-starved culture, and most club members today do not want to travel far to use their club regularly. Therefore, clubs located close to the homes or businesses of their target markets will typically be able to convert membership candidates into members more easily than other clubs.
The club’s location and the area’s demographics have a big impact on the number of members a club realistically can att ract. The critical demographic make-up for the area surrounding the club is diff erent for a downtown city or athletic club versus a country club in the suburbs. The market size for a downtown club is aff ected by the following demographics: number of businesses, number of
executives, total number of employees, and number of competitors (see Exhibit 4). The primary demographic area that aff ects city clubs in major metropolitan areas is within just a two-mile radius of the club. In smaller metropolitan areas, that radius expands to fi ve miles. For clubs in the suburbs of large metropolitan areas, the demographics aff ecting the membership size the most are the number of households with income levels over $250,000, the number of residential proper-ties valued at more than $500,000, the number of owner-occupied properproper-ties, and the number of competitors within a ten-mile radius of the club. These household income level and property value numbers would be smaller for smaller metropoli-tan areas.
Reasons Cited Why Marketing Is Not Necessary in Private Clubs
While some private clubs may experience all of the competitive factors discussed in the previous sections, many may experience only a few of them. These factors do not typically have an immediate, dramatic impact on club membership levels; rather, there is a slow but steady decline as membership levels fall over a number of years. Because of this slow deterioration, many club boards are reluctant to react to declining club membership. Many feel that the club will “snap out of its slump” next year. Before these clubs know it, that slump has extended over many years, and the membership number is down a signifi cant amount. At that point, some boards fi nally perceive declining membership as a major problem, panic somewhat, and start many ill-conceived membership marketing drives. This is a familiar scenario at many clubs and one of the most common reasons why clubs don’t develop membership marketing plans as soon as they should. Clubs should not wait until the membership level reaches a critically low point to take action. In fact, if prospective members are not standing in line to join the club, that’s a sign that the club needs to start marketing itself bett er.Although many private clubs realize that they need a membership marketing plan in order to increase their membership, planning eff orts are sometimes met with a number of objections from the club’s board and other club members (see Exhibit 5). Some of the typical objections or barriers involved in implementing a membership marketing plan include the following:
The club should be exclusive, and not everyone should have access to membership; it’s a private club. This is very true, and a club can and should maintain its standards for membership (member sponsorship, applicant review by a
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Downtown Location Suburban Location
Number of Businesses Number of Households with $250K Income Level Number of Executives Number of Residential Properties Valued Over $500K Number of Employees Number of Owner-Occupied Properties
Number of Competitors Number of Competitors
membership committ ee, credit checks, etc.), no matt er what type of ship marketing plan it implements. Implementing certain types of member-ship marketing plans will not jeopardize a club’s selection process, however. If the club implements a membership marketing plan, it will send a message to its members that the club is in trouble. Most members talk among themselves and know the club’s situation. They typically are aware that membership is down and that there are membership openings available. Moreover, many mem-bers understand that not having a full memmem-bership causes an increase in their dues structure, which tends to make them more open to eff orts to increase the membership. Trying to hide the problem from members doesn’t work and only creates a temporary, false sense of security for the club’s board and management.
A membership marketing plan will damage the club's image and status. While some inappropriate membership drives have hurt some clubs’ reputations, there are many membership marketing plans that have been successfully imple-mented in private clubs. These plans have increased membership levels and allowed some clubs to att ain and maintain a full waiting list. The increased number of members allows clubs to off er all of their members the services and amenities synonymous with exclusive and prestigious clubs.
Members don't want the club's membership to increase because of overcrowding; members would prefer to play a round of golf without making a tee-time, or have dinner at the club without having to make a reservation. While almost every club member would love to have the luxury of never having to wait to enjoy any club service, clubs must have x amount of revenue to sustain the level of ser-vices that members demand and maintain the club’s facilities at an acceptable level. This revenue must either come from existing members or new members. Although most members say they don’t want the number of club members to increase, when given the choice between accepting new members or
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1. The club has an exclusive image to maintain 2. Marketing sends a “club is in trouble” message 3. The club’s reputation will diminish
4. The club’s members will worry about overcrowding
5. Members fear that they won’t get individual attention or good service with more members
6. A membership marketing plan will upset long-term members, because the club’s tradition has been to never market 7. Marketing is a new area for private clubs, so even
experi-enced club managers are unfamiliar with marketing
accepting an increase in their dues or a new club assessment, many members decide that bringing in new members is not such a bad option aft er all. If the number of members in the club increases, members won't get the individual att ention and service to which they are accustomed. Actually, the opposite is usu-ally true. As the number of members decline, club revenues decrease, and the club starts to cut expenses in response. Service falls, because the club lays off some staff members; other employees—usually the top performers—leave, looking for more stable employment. The more members, the more revenue; the more revenue, the more staff and bett er service for members.
Boards are reluctant to market clubs because they don't want to upset long-term members who cling to tradition and consider marketing inappropriate for a club. Club membership marketing has only evolved in the last decade or so; clubs have not had to think about this issue until recently. While marketing may have been unnecessary and inappropriate for clubs years ago, it has become a necessity for many clubs today. It is the board’s responsibility to look at the club’s future and its best interests, rather than the past.
Club managers are unfamiliar with marketing strategies and what works for private clubs. This is a barrier for many clubs, because club managers typically have concentrated on the operational aspects of managing a club: producing the fi nest food, training employees for excellent service, controlling expenses, and so forth. There was no need to increase membership levels through market-ing, because most clubs had a waiting list. Even experienced club managers are not likely to have as much experience in membership marketing as they do in other operational areas of a club.5 But this is a barrier that club managers
must overcome.
The 4 P’s of Marketing
Marketing for clubs is the process of determining the needs and desires of your current and future members. This includes designing a specifi c product (services, programs, and amenities) to meet the needs and desires of members and poten-tial members. Also, it is important that current members stay informed about the products of the club and how they can easily access them. “Product” is just the fi rst of what are commonly referred to as the “4 P’s” of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion.
Product
Determining your club’s product level constitutes the fi rst step in membership marketing and all other marketing eff orts at the club. Should the club be marketed as the premier club in the area, an average-level club, or a lower-tier club that off ers a tremendous price/value relationship? The club’s location, the competition, the economy, and so on can aff ect the club’s position. Not all clubs can be premier clubs, even if the members want that for their club. If the club is marketed as a pre-mier club, does it off er the variety and level of services that would position it as a
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premier club? An average-level club needs to off er the variety and level of services that its current and potential members want and are willing to pay for.
Price
The next “P” to consider is price. The price that a club charges for its initiation fees, dues, dining, etc. should be set in accordance with the position that the club has or desires. Coming up with the correct prices also involves determining what current and future members are willing to pay. Other factors to consider include what the competition is charging and the club’s fi nancial goals. Premier clubs should charge accordingly for their services; their perception as a premier club is based not only on the products and services they off er, but also on what members must pay for those products and services. Average-quality clubs, on the other hand, must keep their prices in the mid-range.
Some clubs incorporate diff erent pricing strategies to achieve diff erent objec-tives. For example, a club may have a pricing structure with high initiation fees and moderate dues, making the club diffi cult to join but easy to aff ord once you are a member. Some clubs employ the opposite strategy: they charge a moderate or low initiation fee to att ract a large number of members, then charge high dues to make possible their high level of service.
A club’s pricing strategy should be consistent with its quality level and per-ceived image. If prices are not in line with the image the club is trying to foster, the club sends a mixed message to prospective candidates for membership and will create dissatisfaction among current members.
Place
The third “P” is “place.” The place or location of the club can act as an asset or a liability for the club. If the club is located in an affl uent area, or one surrounded by a large number of businesses, then the location is conducive to att racting indi-viduals who regularly live or work in close proximity to the club. Clubs blessed with a good location can charge higher prices, have a higher level of steady mem-ber usage, and usually can look forward to a stable future. A club whose location is not ideal will have to come up with strategies to overcome, or minimize, this weakness. Developing a specialization (for example, a premier tennis program) is one strategy that might infl uence people to join and frequent the club despite its inconvenient location.
The demographic makeup of the population living and working within a one- to ten-mile radius of a non-premier club will infl uence not only the volume of business at the club, but also the amount the club can charge and how many mem-bers the club can have at a given price level.
Promotion
Aft er analyzing a club’s product, price, and place, it is important to then consider the type and amount of promotion the club should use. Promotion, like the other “P’s,” is directly related to how the club positions itself and is also infl uenced by
the level of activity in diff erent parts of the club itself. For instance, if a club already has a great deal of activity in the dining room area, then the club will be less likely to promote the dining room to its members and will instead promote club areas that are underutilized.
Common methods of promoting to a club’s current membership include the club’s newslett er, the monthly billing statement (either inserts with the statement or promotional messages printed on the statements themselves), direct mailings, activity boards in the club, table tent cards in the club’s dining areas, the club’s Web site, e-mails, and direct communication from the staff and/or club committ ee members.
In addition to promotion among current members, clubs should also consider promotion as a way to att ract new members.
The Membership Marketing Plan
In the last decade, many articles on marketing plans for att racting new members have been published in private club magazines and journals such as Club Director, Club Management, Club Manager Quarterly, Private Club Advisor, The Club Marketing Report, and so on. Although all clubs have some common features and similarities, each club is unique. Most clubs have a specifi c niche in the marketplace that can vary a great deal from club to club. What att racts members to join and retain their membership will be diff erent at each club. It is crucial that clubs do not implement a membership marketing plan just because it worked at another club. A successful marketing plan for one club may fail miserably at another. (See Appendix A at the end of the chapter for some sample marketing strategies for private clubs.)
Steps in Developing a Membership Marketing Plan
Before implementing a membership marketing plan, it is imperative to cover most, if not all, of the following planning steps, to ensure that the club implements the best and most appropriate plan:
Conduct an internal analysis. A club needs to acquire the right information and data before the club’s board and managers can develop the best plan. How does the club perform, judged by the number of members, amount of sales, the club’s services and facilities, and the member benefi ts? What kind of inter-nal strengths and weaknesses does the club have? What do members want, and what new services would they like? The club should develop a mission statement for the club if one is not already in place.
Conduct an external analysis. What kinds of external threats and opportunities exist? Include in the club’s competitors not only other private clubs but also other businesses that off er services similar to what the club off ers (nearby upscale restaurants, for example). How does the club diff erentiate itself from its competitors? How is the demographic profi le of the area around the club changing? What impact will those changes have on the club? What other envi-ronmental factors do you see aff ecting the club?
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Position the club. What vision do the club’s leaders have for the club? Defi ne the club’s unique position and how it diff erentiates itself from the competition. Develop an action plan. Defi ne the club’s appropriate level of marketing aggres-siveness. Does the board and the membership support the plan? Will this plan maintain the club’s image and its exclusive nature? Is the plan realistic and achievable?
Evaluate the plan. Are the members happy and pleased with the action plan and its outcomes? Did the club experience an increase in membership, and is this increase a result of the plan and not other factors? Reevaluate the plan and make changes for the next period.
Appropriate Membership Marketing Plans
As mentioned previously, for some club members the very words “membership marketing” imply that the club will lose its exclusive image and that sponsorship requirements will be dropped. This is usually not true with most successful mem-bership marketing plans implemented at private clubs.
Most membership marketing plans are created to deal with one basic issue: current members are not proposing membership candidates in suffi cient numbers. The question is, Why? The harried lifestyle of many of today’s club members is a major reason. Many members are so busy that oft en they forget to nominate qualifi ed individuals, or feel they don’t have the time to complete all of the steps involved in nominating an individual for membership. Therefore, many of the membership marketing strategies implemented by clubs center on actions that remind members that the club needs referrals for membership. All of the other requirements for membership—sponsorship, seconder, lett ers of recommendation, application, credit report, posting candidates’ names for membership, approval by the membership committ ee or club board, etc.—are still intact at most clubs that have implemented membership marketing plans.
Clubs starting membership marketing plans usually start small. The goal of many of these initial plans is to simply collect more membership candidate refer-rals from existing members. If, aft er six to 12 months of following this strategy, the hoped for number of new members is not generated, many clubs then implement strategies that are a litt le more aggressive. A slightly more aggressive approach may involve the club management team identifying good prospects for member-ship, rather than waiting for member referrals. Such a plan must address how to match identifi ed prospects with members who would be willing to sponsor the individuals. The level of aggressiveness in membership marketing plans usually increases only when the subtler marketing strategies do not bring in the desired number of members a club wants or needs.
The most aggressive membership marketing plans, and usually the last course of action for many private clubs, include strategies that involve mailing brochures to individuals identifi ed as potential candidates by marketing research com-panies or association lists. Oft en, candidate lists are created using demographic
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characteristics (for example, income level, profession, etc.) that are associated with the club’s current membership, or come from organizations that the club thinks have a number of individuals similar to its members. The less screening of a can-didate that a club does before sending him or her information about membership, the greater the chance a club has of damaging its exclusive image.
Member-owned and tax-exempt clubs should not advertise via any of the com-mon mass media outlets (television, radio, newspapers, etc.). If clubs do advertise through these channels and inform the general public about membership opportu-nities, they may jeopardize their tax-exempt status, because the Internal Revenue Service may no longer consider them a private club. Clubs that have a lot of con-tact with the general public (golf tournaments open to non-club members, large private functions att ended mostly by guests, advertising to the public, etc.) risk being defi ned as “public accommodations facilities” by the IRS or a court of law. A membership in a 501(c)(7) club must also be in the name of or owned by an indi-vidual and not a corporation. Therefore, corporate memberships are not allowed in 501(c)(7) clubs, but are allowed in “for-profi t” clubs.
Attracting New Club Members
Some clubs have policies or procedures that are intended to safeguard the mem-bership admission process, but they really act more as barriers to gett ing nomina-tions. The following are some new policies, practices, or procedures that are being implemented at many private clubs to encourage members to nominate more can-didates for membership and otherwise att ract new members.
Examples of New Initiatives
Examples of policy changes and other strategies undertaken at some clubs to att ract new members include the following:
New sponsorship policies
Installment payments for initiation fees Decreased initiation fees and/or dues Equity or refundable initiation fees Non-discriminatory policies More membership categories Signifi cant-other policies Family-friendly services
New member marketing materials
New Sponsorship Policies. In the past, many private clubs had a policy that did not allow new members to sponsor a candidate during their fi rst or second year of membership. Clubs created this policy because it was felt that new members would not be aware of the club’s culture and would not be sensitive to who would
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be an acceptable candidate for membership. But more and more clubs are chang-ing this policy and are allowchang-ing new members to sponsor candidates right away. These clubs usually fi nd that their candidate referrals go up signifi cantly, because new members are excited about the club, are eager to invite non-member friends to the club to show it off , and typically know a number of good potential candi-dates for membership.
Some clubs only allow members in the “full-privilege” membership category to sponsor or propose candidates for membership. This policy makes it impos-sible for those in other membership categories to recommend candidates. Many clubs without membership waiting lists have changed this policy and are allow-ing members in all membership categories to sponsor or propose candidates for membership.
Installment Payments for Initiation Fees. In the last decade, many clubs have given new members a choice on how to pay their initiation fees. Traditionally, new members paid the initiation fee in one lump sum at the time of acceptance; now, some clubs are giving new members the option of paying the fee over a period of time (usually three years) with a fi nance fee added. Many of today’s Baby Boomers prefer the latt er option, because they don’t have to liquidate investments that pro-duce a higher rate of return than the fi nance charge imposed by the club. In some instances, clubs have arranged fi nancing through a third-party fi nancial institu-tion (usually a bank). If this is the case, the club receives the full payment of the initiation fee at the time of closing when the loan is approved; the new member pays the bank, rather than the club.
Decreased Initiation Fees and/or Dues. Many clubs are too quick to lower initia-tion fees when membership levels plummet. Having said that, as with any product, when the fee decreases, there will be additional buyers who were price-sensitive at the higher price level, and clubs that have used this strategy have been successful in att racting new members. However, clubs should only decrease their prices if (1) they are not in line with their primary competitors, and (2) there has been consis-tent feedback from membership candidates that the initiation fee and/or the club dues are too high. When clubs reduce their fees or dues, they increase the risk that the individuals who join the club because of these lower prices may not have the disposable income necessary to support the club on a regular basis.
If a price reduction to att ract new members is justifi ed, usually the reduction should appear in the club’s initiation fee and not in the dues structure. Today’s Baby Boomers usually have high salaries and good cash fl ow but litt le liquid cash assets and reserves. Therefore, the obstacle for many nominees is not in the monthly or quarterly dues, but in the large initiation fee.
Temporary price reductions. With temporary price reduction programs, ini-tiation fees are reduced for a set period of time only. Typically, a club will reduce the fees during a special three- or six-month membership campaign. This limited-time lower price period is designed to create a sense of urgency in potential buy-ers. In this case, there are two buyers: the fi rst “buyer” is the current member who will act as the sponsor and/or proposer; the price reduction program creates a
sense of urgency for the member to get the nomination form, get the candidate to complete the form, and follow up on the candidate. The second buyer is the actual candidate; hopefully, the program will get the candidate to move the purchase decision along faster in order to take advantage of the temporary price reduction.
While these types of programs have worked well and many clubs have used them, there are downsides. Oft en the club receives a large number of nominations during the temporary price reduction program, but aft er the program ends, they receive very few. This creates a perception in some clubs that to get nominations, you have to periodically reduce the initiation fees. When clubs implement tempo-rary price reductions once or twice a year, they can create “cherry pickers” among the club’s membership—that is, create members who will only sponsor an indi-vidual for membership during the temporary price reduction specials.
Theoretically, when a club announces that in the near future there will be a price increase in the initiation fee, a one-time temporary discount program exists. This future increase should help create a sense of urgency in both members and membership candidates to act quickly.
Most successful club initiation fee discount programs have had a specifi c theme or eligibility requirement for the candidate to receive the discount. Some examples include the following:
Discount the initiation fee for a limited time (for example, "fees lowered by 50 percent for the next 50 days only").
Off er a discount to candidates that are employed at the same business of a current member.
Off er initiation fee discounts for selected categories of people, such as att or-neys, physicians, female executives, government employees, etc.
Equity or Refundable Initiation Fees. To make the club att ractive to candidates, some older private clubs have adopted a policy that many of the newer private clubs and developer clubs implemented in the 1990s: refunding a portion of the initiation fee should the member resign from the club. This refundable att ribute or equity is very att ractive to many membership candidates, and oft en may be the factor that convinces them to risk investing the large initiation fee in a club. While it defi nitely att racts candidates for membership, it burdens the club with long-term debt and the inability to use all of the initiation fees collected for capital projects.
Non-Discriminatory Policies. The largest growing market segments for club membership are female professionals and members of minority groups. There-fore, many clubs now try to make themselves as att ractive as possible to these groups by abolishing discriminatory policies in membership guidelines and in club usage policies. Female club members having equal access to the golf course is an especially sensitive issue. Because of men-only grill areas and dissatisfac-tion among some female members over their inability to access the golf course on weekend mornings, lawsuits have been fi led in the public court system against clubs. These lawsuits have resulted in adopted or proposed legislation in many states that would mandate clubs to provide equal gender access to all facilities.
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The picture for the future is clear—if clubs don’t provide equal access, especially on the golf course, the state courts will intervene and provide it.
More Membership Categories. Many clubs off er a variety of membership catego-ries in order to make their club att ractive to numerous prospective candidates (as well as lower att rition rates among current members). Some of the club member-ship categories that are helpful in att racting or retaining members include non-golfi ng, legacy or junior, senior, and temporary or trial memberships.
Non-golfi ng memberships. More non-golfi ng membership categories are being off ered at country clubs today. Country clubs have found that there are mar-ket segments that want all of the privileges of a country club except for golf. One of those market segments, for example, consists of people in their twenties and thirties who are starting careers and families and don’t have the time to play golf on a regular basis, but will dine, play tennis, and use the pool and fi tness facili-ties at the club with their families. Another segment interested in a non-golfi ng membership category is made up of price-conscious individuals who can aff ord the lower-priced non-golfi ng membership but not the expensive initiation fees and higher dues structure of a golf membership.
Legacy and junior memberships. Many clubs off er a legacy membership cat-egory for the adult children of current club members. This catcat-egory encourages multi-generational families at the club and is only available to adult children of members. Typically, the dues are signifi cantly reduced and the payment of initia-tion fees made att ractive (reduced fees, various payment options, payment delayed until the individual becomes a full-privilege member, etc.) for this price-sensi-tive group. Many clubs have increased the eligibility age for the adult children of members in this category. Prior to the 1990s, it was not uncommon for the age eli-gibility for this category to be under the age of 30. In the mid-nineties, many clubs increased the age eligibility to 35, and in the mid-2000s, that age has increased to 40 at some clubs. The reason for this age increase is that many of today’s 30-year-olds do not have the disposable income necessary to aff ord a private club.
Some clubs have a junior membership category, which is like the legacy mem-bership category in that it off ers similar discounting options, but it is open to young candidates for membership who are not children of existing members.
Senior memberships. Many clubs off er a senior membership category for long-term older members. In the past, this membership category, which typically has lower fees, was a method of trying to retain long-term members who were using the club less oft en because of age- and health-related problems; without this membership option, these members were resigning because they weren’t using the club as much and couldn’t justify continuing to pay the high regular fees. For many clubs, it made sense to retain these members at a lower dues struc-ture because they did not use the club as much as younger members and did not cause a compaction problem on the golf course or in the club. Moreover, moving these individuals to the senior membership category opened up spaces for new members in the regular category; therefore, clubs received full dues from the new members and partial dues from the senior members.
Today, though, members over the age of 65 are much more active and health-ier than their predecessors, and many use the golf course well into their 80s. This change has caused a compaction problem for many country clubs and golf clubs, especially on weekend mornings and other peak golf course times. Therefore, many clubs have instituted changes to their senior membership category. Some clubs have put a cap on the number of senior members at the club; certain clubs have reduced the senior member discount; others have increased the age and/or number of years as a regular member required for a member to switch to the senior member category; and some clubs have restricted privileges (for example, restrict-ing usage of the golf course by senior members to nonpeak periods).
More and more country and golf clubs will have to take another look at the senior membership issue, because many full-paying members view critically members who pay less than they do. Moreover, as more Baby Boomers enter their retirement years, demographic projections for many clubs indicate a large portion of their membership will be eligible for the discounted senior category in the next decade.
Temporary or trial memberships. In the 1990s, clubs developed new mem-bership categories in order to meet the needs of an increasingly mobile society. Because so many managers and other professionals transfer frequently as they move up the career ladder, many are leery of paying a large initiation fee to join a club, because they are afraid they might be transferred soon aft er and would not only lose their club membership but forfeit a substantial sum of money in the process. This problem has led many clubs to implement a temporary or trial mem-bership category. With this special memmem-bership, the member pays a low initiation fee and regular dues for a set period of time (typically one to three years). At the end of this time period, temporary or trial members must either resign their tem-porary/trial membership or switch to one of the permanent membership catego-ries they are eligible for and pay the full initiation fee (that is, pay the diff erence between that amount and the lower initiation fee that they already paid).
Some clubs have instituted an initiation fee refund policy that allows mem-bers to receive back a prorated amount of their initiation fee if they relocate out of the area. The prorated refund periods typically range from three to fi ve years. For a three-year prorated refund policy, members would receive almost all of the initiation fee back if they relocated and resigned within the fi rst year of their mem-bership anniversary, a two-thirds refund if they resigned between the fi rst and second year anniversary, a one-third refund between the second and third year anniversary, and nothing aft er the third year anniversary.
Signifi cant-Other Policies. Typically, 90 percent of the membership at most pri-vate clubs consists of traditional, married households. Because of this overwhelm-ing majority and the traditions affi liated with private clubs, most clubs extend member privileges only to members, the spouses of members, and the members’ dependent children. However, with the rising divorce rate, the increasing num-ber of single-parent households, and the growing numnum-ber of non-married house-holds in our society, more and more clubs are implementing “signifi cant-other”
policies. These policies are very diverse among the clubs that have implemented them. Some common “signifi cant-other” policies include the following:
The "signifi cant other" receives the same club privileges as a spouse; the mem-ber must designate his or her "signifi cant other" in writing each year
The "signifi cant other" receives member privileges with no equity interest, and only one person is allowed the privilege in a calendar year
The "signifi cant other" receives guest privileges, but there is no limit on visits and a lower fee is charged
Based on recent legislation, clubs considering a signifi cant-other policy should be willing to extend privileges to both opposite gender households and same gen-der households.
Family-Friendly Services. The resurgence in Generation X-ers wanting to have children has had a large impact on private clubs. If clubs want to make themselves att ractive to Generation X-ers and their children, they must become more fam-ily-oriented. This means having facilities, programs, and activities geared toward children (for example, baby-sitt ing services, an activities director for children, a children/teen room in the club, camps for children, and so on). Many country clubs are expanding or improving their programs in tennis and swimming, as well as other services that appeal to the entire family. Moreover, many clubs, especially country clubs, are adding fi tness centers based on the lifestyles and preferences of Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers. In 1996, 28 percent of country clubs had a fi tness center; by 2004, that number had increased to 42 percent, an increase of 50 percent in just eight years.6
New Member Marketing Materials. Many clubs have developed a marketing brochure for candidates for membership. Such a brochure should feature many pictures of members using the diff erent club areas; this allows candidates to “be in the picture”—that is, visualize how they and their family would use the club. The club’s newslett er should list new members and their sponsors on a regular basis. This helps remind club members that they have a responsibility to sponsor candidates for club membership.
Other Recruiting Strategies
In the following sections we will review other membership recruitment strategies used at clubs: member referrals, new-member orientations, member-guest events, membership committ ees, and prospect lists.
Member Referrals. Some clubs, instead of passively waiting for members to refer friends and acquaintances, have proactively encouraged members to refer indi-viduals for membership. Typically, the fi rst strategy implemented is to simply ask current members to propose individuals for membership and to make members aware that there are openings for new members. Oft en, the club president prints an announcement in the club’s newslett er or mentions in his or her regular column
• • •
that there are openings for new members. These fi rst announcements should not imply that the club is in desperate need of more members, but simply explain that there are openings and outline the club’s membership nomination procedures.
If these initial eff orts do not generate the number of referrals that the club hoped for, the club might want to increase its aggressiveness somewhat. Some clubs have followed their initial statements with ones that explained the impor-tance of keeping the club’s membership full, in terms of the fi nancial implications and the prestige factor of having a full membership. Members might be reminded that it is their responsibility to help keep the membership full by referring indi-viduals that they have screened and would recommend as good members.
Clubs oft en use important dates or signifi cant events to remind members to recommend individuals for membership. One country club used its 50th anniver-sary as a membership marketing tool; it asked members for referrals so the club could increase its number of regular members by 50 in its 50th anniversary year. A city club in 1999 promoted a membership program whose goal was to have 2,000 club members by the year 2000.
Some clubs have also successfully implemented an annual nomination card program. A thank-you lett er is sent to members each year on their member anni-versary date. Enclosed with the lett er is a membership nomination card, which reminds members that they can and should nominate a person for membership each year.
In order to entice more new-member nominations from current members, some clubs use incentives. Common incentives include free dues for a specifi ed period of time, free food and beverage service at selected events (for example, free dinner for eight at the club’s Easter or Mother’s Day buff et), or a credit of some type (for instance, a food and beverage credit of $500 for each membership spon-sored). The actual cost to the club for food and beverage incentives is less than the dollar amount awarded, since the club’s food and labor costs are less than the awarded retail amount.
New-Member Orientations. Many clubs conduct new-member orientation ses-sions to review the policies and procedures of the club with new members and their families. In addition to allowing the club to welcome the new members and answer any questions they may have, the new-member orientation also provides an excellent opportunity to discuss the membership nomination process with members who are excited about the club and who may be great sources of pros-pects for membership. The club can also distribute membership nomination forms during orientation.
Member-Guest Events. Member-guest events have been common in private clubs for many years. These events—wine dinners, speaker events, golf outings, and so on—allow non-members to experience the club. If they have a great experience, some of them may decide to pursue membership in the club.
In the past, member-guest events were designed simply to provide members with quality events that they would be proud to share with guests. Today, the thrust of some member-guest events has changed; they are specifi cally designed
New-Member Orientation for Private Clubs
MCM Monograph by Laurice T. “Bud” Hall, MCM
The value of orientation for new employees as a method of establishing a sense of community and mutual responsibility is well-known and accepted as common prac-tice. New member orientation, providing the same sense of hospitality and account-ability, is common to many private clubs. Providing an opportunity for new members to experience the culture of the club and to dialogue with club staff regarding facilities and regulations has positive results for both the member (in increased knowledge of and use of the club and a sense of affiliation) and for the club (in increased stability of membership).
New-member orientation can provide the keys to membership stability through the following advantages:
Establishing rapport and open communication early on in the member/club relationship.
Assuring club members of the economic and social value of their private club membership.
Providing clear communication of club policies and procedures.
A CORE MODEL FOR NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION
Certain elements of new-member orientation are foundational. For the club man-ager about to establish such a program, attention to the basic elements of orienta-tion is critical. For the club manager who has mastered the foundaorienta-tional elements, attention to innovative and creative ways to elaborate on current practice will provide a challenge to the manager and potentially be of greater enjoyment to the new mem-ber.
Personnel
The first thing to establish is which staff members in the club would be best suited to present orientation to new members. The number of people involved will depend on the scope and the content of the orientation. The people involved may include members of the board of directors, membership committee members, spon-soring member, and/or staff members such as the general manager or membership director. Regardless of whether the new member is familiar with the club through family members or friends, these first direct personal contacts he/she makes in the new club are vitally important in continuing use and satisfaction with the club.
Scheduling
The next thing to establish is the scheduling of the orientation. The entire pro-gram and reception may be presented whenever you are accepting even one new member or couple into membership, or a set schedule of orientation once or twice a month can be arranged when all new members who have made applications within that time period are invited. The important thing to remember is that the new mem-ber must be made to feel appreciated and welcomed. Staff or committee memmem-bers must be attentive to the members’ schedules and needs. Orientation scheduling may
• • •
vary depending on whether the orientation is required or voluntary, and whether it is conducted before or after final approval of membership.
Invitation
The invitation to attend orientation should be very congenial and positive. It must entice the new member to “come and sample” whether you are offering break-fast, lunch, dinner, hors d’oeuvres or a just a “taste” of your club’s amenities and traditions. Some type of food and beverage should be included in the orientation as a gesture of hospitality.
Greeting
As new members arrive at orientation, each board, committee, or staff member should be introduced. One half-hour following should provide enough time to discover areas of common interest or touch on specific interests in the club. This is a good time to introduce new members to each other and encourage conversation.
Tour
The next step in orientation should be a tour of the facilities which can involve only the clubhouse or take in all the club facilities and could include the kitchen in some clubs. There is no set procedure for this, but it is a very important part of the orientation, helping the new member to become more comfortable with the club, and it should not be hurried.
History
A quiet, comfortable area should be chosen for the next part of orientation where members can concentrate and absorb all the information they are about to receive. Most new members will appreciate the opportunity to learn about the history of their new club, but they may be focusing a bit ahead of the presenter, wanting to learn more about the club for their own personal use. A written piece of information about the history of the club should be included for reading when the member is at home and time allows.
Club Use
The next part of the orientation should provide the member with all information necessary to start using the club immediately. This can range from the club newslet-ter with information on current events at the club to the proper procedure for obtain-ing an introductory card for reciprocal privileges at other clubs. This is the time to run through all club rules and regulations, billing procedures, tipping policies, and hours of operation, though care should be given not to “suffocate” listeners with too much information. A new member will generally seek out financial information or reciprocal privileges as those things become of interest to him/her, but the orientation is the best vehicle for providing day-to-day pertinent information for the actual use of the club. Members should also be supplied with telephone numbers that are helpful as they begin to use the club.
Brochures, rules and regulations, bylaws’ and phone numbers need to be included as a “take-home” packet for new members. The orientation provides an overview of all areas, so that each new member will be able to find the written mate-rial on his/her specific interests and learn more about it at their leisure. Also included in the packet may be several gift envelopes containing certificates for one free golf
to introduce the club to prospective new members, and members are encouraged to invite only those individuals who would be good candidates for membership. These events are usually free for both the member and the guest. Members are told the purpose of the event and that the cost of the event is borne by the club in order to bring in more nominees. This point is emphasized so that members do not take advantage of the free event by inviting individuals who are not serious candidates for membership.
Membership Committ ees. The role and purpose of the membership committ ee at many clubs is to merely review membership nominations as they come in and determine whether the candidates are acceptable. But in clubs that do not have a membership waiting list, or have a waiting list but it is not full, the membership committ ee is sometimes charged by the club’s board to increase the number of qualifi ed nominations, rather than passively wait for nominations to come in.
This shift to a recruitment role for membership committ ees is a major philo-sophical change. Clubs that have made this shift recruit club members with special credentials to serve on their membership committ ees—individuals who can assist the club in identifying candidates for membership. Individuals recruited for this type of committ ee are typically marketing professionals, Chamber of Commerce executives, high-end realtors, exclusive-product salespersons, and so on. These
or tennis lesson, a complimentary cocktail, or two free Sunday brunches. This is also a good time to present a video of the club history or perhaps one on golf etiquette, a copy of which may be given to members as gifts.
Members’ questions should be anticipated and incorporated into the information presented to conserve time, while creating an atmosphere that encourages questions and comments as different sections of the club are discussed. This may be the only time you will have an opportunity to address an issue or explain a policy, averting a potentially uncomfortable situation for new members later.
Follow-Up
Orientation does not end when a new member walks out the door. Equally important as the initial contact with the new member is the follow-up or tracking of club use and satisfaction in the weeks and months to follow. An initial follow-up can be a welcoming gift (flowers, candy, or private label wine) sent to the new members’ home along with their new membership cards and a name and telephone number to call if they have any additional thoughts or questions. The next follow-up may be a personal reminder or invitation to join other members at a club social event. At sched-uled intervals (30 days, 90 days, and 180 days for example), each new member’s usage may be tracked so that contact can be made by phone or in person to deter-mine use and satisfaction with the club and as an opportunity to suggest and assist with more involvement.
Even the most basic new member orientation program can create an atmo-sphere of hospitality and affiliation and build the foundation for a satisfied, involved club membership.
individuals can typically provide leads on good candidates for membership as well as understand the sales process and how it can be applied to the club. These types of membership committ ees aggressively pursue more members.
Some clubs have created a recruitment or nomination committ ee separate from the traditional membership committ ee. This separation allows for a division of the responsibilities associated with recruiting and evaluating candidates. Hav-ing separate committ ees helps ensure that candidates will be evaluated in an unbi-ased fashion and will be admitt ed to the club based strictly on the club’s selection criteria.
Prospect Lists.Prospect lists are lists of individuals who have the same profi le as a club’s current membership or who possess other characteristics that would make them good prospects for membership. Clubs typically acquire prospect lists from associations or purchase them from marketing research companies. Examples of prospect lists include the following:
Membership lists from other private clubs (many members have multiple memberships at local clubs)
Membership lists from professional associations/organizations Tenant lists of businesses in offi ce buildings close to the club
Realtor lists of individuals who have purchased homes over a certain mon-etary value in neighborhoods close to the club
Lists of individuals who have passed the law board exam Lists of new physicians hired at local hospitals or health centers
Lists of individuals with a household income over a set value in certain zip codes
Lists of individuals who own a home valued over a set amount in certain zip codes
Lists of parents with children in select private schools
Lists of major contributors or donors to select charities or causes (for example, art exhibits or museums)
The level of aggressiveness that a club feels comfortable with dictates what it does with a list once it’s acquired. For clubs that want to stay conservative, the list can be used by the recruitment or membership committ ee as an initial list of individuals that the committ ee will screen to see if any committ ee member may know someone on the list. The next step may be to identify other members who know that individual and/or are willing to meet, contact, or sponsor the identifi ed candidate. For example, if a new hospital physician is on the list, the committ ee might contact a current member who is also a physician in the same department at that hospital and ask the member if he or she knows the individual and would be willing to contact that person about membership.
• • • • • • • • • •
Clubs could very aggressively use the list for sending out direct mail pieces. In this instance, the club might send a brochure with membership information about the club and an application directly to the individuals on the list. This strategy would reach the largest number of individuals, but it could hurt the club’s image as an exclusive club. To minimize the negative aff ect of a lett er mailed to prospects, the lett er can contain the name of a member who invites the candidate to tour or use the club. The member’s name listed in the lett er would be determined by the recruitment or membership committ ee, which would identify a specifi c associa-tion or relaassocia-tionship between the prospect and the member. There are numerous strategies and levels of aggressiveness in using prospect lists to pursue candidates. Each club has to determine what level it is comfortable with and adopt the best strategy for the club and its members.
Membership Directors
Since the early 1990s, many clubs have hired membership directors to combat their decrease in membership. Prior to 1990, most membership directors were hired by large clubs simply to deal with the tremendous amount of paperwork associated with processing a large number of membership applications each year. However, during the nineties, the primary role of a membership director changed for many clubs without a waiting list. For these clubs, membership directors were expected to increase the number of members at the club, rather than just process the nominations that came in.
A membership director assists members with the referral process and tries to make sponsoring a new member as easy as possible. The director usually also takes over the following administrative responsibilities:
Collects the member nomination paperwork: nomination forms, lett ers of rec-ommendation, etc.
Sends brochures, lett ers, and other marketing materials to candidates Gives tours of the club
Follows up on nominees and membership inquirers to increase the likelihood of joining
Membership directors also may help in identifying prime club candidates from among the many guests who visit the club. Another important responsibility is to match membership candidates with members willing to sponsor them because of a common association. Finally, membership directors may have to implement more aggressive strategies if member referral programs do not work.
Today, about half of all clubs have a membership director. About a third of clubs with a membership director reported having more than one membership director or an administrative assistant to help the membership director, espe-cially city clubs that have more than 2,000 members and an annual att rition rate of around 200 members. Almost three-fourths of the membership director positions were full-time, and the sale of memberships was emphasized, with no additional
• • • •
duties assigned to that person. Most membership directors were paid a base salary along with a commission and bonus based on performance. Typically, if member-ship directors met their performance goals for the year, they received commis-sions and bonuses that equaled or surpassed their base salary. Commiscommis-sions and bonuses were paid for new members, initiation fees generated, and/or new dues dollars generated.7 See Appendix B at the end of the chapter for a job description
and responsibility list for a membership director whose primary role is to increase the number of membership nominations.
Using Technology for Membership Marketing
New technology is having an impact on how clubs conduct membership market-ing. In this section, we will look at how the Internet and the use of databases have helped clubs do a bett er job of marketing for new members.
The Internet
Many businesses have developed Web sites to promote their products and services, while others actively sell their products on-line through their Web pages, but are Web sites used to market memberships appropriate for private clubs? Many club managers and members have raised concerns about using a club’s Web site for membership recruitment. Some feel that this activity damages the club’s exclusive image. Many clubs that are concerned about exclusivity control access to their Web sites by issuing their members IDs or passwords to access member-only areas of the site. Another reason for this concern about the level of outside access comes from the fear that the club could be sued—a plaintiff might try to prove in court that the club is not truly a private club but is a public accommodations facility in part because much or all of its Web site is open to the public.
While some clubs, especially those with a full membership waiting list, are concerned about the public accessing their Web sites, other clubs actively seeking members may welcome the exposure. Many Internet “surfers” are above-average income earners and potential club members. A portion of a club’s Web site can be used to describe the club’s amenities, provide information on catering/banquets, explain the nomination process, list club fees and dues, and so on—all information of interest to potential members.
Another way to use the club’s Web site to market for new members is to pro-vide current members with all of the information and all of the forms they need to recruit and nominate family members, friends, and acquaintances for club mem-bership—information about the nomination process, nomination forms that can be easily downloaded, lett er of reference forms, information about membership categories, the club’s membership fee structure, and so on.
Databases
Membership directors and others at the club can use databases to pursue new candidates. Candidate databases are being used primarily as a sales tool to track
membership candidates, sponsors requesting nomination forms, members who sponsor candidates for membership, etc. As clubs actively seek more members, it is essential to track and organize candidates and those proposing them. Many membership directors use sales tracking soft ware packages such as ACT and Sales-force to track leads (prospects) for membership, build the database, and develop a plan on when and how oft en to contact the candidates and/or sponsors.8
Clubs can also acquire lists of individuals who have some of the demographic characteristics of its current membership. One type of list or database typically sought by private clubs consists of homeowners of property valued over a certain amount (for example, $500,000) in neighborhoods in which members currently reside. Clubs may also want to know which households have income levels over a certain amount (for example, $250,000). These databases or lists of individuals are oft en good sources of prospects. How to go about contacting the people in these lists/databases is a key decision that the club must make. The strategies used must be appropriate for the club and fi t the club’s comfort level in terms of how aggres-sive it wants to be in marketing for new members.
Conclusion
Because actively pursuing candidates for membership in private clubs is relatively new, clubs need to use new strategies. Many of the non-traditional membership marketing activities covered in this chapter will become normal for private clubs in the 21st century, especially during periods of economic downturns, when dis-posable income is low and companies cut entertainment budgets. Private clubs have only recently started to market themselves in order to increase member num-bers. Many clubs now implement a variety of marketing activities, such as hiring sales-oriented membership directors and changing membership policies, in order to stay competitive. By understanding the concepts of supply and demand and recognizing that much of a club’s market is determined by the demographics of the population surrounding its location, a club can set realistic goals for its member-ship size and develop the best membermember-ship marketing plan possible.
Endnotes
1. Raymond R. Ferreira, “Marketing in Private Clubs,” Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Assistant Club Managers Association of America’s Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, October 1996, pp. 119–128.
2. Raymond R. Ferreira, “Financial Performance of Private Clubs,” Proceedings of the Southeast CHRIE Hospitality and Tourism Research Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 2005, pp. 20–25.
3. Michael B. Embody, “City Clubs: How They Responded to the Pressures of Change,”
Club Director, December 1995, pp. 22–26.
4. Club Managers Association of America, 2004 Operations and Financial Data Report
(Alexandria, Virginia: CMAA, 2004), p. 6.
6. Club Managers Association of America, 2004 Operations and Financial Report (Alexan-dria, Virginia: CMAA, 2004), p. 43.
7. Raymond R. Ferreira, “Private Clubs: Membership Marketing Activities,” Proceedings of the Southeast CHRIE Hospitality and Tourism Research Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 2004, pp. 21–26.
8. Rick Coyne, “Knowledge Is Power,” Club Director, June 1995, pp. 17–20.
Key Terms
equity initiation fees—A fee that is partially refundable if a member resigns from the club within a set number of years.
legacy membership—A membership category off ered to the adult children of cur-rent club members. It typically involves reduced fees, various payment options, or delayed payments.
membership directors—Club managers who handle the nomination and mem-bership process and help identify prime club candidates.
prospect lists—Lists of individuals who have the same profi le as a club’s current membership or who possess other characteristics that would make them good prospects for membership.
temporary price reduction programs—Initiation fees are reduced for a set period of time as part of a new membership campaign.
Review Questions
1. What are some common factors in declining club membership? 2. How does a club’s location aff ect its membership size?
3. Why do some people believe that marketing is not necessary in private clubs? 4. What are the 4 P’s of marketing?
5. What are the steps in developing a membership marketing plan? 6. How do clubs go about att racting new club members?
7. What are some of the duties and responsibilities of membership directors? 8. How are clubs incorporating technology in their membership marketing
plans?
Internet Sites
For more information, visit the following Internet sites. Remember that Internet addresses can change without notice. If the site is no longer there, you can use a search engine to look for additional sites.
Private Club Memberships
www.privateclubmemberships.com/ MemberMarket.html
Club Mark Foundation www.clubmark.com Creative Golf Marketing
www.creativegolfmarketing.com The McMahon Group
www.mcmahongroup.com
Kitson & Partners
www.kitsonpartners.com/club_services/ membership_marketing.htm
Professional Club Marketing Association
