The REAL Secret to Club Success

After serving almost 2,000 private clubs of all types and sizes, the one thing we have learned is that clubs must deliver the highest satisfaction with the offerings most important to members.

The problem, however, is most boards and managers don’t really know what is most important to their members. Sure, we assume golf is most important to every country club member; and, we assume all age groups feel the same way about club offerings. In our membership survey research, however, we find this is not so. By using our Value Boundary™ Charts, we link importance ratings with satisfaction ratings for all offerings that opens a whole new world of understanding to us.

One of the most important questions a membership survey must ask of members and spouses is to rate the importance of various club offerings and their satisfaction with each.

Then, by correlating ratings, we identify objectives for achieving club success. We can even conduct a Value Boundary™ Analysis to compare how younger members differ from older, golf from social, men from women, new from longer term, etc. This very basic information allows us to strategically address how to attract younger members, retain older members and monitor prevalent trends happening in our own clubs.

We can even take the importance/satisfaction Value Boundary™ Analysis to a more detailed level by testing the importance of various aspects of a specific club offering and member satisfaction with it. The objective is to find out if the club is delivering high satisfaction on the different aspects of an offering that is most important to members. For example, if members feel the most important aspects of dining are food quality and menu variety, the analysis will show if the club is delivering high satisfaction in these areas. The same can be done for golf by testing the importance and satisfaction with various aspects such as overall course condition, condition of the greens, service in the pro shop, etc.

One of the most important challenges for a club is knowing what to address first if a problem is identified. With an offering-specific Value Boundary™ Chart, management learns which specific aspects of said offering are most important to members. If any of these most important aspects receive low satisfaction ratings, they should be addressed first.

Achieving Club & Personal Excellence by Knowing Your Value Boundary™ Ratings

By using our survey research, management can focus its resources on what will bring the best results in member satisfaction. Clubs don’t have unlimited resources, so we must know how to prioritize them.

Let us help you and your team drive member satisfaction; and for heaven’s sake, never fear a membership survey. It is an essential tool for you to achieve club and personal excellence.