59club USA - Membership Inquiry Sales Call

Membership Inquiry Sales Call Mystery Shopper Audit

GOLF

LEISURE

SPA

F&B

RETAIL

HOTEL

As a global leader in the provision of customer service analysis and education services; 59club’s Mystery Shopper Program, Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Employee Training Services deliver insights and resources to support golf, social, city clubs, and hospitality providers to improve and maintain their sales & service levels, in turn increasing customer satisfaction, revenue, and profits.

CANADA

UK

NORDIC EUROPE

USA

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA SOUTH AMERICA*

JAPAN* KOREA* ASIA

AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND

*COMING SOON

59club opened in the USA in March 2019, and instantly attracted a loyal following of astute club managers across the country, having delivered thousands of mystery shopper audits that measure customer service and sales etiquette; subsequently providing educational support and facilitating growth amongst their affiliated properties.

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Mike Kelly 59club, Managing Partner Mike Kelly has spent over thirty years in the club, resort, real estate, and hotel business. A good portion (22 years) of his career centered around developing Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, GA. He was also a club GM at The Boulders in Carefree, AZ and CEO of Houston Oaks in Hockley, TX. Prior to launching 59club USA five years ago, he was the COO of Medalist Golf, a golf course construction company.

He has been a member of CMAA for over 25 years and attended over 20 national conferences. He has presented online to the CMAA National audience and at multiple chapter meetings (Georgia, Mile High, Lone Star and Utah).

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CX Insights

We have created a Customer Experience (CX) Insights Report, that provides a snapshot into the headline level data collected during our mystery shops of the Membership Inquiry Sales Call process. Not only will you gain a better understanding of the mystery shopping product, and what goes into a well-orchestrated golf, social or city club membership sales call, we’ll also present opportunities highlighted by the data that exist for the region.

Membership Sales Journey Inquiry Call NEEDS ANALYSIS CALL CONNECTION

SCHEDULE APPOINTMENT & CLOSURE

SALES PROMOTION

PROPERTY TOUR & SALES PROMOTION

APPOINTMENT CONFIRMATION

Property Tour

THE WELCOME MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

TRIAL CLOSE PRICE PRESENTATION

OVERCOMING OBJECTIONS SALES REQUEST CHASING THE SALE…

Clubs who engage in the mystery shopper program receive full access to 59club’s industry leading sales & customer service benchmarking platform.

The ‘Membership Inquiry Sales Call’ alone analyzes over 55 objective data points, that measure every intricacy during the prospective member’s inquiry - from the initial call connection, right through to the research & promotion element, finally concluding with analysis of the follow up protocols to secure/chase the sale. With the option to include a live visit to analyze the experience received during a property tour.

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The following analysis collected at the end of 2023, provides insight into a series of Membership Sales Inquiry trial audits, delivered across America, offering a benchmark against those already engaged with 59club's mystery shopper program, generating a global industry average and a podium performance statistic for comparison.

59club's Global Customer Experience (CX) data is representative of all affiliated properties spanning the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Trial Average

Represents the headline mystery shopper CX measurements experienced during 59club's free trial offering in the USA

Industry Average

A global industry CX benchmark representing all 59club affiliated properties worldwide

Podium Average

A combined global podium CX score representing the top 3 performing properties worldwide, across the audit overall

The trial data is unsurprising, and in fact, in line with nearly every non-affiliated 59club property. Comparing clubs and managers - who have never been privy to 59club's education, or those just starting with 59club - to facilities and operators who have spent over a decade learning, growing, and adapting with 59club is sure to create a gap in our CX benchmarks. This is normal and expected.

Early 59club adopters in the USA, however, are already starting to see significant improvement, and it’s only a matter of time before clubs in those regions begin to show up on 59club global podiums.

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Call Connection The initial element of the audit measures the speed, ease, and accuracy of the call handling. Lines ringing out, calls going astray, and the inability to get through to the correct department after numerous attempts, are all constant issues facing the industry, exasperated further by daily demands on resource.

So how often do prospects get to speak to the Membership Director on the first attempt?

Delving Into the dashboard, the USA trial venues were on-par with the industry average for their ability to manage the membership inquiry call on the first attempt, while the global podium performers remain just 7% ahead.

And how often are customers having to make more than two attempts to get through to the Membership Director?

The USA trial venues find themselves 32% behind the global average, and they suffer a further 12% deficit compared to the podium set venues.

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32% Behind

12% Ahead

Needs Analysis

Having been successfully connected with the Membership Director (MD), we move into the most important aspects of the initial inquiry call; the art of building a sales rapport.

This is where a solid sales process comes into its own, as we measure the MD's ability to glean specific information about the prospect, their golf or social history, habits, and ability how often they typically play, dine or workout, where they have held previous memberships, as well as their current ability and goals for the future - all simple conversation pieces and critical links in the sales process.

18% Behind

40% Ahead

When it comes to rapport, the USA trial analysis shows that their performance is only 18% shy of the industry average, while the best-performing clubs glean a much better understanding of their prospects, as they achieve a further 40% lead over the industry.

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Establishing what prompted the inquiry is likely to provide further valuable insights. What type of information can we expect to glean by making these lines of inquiry?

The inquiry may be driven as a result of a dissatisfaction with the condition of the facilities at the prospects current club, over frustration caused by a lack of investment, not realizing value for money, poor integration into the club community, or simply not using the membership as they had initially hoped.

This is all vital fuel to feed a solid promotion of the clubs Unique Selling Points’ (USP’s) and positives about your excellent course condition, the club's new member orientation, or the list of recent and future investments in store for members at your club.

There are countless reasons why somebody will make the initial inquiry call; employees who fail to delve into these reasons will find it harder to persuade the prospect to put pen to paper.

14% Ahead

27% Ahead

The USA trial venues find themselves 14% ahead of the industry average when it comes to establishing a motive for the inquiry, however they fall 13% behind the venues who contribute towards the podium set average.

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Furthermore, establishing the caller’s primary requirements for a membership – to play competitive golf, the club’s social aspect, wanting to entertaining clients, or just to meet new people etc. – leads to other opportunities to relate to the prospect’s needs. All with the intention of exciting the caller at the thought of a membership.

38%

When it comes to identifying the prospects main membership requirements, the USA trial venues enjoy an 8% lead over the industry average, however opportunities for growth exist across the trial venues as they sit 38% behind the global podium clubs.

A further vital question is required to establish whether the caller is contacting other clubs with the same membership inquiry. With a relevant Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT) analysis of your competition, your team are in an ideal position to stress your strengths over your rivals’ weaknesses, without the need to openly criticize them.

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However, the importance of this approach in pinpointing the competition seems to be lost, as not one trial venue made this inquiry.

Promotion

Now that we appreciate the finer elements of the research process, let’s explore the art of the sales promotion a little further…

Using all the personal information that has been gleaned during the sales process so far, puts you in a very powerful position to make a ‘related’ promotion of the member services, club facilities and USP’s, all in an attempt to inspire and excite the prospect to want to visit the club with a view towards joining.

For example, someone with the desire to play competitive golf, or become a social club member with the primary reason of joining to train for a marathon, will have distinct needs to fulfil, and now that we know this, we can tailor our promotion to suit them.

Mentioning the various opportunities to play competitive golf, the calibre of coaches and their interaction with members to develop their game, pulling on actual examples will all appeal to the competitive golfer.

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And in the case of the future marathon entry, promoting the club’s regular running club, the calendar of fitness classes and programming service offered by the Personal Trainers are all important. You can also add that the spa facilities are perfect for rest, relaxation & recovery, which should help spark interest with the prospect. And, if your competitors aren’t doing this, which the data indicates that they aren’t - that’s their loss and your gain.

Of course, there’s a million and one examples of how a related promotion is achieved. Services will differ from club to club, and every scenario is dependent on your prospect’s inquiry.

What remains a constant, and always grounds our promotion, is listening for those cues, adapting our promotion and relating to the caller, promoting what we have available, and relating the benefits to the prospect.

On-Par

27% Ahead

Yet, despite the obvious importance of making this related promotion, the USA trial venues delivered an on-par performance, in-line with the industry standard when it comes to promoting their facilities, member services, and those all-important USP's. The global podium performers enjoy a 27% advantage over the industry and trial data.

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Closure After learning about your prospects, building a rapport, and tailoring your promotion accordingly, now is the time to attempt to arrange a ‘sales appointment’ to deliver your property tour.

The property tour is the pinnacle of the sales process, affording you the opportunity to showcase your club, your facilities, your services, your people, and your member community.

The meeting enables you to build a stronger rapport with the prospect. It also helps the prospect develop a further understanding of the elements related to your offering that will exceed their expectations. Our sales process then continues with full analysis of the tour received, the promotion that took place, and the sales aptitude demonstrated by the Membership Director in an attempt to convert the sale during the appointment.

23% Ahead

41% Behind

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Delving into the data, we can confirm that the USA trial venues find themselves 41% behind the industry average when It comes to measuring their attempt to arrange a sales appointment, with the podium a further 23% ahead of the industry.

Follow Up After the call has ended, an email should be sent to the prospect to confirm the membership sales tour. If an appointment has not been agreed, the expectation is to email membership information, highlighting areas of the club that would relate to the callers needs and interests, as you continue to attempt to draw conclusions that will inspire the prospect.

The USA trial venues performance stands 9% ahead of the industry average when it comes to sending the prospect an email, while the best-performing clubs achieved a 44% lead over the industry.

44% Ahead

9% Ahead

The final piece of the sales process requires an outbound call, from the MD to the prospect to waterproof the sales appointment, or to chase the sale.

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Our insights indicate that the USA trial venues fell way short of the mark in this instance, with only 1 Membership Director across all of the trial venues having made a call to the prospective member to encourage a decision around joining the club.

Facilitating Your Growth The initial audits have given those involved an objective insight into 59club’s proven strategy to measure & improve customer service levels, with the ability to make customer experience comparisons to the best performing venues, chosen competitors, and the industry average - here in the USA, and across the wider global golf, social, city club & hospitality landscape.

The regions early adopters are already working fast at closing the margins, exploiting the opportunity to grow customer satisfaction levels & sales performance.

It’s only a matter of time before they begin to challenge some of the greatest names in the world of the club business, striving to deliver the finest customer experiences, including 59club’s award winning annual performers and those recognized for the highest long-serving standards of customer service excellence.

REALIZE THE OPPORTUNITY

59club USA Managing Partner

The industry’s leading Customer Service Analysts & Training Provider From pay & play and private member clubs, to large scale resorts, 59club’s proven strategy supports clients across the Golf, Leisure, Spa, F&B, Retail and Hospitality industry.

Mystery Shopping Our fully trained mystery shopping team use the latest technology to capture real time images and gather measurable data across every touch point.

Satisfaction Surveys Intelligent software and industry specific survey templates evaluate customer & employee satisfaction levels.

Training & Education Tailored to your venue’s specific needs, our training resources will address any weaknesses in performance, and realign in-house standards.

Upskill your workforce

Improve satisfaction levels

Measure in-house standards

Analyse industry comparable data

Elevate customer acquisition

Uplift profits Reward Excellence

The building blocks to your success

We measure your customer experience and sales aptitude.

We train your team to elevate performance levels.

And reward elite performers for achieving customer service excellence.

Our regional teams will offer a level of support that is unrivalled in the industry.

Trusted by Industry Leaders

59club’s expertise, information & staff training have become mainstays of our business.

This allows us to deliver a consistently high level of customer service across our entire group operation.

CHRIS MAY CEO, Dubai Golf Group Emirates Golf Club, Dubai Creek & Jumeirah Golf Estates

59club created the visibility into our sales organization that we have been wanting for a long time.

We now have a consistent training program for all new hires, and the vision to focus our retraining efforts.

VIC ALIPRANDO SVP, TPC Operations PGA Tour - Golf Course Properties

Working with 59club has given us new insight into elements of our operation that were otherwise undetected.

The consistency of the reporting helps us draw patterns, digging into select areas of improvement while elevating our member interactions and guest experiences.

MICHAEL HORSLEY General Manager Donalda Club

Let’s explore how 59club can work with you Arrange a trial audit Learn more about 59club

Mike Kelly mkelly@59clubusa.com 706-347-0331 www.59clubusa.com