BoardRoom magazine September/October

T he Bo ardRo o m m ag az ine

C E L E B R A T I N G 23 Y E A R S O F E D U C A T I N G T H E P R I V A T E C L U B I N D U S T R Y ISSUE 284

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VOLUME XXIII SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER

Vo l um e X X I I I , S e p t e m b e r / O c t ob e r 2 0 1 9

10 | PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE THE LANGUAGE OF FINANCE

30-42 | EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Transform Your Dining Operations

FEATURE TO BOARDROOM MAGAZINE

116-119 | INNOVATIVE IDEAS

FEATURE TO BOARDROOM MAGAZINE

128 | ON THE FRONT LINES

FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS

SOME REALITIES OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

with Tableside POS & Kitchen Display Solution • Monitor every aspect of your kitchen from any location on any device

PARTNERSHIP FOCUSES ON PRIVATE CLUB EXCELLENCE

• Full featured palm-sized POS for faster service & order accuracy • Immersive POS communication to alert staff to ticket progress & changes • Capture member preferences & notes for personalized service

CedarCreek Systems

N O R T H S T A R

www.globalnor th sta r .c o m

Clubessential

ClubTec/ Webtec

Country Club clubsystems Technology group Partners

CSR Data Breach Solutions

FOOD-TRAK

Jonas Club MembersFirst MemberText Northstar Club Paisano Management Management Performance Software Partners

Survey & Ballot Systems

TAI Club Management

BOARDROOM MAGAZINE TECHNOLOGY FEATURE - PAGES 60-82 Back Row L-R: Peter M. Kressaty, EVP Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide; Keith Jarrett, President, BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs; Bill Thomas, Executive Director, BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs Front Row L-R: David R. Tyson, CCM, CAM, VP Private Clubs, Global Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide; John G. Fornaro, Publisher/CEO BoardRoom magazine and CEO/Co-Founder BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs

VOICES OF NET GENERATION

STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME

SUSAN PENDO

USPTA Elite Professional | Tennis Director, Braemar CC | Orange County, CA “Braemar is a busy club with 12 pros servicing a wide array of tennis activities. That’s why when it comes to our youth programming, we count on Net Generation. Net Generation gives my team and me everything ‘junior tennis,’ under one roof. The website has a space for Providers, Players, and Parents to navigate the tennis pathway in a fun and playful way. We use the Net Generation app to set up our weekly lesson plans. It’s so easy....Take the time to learn about Net Generation, it will help grow the game.”

Register or renew your Net Generation account today!

Net Generation, official youth tennis of the USTA, is helping to grow youth tennis participation in communities across the country. The aim is simple: More kids on more courts in more places—all of them having more fun. That’s a goal we can all rally behind.

GORDON REID

USPTA Elite Professional, National Tennis Manager, Life Time Athletic Eden Prairie, MN

Net Generation embraces all aspects of the sport for kids ages 5-18, while also setting important new standards for those who teach the sport to kids. Net Generation is designed to create a safe and fun environment for young players, making it easier than ever to get kids engaged in the sport and stay with it.

N

“At Life Time we are proud to be a part of Net Generation. In particular, we like to use the Net Generation app.

Our tennis pros across the country have the ability to use their own lesson plans, create new ones, share with other teaching pros, communicate with their players and deliver outstanding experiences on court with our members.”

et Generation providers inspire, encourage and motivate—they are the lifeblood of Net Generation and are the fuel that has powered its progress.

Tennis is a sport that grows upward from its grass roots, and the most critical aspect of that growth is local delivery. Net Generation was designed for the local deliverer, which is why it offers an array of benefits.

• Comprehensive print and digital curricula and customized practice plans

ROB LOWE

KAITLYN VERFUERTH

“I have been using Net Generation since its release [and] it has been extremely helpful. We all share a common goal and that is to grow the game of tennis. From a coach’s point of view, it has been a tool for relationship building not only with the players, but also with the parents. The online lesson plans are great, and the best part is that you can add your own spin on how you want your own

“I have been a teaching pro in Northern Arizona for three years and played wheelchair tennis professionally for more than 13 years. I had never seen kids be able to pick up a racquet and ball for the first time and have a rally with each other until the Net Generation program launched. I have been using the Net Generation curriculum in my after-school

program to run knowing that there is always fresh leaning tools available for you at the click of a button or on the app. The learning tools are so accessible and simple that the parents can join in with their children. It’s a quick start but it is the fun start and I have seen Net Generation work wonders with kids.”

programs for the last two years, and the kids love it!

Net Generation gets everyone on court engaged, and the kids get to be part of the actual learning process.

The curriculum for Net Generation not only teaches kids tennis skills, but it also teaches simple eye hand coordination, basic athletic skills, and character skills that translate both on and off the court.”

USPTA Elite Professional Tennis Director, Walden Creek Racquet Center Montgomery, TX

• The Net Generation app to customize your lessons, assess and connect with your players • Customizable marketing resources in the Marketing Generator tool • Free coach and program listing on netgeneration. com (USPTA providers receive priority listing) As a Net Generation provider, you’re part of a nationwide network of the very best tennis teaching professionals. And Net Generation gives you instant credibility as a USTA-verified provider.

If you haven’t registered for Net Generation, what are you waiting for? If you’ve registered but not yet renewed, make sure to do so as soon as possible as there are brand new and recently updated curricula and education. © 2019 USTA. All rights reserved.

USPTA Elite Professional, Professional wheelchair player/coach, Flagstaff, AZ

VOICES OF NET GENERATION SUSAN PENDO

USPTA Elite Professional | Tennis Director, Braemar CC | Orange County, CA “Braemar is a busy club with 12 pros servicing a wide array of tennis activities. That’s why when it comes to our youth programming, we count on Net Generation. Net Generation gives my team and me everything ‘junior tennis,’ under one roof. The website has a space for Providers, Players, and Parents to navigate the tennis pathway in a fun and playful way. We use the Net Generation app to set up our weekly lesson plans. It’s so easy....Take the time to learn about Net Generation, it will help grow the game.”

GORDON REID

USPTA Elite Professional, National Tennis Manager, Life Time Athletic Eden Prairie, MN “At Life Time we are proud to be a part of Net Generation. In particular, we like to use the Net Generation app.

Our tennis pros across the country have the ability to use their own lesson plans, create new ones, share with other teaching pros, communicate with their players and deliver outstanding experiences on court with our members.”

ROB LOWE

KAITLYN VERFUERTH

“I have been using Net Generation since its release [and] it has been extremely helpful. We all share a common goal and that is to grow the game of tennis. From a coach’s point of view, it has been a tool for relationship building not only with the players, but also with the parents. The online lesson plans are great, and the best part is that you can add your own spin on how you want your own

“I have been a teaching pro in Northern Arizona for three years and played wheelchair tennis professionally for more than 13 years. I had never seen kids be able to pick up a racquet and ball for the first time and have a rally with each other until the Net Generation program launched. I have been using the Net Generation curriculum in my after-school

program to run knowing that there is always fresh leaning tools available for you at the click of a button or on the app. The learning tools are so accessible and simple that the parents can join in with their children. It’s a quick start but it is the fun start and I have seen Net Generation work wonders with kids.”

programs for the last two years, and the kids love it!

Net Generation gets everyone on court engaged, and the kids get to be part of the actual learning process.

The curriculum for Net Generation not only teaches kids tennis skills, but it also teaches simple eye hand coordination, basic athletic skills, and character skills that translate both on and off the court.”

USPTA Elite Professional Tennis Director, Walden Creek Racquet Center Montgomery, TX

USPTA Elite Professional, Professional wheelchair player/coach, Flagstaff, AZ

DAVE WHITE Dave White is the editor of BoardRoom magazine. If you have comments on this article or suggestions for other topics, please send Dave an email to: dave@boardroommag.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE

When Opportunity Appears…

“If a window of opportunity appears, don’t pull down the shade.” – Tom Peters That might well be the motto of BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs and Forbes Travel Guide upon the announcement of a newly formed partnership between Distinguished Clubs and FTG. And with it comes a continued push for excellence and a great member experience for private clubs throughout the country.

In making the announcement, BoardRoom’s CEO John Fornaro said, “This will be a collaborative effort to the benefit of BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club program and Forbes Travel Guide’s support services, focused on excellence of service delivered through quality assessment and training programs.”

BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club program is the only industry merit-based award program that recognizes private clubs and their management in their drive for excellence and an outstanding member experience.

To reiterate, BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club program validates ever award-winning club through a site visit, a departmental audit and interviews with club managers.

“The Distinguished Clubs’ goal to improve the member’s overall experience nicely aligns with our goals and service culture,” said Peter Kressaty, executive vice president, Global Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide.

“As a company, our objective is to support teams on improving the delivery of excellent service to their members and guests.” Thus, the partnership between BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs and FTG…two strong forces in the private club industry that possess a passion for excellence. Stay tuned! n n n

It’s time again for our technology issue. Today, barely a day goes by that there isn’t something new and wonderful on the market…and most people are embracing the changes happily because it’s made our lives easier…it’s simplified what we do and we do it more quickly, efficiently and effectively. That, of course, is the ‘good’ side of technology.

Yes, technology in earlier days was verboten at some clubs. But the only thing constant about change is change and that certainly applies to today’s private clubs. Technology really holds the key to success for many private clubs who are seeking a new generation of members, i.e. the Mil4

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

lennials…the generation that’s grown up with much of the technology they (and we) carry around with us today… and the iGens, who live vicariously through their devices, and as our contributor Ron Cichy, professor emeritus, Michigan State University, stated in a recent article, might well expect even more change. Now it’s up to private club to adapt to the new generations of private club members. n n n

Technological change today is unceasing and happening with such mind-boggling speed and depth that we can only imagine where tomorrow takes us. Again, just think of what’s happened in the past year, never mind the past 10.

So how do clubs prepare for the future? What to do, because digital devices are how younger club members read, listen, search and generally communicate with their families, friends and work colleagues. How do clubs accommodate the requirements of the next generation? What decisions do board of directors face? Who leads the charge?

Thus, this issue also focuses on annual our technology package and contributions from the industry’s leading technical innovators. Through their case studies, see what the private club leaders have to offer … it just might be what your club is seeking.

And while you’re reading about technical innovation, soak up Bill Boothe’s Technical Perspectives and his “Tips for Negotiating Software Contracts.” Not a particularly sexy subject, but as Bill suggests, he’s “learned a thing or two about keeping clubs out of hot water.” It’s a must read. n n n

We continue with the presentation of our top board presidents for 2918 and in this issue include stories about: William J. Nissen, President, Union League Club of Chicago, Chicago, Ill; Ken Silverwood, President, Chester Valley Golf Club, Malvern, PA; William “Bill” Stevens, President, Manchester Country Club, Bedford, New Hampshire; Richard Straughn, President, Mountain Lake, Lake Wales, FL, and Patricia Thirlby, President, Sand Point Country Club, Seattle, Washington.

We are now accepting applications for nominations for the 2019 Top Price Club President awards.

To nominated your club president, please visit boardroommagazine.com/presidents.html. BR

Publisher/CEO

Co-Founder/CEO

John G. Fornaro

John G. Fornaro

Editor/Co-Publisher

President

Dave White

Keith Jarrett

Assoc. Editor/VP Creative/Co-Publisher

Chief Analyst

Heather Arias de Cordoba

Frank Gore

Innovative Ideas Editor

Chief Information Officer

Meghan Thibault

Jeff Briggs

APCD Executive Director

Quality isn’t Expensive It’s Priceless!

Executive Director

Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas

Editorial & Marketing Director

Contact Information

Dee Kaplan

www.DistinguishedClubs.com (949) 376-8889

Accounting/Subscriptions Susan Giem

Contact Information

www.BoardRoomMagazine.com www.apcd.com (949) 376-8889

Featured Columnists Henry Delozier John G. Fornaro Bonnie J. Knutson Nancy M.Levenburg

Jerry McCoy Gregg Patterson Robert Sereci Bill Schwartz

Thomas B. Wallace III Dave White

Contributing Writers Joe Abely Jessica Ahonen Gabriel Aluisy Mark Anderson Justin Baer Frank Benzakour Nancy Berkley Chris Boettcher Bill Boothe Lisa Carroll Tim Castor Ron Cichy Dave Doherty

Jeffrey Drimel Todd Dufek Dave Duval John R. Embree Boris Fetbroyt John Finley Bill Gatz Larry Gilhuly Rob Harris Larry Hirsh Jeremy Hoch Joe Hoke David W. Lacey

Lynne LaFond DeLuca Ryan Maione Lynn Mangan Mike McCleary Richard McPhail Jeff Morgan Dave Moyer Tom Neill MacDonald Niven Joe Oswald Melissa Peterson Mike Phelps Corey Saban

Steve Schendel Robb Smyth Michael Talbot Meghan Thibault Frank Vain Bill Wagner Gordon Welch Nicholas Wilhelm Don Williams Noel Wixsom Philip L. Zeller

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BoardRoom magazine is published by APCD Inc. 1100 S. Coast Hwy. #309 Laguna Beach, California 92691 The BoardRoom magazine (USPS 022516, ISSN 15537684) is a bi-monthly trade publication. Issue 284 Periodical postage paid at Laguna Beach, Calif. and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE BOARDROOM magazine, P.O. Box 9455, Laguna Beach, Calif. 92652.

Reach The BoardRoom magazine at (949) 376-8889 ext. 1 or email sue@boardroommag.com or johnf@apcd.com or visit the website at www.BoardRoomMagazine.com.

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CONTENTS | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE | 10

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES | 12

PLIGHTS AND INSIGHTS | 14

THE NEED TO KNOW THE LANGUAGE OF FINANCE

THE FOUR CORNERS OF EFFECTIVE CLUB GOVERNANCE

HERE’S THE REAL PROBLEM IN EVENT PLANNING

BY JOHN G . FOR NAR O

BY HENRY DELOZIER

BY NANCY M. LEVENBURG

Club managers are experts in delivering an extraordinary club experience for private club members, but often they’re not experts in finance – the language of business. How do executives of private clubs explain the business of their clubs to their boards of directors?

Effective and successful club governance is built on a foundation of four corners: 1) understanding the club’s culture, bylaws and rules; 2) knowing the numbers that support the club’s business model; 3) developing and sustaining trust-worthy leadership, and 4) maintaining an actionable understanding of social trends impacting your club.

For the past several years, private club members have been hearing that the key to keeping revenues up and dues increases down is to open the club’s doors to events – not only for club members but for the general public as well. So, with all this attention focused on marketing to brides, why are country club banquet rooms often empty on Saturday nights?

LEADERSHIP MOMENTUM | 16

BOARDROOM BASICS & BEYOND | 18

MEMBERSHIP MUSINGS | 86

STAFF CHANGES … AGAIN?

ORIENTATIONS FOR ALL!

DON’T MISS THE BLOCKCHAIN TRAIN

BY ROBER T SER ECI

B Y TH OM A S B . WA L L A C E I I I

BY BONNIE J. KNUTSON

A few months ago, I received a call from a fellow club manager who had terminated two long term employees for violating club policy (I’m not talking about the light stuff like clocking in late, if you get my point) and now her members are furious because of her decision. For those of us in the trenches, this is a tough situation to be in and there is no easy answer.

Organizations need superb orientations, and clubs that are so culture and people-driven really need strong orientations for new service staff and new members.

After all, there is a standard of deportment, service and a culture that must be embraced, cultivated and shepherded.

These fledglings into the fold of a club’s family must understand how things work.

There is a disruptive “new sheriff in town” and its name is Blockchain. Blockchain is one of those business terms that many of us hear, but most of us are not sure what it is or what it can do for clubs. A commonly cited definition comes from the Harvard Business Review: A Blockchain is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.”

WINNING STRATEGIES | 98

FOOD FOR THOUGHT | 104

TRIBAL MAGIC | 124

WHY WERE YOU FIRED?

MATURITY MATTERS WITH F&B SOFTWARE SELECTION

PONDER TIME

BY BILL SCHWARTZ

Clubs are busy. Filled with doing. Be quick! Be efficient! Get results, now! “Doing” is good but too much “doing” and not enough “pondering” can burn out the team, constipate their brains and deaden their souls. The manager and staff need a time, a place and a process where ideas can flow, bonds can be forged, spirits can be energized and checklists can be built. Those who produce hunger for an escape location, a together opportunity, a go-deep engine and a creativity powerhouse.

BY JER R Y MCCOY

Have you ever been fired? I have! That’s not uncommon in our industry. Of course, there are individuals that are intelligent, handsome and charming and always seem to be on top of the world career wise. To avoid being a casualty, it is critical for the board and management to be on the same page about what the club is, where it is going and what the expectations are on how best to get there.

When it comes to food and beverage software, more mature is better than less mature. In my nearly 40 years of producing software for food service operations of all types, the depth and flexibility required is astonishing. F&B management software is complex enough even if it were intended for the simplest fast food operation with a limited menu.

BY GREGG PATTERSON

WHAT DO ALL THESE CLUBS HAVE IN COMMON?

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SECTIONS COVER STORY PACKAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

DEPARTMENTS

Forbes Travel Guide and BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs

A SSOCI A TI ON OF P RI V A TE CL UB D I RE CTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

BoardRoom magazine’s Top Private Club Presidents 2018

David Tyson Spearheads FTG’s Private Club Initiative

By Meghan Thibault

By Dave White

G RE E N COMMI TTE E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

CASE STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52-53

The Right Speed Means Healthier Greens And Faster Pace of Play

By Larry Gilhuly

TECHNOLOGY PERSPECTIVE . . . . . . . . . 82

E XE CUTI V E COMMI TTE E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

By Bill Boothe

By Jeffrey Drimel

Racquet & Paddle Sports Show

What a Difference One PGA Professional Can Make!

Tips on Negotiating Software Contracts NANCY’S CORNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

CUL I NA RY & CA TE RI NG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

A Great Locker Room for Women

Building Member Experience and Event Attendance

By Nancy Berkley

By Lynne LaFond DeLuca

LAW & LEGISLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

E XE CUTI V E COMMI TTE E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Website Tips for Your Club

Technology: Changing the Way the Club Industry Trains and Learns

By Robyn Stowell, Jon R. Tandler and Sydnee L. Alms

By Jeff Morgan

INNOVATIVE IDEAS . . . . . . . . . . . . 116-119

G OL F D I SP UTE RE SOL UTI ON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Desert Mountain Army Navy Country Club Greenville Country Club Country Club of Virginia

Tree Stump Triumphs Over Golf Cart In Injury-Inflicting Collision

By Rob Harris

TE NNI S COMMI TTE E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

By Meghan Thibault

Embracing Technology

ONE THE FRONTLINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

By John R. Embree

By MacDonald Niven

A SSOCI A TI ON OF P RI V A TE CL UB D I RE CTORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

CLUB SERVICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

By Gordon Welch

Some Realities of Social Media

30 Points Your Board Needs to Review

Loyalty to all…

By Chris Boettcher

COMMITTEES TECHNOLOGY FEATURE CLUBTEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 NORTHSTAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CEDARCREEK SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . 62-63 CLUBESSENTIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-65 CLUBSYSTEMS GROUP . . . . . . . . . . . 66-67 FOOD-TRAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68-69 JONAS CLUB MANAGEMENT . . . . . . 70-71 MEMBERSFIRST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72-73 MEMBERTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74-75 CSR PRIVACY SOLUTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 76 PAISANO PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . 77 SURVEY & BALLOT SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . 78 TAI CLUB MANAGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 CLUB TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS . . . . . . 80 CLUB MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY . . . 81

BOARDROOM AWARDS - PAGE 100 Mitchell Stump BoardRoom’s Educator of the Year

By Jessica Ahonen

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . 46

FOOD & BEVERAGE COMMITTEE . . . . 105

By Lee Hoke

By Mike Phelps

By Jeremy Hoch

Elasticity

The Journey To Retention

Do Tablets in Private Club F&B?

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

TENNIS COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

HOUSE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

By Joe Abely & Dave Duval

By Dave Moyer

By Tim Castor

Managers in Major Capital Projects

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Collaboration with Board Portals

By Mark Anderson

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

The Elephant in the Club - Part V

By Richard McPhail

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Can We Teach Empathy to iGENs?

By Ron Cichy & Philip L. Zeller EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Magnetic Missions

By Frank Vain

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . 44

Membership Marketing Ideas

By Gabriel Aluisy

Status Quo Versus A Growth Mindset TENNIS COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

The Value Equation Underlying the Member Racquets’ Experience

By Boris Fetbroyt

GREEN COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Tale of Two Courses

By Dave Doherty GREEN COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Drones Making Maintenance Efficient?

By Larry Hirsh

GREEN COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Evolving Maintenance Standards

By Steve Schendel

HOUSE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Value of Culinary Competitions

By Lisa Carroll

Fitness Experience: Benefits to Members HOUSE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Tech Revolution Reaches Locker Rooms

By Todd Dufek

HOUSE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Using Video for Engagement

By Corey Saban

HOUSE COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

MET with Awe

By Tom Neill HR COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Over Invest In People - Part I

By Frank Benzakour

HR COMMITTEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

What Is Hot and What Is Not!

By David W. Lacey

JOHN G. FORNARO

PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE

John G. Fornaro is the publisher/CEO of BoardRoom magazine, co-founder/CEO of Distinguished Clubs and the CEO of the Association of Private Club Directors (APCD). If you have comments on this article or suggestions for other topics, please contact John Fornaro at (949) 376-8889 or via email: johnf@apcd.com

The Need to Know the Language of Finance How do executives of private clubs explain the business of their clubs to their boards of directors?

Club managers are experts in delivering an extraordinary club experience for private club members, but often they’re not experts in finance – the language of business.

Club general managers often face a board of directors – CPAs, investment dealers, hedge fund managers etc. – who are well versed in the language of business.

It creates an imbalance of power and presents a challenge for club executives.

So how do clubs deal with this imbalance… the communication gap? How can the equation be balanced, and what can club managers and boards learn from understanding the financial perspective of the club business?

There’s a solution…managers and boards of directors need to learn about the language of finance.

SUCCESS FACTORS

“The factors that drive success vary by industry,” said Club Benchmarking Founder Ray Cronin “Some industries, mainly those

RAY CRONIN 10

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

that produce and supply commodities, revolve around managing and reducing costs of production. A company that supplies commodities, by definition, will have difficulty differentiating their product and thus they compete in the market mainly on price.

“The market sets the price and that company’s profit results from being able to produce the given product or service at the price the market sets. In such industries, very little is invested in marketing and research and development,” he added.

“Other industries, let’s say software, are driven by a field of competitors accurately discerning customer needs, investing heavily in research and development and marketing to differentiate their products as carefully meeting the customer’s needs.

“Such industries are dynamic and they require a company culture centered on innovation, investment, customer knowledge and satisfaction and remaining relevant as times change.

“Alongside the key success factors, the financial focus in the different industries also changes. In the commodity world, metrics such as cost per unit or labor hour per unit and volume and price variance analysis predominate. In the software world, metrics such as return on investment, return on equity, market share, R&D to revenue and sales expense to revenue are critical.

“Ultimately, the point is this: We should use financial metrics and perspective tied to the key success factors that are appropriate to the industry.

“Club Benchmarking fact-based, financial analysis and insight illuminates the keys to success in the club industry, not that we deem the metrics to be important, but industry data shows they are important. We want to use finance and the correct perspective to focus on the main drivers of success,” Cronin added.

This is a point agreed upon by Christa Farr Evans, general manager/COO, Vestavia Country Club in Vestavia, AL, who recently guided her board through the club’s annual board of directors’ retreat.

“Club managers and boards need to work together to create common terms, financials, reports, and metrics that are geared on the success of their club. While there are commonalities with GAAP regulations and the uniform system of accounts, every club has a unique culture and way of analyzing their business. Only when the club manager understands what the board, specifically the finance chair wants, will they be able to successfully collaborate on what they are working towards and the health of the organization,” Farr Evans said.

SEE PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE | 130

HENRY DELOZIER Henry DeLozier is a principal of Global Golf Advisors. You can contact him at hdelozier@globalgolfadvisors.com

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The Four Corners of Effective Club Governance Where Does Your Club Stand?

Do your members believe your club is well governed? Do you want to improve governance at your club?

Members are disappointed in leadership at most private clubs. They cite distrust in their board arising from a lack of transparency and trustworthiness, ineffective communications and dubious board nominations.

Effective and successful club governance is built on a foundation of four corners: 1) understanding the club’s culture, bylaws and rules; 2) knowing the numbers that support the club’s business model; 3) developing and sustaining trustworthy leadership, and 4) maintaining an actionable understanding of social trends impacting your club.

UNDERSTANDING CULTURE, BYLAWS AND RULES “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” is a quote often attributed to management guru Peter Drucker. He certainly believed that a company’s culture can overwhelm attempts to create or enforce an incompatible strategy.

Culture and governance are inseparable in private clubs, where the rules and guidelines of governance are a veritable witches’ brew of fuzzy perceptions and miscommunications. That makes cultural understanding – developed through a familiarization of club documents and insight from the club’s counsel and management – imperative for effective governance.

However, too many clubs provide the documents to new board members with the assumption that they will read and understand club rules when, in fact, that often doesn’t happen without some urging and guidance. Annual board member understanding sessions can facilitate this process if new board members are required to demonstrate an understanding of the rules and commit to acting within their boundaries.

What’s more, members often are skeptical of leaders. In this atmosphere, leaders must prove their trustworthiness and reliability through consistent demonstrations of knowledge, understanding and adherence to established standards.

KNOWING THE NUMBERS Many board members do not study the club’s financial profile sufficiently enough to make informed decisions. Board members must understand the club’s balance sheet so they are conversant in the cash balance of the club and its capital reserve accounts. Just as important, board members should be aware of pending liabilities and indebtedness.

The income statement is an area of management responsibility. The manager should be highly familiar with the club’s 12

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

income statement and its contents. The GM is responsible to know the details shown on the income statement.

Another financial matter of importance to board members is the Form-990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax), which provides financial information regarding nonprofit organizations and is often the only source of such information. Every board member should have reviewed and approved this submittal to the tax service.

DEVELOPING AND SUSTAINING TRUSTWORTHY LEADERSHIP At many clubs, board members are not trusted by fellow members, who assign motives and carefully watch for preferential or deferential treatment of other members. The most effective club leaders recognize this condition and respect the necessity of accountability, openness and fair play.

The issue of trustworthiness makes developing and faithfully attending to a transparent leadership pipeline all the more important. Qualifications and selection criteria for committee and board service should be readily shared with members interested in leadership roles at the club.

The nominating committee is the figurative “kingmaker” with the authority to nominate members for board service.

Nominating committee members and the committee’s processes and practices must be clean and clear to all. “Trust me” is no longer an operative concept. Such practices as board confidentiality requirements and conflict-of-interest pledges are a new normal. It’s common knowledge that most private club boardrooms leak information, further eroding the level of trust. Boards that are trustworthy openly announce restrictions and board nondisclosure and conflict-of-interest limitations and honor them.

UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL TRENDS IMPACTING YOUR CLUB Club leaders and managers are focused on their own clubs, often to a fault. As such, they can become detached from trends in similar clubs and club-like environments that could provide valuable information and insights. In contrast, leading strategic thinkers constantly are collecting fresh and related knowledge and are alert to shifts in thinking and preferences.

Leading clubs are learning constantly. Consultants knowledgeable in the private club business can educate board members through board retreats, whitepapers and strategic planning sessions. Boards that direct their clubs with effective governance call on the category knowledge that builds trust, improves financial knowledge and, most importantly, puts them in touch with the club’s unique culture. BR

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Here’s the Real Problem in Event Planning For the past several years, private club members have been hearing that the key to keeping revenues up and dues increases down is to open the club’s doors to a wide array of events – not only for club members but for the general public as well.

And so private clubs have courted (pardon the pun!) the public by hosting wedding receptions and bridal showers, banquets, and so on. In fact, some clubs even use special promotions to advertise and appeal to the wedding market by hosting events such as bridal open houses, wedding seminars, casual, bridal-related happy hours, and so on.

James Bond, director of catering and tournament sales at Diamond Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, invites brides (whom he meets by attending bridal shows… at least five each year) to an open house at his club, where they can receive door prizes, sample the buffet menu, and sip on a complimentary glass of beer, wine or champagne. The whole goal is to entice brides to book their wedding receptions at the club.

To accomplish this, most clubs dedicate at least one staff person to serve as an event coordinator. This person’s job involves significant interaction with the food and beverage (F&B) operation in planning, setting up and executing clubhosted events. And to do this, of course, the event coordinator(s) must work closely with clients, wooing them from their first meeting to the on-site big event: “We will handle all of the details and ensure the planning process is a truly enjoyable experience.”

So, with all this attention focused on marketing to brides, why are country club banquet rooms often empty on Saturday nights? After all, Saturdays are the most popular day of the week to get married. In 2018, in fact, The Knot, an online wedding planning site, reported that all 10of the “Top 10 Days to Get Married” were Saturdays.

The explanation offered by private club management has often been that brides are now choosing to host their receptions at alternative and unique kinds of venues… from refurbished barns to coastal vineyards to apple orchards to parks and beaches. The wedding business is down… but it’s not the club’s fault.

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While that may be partially true, why are brides increasingly choosing these alternative venues? Perhaps there’s another explanation… and club management won’t have to look very hard to find it. It’s the event coordinator.

This person is clearly the key to getting – and keeping – the wedding business. Word-of-mouth advertising (good or bad) travels fast.

So, does your event coordinator…

• Convey a “welcoming” spirit? (Perhaps this is most important.) Are they respectful and gracious?

Well-prepared and on-time for meetings? Respond quickly to phone calls, emails and/or text messages?

• Understand the complex needs of different events and diverse clients? A good listener?

• Demonstrate that they are knowledgeable about planning aspects of the event, such as floor plan/ layout, colors of table linens, seating, menu options, and so on?

• Offer clients a tour of the facilities, helping them to visualize what the event would look like?

• Demonstrate flexibility in accommodating any special requests, such as wheelchair access or high chairs for little ones? Are they problem-solvers for the client?

• Appreciate the client’s need to stay within a certain budget? Do they offer alternatives?

• Prepare (on a timely basis, of course!) a banquet event order (BEO) contract that accurately identifies all details and itemized costs related to the event?

According to Glassdoor.com, the salary for event coordinators ranges from $23,000 to $43,000 annually, with a national average of $35,000. A Bachelor’s degree is often preferred (or three years of experience in catering sales or events coordination). If your club is spending this amount for an event coordinator, doesn’t it make sense to make sure that they are doing a good job? B R

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Carmen J. Mauceri, CCM The Club at Mediterra For more information, please contact Patrick Seither at 919-372-8220 GOLFBUSINESSNETWORK.COM

ROBERT SERECI Robert A Sereci, CCM is GM/COO of Medinah Country Club, located in Medinah, IL. He can be reached at (630) 438-6825, or via email: rsereci@medinahcc.org

LEADERSHIP MOMENTUM

Staff Changes … Again?

A few months ago, I received a call from a fellow club manager who had terminated two long term employees for violating club policy (I’m not talking about the light stuff like clocking in late, if you get my point) and now her members are furious because of her decision.

She said she did it by the book and had the support of her board. Upset and concerned, she asked me if she should email the membership expressing her leadership philosophy and explain why she did what she did.

In reality you only have two viable options: You say nothing to the membership because you’re the general manager and all personnel matter is none of their business. Or, you give the membership some sort of an explanation?

For those of us in the trenches, this is a tough situation to be in and there is no easy answer. As many of you know, the answer depends on many factors including the GM’s tenure, club and employee culture, governance model and frankly, the sacred cows themselves.

Given her situation, I suggested she email the membership and share her philosophy to explain not what she did, but why she did what she did. I also shared with her a letter I wrote to my membership years ago when faced with a similar problem. The letter I wrote is to the right.

Now that you know how I handled the situation, what would you have done or better yet, what have you done in the past? B R 16

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

Dear Members, Some of you have expressed some concern with the recent staff changes.

The concern is not so much with the number of changes as it is with specific employees. As with most organizations, employees choose to leave for different reasons: retirement, better opportunity, better pay or simply because they chose not to be part of the team. Only a few have been terminated.

Even with the recent changes, our turnover continues to be very low. It’s not because of the money; good servers can do far better in a cash tip environment. Ask them why they stay and you’ll be pleased to know that they stay because of the people they work with and the people they serve, the same sense of community that members enjoy. This is why the team and I work so hard to create the right type of relationships among the employees and between the employees and the membership.

Within in any given club community there are values which are intended to guide behavior by those playing and working within that community – in our case members and staff. Similarly, each club has its own ethical standards and both members and employees are expected to act in accordance with those standards.

The leadership team and I are determined to create an employee culture based on principles of respect, integrity and trust for they are the building blocks for our success. As you can imagine, not all employees have or will subscribe to these principles. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to accept anything less. Therefore, when we are faced with a difficult decision, such as an employee termination, we ask ourselves: If I were standing on a stage in front of all employees and members, told them my story and gave them my decision, would they agree with the decision I made, and would I be confident that - in their eyes - I did the right thing?

This is the thought process my leadership team and I go through whenever we need to make a difficult decision. When it comes to ethics, as I am sure you will agree with me, we cannot make exceptions. Exceptions undermine the integrity of the very thing we are trying to accomplish. If you would like to discuss this more in person feel free to call me or stop by – Robert Sereci

THOMAS B. WALLACE III

BOARDROOM BASICS AND BEYOND

Thomas B. Wallace III, CCM, CCE, ECM, is a partner of Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace, the most trusted name in private club executive placement.

He can be reached via email: Tom@kkandw.com

Orientations for All! “Every orientation presupposes a disorientation,” claims Hans Magnus Enzensberger.

Organizations need superb orientations, and clubs that are so culture and people-driven really need strong orientations for new service staff and new members. After all, there is a standard of deportment, service and a culture that must be embraced, cultivated and shepherded. These fledglings into the fold of a club’s family must understand how things work.

That’s a good thing.

Orientations set the tone and foundation for a successful experience for everyone. It instills confidence that you know your way around and are in control of your success. General knowledge is the backbone of a group’s success because they are all coming from the same level of understanding.

Some clubs, it needs to be a lot more, even do a great job of providing structured orientations to new club presidents, board members, committee chairs and maybe even committee members. This provides a consistency and strength for club governance that ensures everyone is on the same page with no hidden agendas and no revisiting of old goals and issues. That way you can move forward quickly with new goals keeping your mission and vision top of mind.

So now everyone is oriented, and you should be all set!

But are you? Did you forget anyone?

How many of you conduct a proper and thorough orientation for your general manager/ chief operating officer?

Sure, they are a leader and should be able to take the wheel and drive. We are sure they will call meetings, introduce themselves to the staff, explain their vision and leadership style, announce their door is open and ask for input and lots of documents to review. They are equipped.

But they are not.

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Certain knowledge must be passed down to give the new leader a leg up. Sure, you can learn to drive on your own eventually, but you will learn much faster if you get an overview of how the car works because every car is a little different.

Here is a quick reference guide to mandatory orientations, you should be conducting.

These orientations are conducted fairly-well across most clubs, however, the orientation that we see done least well, if at all, is for a new GM/COO. A new GM/COO is handed the keys and wished well, but strong boards and department leaders should spend a day orienting the new GM/COO to ensure their success.

Developing a superior general manager/COO orientation is in your club’s best interest. We would suggest the orientation include the following at a minimum.

No need to develop a comprehensive general manager/COO orientation from scratch we have one and would be happy to share it with you. Please email Holly Weiss at holly@kkandw.com and she will email it to you! B R

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COVER STORY |

BY DAVE WHITE, EDITOR

&

FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS Partnership focuses on Private Club Excellence A partnership aimed at developing and improving the private club industry describes a newly formed partnership between BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club’s and Forbes Travel Guide (FTG).

“We’re excited to be working with FTG. Yes, right now it’s a fairly stable industry, but we need to continue to push for excellence and a great member experience,” said John Fornaro, CEO and publisher of BoardRoom magazine, and CEO of BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs.

“How can we dramatically help clubs to make them more successful?” Fornaro queried. That’s where Forbes Travel Guide comes in.

“This will be a collaborative effort to the benefit of BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club program and Forbes Travel Guide’s support services, focused on excellence of service, delivered though quality assessments and training programs.

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BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

DAVID R. TYSON, CCM, CAM, VP PRIVATE CLUBS, GLOBAL PARTNER SERVICES, FORBES TRAVEL GUIDE JOHN G. FORNARO, PUBLISHER/CEO BOARDROOM MAGAZINE AND CEO/CO-FOUNDER BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS

“FTG’s highly skilled trainers and evaluators gather, share and benchmark more service excellence data than any other company in the world, and BoardRoom’s Distinguished Club is the only meritbased award program that recognizes private clubs and their management for outstanding delivery of exceptional member experience.

“Distinguished Clubs validate every award-winning club through a site visit, a departmental audit and interviews with club managers,” Fornaro added.

“Forbes Travel Guide is proud to partner with BoardRoom and Distinguished Clubs, given their strong reputation and company culture, expressed Peter Kressaty, executive vice president, Global Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide.

“John Fornaro’s and the Distinguished Clubs’ goals to improve the member’s overall experience nicely aligns with our goals and service culture. As a company, our objective is to support teams on improving the delivery of excellent service to their members and guests.

“We are excited to collaborate with BoardRoom magazine because we share a common mission to support clubs and elevate service in the club industry. Like BoardRoom, we champion, support and celebrate those with a passion for great service,” Kressaty added. ➤

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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from Cover Story | 21

BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs’ principals, CEO John Fornaro and president Keith Jarrett, will be working closely with FTG’s David Tyson, vice president, partner services, private clubs, a long-time private club operative, former club general manager and member of the Club Management Association of America with a CCM designation.

“Hiring, training, developing and retaining employees is the No. 1 challenge facing boards and managers in the private club industry.

Today’s labor market is getting smaller and smaller,” explained Tyson.

“With the rise in wages within most local markets and dues escalating to pay for those higher wages, members’ expectations are increasing. Managers are not necessarily

The essence of leadership is giving your teams clear goals and the tools to reach them. We support the general managers and board members to implement training plans as the foundation of a club’s service culture. Our executive trainers are experts at teaching club teams how to deliver exceptional service.

As an outside voice of authority, Forbes Travel Guide trainers are very effective in building morale and conveying the message of gracious, thoughtful and personalized service. Moreover, we help teams to deliver this in their own memorable way.

Peter Kressaty, Executive Vice President, Global Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide 22

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

equipped with the skill set to teach gracious, thoughtful and personalized service to their teams.

“Creating a sustainable service culture through training is exactly what Forbes Travel Guide can provide to the boards and leaders of private clubs,” he added.

“David is very excited at the prospect of working with our BoardRoom group,” Fornaro interjected. “We have a lot of opportunities. As we have seen, with holistic approach to the hotel and hospitality industries, this process can be club centric and I believe it’s the right formula.

“It’s the same principles on how to treat a guest at a private club as it is with other industries. It’s anticipatory hospitality.

That’s the differentiator,” Fornaro opined.

So why has Forbes Travel Guide entered the private club industry?

“To our knowledge, we are the only global training team celebrating and supporting those clubs with a passion for excellence in service,” Kressaty said. “Though there are other companies that provide secret shopping services, we are the only company that couples the secret shopping with training, offering a holistic approach to service that is tailored to teams’ specific needs.

“For many years, private club board members have been contacting Forbes Travel Guide, wanting to understand how five-star and four-star hotels deliver such consistently exceptional service, and sharing their frustrations at not being able to reach the same high levels of service within their home clubs,” said Kressaty.

“Forbes Travel Guide has been providing training at the most prestigious hotel companies around the globe for more than 15 years. We are experts at inspiring teams, providing them with best practices and helping them elevate service while preserving the unique identity of their brand culture. So, it became obvious to us that we should use these strategies to help the private club industry.

“Today’s consumption arena means we’re living in a world where every guest wants to feel unique and be served as such, particularly with those who pay to be a member of a private club. They want to be delighted with every interaction and the key to this is excellent service,” Kressaty added.

“However, developing and maintaining an excellent service culture in today’s ever-evolving employment environment is extremely challenging. Hiring and training are becoming the two most important jobs of our club leaders. Investing in human capital must be central to the club’s strategies for them to thrive. ➤

from Cover Story | 22

Kressaty said, “The essence of leadership is giving your teams clear goals and the tools to reach them. We support the general managers and board members to implement training plans as the foundation of a club’s service culture.

“Our executive trainers are experts at teaching club teams how to deliver exceptional service. As an outside voice of authority, Forbes Travel Guide trainers are very effective in building morale and conveying the message of gracious, thoughtful and personalized service.

Moreover, we help teams to deliver this in their own memorable way,” he explained.

Forbes Travel Guide provides a number of services that support the private club industry.

“We conduct in-person training to engage and motivate teams. We can extend that learning through online training, which is scalable to large teams and helpful for onboarding new employees,” Kressaty added.

“For clubs that want to baseline their service culture and track improvement, we offer quality assessments, which you can think of as “secret shopping”, to get a clear perspective on what’s happening in day-to-day service interactions.

“Some clubs also will want to engage in custom standards development, where our experts collaborate with club leadership to identify and codify the fundamentals of the club’s culture, so frontline staff members have clear guidance and can work toward common goals,” he stated.

So, what’s the ROI for private clubs?

“It’s simple,” explained Kressaty. “Clubs’ members pay thousands of dollars a year to receive outstanding service, so expectations must be met, or members will go elsewhere.

“Club members are increasingly more demanding and want a club that understands and caters to their needs. Great service is a

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BACK ROW: KEITH JARRETT, PRESIDENT, BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS FRONT ROW L-R: JOHN G. FORNARO, PUBLISHER/CEO BOARDROOM MAGAZINE AND CEO/CO-FOUNDER BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS; BILL THOMAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BOARDROOM’S DISTINGUISHED CLUBS

prerequisite and will always find favor with guests so those clubs that deliver will win and those that don’t will lose.

“An excellent service culture requires club leaders to prioritize and invest in employees through consistent training, in order to remain competitive within the marketplace – not just with other private clubs, but also against local hotels and restaurants for food and beverage dollars.

“As private clubs have evolved over the last decade, they have made significant investment into new facilities to maintain and attract new members. But it’s not enough since operating these amenities takes well-trained, personable and gracious employees.

“It’s exceptional service that truly differentiates one club from another,” Kressaty added.

“The fact is we need to better enumerate what’s happening in clubs, by defining problems, locating the pain and providing the solution,” Fornaro expressed.

“General managers have looked at their businesses as operators. It’s changed today. Many clubs face continual turnover in their staff, which doesn’t bode well for the club, its members and the member experience.

“General managers today have a leadership role that must be fulfilled. That means continuing education and training for their staffs and providing them with the tools to do their jobs to the benefits of members and their member experience.” BR

DAVID TYSON

SPEARHEADS FTG’S PRIVATE CLUB INITIATIVES

By Dave White, editor Forbes Travel Guide, in expanding its services to the private club industry, will rely on an industry and hospitality veteran, David Tyson, vice president, partner services - private clubs, to head the effort.

That means that Tyson, a former private club general manager, will also be working directly with BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs through a partnership between Forbes Travel Guide and BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs.

This expansion to the private club industry for Forbes Travel Guide (FTG), marks the first time a global training services firm has entered the private club industry.

“It’s a collaborative effort between our Distinguished Club program and Forbes Travel Guide support services, focused on excellence of service, delivered through quality assessments and training programs,” explained BoardRoom’s CEO and publisher John Fornaro.

“We are delighted to bring our globally renowned, luxury hospitality support services to other industries,” said Peter Kressaty, Forbes Travel Guide’s executive vice president, partner services. “Whether companies operate in the private clubs or hospitality sphere, our approach to anticipatory, gracious service has stood the test of time and is extremely valuable to those who wish to differentiate themselves through the consumer experience.”

Tyson brings more than 35 years of experience in luxury resorts, hotels, private country clubs and restaurants. Before joining the company, he served as CEO of Dorado Beach Resort and Club, a sprawling 1,500-acre property that includes ➤

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BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

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Based in Orlando, Tyson has spent the bulk of his career in the private club space. His posts include area general manager for club operations at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club & Spa in Jupiter, Florida, and The Abaco Club, a Ritz- Carlton property in the Bahamas; general manager/COO of Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia; general manager/COO of Hudson National Golf Club in Croton-on-Hudson, New York; and general manager/COO of the Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

“Over the past 35 years, I’ve worked across all aspects of business management, developing a successful reputation as a stabilizer and growth-focused operator in the hotel, country club and resort sectors,” said Tyson.

After earning his Bachelor of Science in Business and Hotel and Restaurant Administration from Florida State University in 1983, Tyson started his career in senior leadership roles as a regional operations manager with ClubCorp before moving to member equity clubs.

If I have a specialty, it’s employee engagement, training and delivering the highest levels of service possible. Hiring, training, developing and retaining employees is the number one challenge facing boards and managers in the private club industry. Today’s labor market is getting smaller and smaller. With the rise in wages within most local markets and dues escalating to pay for those higher wages, members’ expectations are increasing.

Managers are not necessarily equipped with the skill set to teach gracious, thoughtful and personalized service to their teams. Creating a sustainable service culture through training is exactly what Forbes Travel Guide can provide to the boards and leaders of private clubs.

David Tyson, Vice President, Partner Services - Private Clubs Forbes Travel Guide 28

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

“My focus is on strategic long-term planning and operational management, with a strong eye for detail in achieving financial projections. Delivering and executing on the promise of exceptional service is the hallmark of my career,” Tyson added.

Tyson considers himself a ‘generalist’ who has an understanding of all aspects of private membership clubs – including city clubs, country clubs, yacht clubs and resorts.

“If I have a specialty, it’s employee engagement, training and delivering the highest levels of service possible.”

So what does Tyson see as challenges or issues in the private club industry?

“Hiring, training, developing and retaining employees is the number one challenge facing boards and managers in the private club industry. Today’s labor market is getting smaller and smaller. With the rise in wages within most local markets and dues escalating to pay for those higher wages, members’ expectations are increasing.”

“Managers are not necessarily equipped with the skill set to teach gracious, thoughtful and personalized service to their teams. Creating a sustainable service culture through training is exactly what Forbes Travel Guide can provide to the boards and leaders of private clubs,” he explained.

Tyson has been a member of the Club Management Association of America since 1987 and he earned his CCM designation in 2003. He’s also a member of the NCA’s south Atlantic region.

Tyson and his wife, Elisa, have three grown children. Both were born and raised in Florida and have a home in Orlando, Florida. B R

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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Lee Hoke holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pittsburgh and is a full professor of economics at The University of Tampa. He served three terms as president of Buckhorn Springs Golf and Country Club.

Elasticity

A Critical Economic Concepts for Board Members I ran for the board of our country club in April of 1990 because our club was in trouble.

In my pre-election speech, I explained to the members that I was a Ph.D. in economics, with years of experience teaching graduate level managerial economics.

Since I lived on the 18th fairway, I had a vested interest in the club: They should elect me and I would help find ways to fix things. They elected me and I set out to live up to my promise and maintain the value of my house.

I thought I was ready, but I wasn’t. I soon fell into board think.

The club needed more money and money comes from members.

Charge the members more and the problems will be solved. So, we spent months trying to get more money out of the existing members.

Every time we raised the prices more members left, revenue went down and the problems got worse.

As the summer of 1990 approached, our membership stood at 440 down from 500 just a few months earlier. We were counting on Crawford Calfee one of oldest and most loyal members (also rich) to make payroll during the summer.

THIS CHART SHOWS THE DATA FOR A REAL BUT ANONYMOUS CLUB, WHICH FOUND ITSELF IN THIS BIND. 30

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One night I had an epiphany. We were going the wrong way and our solution was to lower the prices. By the mid 1990s the club had a full golf membership of 520 and 100 members on a waiting list for full golf membership.

The law of demand and price elasticity: When prices increase, the quantity demanded decreases. So, price increases sometimes increase revenue and sometimes revenue decreases. It all depends on the percentage increase in price relative to the percentage decrease in quantity.

When prices are increased by 10 percent, if quantity decreases by more than 20 percent, revenue goes down. Alternatively, if the price increases by 10 percent and quantity demanded decreases by two percent revenue increases.

Let’s take a numerical example. Suppose the club is charging dues of $10,000 a year for dues and currently has 400 members, driving a dues line of $4,000,000 a year.

Suppose dues are increased to $12,000 and 20 members resign. Revenue from dues rises to $4,560,000 and the life blood of the club is increased.

The price increased by 20 percent and the quantity demanded decreased by five percent. The extra $560,000 may be all that is needed to restore profitability to the club.

The demand is said to be inelastic and the strategy of increasing prices works.

On the other hand, if the demand is elastic the problem gets worse and the club’s financial difficulties get worse. If the board responds by increasing dues again the club can find itself in crisis mode.

Once this club began the process of raising dues and revenues fell slightly, the board doubled down and raised dues again. ➤

JEFFB@SBBDESIGNS.COM 404.237.7745

from Executive Committee | 30

This time the dues line declined more significantly, and dues were increased again with devastating consequences.

This scenario plays out often enough that as far back as the early 1990s corporate executives and consultants to the industry were call-

THIS CHART SHOWS A HYPOTHETICAL DEMAND FOR CLUB MEMBERSHIP.

THIS GRAPH USES THE DATA FROM THE GRAPH ABOVE TO CALCULATE DUES REVENUE TO THE CLUB. 32

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ing it the death spiral. Other clubs responded with value-oriented strategies, which shifted the demand to the right, in which case dues revenue increases at current prices, and the demand is more inelastic allowing the board to raise dues and dues revenue.

Every club’s demand and therefore its elasticity is unique. What we do know is at some very high price no one will join and dues revenue will be zero and if the price is zero the dues revenue will again be zero. So somewhere between very high dues and very low dues is a sweet spot unique to each club where dues revenue is maximized.

The top chart shows a hypothetical demand for club membership.

The Annual Due Revenue graph at the bottom shows: • If this club badly mis-prices dues it is out of business.

• If the club’s pricing strategy is perfect the dues revenue is maximized when annual dues are at $15,000. The dues line of the budget is maximized at $9,000,000. Naturally the price point, which maximizes revenue will increase in more affluent communities.

An economist would say that an increase in income would shift the demand to the right.

Therefore it is not surprising that average annual dues statewide in Florida is $13,700 while the average in the affluent Boca Raton area is $18,200. The higher the level of income the greater the demand the higher the price point.

An understanding of these concepts should help board members make strategic pricing decisions. We are now in the 10th year of the economic recovery. According to the Wall Street Journal, the net worth of American households has increased by $47 trillion. Not surprisingly then according to RSM 88 percent of clubs in Florida increased dues last year and 100 percent of the clubs in the Boca Raton area increased dues. This strategy is completely consistent with the theory.

It is equally true in a symetrical fashion that the board should be equally ready to lower or at least stop increasing dues when the inevitable downturn comes. When the next recession hits and the general manager reports negative financial news over the last few months remember the concepts in this article and fight the urge to make a motion to raise the dues. BR

YOur Journey Employers of PGA Professionals are able to take advantage of the skills and resources they bring to the job, including: • A minimum of four years of education and training from an award-winning PGA curriculum with annual certification programming to keep current on the latest industry trends • A network of 29,000 peers and support from PGA of America Headquarters, bringing programing, pricing, and best practices to their facilities • Being proven players and coaches, who bring a unique passion for growing the game and driving revenue

Our career Wherever your golf journey is headed, let’s get you there.

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JOE ABELY

DAVE DUVAL

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Use of Project Managers in Major Capital Projects Private clubs have a nearly insatiable appetite for capital. In addition to normal annual capital expenditures, many private clubs are undertaking major projects that enhance or add amenities in order to retain today’s members and attract new members.

Major capital projects can be problematic for a private club. Coordination of architects, general contractors, interior design firms, related professionals as well as government agencies that handle permitting is critical.

The general manager/clubhouse manager may not be the right person to manage a major capital project, because many may not have required skills sets. For most, the day-to-day responsibility for managing the operations of a private club is more than a full-time job and there may not be enough time to devote to large budget projects.

Similarly, board and committee members (even those with relevant skill sets) generally have other responsibilities away from the club. As a consequence, even with a general contractor, the club may not be managing a major capital project as closely as it should be.

That gives rise to the risk are that the major capital project may well come in late, over budget, with compromised quality and/or fewer features than originally planned. In addition to the obvious financial impact, a consequence to a private club can be a deterioration in member experience and satisfaction.

We recommend that when undertaking a major capital project, a private club give strong consideration to hiring a project manager.

Here are some of the benefits of hiring a project manager: • Working with the GM, the relevant board committee and the entire project team, the project manager is engaged early in the process to help create a comprehensive project plan. Such a plan lays out roles and responsibilities, timing, and other factors necessary to deliver the capital project on time, on budget and with the features and qualities that were envisioned • A project manager will monitor cost, deadlines and scope and keep them in sync • Unless managed by one point of contact/approval, scope creep and/or change orders (even minor in nature) have the potential of adding significant cost and delays to a capital project. Working with the team, a project manager can efficiently manage change orders and their impact • As a single point of contact, a project manager will make sure that the all parties are communicating effectively, dealing with any conflicts that might arise and ensuring all involved are fully informed as to the status of the project • The implementation and management of a major project is very time consuming and requires someone’s undivided attention.

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There are generally multiple subcontractors and vendors as well as required government approvals. It is important that there is someone to coordinate timelines and, not to mention, the management of risk and quality control • A project manager should have complete management of the project. This will allow management to focus on their management of the club’s operations and the board to deal with their strategic and oversight responsibilities.

Why can’t the general contractor on the project assume the role of project manager?

A general contractor is only responsible for one (albeit major) aspect of the project.

There are many other pieces of the project, such as the architect, interior design and government approvals, that are outside of the general contactor’s area of expertise.

Additionally, a general contractor may be less motivated to control costs and scrutinize proposed changes in scope.

When a private club hires a project manager, the club’s GM and representatives of relevant board committees should commit to regular meetings to make sure everyone is well informed and that issues that arise are evaluated and dealt with on a timely basis.

While hiring a project manager adds a line to a capital project budget, in our experience the improved management of the project and the resulting savings more than offsets the incremental cost.

Joe Abely and Dave Duval are co-founders and principals of Club Board Professionals LLC. Joe can be reached at (781) 953-9333 or via email at jabely@cbpros.com Dave at (617) 519-6281 or dduval@cbpros.com

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MARK ANDERSON

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Mark Anderson is CEO of Johnson City, Tenn.-based Banc Intranets, a leading provider of secure, web-based intranets and directors’ portals for financial institutions that centralize employee onboarding and training, streamlining day-to-day operations.

Enhancing Collaboration with Board Portals Country club boards of directors, and the committees that report to them, have a litany of responsibilities designed to ensure their club functions properly for members.

From ensuring pool and golf facilities are maintained to scheduling an entire year’s worth of events, these groups are the foundation for how country clubs ensure member satisfaction and an exemplary club experience.

Boards and committees are not without their own operational and communications challenges, however. Boards of directors are oftentimes equipped with outdated technology that limits their ability to effectively collaborate and recruit younger, talented members into their ranks.

Meanwhile, committees face the dilemma of quickly and easily communicating with their boards, as well as amongst themselves.

aware of ongoing activities or potential issues.

If a vote needs to be taken, whether by the board or a particular committee, it can be conducted within the portal itself to ensure a secure, quick response.

The impact is perhaps most relevant for remote board members. An important board decision should never be hindered by travel or scheduling conflicts. A well-designed portal allows directors to participate and vote, from anywhere, at any time. Its security features protect sensitive documents and materials from potential malfeasance.

The board’s mission can be a challenging one and ideally, board and committee members should be free to spend more time deliberating key club issues and decisions, and less time managing inefficient meetings and compiling board packets. Investing in the right tools and technology can drive greater operational efficiencies, something that is often reflected in members’ club experience and overall satisfaction.

While the private club industry has adopted some digital technology and services for members, it must also consider strategic internal investments to support governance and oversight. A board portal in particular can help directors and managers eliminate inefficiencies, reduce paper usage and enhance internal collaboration.

Whereas today, many country clubs rely on paper-based board packets for their director’s meetings, a board portal allows club administrators to compile all of the necessary information within the platform itself.

Then, once the packet is complete, it can be distributed directly to stakeholders via the platform’s web or mobile-based portal.

This digitization not only eliminates wasteful paper use, it allows directors to prepare for meetings well in advance, often from geographically dispersed locations. Many board meetings are hindered by procedural or day-to-day questions that can be addressed in advance if members have access to the packets before the meeting.

A board portal allows directors to come to the table better prepared with action items and fresh ideas, rather than having to develop them on the spot once a meeting has started.

The same challenges that exist at the board level apply to private club committees. Just as a board meeting can be digitized, so too can committee meetings. Any reports or materials developed during a committee meeting can be easily shared via the portal to the board, so board members are 36

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Using this technology has the added benefit of demonstrating a club’s commitment to the success of its board, committees and employees. Managers feel they are supported and better able to collaborate with the board to ensure proper governance and decision making. In some cases, it has helped clubs attract new, younger talent to their boards bringing a greater level of diversity of opinion and experience to the table.

The board’s mission can be a challenging one and ideally, board and committee members should be free to spend more time deliberating key club issues and decisions, and less time managing inefficient meetings and compiling board packets.

Investing in the right tools and technology can drive greater operational efficiencies, something that is often reflected in members’ club experience and overall satisfaction. B R

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RICHARD MCPHAIL

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Richard McPhail, CCM, is a founding partner of “Club-Edge”, providing purchasing and operational technology for private clubs. He can be reached at (239) 223-2741 or at rmcphail@club-edge.com. For more information visit the company website at www.club-edge.com.

The Elephant in the Club - Part V

Mortgaging the Future Security of Your Club For many clubs, the great recession of 2008 was not an easy time. Many clubs had to cut back significantly on their expenses, which included laying off many good employees.

Members who were themselves impacted by the recession often found they needed to make their own difficult financial decisions. For many, the reality hit home that a club membership is, at its simplest, a completely discretionary family and business expense.

Some clubs during those trying economic years did not even survive as “member-owned” clubs.

During the recent robust and healthy economic years, a vast majority of clubs have spent significant capital to renovate, improve and expand their facilities. Club improvements are needed for the enjoyment of both the current membership and to successfully attract future members.

However, some clubs are borrowing a significant amount of money to fund these projects and are taking on very large long-term debt.

Are you confident that your club can make the debt payments even during a recession and with a significant decline in memberships?

A more conservative plan may be to fund capital improvements with one-time current year assessments. You may ask, “Why”? An easy analogy is to consider this - if you lived in/used your home for many years and had worn out its expensive hardscape (such as the roof) or its interior features were old and outdated, would you expect a prospective buyer to offer you top dollar today “as is” if you wanted to sell it? Obviously, no.

The same “curb appeal” value assessment and “buyer expectation” goes for a club.

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M

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CM

MY

The new incoming members should not be expected to pay (nor will they join) for subsidizing repairs and upgrades to a club already worn out by the earlier membership. Accumulating the capital funds on an ongoing monthly or annual basis to meet future capital expenditures remains a better idea for many clubs. No cash – no go!

So a word to the wise for club boards, committees, members and management. Use caution in your current and future capital funding assumptions. Club memberships may be even more precarious when the next recessionary cycle hits, and history suggests it will.

Many members joined or re-joined clubs after the recession with very little accompanying financial obligation. Many clubs brought in new members with much more limited or no initiation fees. Some clubs offered deeply discounted memberships and reduced member commitments such as eliminating capital deposits to quickly increase the number of memberships and to replace the dues that had declined during the recession. As a result, membership resignations during the next downturn will more likely be even more widespread.

If your club had significant capital funding already accumulated and earmarked for those expenses – great financial foresight! But my guess is that many clubs have instead developed plans for ongoing future member debt payments to fund club capital debt over multiple years into the future.

C

The new incoming members should not be expected to pay (nor will they join) for subsidizing repairs and upgrades to a club already worn out by the earlier membership.

Accumulating the capital funds on an ongoing monthly or annual basis to meet future capital expenditures remains a better idea for many clubs. No cash – no go!

For many clubs, mortgaging your club’s future by saddling members with significant ongoing debt payments to improve club facilities and attract new memberships is a very risky strategic plan and one that should be undertaken only with significant longrange planning for contingencies. BR

CY

CMY

K

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

RON CICHY

PHILIP L. ZELLER

Dr. Ronald F Cichy, O.M. is professor emeritus, The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University

Philip L. Zeller, Owner/CEO, Dale Carnegie Training offered

by Ralph Nichols Group, Inc.

Can We Teach Empathy to iGENs? As educators, we’ve been curious about whether or not we can teach empathy.

Rooted in an understanding that empathy is a needed fundamental building block of leadership … can we teach empathy?

We asked our students born in 1996 and later (all are variously referred to as post-Millennials, the Selfie Generation, Generation Z, and iGEN) about empathy. Their iWorld is always at their fingertips via iWatches, iPads, and iPods – iDevices for short. We asked them if they believed that empathy could be taught. Here is what they offered up: • Empathy appears in relationships.

• Empathy requires active listening to others to learn their story and sense their emotions and feelings about the story.

• Empathy is more than simply being aware of another’s feelings.

• Put your phone aside, better yet, turn it off when you are with others.

• Just listen.

• Be silent.

• Shift your focus from you to the other.

• Uncross arms.

• Keep eye contact.

• Learn to read facial expressions. Lean forward slightly.

• Do not interrupt.

Empathy is born in a genuine care for others. This care is more fully developed when really getting to know others. In the responsiveness to others with empathy, genuine care grows to feeling, as closely and intimately as humanly possible, what the others are feeling. This takes practice. iGENs said: “One of the best ways to learn empathy is by emerging self in an organization where empathy is valued and practiced.” Be with people who are practicing empathy in an organization that values empathy. Look for a fit, an alignment. That provides opportunities to observe actions of empathy by those who surround you.

Empathy is best learned in an environment where there is more “show” than tell.

Listen to understand the other. Listen without judging. People will open up if they feel they are being understood. Be with the other. Try to get into their world, rather than concentrating on your agenda.

We crafted an opportunity to learn from each other’s experience. For example, a role play about the loss of one’s pet provided an opportunity to practice empathy by helping others understand feelings other people are experiencing in their situation.

Different perspectives result from role plays based on experiences, scenarios, and situations. If discussed, they are useful for broadening participants’ perspectives.

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During role plays, participants are invited to put themselves into a scene and live into the scenario. This is sometimes referred to as walking in the others’ shoes and showing feelings among the participants in a safe environment in which students learn through others’ experiences.

Empathy is a feeling that comes from within. It is awakened when people share personal stories in conversations with others. The sharing helps all learn different perspectives. The stories are lessons learned from others.

Can empathy be taught? According to most of the iGENs in this study, “yes” if the teaching is fundamentally viewed as learning which requires the person to actively listen, be open to sharing experiences with others, be willing to try role plays as experiential learning, and actively putting the person in what might initially be an uncomfortable position (e.g. a conversation after the loss) to learn empathy.

In short, the person must be open to learning. Empathy is both learning to understand and feel emotions in others. Empathy may be easier to teach at a younger age because younger people may be more flexible and open. On the other hand, the wisdom of emotional intelligence built over the years helps one understand the feelings associated with what someone is going through.

People learn empathy through experiences. A person can help others understand and be more empathetic.

Practice kind generosity. Practice caring.

Practice getting in tune with others’ feelings.

Give the gift of your ears, to listen to others. Give the gift of your eyes, to focus on nonverbal cues in others. Give the gift of your presence, to be totally with the other.

The combined gifts help approach empathy.

SEE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE | 129

FRANK VAIN

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Frank Vain is president of McMahon Group, a private club survey, strategic and long range planning consulting firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. He can be reached at fvain@mcmahongroup.com

Magnetic Missions They Draw and Repel

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” – Simon Sinek The rules of the road for successful club governance are straightforward.

First, to be effective in guiding the club, the leadership must know and pay respect to its founding principles. This grounding keeps boards accountable to the original mission, which is the lens through which they judge how the club is performing today.

Secondly, effective leaders know what the club is currently working on.

They have a partnership with their operating team, so they can monitor what is happening, but they are not mired in operational minutia.

They have confidence that their professionals are working the plan while they work on other things.

Third, they know where the club is headed. The have a vision of what the club can and should become and they dedicate most of their time and energy to making that happen.

Basic building blocks A board can only fulfill its duty of looking ahead when the club has in place a solid structure for identifying, nurturing and perpetuating leadership. This includes the fundamentals like having a board of the proper size, assuring representation from a cross-section of the membership, providing a thorough orientation when new directors are seated and following a succession plan for all key seats.

These are the basic building blocks an organization needs to set the stage for deeper analysis and far-reaching discussions. Of course, elections play a critical role in getting the right people around the table. A board development committee, the advanced form of the nominating committee, is the best way to make that happen. When the right people are in place and they have a solid partnership with their management team, they can take the holistic view required to identify the needs of the entire club.

The board’s critical duty is to steer the club to the future. Yet, when club leaders talk about the future, they often get mired in “the how’s” and what’s” of the experience before they achieve clarity about “the why.”

As a result, many mission statements are overly focused on things like location, geography and activities, as in, “we’ll be the best golf course in our region” or “the finest dining club in the southeast.”

While people who join clubs ultimately like to have things like a great golf course and excellent dining, they are the type of people who have multiple options for gaining access to any of these things. What they are really looking for is a relationship with other like-minded people.

They will then use the amenities the club provides to further these relationships, ultimately becoming ingrained into the community. This makes 42

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“the why” the key requirement in the visioning process, yet it is often a missing link.

When you see vision statements that capture “the why”, you immediately know the difference. Look at Multnomah Athletic Club.

Founded in 1891, which wasn’t much past pioneer days in Portland, Oregon, the club has a long and rich history, which it respects.

It is wonderfully large, with 22,000-plus members (everyone including children are recognized as members), with 600,000 square feet of courts, exercise rooms and event spaces.

In the early days, an era when amateur athletics was king, The MAC’s travelling teams were the focus of the members and the local press.

As values and lifestyles changed, so has The MAC. This has included a steady shift in priorities from sponsored teams to a strong emphasis on physical conditioning for the entire family and a diverse menu of activities (travel, education, entertainment, etc.) with steadily expanded athletic and social facilities, including excellent restaurants and meeting spaces.

The club would be justified if it talked about itself in terms like one of the best, oldest, largest or most extensively programmed athletic clubs in the northwest, if not the entire country. But it doesn’t. Its beautifully structured mission reads: “To enrich lives, foster friendships and build upon our traditions of excellence in athletics, social and educational programs” To enrich lives! To foster friendships! Now that’s a why!

This mission is clearly consistent with the club’s heritage and values – it’s still all about athletics - but it recognizes it exists in a larger societal context where interests shift generationally, but higher purposes and friendships never go out of style.

SEE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE | 129

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GABRIEL ALUISY

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Gabriel Aluisy is the host of Private Club Radio and author of The Definitive Guide to Membership Marketing and The ABC’s of Plutonium Private Club Leadership. You can reach him at gabe@privateclubagency.com or (813) 344-4769.

Membership Marketing Ideas Crowdsourced from Top Pros - Part II With 95 percent of clubs across the country still looking to fill their membership, many line. Ricky Potts, membership direcclubs are searching for an idea or a program that can get them over the hump this tor of The Fountaingrove Club, Santa Rosa, CA shares how he’s harnessed season. new technologies to do this at his In the July/August BoardRoom, I shared some of the best membership marketpast two clubs. ing tips I gathered from around the country. Here are some more thoughts.

“As a user, I am obsessed with live chat for brands. When there is an Reimagining the social experience: Lots of clubs have been resistant to social issue, I expect IMMEDIATE results. media in the past, but that’s changing quickly.

Whether that is an airline, Netflix, Facebook has built the most robust database in the world on the habits, deSpotify, Bose, Walmart, you name it. sires and demographics of its users. Their advertising platform is simply the So at my last club, Tiburón, I wanted most cost-effective way right now to reach a new audience of potential memberto implement that. I researched a ship prospects. dozen or more companies who could By the way, if the word “advertising” scares you, let me put those fears to rest. provide a solution. Drift is who we deAdvertising on Facebook doesn’t mean you’re slashing your initiation fees and cided on. It is free to use ad implement dues. It simply means that you’re paying for your message to be seen by a speand is on my computer and my phone. cific audience rather than a random one. It’s a way to introduce qualified folks to If I am awake, I am responding. your great club - no sales pitch necessary.

The live chat is now on home page One club that’s begun to make the transition into the digital space is the of the website at The Fountaingrove Serenata Beach Club, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. The club’s membership director, Club and answers questions daily Deanna Grady, shares their journey into social media marketing. She also proabout membership, the pool, dining vides a way to take social media offline. events and more. Both members, “The number one thing that I’ve done consistently is social media posts on guests and staff use it. They know it’s Instagram and Facebook. I hired a company to grow my Instagram page and it there and there is a human element reached over 2,600 followers. I create a Facebook ad every month and display to it too. those posts to a targeted demographic. You have to test what works and not be Are all messages positive? No. But scared to try new things out with social media. You also must see how people tag if someone has a question, and we your club and respond to all positive and negative feedback. respond as a human, not a bot, in a I created a private Facebook page for our members, where I post food specials timely manner - that is next level.” and upcoming events. I use a separate public Facebook page as well as our Instagram account as a way for prospects to see the value of becoming a member of Time for action: Just remember, the club. ideas are great but wasted if you The second item created recently is the companion program. We didn’t have a don’t put them into action. corporate membership but also knew as a beach club we are the place for friends to want to be together. So this program allows friends, family or coworkers to My hope is that you’ll take these have a packaged initiation fee. This has brought many new members to the club ideas, put your own spin on them and these new members spread the word.” and improve upon them. Feel free to share your results you have with me at Reinventing communication: Research shows that in today’s culture, immegabe@privateclubagency.com. BR diacy wins. When you answer a prospect’s questions or address their concerns immediately, you stand a much better chance of keeping them in your sales pipe44

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MIKE PHELPS Mike Phelps is principal and co-founder of Pipeline, a brand marketing agency specializing in private clubs and communities. Learn more at www.pipeline.agency

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

The Journey To Retention It Begins on Day One

1. Proper sequence and proportion: I just met with a prospective client. His club generated 85 new members last year – a Resist the urge to inundate new members commendable result that got a lot of attention in their local market. with a flood of information early on. Use What didn’t get much attention is the same club lost 79 members last year. This means a steady cadence of focused commuthey spent 93 percent of all of their recruiting efforts replacing members that quit. nications that introduce one aspect of Twenty-seven days of each month are spent replacing resigned members. membership at a time, paired with offline It’s no secret that membership growth comes from a keen focus on member remicro-experiences that provide an oncruitment and retention. While most clubs spend a ton of time, effort and money on ramp to the full member experience. acquiring new members, we spend relatively little on keeping members once we have 2. Be the guide on their journey: Offer them. We’ve gotten really good at the chase – especially in a strong economy. But a helping hand, positioned in a way that we’re not as good after there is a catch. focuses on the member and explains how In fact, a typical business will lose between 20-70 percent of their new customers their life will improve through memberbefore they reach their respective 100-day anniversaries. Private clubs aren’t necesship. Explain the ‘why’ behind rules and sarily exempt from this dynamic. policies and use the word “you” instead Most member exit surveys cite ‘lack of use or engagement’ or ‘lack of overall value of “I”, “me” and “we.” / financial’ as the reason for resignation. Technology is helping us find new ways to 3. Don’t assume that everyone is identify at-risk members based on their spending and usage patterns. informed: Are new members asking the But this is a reactionary retention strategy. By the point we’ve diagnosed an apsame questions? You might be supplying athetic member, our attempts to save them are typically made in desperation, with too little information. Provide an easy only a small chance of success (a.k.a. Hail Mary Marketing). way for new members to find answers to So how do we get them to stay? common questions and reduce friction Last year we conducted over 30 member and staff focus groups at private clubs across where they feel lost or stuck. the country. We asked members why they joined. Why they stay. We asked about their 4. Experience is required: Retention favorite experiences and moments. And we asked if they ever wanted to quit the club. is about relationship strength. It’s about One thing became very obvious: Retention starts at day one. being part of a movement or feeling conWe identified nine phases that a member goes through on their journey, from the nected to something greater. This is only decision to join all the way through to retention – which is all about creating lifelong possible via the experiences you create. members and generating referrals.

If each department at your club had to How long a member stays in each phase depends on your specific club. But each create a completely unique experience member must go through each phase if you want to get them to the last phase when to make a new member feel comfortable members fall in love with your club and eagerly refer their friends. and engaged, what would it be? How The problem is we try to rush to that retention stage way too fast without acwould it showcase the department? How knowledging there are many steps that come before that. Every member is going to would it involve other members and the go through these phases whether you like it or not. new members’ friends or colleagues?

The question is: Are you going to meet them where they are at, or are you going to Challenge yourself to go beyond the new trust that they will power through on their own and meet you where you are at? member mixer. Make it buzzworthy.

If you sit back and wait for them to catch up, you will lose a bunch of members.

By re-engineering your onboarding proThey need you to hold their hands, they need you to tell them what comes next, take cess to consider these strategies, you will care of them, make them part of the family and feel provided for. not only retain more members, you’ll also It’s no longer enough to only give them ‘the packet’ or ‘the orientation.’ It’s the reincrease the lifetime value of your memquirement of any relevant membership club to meet the member where they are at, bers and make your club more vibrant. wherever they are in the member journey.

Want help? Check out the member This means getting much more strategic about how we onboard our new members and onboarding systems we’re building for implementing systems to get members properly integrated and engaged…from day one. clubs: www.pipeline.agency BR Here are four of the key takeaways from our focus groups: 46

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

DAVE MOYER Dave Moyer is a USPTA Master Professional and the director of tennis at The Country Club at DC Ranch and can be reached via email at dmoyer@ccdcranch.com

TENNIS COMMITTEE

The Status Quo Versus A Growth Mindset As an industry we are always looking for ways to grow the game of tennis. I outlined my vision for the future for him so But many times, at the club level we take on a status quo mindset because that we were on the same page.

Every year we’ve grown, added new league things are going well and everyone likes the program the way it is. teams, changed up our calendar and continue We reach a comfort level with the way things are and don’t want to to find ways to get junior players involved. It rock the boat. It’s really easy to follow the status quo mindset because hasn’t always been easy and frankly would you have your yearly calendar set and you follow it to a tee every year. have been much safer for me to just stop at You have the same clinic and lesson schedule and everyone is comfortsome point along the way and be satisfied with able with the way things are going. the program. Instead I’ve continued down the The program may actually be doing well with few or no complaints. harder road of a growth mindset.

So why change things up? Won’t that just upset the apple cart and creFast forward to today. We now have nine ate possible issues when we don’t need to create issues? league team rosters after starting with just two, The answer is yes. You change things up precisely to upset the apple one of the best junior programs in the area, cart! You can’t be afraid of change and/or failure in order to take your a brand-new tennis shop, viewing areas, new program to the next level. With the exception of a few legacy events lighted tennis courts and four full-time tennis that your club is known for, your tennis program should look drastically professionals and three pro shop attendants. different every five years.

Where is your tennis program? Are you enjoying the fruits of your labor and satisfied to continue the status quo or are you adopting a growth mindset and looking for ways to get out of your comfort zone so that your program can evolve and grow?

Develop a plan with your staff and get your general manager and tennis committee on board with your vision. Then watch as your program soars to new heights!

You should welcome change and constantly try new ideas to keep things fun and exciting for not only your members, but your staff as well – a growth mindset.

A growth mindset focuses on the future and not the past. What do you want the program to look like in one year, five years or 10 years?

Create a vision and mission with your staff and committee and then set up a program that will work within those stated goals. Don’t be afraid to hear the statement, “That’s not how we have done it in the past”, from your members. As you build your clinic, lesson, league and general tennis participation, look for ways to change things up and grow even bigger! Don’t just be happy with the way things are.

When I started at The Country Club at DC Ranch, we had little to no tennis activity, not much in the way of facilities (six outdoor courts and no tennis shop) and I was the only staff member.

I set out to create a program that was fun, exciting and focused on growth. Because of a growth mindset, I wasn’t satisfied with where things were and despite high praise from my CEO at my annual review, 48

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Not being satisfied and a growth mindset got us there. With only six tennis courts, we are pushing capacity with no land area to grow and build. But we are still constantly looking to grow and change in order to make our program better for the future.

Where is your tennis program? Are you enjoying the fruits of your labor and satisfied to continue the status quo or are you adopting a growth mindset and looking for ways to get out of your comfort zone so that your program can evolve and grow?

Develop a plan with your staff and get your general manager and tennis committee on board with your vision. Then watch as your program soars to new heights! BR

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THE RACQUET & PADDLE SPORTS SHOW

CASE STUDY

The Racquet & Paddle Sports Show is organized by Reed Exhibitions, with support of the Tennis Industry Association, and co-located with the PGA Merchandise Show. For more information and to register, free of charge, visit RacquetPaddleSportsShow.com.

Racquet Sports Professionals Plan to Gather in Orlando this January for 2020 Racquet & Paddle Sports Show buyers with racquet and paddle industry vendors, and general managers and owner operators with court construction and maintenance vendors on Jan. 21.

Following the summit, an evening hands-on product demo experience will be held at the state-of-the-art USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. The event will be open exclusively to racquet industry profesFour days of merchandise sourcing, product sionals, from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m., and then welcome consumers until 7:30 testing, education and networking await in the p.m. During the event, the USTA and Tennis Channel will conduct combeautiful winter climate of Orlando, FL. plimentary media/interview training for tennis coaches and teachers.

The 2020 Show will begin with a curated On Jan. 22-24 at the OCCC, the show floor will showcase 200+ ONE2ONE buying summit and Demo Day: Lake emerging and market-leading racquet, paddle and tennis vendors, preNona Experience, on Jan. 21. The Show Floor, senting the newest innovations, products and services to drive industry co-located with the PGA Merchandise Show at retail in 2020. Demonstration courts, including a full-size USTA Tennis the convention center, will feature more than 200 Court, Padel, table tennis and a multi-use short court, will offer demoncomprehensive exhibits, multiple demonstration strations and feature Pickleball, POP Tennis, Platform Tennis and courts, two industry presentation stages and an Badminton. Additionally, an industry presentation stage and a “Pop-Up extensive education conference, Jan. 22-24.

Retail Talks” area will provide manufacturers and allied organizations opportunities to present the latest education driving sport retail, club and industry trends. New exhibit, demonstration and education space also will focus on facility construction and court renovations and on fitness, performance and nutritional products.

The 2020 Show will include the Tennis Industry Association’s annual Tennis Owners & Managers (TOM) Conference, featuring industry presenters on topics including Facility Operations, Event Management and Hospitality, Marketing/Promotions, Innovation and Technology, Administrative and Professional Services, and more. Sessions are available for continuing education credits for U.S. Professional Tennis Association and Professional Tennis Registry members. The TIA’s Tennis Industry “After a tremendous response to the inauInnovation Challenge, a “Shark Tank”-like competition to find the most gural event in 2019, we are excited to renew innovative tennis products and services, will be held during the TOM our collaboration with industry stakeholders Conference, with retail solutions as the 2020 focus. B R to build the Racquet & Paddle Sports Show to grow all aspects of racquet sports,” said Event Director for the Racquet & Paddle Sports Show Elizabeth Reed. “In 2020, we are expanding in multiple areas to address industry trends and market needs. We are excited for this opportunity to maximize growth segments for the industry, facilitate connections and help to grow business and participation in racquet sports.”

The event will begin with a curated “ONE2ONE” buying summit, matching invited key Thousands of racquet sports professionals, industry leaders, facility suppliers, and wide-ranging product manufacturers from around the world are making plans to gather for the 2020 Racquet & Paddle Sports Show, Jan. 21-24.

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BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

DEMO DAY: LAKE NONA EXPERIENCE TUESDAY, JANUARY 21 USTA National Campus, Lake Nona

EXHIBITS & TOM CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22 – FRIDAY, JANUARY 24 Orange County Convention Center

ORLANDO, FLORIDA CO-LOCATED WITH THE PGA MERCHANDISE SHOW

SUPPORTED BY:

BORIS FETBROYT

TENNIS COMMITTEE

Boris Fetbroyt is the director of tennis at the Country Club of Fairfax and is certified by the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) as well as the Club Spa and Fitness Association (CSFA).

The Value Equation Underlying the Member Racquets’ Experience Truth be told, you can have all the certifications in the world, USPTA, PTR, or you can even be a former high-level touring professional, that’s great, but that only gets you through the door.

If you want to build a successful, all around racquets program you must understand the underlying elements of how a member perceives value and how that value creates either satisfaction or emotional passion and loyalty. In fact, a member’s perception of value can be calculated using the following formula.

Numerator – What Are They Getting Out of This?

Facility quality – This plays an important role when it comes to the member experience. Facility quality can be defined through several elements such as the number of racquet sports available at the club.

Does your club offer pickleball? Does your club offer paddle? Does your club offer tennis? Does your club off squash? Is tennis and pickleball offered yearround in indoor facilities for clubs that go through different weather seasons.

Other factors such as cleanliness of the facility, size of tennis pro shop, size of tennis locker rooms, condition of the facility, ease of navigating through the facility space all play factors when it comes to facility quality.

Product quality – This is defined as the overall quality of a club’s product offerings. In the case of the racquet department, how well rounded are your

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programming offerings. Does your tennis program offer competitive leagues for all levels and ages? Does your tennis program offer socials for all levels and age?

Does your tennis program offer private and group lessons? Does your program offer cardio tennis?

Does your tennis program offer a beginner’s pathway for juniors and adults trying out tennis for the first time? Does your tennis program offer drop-in clinics for adults?

How about video analysis? If you’ve answered yes to all these questions, congrats you’re a quarter way there!

Now just make sure to answer yes to the same questions regarding pickleball, paddle and squash.

Remember, each member has different needs and goals. Some enjoy squash because it’s a fast-paced game and great workout, and some enjoy pickleball because fewer physical requirements are required to play. To each their own, there is no wrong or right but as a director we must maximize our racquet offerings to membership.

Service quality – This can be defined as the level of service that a club provides. For the racquets experience this means how well are you running your programs? Yes, most clubs run cardio tennis classes, have socials, have competitive leagues etc., but what about your service stands out?

What makes your offering so much better than someone else’s? Why should I commit to you? This is the importance of building a team with

the same mission and vision statement for your racquets department. Making sure everyone is on the same page with the same goals will enhance your members experience.

Your quality of your class offerings is only as good as the team running it. This is where hiring industry-driven tennis professionals certified by the USPTA or PTR plays an important role. You want to hire coaches that see this as a career and not so much as a bi-weekly paycheck … you want to hire tennis professionals that eventually want to be directors of racquets themselves!

You want team players that are motivated and come prepared every single day to work and learn. Remember, your team is only as good as your weakest link. A member’s racquets experience is only as good as the team you build.

Emotional quality – This can be defined as the level of emotional attachment that is created for the member by the club experience and depends on various elements such as relationships with staff, relationships with other members and a sense of pride belonging to the club.

From a racquets’ standpoint, it’s important to remember members take lessons or participate in your program for many different reasons. Some members like to take lessons with the best pro on paper, meaning best coaching certifications or a high-level playing career.

Others like to take lessons with whom their personalities connect best. It’s important to remember each member has a different goal when it comes to lessons – some want to get better to play in competitive leagues, some play for the social aspect of it, some play for the workout aspect, some members just walk in and take whatever pro is available at that time.

The emotional connection is priceless. People can’t describe natural connections, but they exist for many different reasons and it’s important to understand there isn’t a tennis professional out there that can connect with the entire membership. That is the purpose of building a great all-around racquets team.

Denominator – Is it Worth it?

Price – This reflects the actual cash price that members pay to use their club and consists of initiation fees, monthly dues and fees for extra services. When it comes to tennis pricing it’s important to compare your prices to other private clubs in the area and not what the commercial tennis clubs are charging for lessons, socials, cardio tennis and other events.

Members at commercial clubs pay a very small annual fee and only pay for when they play. Members at private clubs must pay a certain initiation fee on top of monthly dues and that’s not counting extra fees for tennis services, so make sure when doing your research for pricing your comparing apples to apples.

Tennis pricing compared to golf pricing is mostly on the lower end. Usually golf lessons cost more than tennis les-

sons, golf member/guests cost more than tennis member/ guests and golf socials cost more than tennis socials.

Most importantly, demographics tend to be different as well. You likely see more male participation on the golf side and more female participation on the racquets side. This is where the saying, “Happy Wife, Happy Life” comes into play.

As a racquets director you must deliver the facility quality, product quality, and service quality, along with emotional engagement, at a level far greater than the actual cost required for a member to use the racquets portion of the club. When a member has a great memorable experience in your racquets program the price factor goes away.

Time – This is the most important resource. There are so many things we value these days and, because we live in such a superficial world, money is often seen as the most important thing. But there is something much more important than money and that is time.

Time you can never get back once it is gone, and it’s the one thing that can’t be stopped or changed. As a racquets director in the private club industry, time is on your side! A private club provides members everything under one roof, why leave the club when you can play tennis, head to the spa and eat all at the same place? Providing club members with a variety of amenities allows clubs and facilities to show they can create value for a member’s time.

It’s important to understand some things are out of a director of racquets control, such as facilities. You have what you have and maybe the club can’t afford to add more amenities such as pickleball or paddle.

However, it’s important to understand that these members joined the club knowing, during membership tours, what facilities are offered and have come to an agreement that the facilities are good enough for them and/or their family as well.

So even though you as a director you might not have it all, you do still have a committed membership and it’s your job to create that memorable experience. B R

BoardRoom magazine Recognizes the Private Club Presidents of the Year

By Meghan Thibault BoardRoom magazine annually recognizes the world’s top private club presidents, captains and chairs as Private Club Presidents of the Year, for their outstanding work, their understanding of the industry, and role and responsibilities of the club’s board of directors. In this continuing series, BoardRoom introduces five of the top 25 presidents for 2018. The Distinguished Club President was featured in the January/February issue.

Private club board presidents play a huge role in professional operations of their clubs as a volunteer working diligently with their board of directors and general managers, striving for well informed, but not emotional decisions.

This recognition by BoardRoom magazine has attracted board president nominations from clubs and other nominators around the world.

These outstanding presidents exemplify the focus on the leadership responsibilities, the accountability and the management of the board providing a healthy respect for the club’s macro management. They are cognizant of the importance of working, effectively and efficiently, with their volunteer boards and the dedication required from everyone with whom they work.

Key elements of a “good” board include commitment, competence, diversity, collective decision making, openness, transparency, effective communication with the management and the membership, fiscal responsibility, development and establishment of the clubs’ mission, vision and policy direction, especially through establishment of a strategic plan.

A successful board president draws upon the expertise of other board members, the club’s institutional memory and stewardship of the club’s resources. As well the board president provides new board members and future board presidents with information they need to perform effectively as board members.

Congratulations to these outstanding private club board presidents.

TOP PRIVATE CLUB PRESIDENTS SPONSORS

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BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

WILLIAM J. NISSEN, PRESIDENT | UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL

WILLIAM J. NISSEN , PRESIDENT

MARK TUNNEY, GM/COO

As the vice president of the Union League Club of Chicago (ULCC) in 2015, William J. (Bill) Nissen laid the groundwork for his 2018 presidency. He contributed to the development of a new strategic plan for ULCC that continues to guide the direction of the club today.

Three vibrant events aligned with the club’s motto of “commitment to community and country” were realized under Nissen’s direction.

These included a 50th-anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War, attended by more than 300 Vietnam veterans and the Under Secretary of the Army, a 125th Anniversary of the Columbian Exposition, and a ceremony honoring the State of Illinois Bicentennial.

To prepare for his tenure, Nissen designed a series of presentations and lectures to inspire members and often attended more than a dozen committee meetings each month to drive program success. As president, he challenged fellow members to get more involved.

Throughout 2018, an elaborate outreach campaign drove member participation in activity groups and committees, including a new committee dedicated entirely to member engagement.

“As an attorney, Bill has an analytical mind but understands the need to take risks to get results. He leads by example and is clear in his communication. During his presidency and even now, he continues to be engaged and approachable. Any member can find Bill in the clubhouse at an event, enjoying lunch or at a committee meeting,” said Mark Tunney, the club’s general manager and chief operating officer.

Nissen also spearheaded the creation of two dynamic new spaces at the club; a new outdoor patio with comfortable seating and televisions for watching sports and a combined café, lounge and open workspace designed for working professionals.

Recognizing the evolving needs of members, Nissen wanted to provide more opportunities to network and socialize and has advocated for additional social spaces of this type throughout the club.

A Chicago native, Nissen is a graduate of Northwestern University and Harvard Law School, as well as a U.S. Navy veteran awarded the Navy Commendation Medal for his service as an officer in Vietnam from 1969 to 1973.

Nissen is a law partner at the prestigious Sidley Austin LLP, where he has practiced since 1976. He formerly chaired the Chicago Bar Association’s Futures Regulation Committee. Nissen lives in Lake Bluff with his wife Patricia, and they have a seven-year-old grandson.

Their daughter Meredith is a lawyer in Philadelphia and their son Edward is a physicist in Newport News, Virginia. B R

ADDISON RESERVE COUNTRY CLUB

MICHAEL MCCARTHY GM/CEO OF ADDISON RESERVE COUNTRY CLUB WORKS WITH XHIBTZ CONTRACT FURNISHING FOR THE CLUB’S NEW CUSTOM POOL FURNITURE. LOUNGES, SIDE TABLES, UPRIGHT CHAIRS, TOWEL BINS AND BAR CHAIRS.

CUSTOM OUTDOOR FURNITURE

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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KEN SILVERWOOD, PRESIDENT | CHESTER VALLEY GOLF CLUB | MALVERN, PA

KEN SILVERWOOD, PRESIDENT

DAVE CRAIG, COO/GM

As president of Chester Valley Golf Club (CVGC), Ken Silverwood’s most significant accomplishment has been his leadership in establishing a campus-wide master plan to ensure the club’s future health. The detailed plan encompasses financials, facilities, marketing, membership and club culture. Based on member input and carefully weighing market trends and future member needs, the master plan lays out a blueprint for management and future boards to follow, all while ensuring the club meets its financial obligations in a more structured fashion. Silverwood was a guiding force in the master plan’s early successes and in moving the project forward and keeping it on track. The plan has moved at a steady pace and is on target for a membership vote in late 2019.

In parallel, Silverwood led a shift in the club’s governance to a more sustainable GM/ COO model. The new model has proven vital to the club’s performances. It has enabled the board to prioritize vision, strategy and long-range planning while allowing club management to focus on efficient operations. It has also encouraged cohesive communications and consistent messaging and reporting.

CVGC places special emphasis on consistency, culture and continuity in order to remain competitive in the marketplace. Silverwood’s familiarity with and sensitivity to the club’s culture among both members and staff made him uniquely capable of leading expectations and setting attainable goals.

“Ken sets the bar high but does so with the understanding that the hospitality team, management and line staff are most important to the club’s future successful evolution,” said Dave Craig, the club’s COO and general manager.

Silverwood has enhanced the member experience, ushering in a new level of service, hospitality and excellence during his tenure. His commitment to personal accountability, high standards and continuous improvement are driving member feedback in the right direction.

“Ken’s gifts provide us with a unique blend of strategic and visionary leadership,” Craig added. “His micro-goal of ‘win every member and guest experience’ will lead us to a prosperous and healthy future. His awareness and constant reinforcement that this is ‘a marathon and not a sprint’ put everything we are working toward in proper perspective.”

Silverwood holds a degree in finance from Villanova University and an MBA in information systems from Drexel University. A senior information systems executive for more than 30 years in the provider and payer ecosystems of healthcare, Silverwood has managed both national and international IT organizations and consulted with the National Health System of the United Kingdom. B R

PATRICIA THIRLBY, PRESIDENT | SAND POINT COUNTRY CLUB | SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

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“That’s why we are delighted to celebrate and affirm Pat in being selected for this prestigious recognition.”

Sand Point conducted an unanticipated executive search led by Thirlby and after careful decision-making, they recruited Westervelt to lead the club’s management. With a commitment to work with him as a team, Thirlby showed determination to support and enforce revised management goals and the club’s new governance model.

Tenacious dedication to this model has resulted in positive changes for the member experience, new excitement and higher demand for the club. By attending many committee meetings, Thirlby saw for herself the positive results of better-organized objectives and functional roster sizes. Thirlby helped launch a new strategic plan with greater forecasting and depth in 2018 and incorporated it into the club’s operations in PATRICIA THIRLBY, PRESIDENT OWEN WESTERVELT, GM/COO 2019 – with the help of a select committee that represented the varied interests of the Patricia Thirlby and her husband Richard joined Sand club, past leaders and current board members.

Point Country Club in 1988. Since then, she has been The club consulted design firms to consider a course remodel last year and ultimately consistently active in golf, has served on committees hired architect David McLay Kidd to complete the project. It required intense mobiliand has been a women’s golf team captain and club zation of the club’s administration, staff, finance and green committees to research, champion. market and communicate the landmark course change to the club’s membership. After An authentic, natural leader with an “all in” attitude, assembling a task force to that end, an overwhelming 96 percent majority voted in favor Thirlby brought her enthusiasm, charisma and dedica- of funding the project. tion to the role as the club’s president.

Thirlby also oversaw the passing of a member conduct initiative (or MCI) which was “It’s easy to take the kind of leadership that Pat overwhelmingly supported by the board. The new MCI is incorporated into committee embodies for granted as if it just happens naturally. meetings as they define goals and objectives. Further, it has received excellent feedback Anyone who has been a leader or relied on one, how- from the membership seeking to honor the traditional club experience, while also ensuring ever, knows how rare – and essential – such leaders that all members enjoy the club equitably. Patricia Thirlby graduated with a Bachelor of are,” said Owen Westervelt, the club’s general manScience in her home state at the University of Michigan. She spent her professional career ager/COO. teaching and in private practice dentistry, followed by raising her family. In addition to golf, Thirlby enjoys biking and tennis, as well as skiing and hiking in the Cascade Mountains near her family home in Leavenworth, Washington. B R BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

WILLIAM “BILL” STEVENS, PRESIDENT | MANCHESTER COUNTRY CLUB | BEDFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE

BILL STEVENS, PRESIDENT

BRIAN KELLEY, GM

President Bill Steven’s chief accomplishments since taking the helm have been the development of a comprehensive long-range financial plan that included refinancing, a golf course restoration project and a membership-approved agronomy grounds renovation.

Stevens, a member of Manchester Country Club (MCC) since 2007, also attracted championship-level state and regional tournaments and garnered positive public relations for the club.

Following a club-wide remodel in 2013, MCC was sitting on $9 million of debt, with $2 million of it owed to members who’d purchased bonds to help finance the project. Stevens consolidated and refinanced the club’s debt, paying off all member bondholders in full and lowering interest rates for the remaining obligation.

He also worked to reduce the total monthly loan payment and established a capital reserve fund. A longrange capital study completed simultaneously provided

the board and management with a proactive direction for capital requirements. Stevens’ visionary leadership steered the board to revive and revise an abandoned golf course restoration plan, with a goal to complete it by 2023 – the club’s 100th anniversary. As president of Harvey Construction Corporation, a leading construction firm in northern New England, Stevens brought his professional expertise to bear on a much-needed agronomy grounds renovation project.

Positioned near the 17th hole and originally constructed over the 1940s, 50s and 60s, the club’s agronomy building houses $3 million worth of golf course equipment and a team of 23 staffers. Under Stevens’ leadership, MCC was named host of the New Hampshire Open Championship - considered the most prestigious tournament in the state – for the first time since 1969. Positive press from this led to the club securing the 2019 New England PGA Section Championship, marking the third time in the event’s 98-year history that it will visit the state of New Hampshire; and the course has already been reserved to host the 2021 New Hampshire Open Championship and 2023 New Hampshire Amateur Championship. A renewed focus on the club’s impact in the community led to a partnership with the Manchester Police Athletic League (MPAL) that saw MCC’s directors mentoring kids at MPAL, with an emphasis on teaching life skills through hospitality and golf.

Members raised $12,000 for the organization, earning positive feedback and press.

“Stevens’s gentle, yet influential leadership has positioned MCC for success. The club’s reputation is finally changing, and its members are more proud of their club than ever,” said Brian Kelley, the club’s general manager.

“MCC, now structured with a long-term, sustainable plan, will continue to be the hub of its southern New Hampshire home, carrying on its long tradition of superior hospitality, amenities, playing surfaces and now, its far-reaching impact into the local community and regional golf landscape,” Stevens, a New Hampshire native, graduated with a degree in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire. He lives in southern New Hampshire with Jayne Stevens, his wife of many years, and together they have three daughters: Sydney, Olivia and Erika. He serves on the leadership boards of Palace Theatre, NH Business Committee for the Arts, and Associated General Contractors of NH. B R

RICHARD STRAUGHN, PRESIDENT | MOUNTAIN LAKE | LAKE WALES, FL

RICHARD STRAUGHN , PRESIDENT

ERIC DIETZ, GM/COO

As president of Mountain Lake in Lake Wales, Florida, Richard Straughn demonstrated a strong commitment to quality and to the enhancement of the Mountain Lake member experience. To that end, Straughn worked diligently over the past two years to make modifications to the governance practices at Mountain Lake.

He reduced the size of the board and the club’s committees and helped shift the club to a new model of governance. He advocated for an executive management team that would lead and optimize the

member experience by handling operations while refocusing the board on vision and strategy. He also modified club bylaws to align with these changes in governance.

As president, Straughn has lead the board to begin developing a five-year strategic plan with clear ownership, accountabilities and timelines, in addition to a complete marketing and branding plan, the first in the history of Mountain Lake. The plan is now being updated and will help chart the future of membership marketing and real estate sales for the next three to five years.

Under his leadership, Straughn successfully led a search to fill executive management roles, including a new GM/COO, a CFO, an assistant general manager, a director of security, a world-class chef, and one of the top pastry chefs in the country.

These hires bolstered the club’s reputation and capabilities and the resulting changes led Mountain Lake to attain the prestigious BoardRoom Distinguished Club designation for the first time.

“President Straughn is a true thought partner and a skilled communicator who leads by building a culture of clarity and alignment amongst the board, membership and the management team. He is a rare combination – a very passionate and loyal person who is also tenacious about doing the right thing,” said Eric Dietz, the club’s general manager and COO. A native of Winter Haven Florida, Richard Straughn joined his father, Jack Straughn, in practice after graduating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. Straughn was honored with the Winter Haven Banker’s Cup “Man of the Year” award in recognition of his strong commitment to community service. Straughn and Tammi, his wife of 36 years, have two children and live in Mountain Lake. B R SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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ClubTec/WebTec | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Don Williams

Making Technology a “Member Benefit” Having served the private club industry for over 40 years, I can think of no statement I have made more about this business than the following…”if you want to make a capital purchase for just about anything in a club, your odds of getting it approved depend on whether it is perceived as a member benefit or not.”

In effect, if the purchase does not enhance the membership experience, you most likely will find approval to be very difficult.

As this pertains to the area of technology, it is very hard to show how computers in the office are somehow a member benefit.

However, today’s board members are younger and they have begun to understand how technology can truly work in the best interests of both those that serve and those that want to be served. Their level of understanding the benefit of powerful networks, the tremendous reporting flexibility for invaluable management information and the efficiencies that can be achieved by all levels of service personnel have increased substantially.

I know that websites have been around for a long time without much fanfare for the members. That has now changed dramatically.

If you are dedicated to providing great information, exciting news and marketing club events to your members, you really need to get away from your old, tired static websites and let WebTec design or redesign a new, fun and refreshing website for your club.

Another member benefit is the use of handheld POS devices. These devices can be used by servers on pool decks, patios, boat slips, and beverage carts. ClubTec Handheld POS devices are seen as a member benefit because members see and feel better service when those taking their orders do not have to run off to a POS station to put in the order…they simply punch it in right there and send it off to the kitchen. The servers are then free to move through the area helping members and making sure that they are all well taken care of. As any service person knows, being seen on the floor and being able to see those you are serving is a huge benefit.

Technology is such a difficult word to wrestle to the ground when you are trying to improve how you can use it to better serve your members. However, today’s board members are younger and they have begun to understand how technology can truly work in the best interests of both those that serve and those that want to be served. Their level of understanding the benefit of powerful networks, the tremendous reporting flexibility for invaluable management information and the efficiencies that can be achieved by all levels of service personnel have increased substantially.

With the member benefit in mind, there are a couple of things that have risen to the forefront in the products and services being offered by ClubTec. First and foremost is our website module known as WebTec. This software offers one of the most powerful website programs available to membership clubs. With WebTec, your members will feel an enormous communication and information link to your club.

By making your site mobile responsive, your members can see news, pictures, event results and make reservations in the palm of their hands and we can even make your website an icon for smart phones. The list of “member benefits” in this offering are almost endless.

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Technology is such a difficult word to wrestle to the ground when you are trying to improve how you can use it to better serve your members. Although updated websites and handheld POS devices are two great examples, they certainly are not the only ones. Give ClubTec a call and we would be more than happy to discuss all the latest and greatest things we are doing to make your systems membersyntric! B R For more information about ClubTec, please contact Don Williams at 800-800-5506 or dwilliams@clubtec.com. You can also visit our website, www.clubtec.com.

BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE | Northstar Club Management Software

By William “Bill” Wagner, CCM, Club Industry Advisor

Transform Your Dining Operations:

THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED, ARE YOU READY FOR IT?”

Back in the day, private clubs were all about fine and formal dining.

Coats and ties were mandatory and tables were reserved for the entire evening. Life was good in the world of clubs. The members’ names and preferences were known to all because the staff rarely turned over. That was then and this is now.

In many clubs, there is a more severe dress code on the golf course, than in the clubhouse and dining areas. Smart phones are seen and used on a regular basis. Members don’t dine as much as they tend to “eat and run.”

Takeout food has become increasingly popular. Even private clubs are not immune to the multi-tasking culture of today’s world.

The number one dining complaint at many clubs is “the slow speed of ala carte service.” Even if a club hires more staff, there are practical limits to increasing both service and production speed in the kitchen while still maintaining a high quality. A buffet is also not always a good solution, depending upon the club’s culture.

So, what is the solution?

High volume chain restaurants have had monitor screens in their kitchens for several years and a growing number have handheld ordering modules to speed orders from the table into the kitchens.

Private clubs are more complicated and much more personal than chain restaurants. What about a system that is created just for the private clubs of the world?

A system with built-in business intelligence that would contain the information of every member and their family. That information would include billing preferences, allergies, menu preferences, pictures of the family members and would fit in a server’s palm. The system (a 7-inch tablet) would contain the complete menu including a scrolling wine list, with descriptions that would make a Sommelier proud, plus the bar menu.

The drink and food orders entered into the tablet would be transmitted to the bar and the kitchen instantly.

IMAGES OF KITCHEN DISPLAY SYSTEM (KDS) & TABLESIDE POS SYSTEM

The kitchen monitors would display the order and track it until it leaves the kitchen on its way to the table. Each order would be timed in and out of the kitchen and the data could be displayed individually and cumulatively by meal period. This system would save many steps and increase the overall efficiency. Less time, fresher food, increased accuracy equals happy members.

“Northstar has hit it out of the park with the Kitchen Display System! Our Executive Chef Todd has seen so much good come out of this system to help Cherokee – it is amazing.

Systems were changed, errors have been caught and are now minimized and the kitchen is quiet again. Thank you for building this. Kudos!!!”

Michael Wheeler, MCM, CCE, GM/COO Cherokee Town & Country Club “I second all what Mr. Wheeler says! The system is amazing, and we are operating our Terrace kitchen much more efficiently!”

Todd Kelly, Executive Chef, Cherokee Town & Country Club Imagine a scenario where a member complains about the previous night’s slow speed of service at the dining room. The club staff would have access to the exact time the tableside order was placed to the time the order left the kitchen. That is an instant comparison of “member time” to “real time.” If the member is correct, the club staff has a problem to solve.

Northstar has the above described Complete Dining Operation System with the Tableside POS and Kitchen Display System (KDS).

This game changing technology has been successfully deployed in many clubs and is helping clubs reduce ticket times by 4-8 minutes per order, increasing the accuracy of orders and enabling the club to make better decisions about dining operations with the help of analytical tools. B R For more information about Northstar Club Management Software, please visit www. globalnorthstar.com or email info@globalnorthstar.com. William “Bill” Wagner, CCM, is the Club Industry Advisor at Northstar. Bill, a Past President of the Club Management Association of America (CMAA) was previously the GM at Shadow Wood Country Club, Riviera Country Club, and other prominent Clubs. Bill can be reached via email at bill. wagner@globalnorthstar.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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CedarCreek Systems | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Nicholas Wilhelm, Managing Partner

Custom-Tailored Plans and Solutions CedarCreek systems is the most successful reseller of Business Process Improvement (BPI) software and services for procure to pay in the club industry. Our signature P2PSystem, BirchStreet Systems, provides technology products to automate the Procureto-Pay (P2P) business process, which results in reduced expenses and improved efficiency. In addition, CedarCreek offers group purchasing, invoice management, and payment services.

ized, the vendor sends the product and invoice. The specialist then passes the invoice along to the finance department which then processes and pays the vendor for the goods or services.

A manual P2P process works great until you have hundreds of vendors and thousands of invoices across myriad departments within your organization. These typical steps also lack overall contract controls, compliance management, business intelligence, inventory management, and vendor performance stats.

WHAT IS PROCURE-TO-PAY (P2P)?

Procure-to-Pay is the internal process of managing requisitions, receivables, and goods and services. It derives its name from the sequence of procurement and financial processes involved, from the first step of procuring a good or service to the final steps of paying the invoice.

Procure-to-Pay started as a manual process that has since evolved to the cloud. Many P2P systems mirror the following steps.

Most Procure-to-Pay processes for the club industry include the following steps: 1. Supply management: Managing supplier relationships for order processing and supplier connection.

2. Vendor selection: Researching and creating a preferred vendor list from which to make purchases.

3. Requisition: The internal process of requesting approval for order fulfillment.

4. Purchase order: A formal document used company-wide which outlines specific order quantities and ordering requirements from the specified vendor.

5. Receiving: The act of accepting the physical shipment of goods and entering it into outlined inventory, tracking, and accounting systems.

6. Invoice reconciliation: Reviewing all of the receivables and cross-checking purchase orders with invoices to ensure all costs, quantities, and changes are as requested.

7. Accounts payable: The final critical step of the process is centered around processing the purchase order for payment, paying the invoice, and cataloging the amount into company accounting systems.

8. Inventory Management: The accounting and operations management of the inventory asset and the expense event.

THE CEDARCREEK ADVANTAGE This is where CedarCreek Systems excels: We simplify the way clubs order, receive and pay for goods and services. Our software is cloud-based, meaning no clunky desktop installation and on-the-go, 24-7 access, and management. Catalogs are managed and maintained by the suppliers. Real-time inventory data and accurate costs, provide exact data you need to optimize performance. Eliminating manual processes ensures your club staff follows your standard operating procedures and helps to keep your company in compliance. This ensures things run efficiently, which moves the needle on your bottom line.

CedarCreek’s current clients connect to more than 200,000 suppliers to buy their goods from start to finish through their private marketplaces with eProcurement and AP Automation modules. CedarCreek clients have wide flexibility to configure their own marketplace with their suppliers, as well as to understand their business from different angles, create reports and analyze spend data. The Inventory Control module ties directly into purchasing, as does Capital Budget Management. For companies with restaurants, the Recipe Management System connects with purchasing, accounting, and inventory.

Here’s an example of a “typical” Procure-to-Pay process for a club: The kitchen staff determines there’s a need for more chicken cutlets. Your in-house procurement specialist researches vendors and produces a Request for Quote. Once the RFQ is received, the specialist will select the preferred vendor and begin negotiations on the product based on price or quantity. Once everything is final62

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KEY FEATURES • Catalog management and exposure provides real-time pricing. Robust catalog connection with over 200,000 suppliers for current clients in 78 countries worldwide.

• Real-time, on-demand business intelligence.

• Private CedarCreek Marketplaces provide client security and flexibility.

• Integrated modules on one common architecture and design. All modules – eProcurement, Accounts Payable, Recipe Management, Capital Budgets, Spend Analytics and Inventory Control – are connected to catalogs and each other.

• Design, development, implementation, training, support and sales are in-house, “under one roof.”

• Customer-centric culture incorporating “innovation by collaboration” with clients driving R&D. • Experience and proven best practices with local, enterprise and global customer base.

• Cutting edge budgeting tools, including Drilldown Checkbook, Advanced Workflow Approvals, and Punch-Out Interfaces.

Using custom-tailored action plans and solutions, we fit the software to your club’s exact needs. Our P2P specialists work on a no-commission basis meaning the products recommended for you are the perfect fit; No gimmicks, no kickbacks. We will provide onsite evaluation and quickly build a program from our massive suite of tools to address all of your club’s pain points. B R Call us today at (561) 946-2770 or email to info@cedarcreeksystems.com to see how we can help your club be the best it can be.

Clubessential | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Lynn Mangan, President

The Member Experience is Mobile HOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF CLUB LEADERS PERSONALIZE THE MEMBER EXPERIENCE WITH TECHNOLOGY

Technology isn’t going away. In fact, it’s only going to increase in use and elevate the experience expectations of members as industries across the board strive to elevate their efforts. The personal touch members now expect when they are on the grounds, they will expect with every interaction, whether face to face or with a technology interface.

The question then is, “How do you add your own club’s hospitality touch to technology?” says Greg Gilg, general manager, Field Club of Omaha. One thing is for certain: all signs point to that interaction taking place on a mobile device.

MOBILE-FIRST STRATEGY

The first cries for “mobile-first” dealt strictly with website usability. Now that the devices are ubiquitous, it’s taken on a broader meaning. Mobile-first at Clubessential refers to the members’ primary digital access point to the club: their mobile device. Enabling members to interact with and complete countless actions on their mobile device as if they were at the club provides the ultimate convenience for members and streamlines operations for the club and staff. But probably even more importantly, provides consistent reliable data about those activities that feed through the full suite of club management software for the most accurate picture of member and club activity ever.

“

Mobile brings a direct connection to your members and operations.

“

- Lynn Mangan, Clubessential President

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CONVENIENCE FOR MEMBERS

The average smartphone user spends more than two hours each day using apps and has in excess of 60 apps installed on their smartphone.1 It’s safe to say that club members are already enjoying the convenience of booking flights, ordering coffee and countless other tasks through mobile apps. As younger generations move into the club ranks, the demand for that convenience will be the expectation. A mobile app branded for your club keeps members connected to the club everywhere, enabling them to make reservations in advance, order food and drinks from anywhere on the club grounds, receive push notifications about important club information, or just check out the latest happenings. Want to reserve a court or tee time with a friend? Mobile apps make it a breeze and get members back to the club. Members can even place food and beverage orders – and repeat their favorites – in advance for pick up!

STREAMLINED OPERATIONS AT THE CLUB

Mobile capabilities have just as much, if not more, benefit for the clubs. It starts with real-time data sharing across all of the club management systems - from the website to CRM to accounting. That provides a comprehensive view of member and club activities that leaders need to make smart strategic decisions. But it can also simplify daily tasks such as website updates and more.

For example, Mobile POS and ordering enables staff to take orders and make sales without being tied to a fixed terminal, while also seeing into each member’s individual preferences. That gets staff off of the phone taking orders and away from a fixed terminal, leaving more time to interact with members and build relationships based on those insights.

TECHNOLOGY PERSONALIZES THE CLUB EXPERIENCE

Technology doesn’t replace the human touch but enhances it by helping associates know members better. Greg Gilg has imagined a real-life scenario for mobile. “For example, we know when Mr. Jones crosses the gate at 2:00 in the afternoon that he’s a golf member, and not here for lunch. Does he have a tee time? Is he coming to hit range balls? When they cross that barrier, we’ll know.

We can have staff there with an iPad and a picture of Mr. Jones. They can put his bag on a cart and send him to the range. Mr. Jones is going to remember that experience and think highly of it. We need to have the technology in place to create those very personalized experiences and scale them across the club.”

Without a doubt, those experiences will start through the mobile device. BR Learn more at www.clubessential.com 1

https://buildfire.com/app-statistics/

Lynn Mangan is an experienced executive in the software and financial services industry with more than 20 years of experience delivering outstanding client retention, associate development, process improvement, and technology implementations.

“

How do you personalize technology?

That is the most important thing that we do.

“

- Greg Gilg

General Manager Field Club of Omaha

Can You Deliver Your Member Experience Face to Face to Interface?

The Clubessential mobile-first strategy connects all of your members’ activity with your accounting and operational systems. The result is a 360-degree view of member activity that enables you to capture every interaction, refine the member experience, and streamline operations. Learn more at clubessential.com/mobile-first

Mobile POS

Websites

CRM

Reservations

Banquets

Mobile App

Payments

Accounting & Financials

How mobile ready is your club?

Download the industry’s first maturity model to benchmark your level here

clubessential.com

Predictive Analytics

clubsystems group | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Mike McCleary, Vice President, Sales & Services

The Innovation of Experience For over 40 years clubsystems group has had the privilege of providing comprehensive club management applications to the finest private clubs nationwide. During this tenure the club industry has experienced an ongoing evolution, challenging CSG to adapt in order to meet the business needs of the clubs we serve.

This dedication to our clients’ success is still as tantamount today as it has always been. The key to this ongoing commitment lies in the experience and tenure of the management and staff at CSG. Combining our proven club industry experience and expertise with the skills and cutting edge knowledge of our newest hires puts us in a strong position to use client feedback strategically to improve our products.

In the past year we have worked to update the user interface design of our applications. Software best practices are always evolving and screen sizes are always changing. In addition, club staff communicated with us that they are increasingly required to simultaneously access information from multiple business areas. By re-designing the layouts of our applications to maximize the screen space available, more data is accessible to the user at one time. Another thing everyone wants to maximize is time, so we also changed the flow of processes within applications to make them more intuitive, speeding up the learning curve for new users. Whether experienced or new, many of our users were asking for the ability to personalize features within the applications which led us to add user customized filters, screen layouts and reports.

Possibly the biggest technological shift faced by the industry in the last 20 years has been the way clubs communicate with their membership. What was once a printed medium has gone digital, motivating technology companies like CSG to constantly assess and improve how members can interact with their clubs via the club website or mobile app. Responsive web design and mobile apps have been offered by CSG since 2015, and both platforms are integrated with the club back office system.

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This integration enhances the ability for clubs and members to make online bookings for: • Tee Times • Event Registration • Dining Reservations • Court Bookings, and • Appointment Bookings Like most of the tech shift in the club world, developments in other industries such as banking have influenced members’ digital expectations. Online statements and payments have been enhanced by CSG so that members can view transactional data in real-time. Automatic and online payments through the club website make it simpler for both club staff and members to keep the books balanced.

Membership directors have also felt an outside influence to modernize their membership marketing and sales. Sales departments in most other industries use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to track both prospect and customer data. CSG’s CRM has been enhanced with auto-tracking of membership milestones and easy document uploads.

Ideally a CRM makes tracking correspondence between staff and members easier so that a communication history is created, and made viewable to all relevant staff.

We have made email correspondence accessible from multiple access points to help make these important interactions easier to accomplish and track.

The next frontier for clubs is leveraging the power of business intelligence (BI).

An abundance of data is produced at a club every day which has the ability to predict trends and forecast future needs.

Clubs have been utilizing comparative reports in an attempt to make sense of all that data. BI takes a lot of the guess work out of the equation, and displays the data in digestible visualizations in real-time so club managers can see the trends as they happen.

MetricsFirst and MemberInsight are new platforms that CSG clients, as part of the Jonas Club Software family, can implement to start mining their club data for fact-based business making decisions.

The needs of our club clients is our raison d’être. Over the last four decades there have been so many new and unpredictable changes within the club industry that it puts a smile on my face to reflect on how clubsystems group has adapted and innovated over the years. At CSG we pride ourselves on our experience, which was born over time and built through working together with the clients we serve to understand their continuing challenges and to successfully meet their ever evolving expectations. B R

FOOD-TRAK | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Bill Schwartz

Large Clubs Need Enterprise-Class F&B Systems Ford Motor Company does not use QuickBooks for their accounting system. Given their complexity and specialized needs, it is unreasonable to believe that large enterprises could get away with small company accounting systems. Clubs with high volumes, numerous profit centers and multiple venues – require a much higher level of sophistication in their F&B software than smaller clubs. The FOOD-TRAK System has been successful with these Platinumlevel clubs because it is specifically designed to handle enterprise-class operations.

So, what makes an enterprise F&B system different from a small business F&B system?

Both deal with inventory, purchasing and recipes.

But enterprise-level clients have multiple profit centers, multiple users and specialized needs with regard to system integration (vendor, POS, accounting, catering), security access, business analytics, mobility and they require significantly more flexibility and sophistication than smaller systems can offer.

Another distinguishing factor separating enterprise system developers from QuickBookslevel developers is the inclusion of professional services for best practices consulting, configuration, database construction, implementation and user training. It’s like hiring a consultant that can not only do the situation analysis and make recommendations but can also execute and complete the entire project. This expertise and associated labor hours is what makes the cost of enterprise systems higher than small business systems. A friend who manages the PeopleSoft implementation for a major university told us they used 30 people and spent three years implementing the system at a cost of over $20 million!

OCEAN REEF CLUB, KEY LARGO, FL 68

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We have clients who operate amusement parks, convention centers, university foodservice and resort hotels where implementation costs can climb, but our professional service charges for clubs are typically more likely to be in the $10,000 range and the implementation spans less than 60 days.

In some cases, these fees can be as high as or higher than the software licenses or hosting costs BOCA WEST COUNTRY CLUB, BOCA RATON, FL themselves. But these services are precisely why these systems succeed. It requires expertise to analyze complex organizations, propose best practice process flows and then properly configure profit centers, inventory locations, vendors, raw material and batch recipe lists, accounting data, security settings, form templates and a myriad of other aspects of enterprise-class systems. It also requires expertise for training employees and smoothly transitioning them to the new system. This type of expertise is not easily developed. Our implementers and trainers have a minimum of 10 years experience doing these jobs, and some have over 30 years with us.

The combination of system depth and scalability with the expertise required to configure, implement and train is what makes enterprise-class software the only real option for large clubs. These clubs are individually unique in terms of their configuration, database COUNTRY CLUB OF VIRGINA, RICHMOND, VA construction and implementation for F&B management. Some have multiple clubhouses with multiple golf courses, some have hotel rooms, and some have both city clubs and golf clubs. Some even have their own airport!

Moving to an enterprise-class system is an opportunity to gain significant savings while at the same time streamlining processes and enhancing productivity. Transitioning large, successful clubs to a more automated, paper-free environment with real-time reporting and variance information can result in F&B cost reductions ranging from three to six percent of F&B revenue – or $30,000 to $60,000 per million in bottom line savings. Payback begins immediately and ROI percentages typically exceed 100 percent in the first year. This can only be achieved through a comprehensive approach to configuration, process flow definition, database construction, system integration, implementation and training, followed by ongoing support.

All the most successful enterprise-class systems have been around for many years. These are not new companies. It takes many years to develop, test and deploy this depth of software, not to mention the expertise required to properly implement it. The FOOD-TRAK System has been developed over a period of nearly 40 years. We CHEROKEE TOWN & COUNTRY CLUB, ATLANTA, GA were the first F&B system to be used in club environments – in 1980 – even before IBM PCs were introduced! We have more experience in the club industry than any of our competitors – large or small – and have been providing club industry articles, seminars and workshops over the entire time. When it’s time to move your large club to the next level – we are ready for you. B R

INTRODUCING THE SCANNER VERSION OF THE

MOBILE APP

STEP 1

Pull up main menu.

STEP 2

STEP 3

Scan the item.

Add quantity. DONE!

We install the FOOD-TRAK® Mobile App on a ruggedized Zebra Scanner and connect directly to the FOOD-TRAK system. Eliminate paper forms and instead, collect data where it lives.

Imagine the convenience with the ability to:

TAKE INVENTORY | RECORD TRANSFER | RECEIVE GOODS CREATE REQUISITIONS & PURCHASE ORDERS “All of our employees have really embraced the scanners and understand they are making their jobs more efficient and accurate. I would definitely suggest starting with one location and expanding from there. ” Dan Taylor, Director of Purchasing Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo, FL STOP the manual data entry process, STOP wasting valuable time and START using the FOOD-TRAK mobile platform!

Join many of the Club Industry Leaders who use FOOD-TRAK and have taken their F&B Operations to the next level.

®

JAY DIPIETRO VENDOR OF THE YEAR

2012 - 2018

DEVELOPERS OF DEVELOPERS OF FOOD & BEVERAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

FOOD & BEVERAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

800.553.2438 | WWW.FOODTRAK.COM | FTSALES @ FOODTRAK.COM

Jonas Club Management | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Joe Oswald, COO

The Digital Club of Tomorrow Starts Today My name is Joe Oswald, and I’m the Chief Operating Officer of Jonas Club Software. No, you’re not missing anything, I am new around here. I joined Jonas in October of 2018 so I’m celebrating my first year at the company with all of you - and what a year it’s been! But before I get into that, let me tell you a little about myself.

I joined Jonas last year with over 30 years’ experience working in the technology space in various industries - none of which were related to clubs. Most recently I worked with a company helping to bring Business Intelligence to the Anti-Money Laundering divisions of Global Banks, and while there I was witness to some of the most cutting edge technologies designed to help modern businesses.

That focus on modern technology driving change in business is one of the things I was excited to bring with me here to Jonas. Not that it didn’t already exist, but coming from different industries I hoped to offer new perspectives and fresh ideas.

What greeted me at Jonas was an outstanding team of passionate club industry professionals and an amazing array of world-class clubs as clients who have taught me so much in my first year working with them! What is universally true is that this industry recognizes the need to be completely open to big ideas and the challenge to do things differently.

Collectively, we view our mission in the club industry as a simple one - Helping Clubs Thrive. Those three words may be simple, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. We believe that in order to help clubs thrive, is to work arm-in-arm with our clients to help them meet all the challenges of a modern club by creating exceptional experiences. We continue to grow our support, professional services and development staff to offer unrivaled commitment to the club industry. Put simply, we really care.

We see three major areas where clubs are focusing on continuous improvements and we are focusing our innovation efforts in these areas: MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

Clubs are being pushed in new and bold directions in order to meet the ever changing, and 70

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always expanding needs of their membership. Our areas of focus to accommodate these new requirements include: • Member Intelligence and Analytics with MemberInsight • Fitness Class Scheduling • Appointment Booking for activities such as Massage Therapy, Golf Lessons and Personal Training • Facility Bookings for Tennis Courts, Indoor Golf Simulators and Shooting Ranges • Hotel management with online reservations • Valet Request • Digital Member Cards for easy facility access • A Mobile App to keep everything in the palm of your member’s hands SERVICE EXPERIENCE

The same conveniences experienced outside the club are now becoming expectations at the club. We’re focusing on various new ways to make the member experience effortless, including: • Pay At The Table with SkyTab • Member Self Service Kiosks • Online Ordering from a mobile device • Text Communication including Confirmations and Reminders • Facial Recognition technology to manage access and track club attendance

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

FISCAL ACCOUNTABILITY

As much as clubs are branching out in new and innovative ways, the need to manage costs and find innovative sources of revenue remains imperative. We’re working to provide you with the right insights into your business, while making exciting new opportunities available, including: • Metrics First: A powerful business intelligence platform offering a single overview of the club • Shift Manager: An exciting new Employee Scheduling and Labor Cost Management suite • Inventory Management • Corporate Spending Innovations: Our Accounts Payable partner which offers cash back incentives and creates a new stream of revenue for your club One of the things that separates the club industry from any other I have worked in is the fact that relationships are at the heart of this business. At every conference I attend, and club I visit, it is clear how the leaders in this community support one another and look to each other for guidance. This is a core principal of our business, and I’m proud to say that our clients are more than just that, they’re our partners in business helping us grow and improve.

And we’re here to listen! Every great idea came from a club professional.

Jonas Club Software has always been a great company, and our renewed focus on helping clubs thrive has produced an outstanding first year of my career with the company. I’ll be honest though, if you think what we’ve done is 2019 is impressive, just wait until you see what we have in store for 2020. B R

TM

jonasclub.com

MembersFirst | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Ryan Maione, President

A Winning Formula For Online Success The 2018 Boardroom Magazine Excellence in Achievement Awards marked the seventh time MembersFirst was named the Website Company of the Year. Always an honor, receiving recognition inspires us and allows us to reflect on what has worked so well over the years. A major factor has always been our partners’ willingness to trust our expertise and actively participate in the design and creation of their websites. For any club aiming to improve their online presence, we want to share some of the keys that have worked for our clients.

SET YOUR TEAM UP FOR SUCCESS

After designing and developing thousands of club websites, design trends have come and gone but the process we use to create awardwinning work has remained largely unchanged.

While our team of experts take a leadership role, we encourage clubs to form a dedicated team of stakeholders that will treat the new website as a priority for both management and membership.

Once the team is formed, roles should be assigned, keeping in mind that the website project will require time and effort in addition to everyone’s normal daily workload. Oftentimes, day-to-day club duties can take precedence over major projects so it is crucial that milestones and deadlines are established and met to keep the project on schedule. If approvals are required by staff or board members outside the website team, establishing an approval process that everyone agrees to in advance will help keep things running smoothly.

It’s understandable that certain business areas may be more invested and priorities can shift day-to-day, but if all parties buy into the process you establish, it will help your club create a website everyone can be proud of.

PROFESSIONAL ASSETS

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hiring a professional photographer will be important for your next project. Web design and content teams want to make every page on a site picture perfect so be sure to get photos of all the different facilities and activities at your club: interior, exterior, members enjoying activities and the facilities, banquet tables pre-event/during event, various room configurations, daytime/nighttime, etc. Professional photographers know how to show your club’s most photogenic angles so carve out time to give them the freedom to explore and shoot your property in their own way as well.

Video brings the club to life online and can add a wow factor to your website. Club commercials are excellent but get as much footage as you can of short clips, actionshots, and member testimonials/interviews to use throughout your site as well as in other marketing channels. Be sure to ask your videographer about drone mounted cameras – they make it easier than ever to showcase club facilities and take your club video to the next level.

FINDING AN AGENCY THAT FITS

Choosing a partner agency is one of the most critical decisions you’ll have to make.

Whether you have found a partner through a referral or personal research, trust needs to be established by both parties to ensure a successful project. Building confidence in a partner starts with their experience, portfolio, and team. Partnering with an established agency has its benefits; they will see potential challenges before they happen which can save you time, cost, and frustration.

An agency’s portfolio of work will go a long way to helping you make the right choice.

You want to be excited about your new partner and if they have done work that has you saying, “Our club needs a website like THAT,” then you’re on the right track. Review other club websites, but also websites outside the industry to see what catches your eye. Compare those with the work that your potential agency has done to see if there’s a match. A good partner will help refine your vision but it never hurts to do a bit of research in advance.

Your agency should make you feel like they’re an extension of your team.

Understanding your business goals and investing in your club’s long-term success will be as important as launching the website. From initial discussions, time and effort put forth to familiarize themselves with your club, to supporting you after the project has launched, how does the agency stack up?

Also make sure you find a good personality fit with your partner because creating a new website is an exciting project and the process should be fun! You’re starting with a blank canvas and get to create the ideal portrayal of your club. This is a chance to show prospects what it means to be a member and give your current members an online resource they can use with pride.

The online experience of club membership is ever evolving and successful clubs will adapt with the changes. Finding the right digital partner and following some of the advice above will make the lifting a lot lighter. Your club’s next website might even be an awardwinner. B R

The Award-Winning Agency For Private Clubs 7x

Website Company Of the Year Winner

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See for yourself at www.membersfirst.com

MemberText | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Justin Baer, CEO

Email Ain’t What it Used To Be When it comes to email communication, Toby Keith may have said it best with his hit song “I ain’t as good as I once was.” Email, just ain’t what it used to be.

Email is now 30 years old, and while it’s great for one-on-one conversations, we have seen a severe decline in effectiveness for mass communication.

Statistics are showing that email open rates and time people actually spend reading and comprehending emails are going down. Why is this happening? Well, one of the reasons is that club members are overwhelmed with the amount of email they are receiving.

It’s tough to filter through their cluttered inbox.

According to a recent DMR study, the average person receives over 3,500 emails a month! Combine that with the Gmail and Outlook’s new feature where they automatically syphon out mass emails into promotion folders, clubs are now facing a serious communications crisis.

Club managers have tried various methods to combat the communication divide. Some try push notifications which have a worse open rate than emails. This is due to the fact that only about 40 percent of people turn on notifications and only a fraction of those people turn on alerts.

Some club managers are even going back to mailing paper newsletters or flyers.

There are however, some new technologies and platforms designed specifically for clubs that are not only fixing the member communications breakdown, but improving it!

One of those technologies that is taking off is texting.

Brian Pizzimenti, general manager of Woodmont Country Club was asked about using the MemberText platform at this year’s CMAA conference and he said.

“You wouldn’t believe how many members come up to me and say Brian, I didn’t know you were doing the clambake tonight, thanks so much for the text blast.”

He continued, “They will read that (text) much more than they will read an email.”

The statistics agree. According to a Tatango study, text messages have a 98 percent open rate.

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This is most likely due to the fact that people check their phone almost 150 times a day according to an Experian Marketing survey.

If members are texting 150 times a day, clubs should be there in some capacity.

I wouldn’t recommend everyday, but being in the text inbox once or twice a week where friends and family members communicate is huge. We’re seeing clubs dramatically increase event participation, club usage, revenues and more.

For those unexpected delays, weather events, frost delays, club closures, emergencies and more being able to reach members in minutes is crucial.

With texting, open times are close 3 minutes. It’s no wonder club manager are turning to text messaging for their urgent messages.

Mark Petzing, general manager of Kirtland Country Club noted, “Our membership loves it. When we’ve had issues of closing the pool down for weather or when we had a delay on 4th of July, we can send a text out to membership saying we are still on, it will alleviate all the phone calls coming in because we can message everybody through MemberText.”

Texts aren’t just for announcements and emergencies either.

A growing trend is for clubs to enable their landline number and let members actually text the club.

With MemberText, clubs can let members know they can text snack shop at the 9th hole, text the front desk simple questions that would normally require a phone call or even text the valet stand to have their car ready.

“Being able to get texts when my order is ready from the pavillion restaurant will be extremely convenient. Anything the club does to save me time is a huge win. I love it,” said Woodmont Country Club member, Robert Katz.

There are many cases that make having a texting platform compelling for a club, whether it’s to let members know about an unexpected kitchen fire which will shut down dining for the evening or just reminding members not to forget to make reservations for the July 4th family carnival. Texting is by far the most efficient way to get your club members to tune in. B R For more information and video testimonials from other club managers, visit www.membertext.net.

WOODMONT COUNTRY CLUB

CSR Privacy Solutions | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Robb Smyth, Vice President

HORRIBLE! Your CLUB in the headlines for a data breach…Horrible!

• 52 percent of data breaches are inadvertently Personal Information (PI) of your members for sale on the black market…Horrible! caused by employees!

Loss of reputation and good name of your club…. Horrible!

• 21 percent of data breaches are caused by Financial consequences of a data breach to your club and members…Horrible! vendors with whom you share PI. Club officers, directors and board members know that the PI they are responsible • 87 percent of the U.S. population can be identified for will be compromised. using only their zip code, gender, and DOB! In Club Trends; titled, Security Challenges for Private Clubs, important findings (page • 43 percent of all data breaches target SMBs 5) were that private clubs lacked a holistic risk management plan, an incident response • Data breach fines will reach 7.5 billion in the U.S. plan, proper command and control mechanisms and over reliance on technical security this year! and countermeasures rather than focus on regulatory compliance in the first instance. In Is there a solution for these horrible outcomes? addition, only 22 percent of clubs budget for incident response and 63 percent of clubs Yes! CSR Privacy Solutions has provided compliance with initiation fees greater than $50,000 felt that they are vulnerable to a breach! regulatory solutions to over 300,000 entities in 17 countries since 1999 in a cost sensitive environment. CSR FACTS: provides implementable practical procedures, practices • Every organization that collects, stores, maintains PI is subject to an and protocols. We take the Horrible out of Horrible. BR increasing list of compliance regulations.

• Over 100 countries have regulations for PI Please go to www.csrv3.com for additional information or contact • In the U.S. there are over 300 reporting regulator entities at the Federal, State Robb Smyth VP at Rsmyth@csrps.com. and Local level

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BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE | Paisano Performance Partners

By John Finley, CCM, Managing Partner

Case Study at The Bonita Bay Club BONITA BAY CLUB

Peggy Taylor, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, is the director of human resources and oversees the hiring, on-boarding and performance management for a staff of over 300 employees at The Bonita Bay Club in Florida. This premier club offers members five golf courses and extensive club facilities on two campuses. To deliver on their service promise, Taylor and the Bonita Bay management team rely on HR technology to ensure a consistent on-boarding message and to drive performance. The technology; Paisano Performance Partners Team Builder orientation program and Performance++ performance management software. Both programs are internet based to provide convenient access for the entire management team.

At The Bonita Bay Club, the decision to move to an internet based performance management system improved access and process. “An internet based process allows multiple supervisors and the HR department to analyze any performance review at any time. Managers are able to add notes, which can be reflected on later when conducting the performance review, preventing the halo or recency effect,” Taylor explained.

With over 300 performance reviews to manage each year and a staff of ONE in the HR Department, Taylor can speak first-hand to the process benefits of the new system.

“The greatest benefits we have noticed are speed and convenience. Managers have everything in one place. They are able to stop and start the process at any time. The

reminders feature allows managers to set it and forget it,” said Taylor.

Another significant benefit identified by Taylor and her team is the flexibility that technology like Performance++ provides. “We love the ability to tweak the process each year to continue to improve. We already have some ideas for some changes we want to make to enhance for our next review period.” Unlike a traditional process, Performance++ was designed for fine tuning down to the job title level to ensure you are measuring what you manage.

Large or small, if your club is seeking to improve your performance management you should consider HR technology like Team Builder and Performance++ by Paisano Performance Partners. B R John Finley, CCM is the managing partner at Paisano Performance Partners. John can be reached at 214 794-5913 or jfinley@ paisanoperformance.com to learn more about how clubs are utilizing technology to improve their HR process.

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Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Melissa Peterson, myDirectVote Account Manager

Online Voting Platform is the “Right Fit” Mission Viejo Country Club, a private equity club founded in 1967, is a long-time client of Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) and very experienced using the myDirectVote self-administered election platform.

Prior to working with SBS, Mission Viejo would mail ballots to every member.

They decided a solution was needed to increase voter turnout when some years quorum wouldn’t be reached until dangerously close to the election close date. It was decided that myDirectVote’s online voting platform was the right fit for their election needs.

In the first years of the new election process, roughly 20 percent of votes were cast online; that number is now around 50 percent. This change has led to an increased turnout and quorum being reached earlier, a huge relief for administrators. To ensure all voters can vote with their preferred method, Mission Viejo also provides the option to vote either by the traditional paper method or online via myDirectVote. No longer must they rely on members mailing or physically bringing their ballots back to the club.

An advantage of online voting with myDirectVote is that it allows for immediate communication and promotion. Mission Viejo has set a comprehensive communications schedule that ensures the outreach is consistent – every week during the

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election period, members receive a reminder email as well as a notice in every newsletter. This strategy enables them to add in new reminders to bump response rates and gives the members consistent timing for messages they receive.

Online voting is an option for voters that should only grow in popularity. One thing that won’t be changing is their online voting platform. According to Shannon Brennan, membership sales & communications director, “We will always have an electronic vote from now on. This is the standard.” B R Survey & Ballot Systems takes the guesswork out of the voting process, making it simple for clubs to hold efficient, effective elections that are designed to increase voter turnout, reduce time spent and save money.

BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE | TAI Club Management

By Michael Talbot

What Makes TAI Unique In Today’s Club Industry?

Most of the national vendors have good products. We all have the same access to technology, we all have similar modules and functionality. While there are differences in how our applications function, it is more important to understand that TAI differs on our philosophy of what a club management vendor should provide for our clients, prospects and the industry.

Matching a vendor’s philosophy to your needs is the key and it should be a lot easier than it is. A strong indicator can be found by doing a little research to determine if a vendor is focused on the industry or on its stockholders and then decide if that philosophy is acceptable to your goals. For many clubs any system can and will work; for clubs that need flexibility, support, personal attentions then TAI shares that philosophy. A manager of a well-known club made the comment that TAI adapts to work the way the club works where other vendors make you adapt to their way.

As strange as this sounds TAI’s mission is not to sell systems, rather we excel in providing a solution. We begin by consulting, asking questions and understanding your point of view so when you ask if our solution can accomplish a certain task we are answering it from your point of view and not from a selfish sales perspective. There is

more, our entire staff are seasoned club professionals, so the install process is not a drop and go but a continuation of the consultative process to educate, learn and support.

In closing, I cannot resist having fun with my fellow competitors. When your primary focus is on marketing sometimes there is a tendency to embellish reality.

One competitor boasts on their website that they were the first with 24/7 non-beeper support; TAI bested that by 10 years. Another announced that they were the first with pay-at-the-table, but they were second behind TAI. Frankly, being first doesn’t matter because in most cases ‘first’ is fleeting and only a marketing term at best. At TAI we are proud to have a lot of ‘firsts’ but our only accomplishments worth noting is the respect of our clients. B R

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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Country Club Technology Partners | BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

By Noel Wixsom

What Does a Good Security Camera System Look Like?

Most private clubs have security cameras – commonly 20-30, but many have more than 60. They are usually older systems desperately in need of updating.

What’s a good private club security camera system setup? Private clubs have four major IT technology platforms.

1. Data (payroll, email, club management software, Word, Excel, and other applications) 2. Phones 3. Wi-Fi (member, guest, and admin Wi-Fi) 4. Security cameras Each system requires cabling and support. Numerous IT vendors can support the first three platforms, but it’s rare that any one vendor can support all four.

New security camera systems are based on internet protocol (IP) standards, which are also common in data, phone, and Wi-Fi systems.

All four major IT platforms are converging to IP protocol. This is great, but it antiquates older analog cameras running on coax cabling.

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contact: noel@cctechplan.com

Why are older coax analog cameras bad? The biggest issue with older coax analog cameras is a lack of clarity because of low resolution, which can leave doubt during investigations. If images are unclear, it’s hard to determine what actually happened.

Coax systems also use proprietary products, so they’re not interchangeable. Honeywell digital video recorders (DVRs) won’t work with Pelco DVRs, so the investment in the coax analog cameras systems is property wide. Clubs can’t easily replace a broken Honeywell DVR with another brand’s product. The combination of low resolution and proprietary products outdates the security camera platform.

How does a club convert to an IP security camera system? There are two major factors to consider.

1. It’s not easy.

2. It generally takes several years.

The good news is you can often leverage the investment in coax cabling and analog cameras. You can convert the coax cameras to an IP security camera platform. This is a stopgap.

Most clubs won’t have $75,000 to replace an outdated security camera system all at once. But by strategically replacing cameras and cabling at $10,000 to $15,000 a year over three to four years, you can “step” your way into the IP security platform. Each step builds on those taken earlier. This takes time, but the right plan leaves you with an effective system. Numerous clubs have done this.

What does a good IP security camera system look like? An IP-based security camera system has several attributes.

• One-time licensing costs. Avoid IP security camera software with annual fees. There are several solid IP security camera software vendors offering one-time license fees, saving the club thousands of dollars over five to 10 years.

• Open architecture. Use IP security software that runs with Microsoft operating systems and Dell, HP, or IBM hardware. The club can then easily change hardware or software vendors or mix and match cameras. Sony cameras can watch the parking lots while Bosch cameras view the dumpster and kitchen receiving areas. Open architecture lets the club use best-in-breed solutions to create the optimal security camera platform.

• Built-in analytics. Use cameras with analytics built right in. Analytics enhance investigations. You can do keyword searches, for example.

Looking for a person wearing a blue sweater in a specified time period?

Type the key words “blue sweater” to see the movements of everyone wearing blue sweaters. Analytics is a key component of the system.

• High-resolution cameras. The higher the megapixels (MP), the higher the resolution. IP cameras come in three, five, seven, nine and 10 MP. Clubs generally use five MP for the base camera. ➤

BOARDROOM TECHNOLOGY FEATURE | Club Management Technology

By Bill Gatz

Technology With Complete Integration Club Management Technologies (Club M Tech) established in 2017 and based in Southampton, New York has added 32 clients to its software platform in less than two years.

Club M Tech is a comprehensive, cloud-based membership software program that integrates all business operational systems under one platform.

Our enterprise resource planning (ERP) software enhances the membership portal to drive more revenue to the bottom line. Club M Tech is able to track membership activity from F&B, to retail, to spa time, to tee times, to court times, to dining reservations, as well as membership dues.

Club M Tech’s comprehensive accounting, inventory, and membership billing programs can be accessed though our cloud -based system anytime and from anywhere.

Club M Tech makes use of a single-data base, which gives you access to a complete integration for POS, accounting, inventory, member billing, website and mobile platforms.

With our web-based system you have flexibility to customize your internal reports, external reports, your input screens, as well as your membership billing requests.

Club M Tech allows users the ability to access their data from different devices as well as different browsers no matter where you are.

To learn more about our software or to schedule a demo you can call us at 1.833.4CLUBMT (25-8268) or reach us by email at info@clubmtech.com B R

• Built-in infrared. Infrared (IR) cameras yield good clarity in poorly lit areas and at night, so you can see events in your maintenance facility at 3 a.m. as clearly as those at 3 p.m.

The combination of one-time license costs, open architecture and high resolution five MP IP cameras with built-in analytics and infrared should be the cornerstone of every private club’s security camera system. There are many ways to set up and maintain security camera systems, but a good private club security camera system will include at least several of these attributes. BR

We take care of the software. Simple.

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A cloud based club membership enterprise resource planning software program. ClubMTeCh is a management tool integrating all business operational systems under one comprehensive platform. ClubMTeCh solution enhances the membership portal to drive more revenue to the bottom line.

A single solution that includes: • Accounting • Catering • Invoice & Document • Tee & Court Sheet Management • Shop Inventory • Terminal & Tablet POS • Communications • Website & Mobile • Tee, Court, Tournament, • Timekeeping & Dining Reservations www.ClubMtech.com info@ClubMtech.com

Contact us at:

1-833-4CLUBMT (1-833-425-8268)

Noel Wixsom is founder of Country Club Technology Partners (CC Tech); contact him at noel@cctechplan.com or 510-589-4512.

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BILL BOOTHE

TECHNOLOGY PERSPECTIVE

Bill Boothe is president and owner of The Boothe Group, LLC, an independent consulting firm that helps clubs understand computer technology, make good decisions and receive the highest value from their technology investment. During his 30 years in the club industry Bill has assisted more than 400 private clubs with the planning, evaluation, selection and implementation of computer technology in all facets of their operations. Bill can be reached at bboothe@boothegroup.com.

Tips on Negotiating Software Contracts After 30 years of consulting with more than 400 private clubs, when it comes to acquiring new software, we’ve learned a thing or two about keeping clubs out of hot water.

Doesn’t matter whether it’s enterprise software to run the entire club or a one-off application, the guidelines are pretty much the same. So, let’s get started with our tips.

1. (Almost) everything is negotiable – Start with that premise in mind. Don’t accept the “we use a standard contract that’s the same for every club” line – in most cases it’s not true.

2. How do we control support cost increases? – Easy, add language that caps annual increases to the COL (hard-nosed position) or the COL + X% (more reasonable position). Remember, if all goes well, you’ll be using the software for many years. So, controlling annual increases is much more important than getting one-time discounts on the acquisition cost.

3. What about software performance guarantees?

– Forget it. All vendors cover themselves with language that essentially says they will make a reasonable effort to resolve software glitches (whatever that means). A better way to gauge the reliability of the software is to check with other clubs using it. If they give it the thumbs up, you should be good to go.

4. How much training should we get? – Lots. For a club management suite, 10-20 days of onsite/online training, depending on the size and complexity of your club. Training days must not include converting the data from your old system or any configuration/ set-up time. Clubs have a tendency to go cheap on training to save money and it often comes back to bite them later. Buy lots of training. If you end up not using it all, the vendor should not charge you for the unused portion (get that in writing).

5. What about customizations? – Ugh, please try to avoid software customizations. In most cases you can make a simple procedure change to use the exiting features offered. Customizations are one of the biggest headaches clubs experience as they become “one-off” features for the vendor to support. Plus, in many cases this special programming ends up being

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6.

7.

8.

9.

wiped out with each new software update, only to be reloaded and wiped out again in a later update.

What software is included? – Make sure the contract lists each software module that you are expecting to receive. Don’t accept fuzzy descriptions such as “our club management suite” or “the reservations package.” Know exactly what you’re getting before you sign.

How should we handle the initial deposit and final payment? – Many vendors will ask for a 50 percent payment at contract signing and the other 50 percent “upon delivery.” That means you’ve paid 100 percent the day the software is installed on your club’s network server. With that arrangement, any financial leverage you might have goes out the window. Instead, negotiate to pay 25 percent up front, 25 percent upon delivery, 25 percent at go-live and 25 percent 90 days following go-live. Keep some financial leverage until you’ve been using the system for 90 days and have an idea of how well it is meeting your expectations.

Can I negotiate the contract jurisdiction to be my state? – Unlikely. Software vendors are generally not willing to open themselves up to litigation in multiple states. Plus, lawsuits against these vendors are virtually unheard of, since the contracts generally limit awards to less than what it would cost the club to litigate. A better method of protection is to check with other clubs that have purchased the solution(s) you are considering. If those clubs are happy, you probably will be too.

What if we’re not happy? – Make sure that you have an “out clause” that guarantees you can get your money back if you’re not satisfied after the system is up and running. Ask for at least 90 days from your go-live date to determine your satisfaction. BR

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BONNIE J. KNUTSON

MEMBERSHIP MUSINGS

Bonnie J. Knutson Ph.D. is a people watcher. A professor in The School of Hospitality Business, Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, Dr. Knutson is a member of the Country Club of Lansing and the Michigan Athletic Club. She can be reached via e-mail: drbonnie@msu.edu

Don’t Miss the Blockchain Train So, what does this brief history lesson have On March 7, 1876, the U.S. Patent Office issued Patent 174,468 to Alexanto do with your club? A lot. Because there is a der Graham Bell covering “the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting disruptive “new sheriff in town” and its name is vocal or other sounds telegraphically…”

Blockchain.

In other words, Bell patented what became known as the teleBlockchain is one of those business terms that phone. Three days later, Bell uttered his famous words, “Mr. Watson. many of us hear, but most of us are not sure what Come here. I want to see you.” into a liquid transmitter. Watson, it is or what it can do for clubs. Probably its most who was in an adjoining room, heard Bell’s summons clearly. recognized application is Bitcoin, which we basiThe telephone was more than an invention by a creative mind. It cally know as a digital or virtual form of currency was a disruptor. There is a difference between an invention and a (cryptocurrency) that enables instant payment. disruptor. Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen But how many members pay their bill with agrees.

Bitcoin? What about your vendors? What about In a Forbes article he says that “A disruptor uproots and changes your payroll? Bitcoin isn’t in the club wheelhow we think, behave, do business, learn, and go about our day-tohouse yet. It may be in the future, but the quesday…[and]…displaces an existing market, industry, or technology tion is how and when. and produces something new and more efficient and worthwhile.”

Being a relatively recent concept, Blockchain So impactful was Bell’s invention that, at the conclusion of his fudoesn’t yet have a clear and concise definition. neral, “Every phone on the continent of North America was silenced A commonly cited one comes from the Harvard in honor of the man who had given to mankind the means for direct Business Review: A Blockchain is “an open, communication at a distance.” Now that is a disruptor. distributed ledger that can record transactions

In 2018, $2.1 billion was spend on Blockchain solutions across the world, yet it is still in its infancy. Businesses across virtually every industry are beginning to explore and understand its potential. Nowhere is this truer than in the hospitality sector where it has untold possibilities, many of which we haven’t even though about...The Blockchain train is leaving the station. Don’t let your club be the caboose. Worse yet, don’t miss the train.

Each of us can probably list inventions that, to us, disrupted how humans do things. Wheel. Compass. Calendar. Clock. Refrigerator.

Electric bulb. Airplane. But, to me, the most disruptive inventions are those that change how we communicate with each other.

Cavemen had their photo-writing. The concept of a true written language is thought to have been developed in ancient Mesopotamia @ 3400-3300 BC. And although Johannes Gutenberg gets the credit for inventing the printing press, its genesis is considered to have originated in China since the oldest known printed text is a Buddhist book from Dunhuang, China, circa 868 A.D. Then there is Bell’s telephone, and the myriad scientists, programmers, engineers and visionary thinkers that gave us the internet.

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between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way.”

Hospitality consultant Paul West, calls Blockchain a distributed ledger network, adding that it has the potential to efficiently solve problems particularly related to data privacy security and information sharing.

He goes on to describe it as a data base of encrypted entries where each transaction is tracked as a common record to everyone on the network. I’ve also seen it called “a new internet

for the [hospitality] industry.” No matter how it is defined, the WITTY (What Is Important to You?) principle comes in to play for every club manager. In other words, what can Blockchain do for your club? Your members? Your staff?

Your brand? Your revenues?

To me, the key words here are efficiently, verifiable and permanent.

Simplistically, a Blockchain is comprised of a chain of blocks, each block being comprised of transactions that are grouped together based on some previously defined criteria. Once the transaction is entered in the block, it is timestamped and cannot be altered. Hence, Blockchain is seen as a secure and “single source of truth.” These blocks can then be linked together and mined for nuggets of valuable data to enhance the operation of your club.

The club industry is just beginning to discover Blockchain’s possibilities and there is one that rises to the top. That, of course, is a deeper understanding of your members engagement with and loyalty to your club. So, what does Blockchain have to do with loyalty engagement and loyalty? A lot.

It’s no secret that the more you understand your members, the more likely you can develop programs and offer services that increase their engagement and loyalty. This is an integral part of any club’s brand strategy and is not going away. The better news is that Blockchain can deepen your understanding.

Think, for example, how you could add partners to your Blockchain ecosystem, offering members additional en-

gagement options. Cleaners, auto services and even local artisans some to mind. Blockchain can also help you personalize communication with members, only sending them messages/offers that hit their hot buttons and won’t be immediately tossed, deleted, or recycled.

Application of this revolutionary technology in the club industry can be far broader than just membership, however. It is a natural for supply chain management (ask Walmart), analyzing competition, increasing revenue management (yes, the notion of demand pricing will eventually enter the club industry much like it has the airline and hotel sectors and is increasing in fine dining segment), market research and all-around more efficient and secure operation of your club.

In 2018, $2.1 billion was spend on Blockchain solutions across the world, yet it is still in its infancy. Businesses across virtually every industry are beginning to explore and understand its potential.

Nowhere is this truer than in the hospitality sector where it has untold possibilities, many of which we haven’t even though about. There are still questions to answer and challenges to overcome before it becomes another tool for club management. But it will. The Blockchain train is leaving the station. Don’t let your club be the caboose. Worse yet, don’t miss the train.

Your bottom line will thank you! B R

RAISING THE STANDARD TO

RAISE OUR GAME USPTA is the first and only USTA accredited tennis teaching professional organization.

Together, we will set a new standard of excellence and provide even more opportunities for those who teach tennis to grow and advance.

To learn more, go to usta.com/raisingstandards © 2019 USTA. All rights reserved.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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LARRY GILHULY Larry Gilhuly, agronomist, west region of the USGA and can be reached via email: lgilhuly@USGA.org

GREEN COMMITTEE

The Right Speed Means Healthier Greens And Faster Pace of Play Special to BoardRoom magazine Larry Gilhuly, director for the northwest region of the USGA, has had a lot to say about finding the correct green speed for a healthy course. But beyond meeting that balance, it’s important to know how to talk to members about why that number is what it is.

Question: You have said that faster green speeds are not good for the golf industry. Why are you convinced of that?

Gilhuly: The most vocal folks in golf are single-digit handicappers, but only about five percent of the golfing public has a handicap of five or less.

These players are clamoring for green speeds adapted to their game and not for the general public.

The average male player’s handicap in the U.S. is around 15 – close to a bogey player. The average female player’s handicap is around 28 or 29 – close to a double bogey player.

When you look at average handicaps across the U.S., it’s pretty obvious that we aren’t a bunch of golf pros. So, we take those handicaps and playing abilities onto the greens.

The greatest challenge is getting those vocal, low-handicap golfers to understand that the business of golf isn’t for the five percent – it’s for the 95 percent that run the thing with their money. There has to be a compromise.

I don’t think the average player would enjoy playing in U.S. Open conditions.

Q: What factors should course superintendents emphasize with players?

Gilhuly: In many cases, we are playing on older courses that are not built for the kind of green speed that single-digit handicappers want. Some greens were designed in the 1930s for green speeds of six feet. Why are we running them at 12 or 13? It doesn’t make any sense. We are setting ourselves up for a problem with pace of play, health of the turf and all sorts of other negatives.

Q: What agronomic information can course superintendents share to help players or members become informed about managing green speed?

Gilhuly: Our criteria should be smoothness first, green speed second.

The architecture of an older course was never built for these kinds of speeds. From a purely agronomic standpoint, the mowing heights are too low, and it’s management-on-the-edge to meet these desired green speeds.

When you manage the green for speed, you minimize the number of hole locations, and the holes move toward the center where there’s more traffic.

That makes for weaker turf, and the Poa annua will come in. You will stress your greens more because you’ll mow lower and roll more often.

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Q: How can superintendents help players or members put green speed in the right perspective?

Gilhuly: Pace of play is a huge issue.

There is no question that greens ramped up for speed will take longer. It’s just a fact that you’ll have more putts, and it slows down the game when the greens play too fast.

We have three things in the game that we have to address: it’s too hard, it’s too expensive and it takes too long. Faster greens make golf harder, more expensive and slower. This is the exact opposite of what we should be doing.

Q: What advice do you have for course superintendents on how to shape realistic expectations about green speeds?

Gilhuly: Go online and use the educational materials that are available. Communicate in every form you can to help people understand that we can only take these greens so far. It’s an educational effort and there are a ton of online resources out there that can help you. Find them and reprint or share them. I think we can do an excellent job when we go face-to-face with onsite educational discussions.

Q: What mistakes do course superintendents make when communicating about green speeds?

Gilhuly: It can be a real balancing act.

If you say, “Okay, let’s do it,” you may be setting yourself up for potential turf loss in some climates. If you fight it too hard and take a stance that you’re not going to do it, you can jeopardize your job. BR

DAVE DOHERTY Dave Doherty is president/CEO and founder of the International Sports Turf Research Center, Inc. (ISTRC) and holds three patents regarding the testing of sand and soil-based greens. He can be reached at (913) 706-6635 or via email: daveistrc@hotmail.com

GREEN COMMITTEE

Tale of Two Courses

Greens Rebuild and Regrassing More and more we here at the International be checked and repaired where necessary after the existing turf had been Sports Turf Research Center are being asked by removed and the greens gassed.

Phase 3: Locating and checking the drain tiles. Three weeks after removgolf courses for information about the physiing the old turf the drains had been located checked and repaired using cal properties of their existing greens. a plumber’s snake, a metal detector and two strong men with shovels.

The information is needed to allow the With ground penetrating radar and camera snakes the task of finding and golf course management team or owner to checking drain tiles is much more efficient today than it was in past. make the proper decision when rebuilding Phase 4: Seeding and grow in. or simply regrassing.

Phase 5: The verdict after four years of play is that the project was a huge success from the players standpoint and the greens are some of the THE WC PROJECT best in the Midwest. From a financial standpoint the club saved around A few years ago, a private course in the $700,000 by not completely rebuilding. By using existing technology and Midwest needed some answers about their some common sense everyone was a winner. options in updating the putting surfaces of their 30-plus year-old course. Members THE LG PROJECT wanted to go to one of the newer varieties The LG project offered an entirely different set of circumstances. The of bent grass now on the market. greens, at the six-year-old course, had never been right from the very bePhase 1: A complete physical analysis of ginning. Some areas of some of the greens were weak in the same locations the greens physical properties and an inch year after year and in most cases needed yearly resodding. by inch analysis of the sand in the greens, After completing a study of the physical properties of the greens, as well as well as an inch by inch analysis of the as an inch by inch analysis of the sand and organic matter, it was deterorganic matter provided evidence that the mined that there was nothing wrong with the greens mix and in fact on a existing material could work very well with scale of one to 10, it would rate around an eight. Sun and air movement on any of the new grasses … with a few modifithe greens was excellent. cations to the existing root zone material.

The next step was to check what was underneath the greens mix … in The organic matter contained in the top other words the gravel and drain tiles. I have learned over the years that two inches was way too high and needed if the problem is not coming from up above and it is not disease or insects to be diluted. Lab testing and simulation of than it must be coming from down below. the existing material in the greens showed On-site testing of the gravel layer and drains showed that the gravel surus that by tilling the existing greens materounding the tiles had solidified and had turned to a concrete like material rial to a depth of 6 inches we would be able and would not allow water to enter the drain tiles. The decision was made to redistribute the amount of organic mato take everything out including the drain tiles and completely rebuild all of terial in the top two inches into a homogthe greens. enous material that would indeed support By implementing solutions based on science and the best technology any of the new grasses. available, both courses were able to move forward in an intelligent and Phase 2: Were the 30-year-old drain appropriate manner – different courses and different solutions to achieve tiles working or had they been comprosuperior playing conditions. B R mised over the years was the next question that had to be answered. Evidence pointed to the drains being compromised. The assumption was that they would need to SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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LARRY HIRSH

GREEN COMMITTEE

Larry Hirsh, CRE, MAI, SGA, FRICS is the president of Golf Property Analysts (www.golfprop.com), a leading golf and club property consulting, appraisal and brokerage firm based in Philadelphia. He blogs on variety of club and appraisal issues at http://blog.golfprop.com

Can a Drone Make Golf Course Maintenance More Efficient?

Technology firms seeking to introduce their products to the golf course industry have a challenge in bringing tech to one of the oldest – and most traditional – sports being played today.

A typical approach to a cash flow-sensitive client is to sell products and services that deliver cost savings. But to a golf course superintendent, one needs not only to appeal to the cost side of the equation, but also the impact on their most limited resource – time.

Unmanned aerial systems, more commonly known as drones or UASs are being used by nearly every industry from farming to construction, movies, and real estate, with no signs of slowing down. However, drones in the golf industry are just beginning to gain traction. A new service called GreenLinkTM, aims to free up the resource that superintendents need most – time!

We’ve been using a drone for better perspective in photographing our subject properties for about a year. The commercial use of a drone requires a FAA “Part 107” license to ensure legal and safe operation, which involves some aeronautical education and passing an FAA administered exam.

Applying tried and true methods used in agricultural applications, drone services have developed a host of specialized golf course services that range from marketing to maintenance. Most notably, GreenLink TM greens management service provides near real-time analysis of the health of every green multiple times per day and delivers a report electronically, directly to the smartphone of the superintendent and anyone else on their team so authorized.

A drone can not only monitor greens faster than anyone on a Gator, but by using sophisticated multi-spectral cameras can measure turf health with substantially higher fidelity than even the most accurate, traditional methods.

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GreenLinkTM technology combines normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a precision agriculture method, which exploits data from the non-visible infrared light spectrum with CDS’ proprietary processing systems tailored to the unique characteristics of each client’s facility, to deliver turf health reports minutes after being collected.

This not only frees time for the entire maintenance team by informing them exactly where the greens need attention but has a beneficial trickle-down effect on expendable resources such as water, seeding, pesticides and their associated labor.

THE ECONOMICS The first question is, how much time does a crew member spend on each green during a spot inspection, followed by how many inspections do they do per day, and at what hourly rate?

Assuming 5-10 min per inspection per green and a minimum of two per day, that’s between 90-180 labor-hours per month. At a high-end club, inspections likely occur more frequently than twice daily, and at a club with a smaller staff, the person inspecting might be an assistant superintendent given that the field techs might not be skilled enough.

Using a drone reduces the same inspection time to 30 man-hours per month (30 min/inspection, two/day, 30 days), and that person could be doing other tasks during most of that time. This also does not account for transit time, which varies from course to course.

Consumables are the next potential savings area.

Since an NDVI report is so accurate, it’s possible that the course would require less or more application of consumables in their pursuit of perfect greens. With the former, savings will be achieved but not precisely quantified.

In the latter, it provides a better-quality product and eliminates the possibility that the course will lose revenue because of poor playing conditions (obviously more critical to a limited revenue facility as opposed to an upscale club). The equivalent value of never losing revenue because of conditions will be different for every course, but nonetheless is of great value.

Ultimately, using NDVI ensures golf courses only use the resources needed to maintain the desired conditions. A course that is struggling will know ex➤

STEVE SCHENDEL Steve Schendel is vice president/agronomist with Golf Maintenance Solutions.

He can be reached at (630) 220-5977 or via email steve.s@golfmsolutions.com

GREEN COMMITTEE

Evolving Maintenance Standards • Achievable – The maintenance standards we create are achievable, but As new technologies impact our golf course maintenance operations, it’s important to often under perfect circumstances (fully staffed team, equipment operating evaluate our maintenance standards and ad- properly, based on a defined budget at the beginning of the year, etc.). Taking this into consideration, it is not uncommon to see maintenance standards that just them often. are not being met (equipment failure, lack of labor, financial challenges / budGolf course conditions and a consistent get cuts). product start with well-defined and realistic • Relevant (realistic) – Going back to achievable, how realistic are some of maintenance standards. This isn’t a new con- the maintenance standards? Are you adjusting the standards throughout the cept but is often one that seems to stay rela- year to keep your goals relevant and achievable as your facility evolves? This tively stagnant at many clubs. is where many courses have opportunities for great success. Very often we Maintenance standards are essentially “stick to our guns” and want the same product produced even though there goals. Most of us are familiar with SMART may be a shortage of key resources. goals and how important they are in achiev• Time-bound – Our maintenance standards often have specific times asing success. As a quick recap, SMART goals sociated with them. We know how long it takes to do specific tasks and the are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relimportance of providing a quality product ahead of play to insure a good golf evant and Time-bound. Let’s look at this a experience. We also consistently look for more efficient maintenance stanlittle more in depth. dards.

• Specific – I would say most maintenance There is no doubt you can interchange the words “maintenance standards” standards are very specific and define clear with the word “goals.” In order to successfully achieve these goals, we need to objectives. Each year we see superintendents make sure that all areas of SMART goals are taking place. meet with the green committee or others Maintenance standards are often created to compete with other golf courses to define these standards. Examples of this in our specific markets. Are these always realistic (relevant)? Are they achievinclude detailed mowing heights and frequen- able based on the current status of our club? This does not mean we have to cies of certain tasks. re-invent the wheel every month, but we should take a hard look at our main• Measurable – Our maintenance stantenance standards and where we can continue to tweak them for a consistent dards are easy to measure. We can measure golfing experience while continuing to gain efficiencies. greens’ speed; we can observe mowing freNew technologies can have a positive impact in providing consistent maintequencies and equipment technicians check nance standards. As technology continues to rapidly impact the golf industry, mowing heights frequently to measure our look at new ways of achieving your standards and also change your standards standards. frequently and adjust them as needed to ensure success at your facilities. BR actly where to put their resources to make improvements, and a course that has perfect conditions will be able to accomplish the same results with fewer resources, labor and consumables.

GreenLink’s companion service, TurfLink, uses similar technology but for the fairways and periphery turf off the green.

For TurfLink, the ROI also depends on how well the course manages consumables. The benchmark is applying precision agriculture numbers.

Farms regularly see as high as a 30 percent reduction in consumable resources using NDVI techniques, which is well established. In the past, NDVI data was received via satellite at a tremendous expense, however by using drones at a fraction of the cost, farms are now able to achieve an impressive ROI. It’s harder to calculate this on a golf course, but invariably

every course uses more resources than needed on fairways to ensure high quality conditions, simply because it’s easier to just add more with little downsides (unlike on the greens).

It’s important to note that GreenLink and TurfLink are not intended to replace the intimate and valuable knowledge a superintendent has with their course. In fact, quite the opposite is true as these services leverage superintendents’ expertise, allowing them to do more course management with fewer resources across the board. It also provides maximum flexibility and efficiency for a course maintenance team.

Thanks to these revolutionary new services, golf course facilities can have all the available information they need to meet their condition goals, and the days of the superintendent being tethered to the course during the playing season are over! BR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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LISA CARROLL

HOUSE COMMITTEE

Lisa Carroll is a search executive and consultant with Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace, LLC, a consulting firm providing executive search, strategic planning and data analysis services to the private club industry. She specializes in executive chef searches. Lisa can be contacted at (561) 596-1123 and at lisa@kkandw.com.

The Value of Culinary Competitions to Your Club One of the things I love to see on a chef’s resume is a list of current culinary competitions. Why? There are so many benefits to encouraging and supporting your culinary team to compete locally, regionally and nationally, and if you think about it, no other department at the club has this opportunity.

Why are competitions so important to your culinary staff, the rest of your team, your members and your club? Read on.

Some benefits of participating in culinary competitions include: • Keeping on top of culinary trends • Promoting creativity • Enhancing cooking skills • Practicing flexibility and thinking on your feet • Exciting and motivating the whole team, even if only one person on the team is competing • Learning good sportsmanship • Building teamwork skills • Building confidence • Learning humility • Networking with other chefs • Practicing and honing self-discipline • Promoting exposure for the club (Great for recruiting).

What competitions are available? Locally, many ACF chapters promote competitions; some at every meeting. Also, vendors and charity events hold competitions and some CMAA chapters have held team competition events between clubs (each cooking team comprised of a chef, GM and controller, for example). Some clubs have member events in which sous chefs and cooks compete and members vote on the winning chef or the winning dish.

TOP ROW L-R: GEOFFREY LANEZ, CEC; KELSEE NEWMAN, CEPC; JESUS OLMEDO MIDDLE ROW L-R: MARC TY; TIM RECHER, CEC; GERALD FORD, CMC BOTTOM ROW L-R: KEVIN STORM, CEC; LISA CARROLL; PAUL KAMPFF, CEC; VANESSA MARQUIS, CEC 92

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Perhaps the ultimate in culinary competition is competing internationally as part of ACF Culinary Team USA – a team of seven chefs who practice and compete together for four years and represent the U.S. on a global stage. Team USA showcases American chefs, cuisine and products to the world.

Team USA team members include Gerald Ford, CMC (team captain and executive chef at The Ford Plantation), Paul Kampff, CEC, (executive chef at St. Louis Country Club), Kelsee Newman, CEPC (instructor at Midwest Culinary Institute), Geoffrey Lanez, CEC (executive chef at The Patterson Club), Vanessa Marquis, CEC (executive chef at Silo Event Center), Jesus Olmedo, (assistant banquet chef at The Country Club), and Timothy Recher, CEC (director of operations at Quail West Golf & Country Club).

In addition, Reimund Pitz, CEC (chef/owner of Le Coq au Vin in Orlando) is the team manager and Kevin Storm CEC is the assistant team manager (executive chef at Bellerive Country Club).

Recently at a dinner at Le Coq au Vin that Team USA created and prepared, I talked with some of the team members about the benefits of culinary competitions.

Tim Recher: “I originally entered a competition because it looked like fun. I would definitely consider myself a competitive person and I really enjoy the challenge of it, but when I finished that first competition, I realized how much I had learned. I was easily a much better cook from the experience. The process of developing my dish, planning it, practicing it and focusing on doing things exactly right forced me to get better in a way that would never have happened at work. This doesn’t even take into account the critique!

It was like graduate school for cooks. The attention to details, focus on every single action and what you could have done better; it was and continues to be an unparalleled education.”

Jesus Olmedo: “Being involved in culinary competitions has truly made an impact on my professional and personal life for the better. There are so many great benefits from competition but, when all is said and done, it has done three major things for me. It has trained me to become more detailed-oriented, it has taught me the importance of networking and carrying yourself as a professional at all times, and it

has shown me what is possible if you dedicate the time and energy to your craft.”

Both team members also shared their thoughts on the impact that competing has on their clubs.

Olmedo: “If I am working towards and developing an hor’s d’oeuvre or a specific dish for the Culinary Olympic Team, I will try to include it as much as possible on wine dinner and private party menus. I think it is a great opportunity to show your membership food that is innovative and creative. This creates excitement at the table when you tell them it is something special that you are preparing for a culinary competition of any degree.”

Recher: “Not only am I getting better, but the teamwork aspect has direct benefits to my club, kitchen and membership.

No chef works alone, and you cannot be successful unless you are able to get the best out of yourself and the people next to you. There is no better way for a chef to improve those skills than in a kitchen, in a team environment. All these hard-earned skills come back to my club. I hope that, at the very least, I am setting an example of professionalism, drive, and discipline that translates into all parts of life. The people around me can see directly what I learn and how the growth has pushed me and that constantly improves our operations.”

I also asked both Recher and Olmedo about the benefits of competing with Team USA. Recher: “It would be hard to quantify all the benefits I have already received, and we haven’t even gone to the big one yet!

Focusing on training for the try outs, managing time to get

solid practice time and still be a husband, father, and executive chef to my club were all part of the intangible growth that happened just getting to the team. The ability to take what you did, listen to the critique and then get better; the humility of that and how you have to be humble in learning makes me better at all aspects of life. The focus on what we are doing; the constant critique of and with each other, and the learning from every chef, advisor, and coach are absolutely amazing.

I can think of no other place to gain this kind of knowledge.

And all those lessons come straight back to my club and to our staff.”

Olmedo: “There is a certain sense of responsibility that comes with the Team USA member title. We have a duty to represent our country at the highest level in the culinary arena. As a part of the team we must be leaders within the industry and set an example for those to follow. As we grow, we must also mentor and share that knowledge with our staff and colleagues. It has shown me the level of refinement and commitment required to compete amongst the best of the best in the world.”

Team USA is preparing for its “once in a lifetime opportunity” to compete at the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA) also known as the “Culinary Olympics” in Stuttgart, Germany in February 2020 (an event that takes place every four years).

They can use your financial support to assist with the high costs of travel, practice location rental, etc. To donate visit: www.acfchefs.org/ACFSource/Team/Donations.aspx BR

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BoardRoom Institute is brought to you by APCD. For more information please visit apcd.com or call 918-895-APCD (2723) to speak with a representative.

JEFFREY DRIMEL

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jeffrey “JD” Drimel is the PGA Career Services Consultant serving the Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska Sections. He can be reached at; jdrimel@pgahq.com or (561) 386-7715.

What a Difference One PGA Professional Can Make!

We’ve all heard the phrase, “What a difference a day makes!” I would propose a play on the words to, “What a difference a PGA Professional can make!”

PGA Professional Sonya Freese has done just that after a single year at Hillcrest Country Club in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Elected to PGA Membership in 2013, Sonya is a self-proclaimed “country girl” from Plymouth, Nebraska. Sonya picked up the game as a high school freshman, as a selftaught player hitting golf balls into their family farm corn and bean fields. Her short game area practice included hitting into their barn or having her brother catch the golf balls with a baseball mitt.

Sonya worked her way to PGA membership at Beatrice Country Club through high school and college, as well as spending most of her work, 15 years at Firethorn Golf Club as the merchandise manager, associate golf professional, co-head professional and ultimately the PGA Head Golf Professional.

Some of her highlights along the way include qualifying for the 2005 REMAX Long Drive Championships, her position as head girl’s golf coach at Lincoln Lutheran High School and PGA Assistant Professional of the Year, Nebraska Section, in 2013. In 2018, Hillcrest Country Club General Manager Zach Tyson contacted Sonya with an opportunity that has proven to be a huge success. Although things at Hillcrest were great, the club felt it could truly benefit by hiring a female PGA Professional.

“When I was looking for a third Professional, three club members told me about ‘needing’ to get Sonya Freese. It was clear within 30 seconds of our interview Sonya would be a perfect fit. Her fun, friendly personality is just what we need on the front lines of our golf department,” explained GM Tyson.

A perfect fit she would certainly be! “Sonya Freese is an exceptional PGA Professional and quite frankly, the missing piece to Hillcrest Country Club. Her professionalism and infectious personality have brought additional energy to all aspects of the club that has a mission statement that includes being a premier family club,” said David Honnens, executive director of the Nebraska Section of the PGA of America The ladies and junior golf programs have been a point of focus for Sonya. Her experience in leading golf leagues, fun events, clinics, tournaments and teaching the game to new golfers, just to name a few, resulted in additional players at the club.

“The key is to keep it fun!” says Sonya. “We do traditional events at the club, but we also invite people, who are less familiar or uncomfortable with these events, to join us for the non-traditional events such as Wine & Nine, TOPGOLF night, and others.”

One such example of a non-traditional event is the junior nine-hole scramble in which over 30 juniors invited friends for golf and pool party. Other junior golf ideas include: a junior member guest day, separating junior golf into two days, one for player development and another for an introduction to the game, and other fun programming.

The ladies enjoy added programming including an informal Tuesday night league and ladies monthly stagette. “I love the history and nostalgia this club offers but our team is always looking to try new formats and programs,” she added.

Sonya’s efforts are appreciated by other team members including Mike Brown, PGA Director of Golf at Hillcrest Country Club, who stated, “I am reminded daily of the positive impact Sonya has made at Hillcrest. Her ‘can-do’ attitude and genuine care for our member families and fellow co-workers is on display each day. It is impossible to be in 96

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SONYA FREESE, PGA TEACHING PROFESSIONAL, HILLCREST COUNTRY CLUB, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA

her presence and not come away in a better mood.”

In Sonya’s first year at Hillcrest, the club had historic growth in membership adding 35 golfing families, plus 28 new social memberships, totaling 63 new families who have joined the Hillcrest community!

Sonya mentioned, “I learned quickly that Hillcrest was something special.

I’m truly blessed to be part of such a special team that believes in me, allows me to grow and works together for the betterment of the club,“ Sonya commented.

“Our management team is always trying new things…there is nothing that cannot be accomplished when you are able to follow your heart and do what you love!”

Outstanding, professional, specialist, amazing, infectious personality, integrity, role model and unique are all qualities mentioned when discussing Sonya Freese with her friends, her fellow professionals and anyone with whom she comes in contact. B R

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JERRY MCCOY

WINNING STRATEGIES

Jerry N. McCoy, MCM, is the President of Clubwise, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, master planning, operational audits and governance issues. Jerry received the Lifetime Achievement Award for BoardRoom Magazine in 2018. He can be reached at www.clubwiseconsulting.com or CMAAMCM@msn.com

Why Were You FIRED? Advice from an Expert

Have you ever been fired? I have! That’s not uncommon in our industry.

Of course, there are individuals that are intelligent, handsome and charming and always seem to be on top of the world career wise.

There are also clubs where no one can be successful. You just took the job for the combat pay. Unfortunately, there is just too much forced turnover in the club industry to be healthy.

To avoid being a casualty, it is critical for the board and management to be on the same page about what the club is, where it is going and what the expectations are on how best to get there. As managers, sometimes we make assumptions that we are doing what is expected. Unfortunately, many times these assumptions just aren’t valid.

Here’s a 10-point checklist – a relationship checklist – you can develop to address the leadership’s expectations of your performance.

By everyone having a clear understanding of what your relationship is, many misunderstandings can be prevented. It may just save your job someday. Obviously any manager taking a new job should implement the checklist. But even more importantly, managers with some tenure should also put it into practice. This may expose festering problems that can be addressed before you become the next casualty.

1. Verify the club mission, vision and any existing goals and objectives. Everyone needs to be on the same page with the mission and vision. Decisions need to be tested as to whether they are enhancing the overall mission and moving the club closer to successfully fulfilling the vision.

2. Complete your ethics and honesty statement. Normally there’s an expectation with all parties that you are going to be honest and fair with your employees. However, there are some gray areas where you may think something is okay when others look down on your actions.

3. Be sure your job description has a detailed list of your roles and responsibilities. Expectations must be based on concrete information that can be measured. Most measuring is objective, but some must be subjective. To that end all parties must have an opportunity to weigh in on how effective you are in fulfilling your duties.

4. Define your communication strategy. Make sure the methods and timing of communications is agreeable to all parties. Many times managers think they are communicating 98

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but unfortunately the board, staff and general membership have other ideas. Make sure everyone knows what they can expect from you.

5. Identify what is the status of the sustained club culture and tone. Club culture can be a funny thing. You don’t even know what is sacrosanct. Often managers want to make changes to improve the overall experience, but they run into roadblocks. You need to know what is important and be careful to honor the tradition. However, there are some times when you need to fight to change the tradition. Just be sure you are on solid ground.

6. Be sure all parties are willing to honor the governance / management line. The worst thing that can happen is when the board or committees get too far into operations. We all know that. It’s also a mistake not to keep the leaders up to date on issues regarding day-to-day operating goals and objectives.

Keep everyone in the loop so you don’t get blindsided.

7. Establish the performance standards and then manage them. It’s great to have standards of expectation or plans to promote. However, the worst thing you can do is establish all these standards and then not follow through and hold everyone accountable. Being fair and leading by example is very important.

8. Make sure there are adequate resources to accomplish your goals and objectives. Normally resources are finite and not unlimited. Therefore, the effective prioritization of those resources, whether they be monetary or human resources, is very important for progress to result.

9. Matters of substance should always be in writing. Your system of documentation makes a statement about who you are. If done correctly it also builds trust with all the individuals and groups that you deal with as a leader.

10. Insure both you and the board have a clear understanding of the definition and expectation of your leadership role. Many times not all board members agree with what your leadership role is and how it intersects with the board’s role. It is important to define those expectations with all parties.

Once the checklist is completed, it’s time to pull all the documentation together. Provide it to the board for board members’ review. Let each board member evaluate you individually on the 10 areas. Sometimes just the executive committee will do this evaluation.

If an answer is on the ineffective side, have them discuss SEE WINNING STRATEGIES | 129

NANCY BERKLEY Nancy Berkley is an expert on women’s golf and junior girls golf in the U.S. Nancy is a member of the World Golf Foundation Women’s Committee, and a member of the National Golf Foundation. Nancy is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Harvard University, Rutgers Law School and has a degree from the Professional Management Program of Harvard Business School. After retiring from careers in law and business, she decided to write about the sport she enjoys and offered programs for golf organizations about how to make the game more attractive for women and girls. She shares news about women’s golf – along with her opinions on www. nancyberkleygolf.com. Nancy is a member of Frenchman’s Creek Beach & Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

NANCY’S CORNER

Do You Have a Great Locker Room for Women?

The women’s locker room of a golf club reflects the club’s personality and priorities.

It should be welcoming, informative and a place to meet other members. But because decorators and designers are not generally golfers, locker rooms may look beautiful but lack the personality and essential services that today’s women golfers require and appreciate.

It’s also important to recognize that the golf industry wants and needs younger members.

My advice begins with my favorite story of an extremely prestigious and historic golf club many years ago. As a visiting member of a corporate group and the only woman golfer, I finally found the women’s locker room.

I asked a member where I might find a guest locker to use. She pointed me to one and said, “Use this.”

“But it has a woman’s name already on it,” I replied. “Oh, she’s been dead for years.

We never change the names,” the member added. I knew this was a traditional club and checked the length of my golf skort. A locker room should always reinforce the tone and marketing image of the club.

My second favorite story is from my former golf club in New Jersey. The metal full-length women’s lockers were probably the original lockers installed decades earlier.

As golf chair, I dreamed up a way to use those “old” metal lockers. Every-time a woman earned a “birdie” on the golf course during women’s tournaments, she received a two-inch round “birdie magnet” with the year and number of the hole she birdied.

The magnet stuck perfectly to the old metal locker door. Members loved them! Eventually, the club renovated the lockers and selected updated beautiful new wooden lockers. The birdie magnets no longer worked! And, we had to find a new way to acknowledge the achievements of our women golfers.

More recent club designs are positioning women and men’s locker rooms close to fitness centers and ideally not far from the pro shop and golf courses. But regardless of location, a great women’s locker room should offer the following: Bulletin boards: The boards should be in prominent positions so members can’t miss seeing them. Information to include: • The club’s women’s tournament schedule • Notice and information about upcoming tournaments and sign up information • Winners of recent tournaments with pictures of the winners • Golf rule of the week or month • Welcome to new members with photo and short bio • Fun photos – candid photos are great.

• LPGA Tour and PGA Tour dates and local television coverage.

Lockers with a flat area on front for notices: Whether it’s a “congratulations” for a tournament victory or a “welcome” sign for a guest, the front panel of lockers is great space.

Decorators love to show un-cluttered and sleek locker rooms, but women golfers love information. Find the compromise.

Mirrors in several places: Small mirrors, ideally with a counter below and full-length mirrors Make-up areas with hair dryers and a great variety of new make-up samples and hair-styling products. Small samples of new products don’t cost much money, but women love to try them out.

Your club will not be lacking for volunteers to select products. A good friend boasted about her club’s locker room with this message: “I don’t have to bring a thing with me… it’s all there.”

Television(s) – Ideally with a seating area.

NANCY BERKLEY AND SUZY WHALEY, PRESIDENT, PGA OF AMERICA. NANCY AND SUZY BECAME FRIENDS MANY YEARS AGO AS SUZY MADE NEWS AS THE FIRST WOMAN TO PLAY IN A PGA OF AMERICA TOURNAMENT.

Attendants to clean shoes (promptly as possible) and a supply of bandages and common medicines.

Computer area with charging stations for cell phones.

Telephone room – private. The number of working women playing golf is increasing as are golfers with young children. They need to check messages. An area where private calls can be made is a new locker room trend. Most women don’t enjoy hearing other women on cell phones.

Family room section (or separate room) with changing table for babies. It’s not just for mothers – but for grandparents to use for grandchildren. Yes, they should also be in the men’s locker room.

In addition, consider: Card tables, seating areas with sofa and a few chairs and a food station.

And perhaps one of the most important but seldom mentioned is the locker room staff. Nothing is more impressive than when the locker room attendant greets me with, “Mrs. Berkley, may I take your shoes? How is your day going?” I give that club an A plus. BR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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MITCHELL STUMP

BOARDROOM’S EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR Jessica Ahonen How is it that a person pursues a certain path in business and then finds a quote and a scientific study that confirms what he is doing proves to be sound?

Who dares to teach must never cease to learn. – John Cotton Dana Do what you are deeply passionate about; Do what drives your economic engine and do what you can be the best in the world at. – Hedgehog Concept – Jim Collins in Good To Great Being an author and consultant to the private club industry, Mitchell L. Stump, CPA is constantly studying and learning about new club issues.

Whether it is from the daily telephone/email discussions Mitch has with general managers, controllers, CPAs, etc. or at a club conference or seminar, he listens and learns from industry leaders, looking for new and timely issues that need to be addressed from a tax standpoint.

With a new issue identified, Mitch educates himself by researching the tax implications of the transaction. He educates others by sharing this topic and answer in the upcoming update of the appropriate publication as well as during speaking engagements he provides to the club industry across the country.

Mission statement: To educate professionals serving the private club industry by way of club-specific publications, seminars and consulting engagements.”

WHO DOES MITCH EDUCATE?

• • • • •

The club accounting departments charged with keeping clubs in compliance with accounting and tax rules and regulations Club management teams that cannot afford major mistakes to occur on their watch Club boards/commodores/committee members elected to represent their fellow members in directing their club into the future CPAs nationwide who are conducting annual financial audits and preparing tax returns for clubs, and PGA Professionals that need to have an understanding of club operations, outside of the golf shop and golf course.

HOW DOES MITCH EDUCATE?

One way is by writing: Club Tax Newsletter –Mitch provides a club-specific monthly newsletter, free of charge, which has a section addressing a timely tax or accounting “hot topic” and one containing a “human interest” piece. The hot topic keeps clubs out of trouble while the “personal interest” items are something Mitch feels are thought-provoking. Promoting others is not in exchange for dollars; it’s just his passion and who he is.

Mitch is the published author & co-author of several books including, but not limited to: Club Tax Book – In this award-winning, quarterly updated, subscription-based publication, Mitch writes about the latest changes and interpretations of federal tax law in a format that is incredibly easy to read and understand while providing supporting documentation used in reaching the answer.

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In speaking to private club industry groups, such as CMAA, HFTP and the PGA, Mitch refers to this publication to support his statements and conclusions. Mitch encourages subscribers to write or call with quick questions because he wants them to fully understand how federal tax law applies to their specific situation.

Club Sales & Use Tax Book - FL - With over 1,100 questions and answers dealing with Florida sales and use tax issues specific to clubs, this annually updated subscription-based publication keeps Florida clubs informed of the sales tax implications their most common transactions.

As with his other publications, Mitch is always researching issues to provide answers to educate his subscribers. Florida seminars give the club accounting department staff a chance to “Stump the Stump.”

Club “It’s All About Golf” Book 2.0 - While deviating from being another tax publication, Mitch’s heart breaks when clubs struggle to be relevant to members and prospects. Following time tested theories, Mitch challenges the club industry to pursue “GREATNESS.” If a club has a golf course, he believes that it just may be “all about golf.” It is almost impossible to talk to Mitch without him educating the listener about the four ways to grow a business, any business, including a club, and the virtues of moving from “Good to Great.”

The other way Mitch educates is by public speaking: Webinars, seminars, conference calls and one on one educational sessions: Since 2010, Mitch has presented close to 100 accounting and tax webinars to Club Tax Network, Inc. members, an association of CPAs and Attorneys of which Mitch is the founder and president. The pur-

pose of this network is to educate the professionals that are serving the private club industry.

Mitch is a frequent speaker at CMAA and HFTP Conferences and local CMAA Chapter meetings. Most recently, Mitch has created educational material that has been inserted into the PGA of America’s new educational courses for golf professionals wanting to pursue an executive management track.

Finally, can you envision sitting through an eight-hour club accounting and tax seminar? The comment Mitch most often receives from participants on evaluation forms is that eight hours (of only Mitch speaking) is not enough and that a second day would be extremely beneficial.

Mitch did not set out to become an educator. He claims his high school English teacher would be shocked over his writing and teaching skills. He has a God-given talent for explaining complex issues in relatively simple terms all while being entertaining.

From his “three-column approach” to explaining club accounting and tax law, to rationalizing how “free” golf lessons can be used to grow golf club memberships, Mitch is passionate about it all and nothing makes him happier than to share what he knows. The definition of an educator is a person who teaches, informs, and inspires others.

That is also the definition of Mitchell Stump…a giver. BR Jessica Ahonen, employee, youngest daughter and business confidant, is the author of this story about Mitchell Stump.

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203 354 5200 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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LYNNE LAFOND DELUCA

CULINARY & CATERING

Lynne LaFond DeLuca is the executive director of the Association of Club Catering & Event Professionals and a private club industry consultant. You can reach Lynne at Lynne@TheACCP.com, or visit the website at www.TheACCP.com.

Building Member Experience and Event Attendance Engaging our members and enticing them to frequent the club more often is tend events with my compadres” or “life is at the top of the list when it comes to member retention, satisfaction and so much better when going to events with friends” and offer a group discount or fun experience. incentive like a first drink, for a group of Member events bring together every category of membership in your club 10 or more. and bring the “fun” and the “wow” factor. It’s your chance to show off your Don’t forget about grassroots, old team’s event planning and culinary skills and keep your members coming school, verbal marketing - get people back for more. Here are three tips and techniques to accomplish just that. talking! This includes members and staff!

1) Plan the best possible calendar of events: Every club needs a healthy Work the dining areas, pool deck, first and exciting social calendar of events! Each year should bring some exciting tee, anywhere Members gather, and ennew ideas to the calendar, as well as keeping and refreshing the member’s gage members to get them excited about favorite events and traditions. Do NOT copy and paste from previous years! the event. Exhaust all possible avenues…

Members like to be a part of something that improves their quality of life e-blasts, newsletter ads, social media! and is something that is “bigger than themselves”, so think about educational events and events that are tied to a charitable organization or social/ 3) Flawless Execution = We Want to community awareness.

Come Back and Bring Friends! This perBy creating events that resonate with your members, you create a desire fect calendar of events and all of these to attend. What resonates with your members? Ask them! Committees, fabulous ideas mean nothing if we fall focus groups, junior board of governors and surveys are a great start to flat on the execution of the event. Perfect gathering ideas. Some of the events that are “buzz-worthy” include events planning is key to an event that your staff themed around health and wellness; age-specific events as well as “Family can pull off.

Time” events, “Events for a Cause” and absolutely anything that creates Put yourself in the mindset of the memfamily memories. ber and their guests and walk yourself all Discovering a hidden talent of someone on your staff is something unexthe way through the event. What did you pected and fun to incorporate into your event. Members love seeing staff inthink? Did it contain thoughtful details? volved because as we know, staff is like family to our members and vice versa.

Was there an element of surprise? Was every sense engaged? Was it fun? If not, 2) Marketing techniques and getting members to RSVP: Time to get circle back and figure out how to push the the word out! Start with using your club’s committees. If you ask every details of the event over the top for a truly committee member to commit to bringing a couple or two and if you have memorable experience. a committee of 10, you start with 40 attendees! In addition to your comStaff communication, extreme detail on mittees, the use of “event ambassadors” can be fabulous for building attenthe banquet event orders and meetings to dance. Ask these “influential” members and trendsetters to promote it on talk through details are of utmost importheir own social media and comp them one ticket. tance for a flawless event. Remember that If your members respond to price, offer a 10 percent discount off the now is the time to shine with your memprice if they sign up by a certain date. Wondering about a cancellation polbers. There is no one more important! icy? YES! A 72-hour cancellation policy keeps events full!

Post-event: Follow up with thank you Video is hot! A video newsletter and video testimonials from members notes/emails and great pictures of the that will be attending (energetic, happy, engaging ones!) are great ways to event. People who attended will love to promote an upcoming event. see the fun they had and those who did Since members tend to do things in groups, a “group booking marketing not attend will see what they missed! BR campaign” might be a great way to build attendance fast. Advertise with cute pictures of groups of people saying things like, “because I love to at102

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BILL SCHWARTZ

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Bill Schwartz is the founder and CEO of System Concepts, Inc. (SCI). Based in Scottsdale AZ, SCI is a food and beverage procurement and inventory management consulting firm and the developer of the FOOD-TRAK System, which is widely used in club operations around the country. Bill can be reached at (480)951-8011 or bills@foodtrak.com

Maturity Matters with F&B Software Selection Immature means “not fully developed.”

When it comes to food and beverage software, more mature is better than less mature. In my nearly 40 years of producing software for food service operations of all types, the depth and flexibility required is astonishing.

No two food service operations are the same, and after all these years, we still receive suggestions for features and additional capabilities, not to mention the complexity associated with separation and security for multiple profit center environments (like clubs).

F&B management software is complex enough even if it were intended for the simplest fast food operation with a limited menu. Consider how much more software code would be required for amusement parks with 70 profit centers!

New software apps and systems are released every day, and, on the surface, the latest stuff can look and sound pretty cool. But these “apps” and young products focus primarily on look and feel, since they have not had the time or experience to develop the sophisticated features and database depth required for handling complex food service operations.

Even mature systems can become problematic when the company is purchased by another (a frequent occurrence in the software industry) with less or no experience in the segment. The original developers and the people with experience in the product often leave soon after the acquisition, causing the product to flounder.

In some cases, you can tell the maturity by the size of the program in megabytes. Typical smartphone apps and younger F&B systems are measured in megabytes of code.

Mature F&B enterprise systems are measured in gigabytes – 1000 times larger.

Software requires literally thousands and in some cases millions of lines of exactingly written code where every line matters. The more sophisticated the system, the more code it requires.

Quicken is an interesting example of mature code. Developed over 35 years, it contains over 1.5 gigabytes of code. Users are confident it works and will continue to work. What originally was basically a checkbook organizer has become a full-blown personal financial system with the ability to track investments, integration with banking 104

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and brokerages, rental income and even medical expense management.

And while dozens of competitors have cropped up over time, it is still the most capable, widely used and respected product of its kind. Chalk it up to maturity.

Software development is driven by demand. The first version is typically very basic because of the need to get something out quickly as development costs mount ahead of revenue. With limited time to write code, early versions have limited capabilities. Over time, as the user base grows and time passes for writing more code, features improve.

Users make suggestions and identify bugs.

The more time that goes by, the larger the user base grows. The larger the user base grows, the better software developers can gauge what works and what could work better. They also get numerous suggestions, many of which are consistent from multiple users. These suggestions drive innovation. None of this can happen with small user bases or in short time frames. Enterprise software takes decades to mature.

When our software was introduced nearly 40 years ago, it could be used to take inventory, make purchases, cost recipes and calculate ideal usage using sales information. These are basic capabilities required by all F&B systems. Today’s system is vastly more capable than the original version. More than 300 updates and new versions have been released since then, some with major platform changes.

What in 1980 used to be capable of handling single profit center independent restaurants is now an enterprise-grade, multi-profit center system capable of supporting the most complex clubs, resort hotels, casinos, multi-concept chains, convention centers, amusement parks and markets. Hundreds of interfaces to third party vendors, POS companies, catering and accounting systems and software for mobile devices and scanners were also developed.

This can only happen over long periods of time and a huge user base. To this day, after 40 years of development, we continue to get suggestions for new features and refinement of existing ones. It seems every client we have SEE FOOD FOR THOUGHT | 129

JEREMY HOCH Jeremy Hoch is president and owner of Anchor Consulting Services, an independent consulting and training organization specializing in club management software and best practices. During the past 15 years, Jeremy has worked with hundreds of clubs.

He can be reached at (786)-732-4950 or Jeremy@anchorcs.com.

FOOD & BEVERAGE COMMITTEE

Do Tablets Have a Place in Private Club F&B? We often suggest buying one tablet Clubs are clamoring to bring tablet computers into the dining rooms at a record pace, for testing purposes before buying and vendors are keeping up by offering all sorts of mobile point of sale (POS) options more. Look to the medical and manufor clubs. facturing industries for rugged cases Board members, club managers and members all have a theory that if the and tablet accessories as they have order can be taken tableside, the food will get to the kitchen faster - and be a lot more options than what is nordelivered to the member in an accelerated manner. Here are four points to conmally marketed to the club industry. sider when planning for this project.

1) Service levels: We have worked with many clubs that have rolled out tablets in the dining room and received feedback that service levels actually dropped.

This drop-off is twofold: First, waitstaff becomes focused on the tablet instead of the member, with less eye contact and reduced interaction with the members.

Secondly, order-taking can become lengthy and annoying to the members.

That’s because most members look at club menus as mere suggestions and then tell you what they would like to eat.

Servers must take time - at the tableside - to search for and enter what can be a lengthy and complicated list of modifiers and cooking instructions – all while the members wait impatiently. It’s a real challenge for servers to ring up highly modified items while maintaining a personal connection with the members.

Of course, there are more casual areas that are great for F&B tablets: Patios, snack bars, beverage carts, take out, beach and pool service, cafés and other limited-service dining areas. For the most part, these areas have smaller menus and relatively few modifications can be made to each item.

2) IT infrastructure: Buying the tablets is the easy part. Tablet projects sometimes fall flat because of a poor infrastructure to support the new devices. For starters, clubs need to have a strong WIFI signal that should be both private and secure. Plus, the tablets must stay connected to your WIFI constantly as they are moved throughout the club.

Additionally, you must have the correct number of licenses to run your POS software on a mobile device. Each software company treats licensing differently, so you want to know if there will be an additional expense for the licenses as you start to plan this project.

3) Choosing the right equipment: You can go to any computer retailer today and buy a $79 tablet and it will likely work at your club. But your staff is not going to be happy. With tablets, you get what you pay for.

Work with your IT department or vendor to select a tablet that will have a strong internal processor and possess the ports/features you may need (credit card reader, barcode reader, hard-wired printer, Bluetooth printer and the like).

4) Securing your devices: When you are ready to roll out tablets, make sure to secure them from disappearing from the club. We have seen clubs come up with clever options: • Have staff members trade in their driver’s license at the start of the shift in exchange for their issued tablet.

• Both Google and Apple operating systems have an app to track and locate lost devices. Be sure this is activated and tied to the club’s account. Then make sure the staff does not have access to disable these settings and let them know that the location of the unit is being tracked at all times.

Yes, the club industry’s interest in tablet POS devices is on the rise. Tablets certainly have a place in private club food and beverage, but it will be interesting to watch the delicate balance between tradition, service levels and technology play out over the next few years as tablets expand their presence. B R

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JEFF MORGAN

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Jeff Morgan, FASAE, CAE, is the president and CEO of the Club Management Association of America. For more information on CMAA’s use of technology, visit www.cmaa.org.

Technology

Changing the Way the Club Industry Trains and Learns With the increased expectations of club members, staff training, and professional development are essential in clubs today.

Today, technology makes training and professional development available at your fingertips.

STAFF TRAINING Having a properly trained staff is vital to the success of your club and key to your members’ club experience. Nobody wants a bad member experience to be the result of a lack of staff training.

Gone are the days of annually hiring an outside trainer to come in and spend days training your staff.

Now all staff have direct access to a plethora of essential training courses available 24/7/365. In 2015, the Club Management Association of America (CMAA) launched the Club Resource Center (CRC), a subscription service that is comprised of online staff training courses, industry-specific research and survey reports, and an extensive resource library, providing a comprehensive collection of tools to assist in day to day club operations.

From customer service and safety, to sexual harassment and club-specific food and beverage courses, CRC provides a broad range of programs to satisfy staff training needs.

Additional and enhance content has been added to meet demand. For example, we recently added a new sexual harassment course that specifically fulfills the requirements for a New York state law that became effective earlier this year.

Plus, club management professionals no longer have to waste valuable time shuffling paperwork to track and record each employee’s progress.

In addition to staff training, CRC houses all CMAA’s research, white papers, and annual survey reports. In recent years, CMAA’s Research Department has explored critical topics such as generational differences and recruiting hourly employees.

Having access to and using research and data is vital to club management and the board of directors.

The annual Finance & Operations and Compensation & Benefits Reports are an important component of CMAA’s offerings.

Beyond static reports, CRC offers an interactive data portal which can be used to dissect the data based on selected variables to provide the clearest picture of a club’s operations. Having this information is critical to informed decision making for club management and the board of directors.

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Finally, CRC stores all CMAA-related resources under its resource library. These resources include a full complement of books and publications designed to assist club management professionals in daily operations including job descriptions, board and committee orientation materials and policies and procedures.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CMAA’s Lifetime Professional Development Program prepares our members to lead, succeed, innovate, stretch boundaries, expand expertise and create a thriving club environment. In 2013, CMAA launched CMAA University, a comprehensive online education platform. Designed to meet the needs of busy club management professionals who need to be able to access education on their schedule, CMAA members and others can further their careers and earn credits towards their Certified Club Manager (CCM) designation.

Professional development opportunities include: • Archived webinars - recordings of recent expert-led webinars covering the latest issues and topics in club management.

• Certificate programs – designed to increase knowledge in individual competency areas including accounting and financial management.

• Manager in development –an on-the-job a mentor/ mentee program to educate entry and mid-level club management professionals through exposure to diverse departments within a club operation.

• Executive-level education – houses courses that have been developed for club management professionals to further their professional development including the recently-released series in the area of membership and marketing in uncovering generational attitudes.

• Micro learning – bite-size manager-led education that can be applied immediately.

Later this year, CMAA will launch its interconnected community to create even more online learning and networking opportunities. The need for training and professional development will remain strong in the club industry as we enter 2020 and, through the use of the latest technology, it can be delivered on demand. B R

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ROBYN STOWELL

JON R. TANDLER

SYDNEE L. ALMS

LAW & LEGISLATION

Website Tips for Your Club To help insure that the club’s website does not create potential legal liability, consider evaluating how website content is displayed and whether the club properly has all legal rights to display all website content.

Proper legal rights to use photos, graphics or other content created by third persons is crucial and the club (even if private) should consider evolving standards for website accessibility to visitors with disabilities.

Photos, graphics and other website content is protected under United States Copyright Law, which provides that the creator (photographer, graphic artist, copy writer, etc.

- the “author”) has the exclusive right to publish their work and to create works based on it.

The author may assign or license those rights to the club (referred to as a “clearance” or “license”). Failure to obtain a proper clearance or license can subject the unauthorized user (such as your club) to liability to the author for intellectual property infringement.

Some people mistakenly believe that a photo, graphic art or textual passage found online is available for use. Online content is generally not free for the taking. This is so even if the work is not registered with the U. S. Copyright Office.

The source of that photo, graphic art or text must be identified and the author’s clearance or license obtained prior to your club’s use.

Photographers and other rights holders often register their creative works for copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. In the event of a third party’s infringement, registration entitles the copyright owner to significant legal remedies, greater than the remedies available to unregistered works.

For example, significant statutory financial penalties may apply. Unregistered works are still entitled to “common law” copyright protection.

Many copyright owners engage agencies to enforce their rights. When an infringement is discovered, these agencies threaten litigation and make financial demands on the infringer based on remedies for infringement of registered works. Thus, all content on a club’s website must be properly cleared with the lawful rights owner or her authorized agency.

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Many clubs engage a non-employee website developer, photographer, graphic artist or copy writer to help design and populate a website, or to create marketing or informational material. Clubs should have a simple agreement with content creators by which they either assign and transfer (sell title to) all of the copyright and other intellectual property rights in that content or gives permission (license) to use the content in all manners and ways the club reasonably intends to use it.

A club’s failure to take either of these measures may subject the club to an unnecessary claim of breach of contract or intellectual property infringement or otherwise restrict the club from using the content in the ways it could likely be used. Make sure your club secures all of the necessary legal rights in content created by third persons.

Another area of interest related to club websites is the evolving applicable Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) law. Even “purely private” clubs may eventually find these laws applicable, so clubs should be aware of this developing area of law. Clubs generally have a public home or landing page accessible to a wide group of persons. Internal pages are accessible to members (and, unfortunately sometimes others), some of whom may have disabilities.

The ADA requires that every owner of a “place of public accommodation” provide equal access to users who meet ADA standards for disability. Although the ADA does not explicitly address online compliance, some courts have ruled that websites are bound by ADA regulations.

The Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) sets standards for HTML programming and has developed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG sets standards for website compliance. In June 2019, WCAG 2.1 was released.

WCAG 2.1 generally provides that websites should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

Perceivable means that a user can find and process information on a website, such as by providing audio descriptions for video content. Operable means that a user should be able to navigate a website effectively, such as with all website functions being operable via keyboard-only commands. ➤

LEGAL COMMITTEE BY ROB HARRIS

Tree Stump Triumphs Over Golf Cart In Injury-Inflicting Collision From Pennsylvania comes news of a federal lawsuit filed against the owner of Panorama Golf Course, arising out of an alleged collision between a golf cart operated by Virginia Burke and a tree stump, an event that Ms. Burke claims caused serious injuries.

According to the complaint: 20. While operating a motorized golf cart-said cart owned, provided and maintained by Panorama, in a reasonable manner and rate of speed and while traveling on the portion of the defendant’s golf cart path in the vicinity of the 15th hole of the subject golf course, the plaintiff Virgini Burke was forced to and required to swerve to avoid unsafe potholes and/or ruts located within and on the said golf cart path and was consequently forced/required to maneuver the golf cart to the outer edge areas of the golf cart path, whereupon she suddenly and without warning encountered and forcibly struck a large

and solid tree stump in her path, the said tree stump unsafely abutting the golf cart path and improperly obscured by tall, thick, dense, overgrown and unmaintained foliage and vegetation.

extremity, whereby she suffered multiple, severe fractures and compound fractures, with fractured bones protruding from and through her skin, causing severe and ongoing pain and associated symptoms.

21. The plaintiff Virginia Burke’s motorized golf cart subsequently contacted the obscured tree stump, whereupon she was forcibly jerked, twisted and/or wrenched, causing her left arm to move awkwardly and be jerked or wrenched, twisting and snapping her left hand and left lower arm areas. The plaintiff heard and felt bones breaking and watched as her left hand, wrist and/or arm areas became visibly deformed and bled.

23. Further substantially and materially contributing to and/or causing the plaintiff’s collision and resulting injuries was the indistinct and/or nonexistent delineation between the golf cart path and the adjacent and abutting land areas to which the plaintiff was forced to maneuver the motorized golf cart in order to avoid the aforesaid potholes and ruts directly within the golf cart path within and upon which she was traveling.

The complaint obviously is the first salvo in the litigation, and we soon will have an opportunity to see what the club owner says in response. BR

22. The impact of the motorized golf cart’s colliding with the abutting and obscured tree stump caused the plaintiff Virginia Burke to forcibly twist and/or wrench her left upper

from Law & Legislation | 108

Understandable means that a user should be able to comprehend all information and navigation on a website, such as with error messages that include a clear explanation of the error and how to correct it. Robust means that a website can adapt to meet the needs of users with disabilities. For example, WCAG recommends testing compatibility with screen readers and upgrading those capabilities in the future as necessary.

While these guidelines are not currently legally required and there may be limits to how extensively these or other ADA rules apply to a given club, the club’s website developer could begin to consider these accessibility guidelines over time in order to improve the user experience.

To stay legally compliant, be sure all of the club’s website content is being used legally (with an assignment or license) and begin to consider upcoming ADA guidelines that may be applicable to your club (or helpful to its members). B R Robyn Nordin Stowell is a partner in the law firm of Sherman & Howard L.L.C. in Scottsdale, Arizona. Robyn may be reached at (480) 624-2736 or by email at rstowell@shermanhoward.com.

Jon R. Tandler is a partner in Sherman & Howard’s Denver office and practices intellectual property and technology law. Jon may be reached at (303) 299-8142 and jtandler@shermanhoward.com.

Sydnee L. Alms is a law student at the University of Colorado Law School.

Sydnee may be reached at SAlms@shermanhoward.com.

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TIM CASTOR Tim Castor is principal, Castor Design Associates, Inc. He can be reached at (303) 346-0062 or via email: timc@cdainterior.com.

HOUSE COMMITTEE

Fitness Experience Offers Benefits to Club Members It’s no secret in the country club industry that it’s not easy to sell memberships based on golf and tennis alone. Clubs are becoming savvy in knowing that the fitness boom should be an important part of the recipe for the club’s success.

Newer designed clubs and those with major renovations include spa fitness centers. Having this amenity is an added bonus and eliminates the need for non-resident members to find a separate gym before coming to the club. Conversely, members who live at the club, don’t have to leave the premises.

Most club members want a fitness center with well thought out equipment layouts, and a focus on spin and Pilates. This includes state-of-theart audio-visual equipment and overall décor.

Greg Harris, general manager of The Club at Morningside, Rancho Mirage, CA happily states that after their fitness renovation, the club sold 75 social and fitness memberships within 60 days. By adding massage rooms on-site at the clubhouse,

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Morningside was able provide additional enjoyment to those members who live there.

Members are taking advantage of newly designed luxurious mini-lobbies and snack bars where they can gather and relax after a class or work-out. Of course, this includes a 75-inch flat-screen TV. These new snack bars do not include a coffeemaker and hand sink like the days of the past. Instead they offer various refrigerated health foods and waters/healthy beverages and smoothies.

The younger members are looking for upscale fitness equipment with expanded cardio and stretching areas. This includes more private stretch and meditation areas within the fitness layouts. Many clubs have the opportunity to open up floor to ceiling windows, allowing the outside in. This creates a non-confining feeling and overall euphoric experience while working out.

Dance or movement studios need to be exciting and well-lit in order to attract member usage. This encourages consistent dance and movement classes. Designated Pilates and spin rooms are standard.

With the new member desire for having a spa fitness center that is a notch above your typical retail fitness center, clubs are having to invest in custom light fixtures, custom carpets, elevated wallcoverings and elegant hard surface areas not normally seen.

Hall Wade, general manager at Indian Ridge Country Club, Palm Desert, CA has seen traffic quadruple after his spa fitness renovation this past year. Members enjoy the upgraded interior and enlarged space, including gracious circulation, which allows for a more private work-out experience for members.

It’s not uncommon for hair and nails to be part of the spa fitness component these days. Many clubs are now offering members health and beauty salon services in a luxurious environment they would otherwise find in only the very exclusive hair and nail salons located in affluent districts. Again, with this club amenity, members do not need to find an off-site salon.

Kevin Marshall, general manager of Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club, Santa Rosa, CA indicated that with the increased square footage and upgraded fitness center, their member lifestyle was greatly impacted in a positive way. In fact, family activities were able to remain together at the club, keeping families unified. And membership retention has increased.

With the country clubs working to capture as many new members as possible, the spa fitness/wellness centers are a huge benefit in promoting amenities to future members. The new fitness experience has sparked amazing excitement with members young and old, who can now use the club in a whole new capacity. B R

TODD DUFEK Todd Dufek is the president of the Locker Room Managers Association with 400 - 500 members at over 200 member clubs nationwide (www.yourlrma.com).

He is the locker room manager at The Country Club at DC Ranch in Scottsdale, AZ Contact Todd at tmdufek@cox.net for information about membership in the LRMA.

HOUSE COMMITTEE

Tech Revolution Has Reached Locker Rooms The tech revolution has affected every aspect of a club’s operation and locker rooms are no exception. In fact, if your locker room staff doesn’t have all the gadgets and services we’re talking about, they’re still in the Stone Age.

to let every person, who has sent a text while on the job, go, we’d have to fire everyone.”

Laptop computer: Bobby Orr, the locker room manager at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, California said his laptop serves several functions, among them: access to the internet, email, keeping up with locker assignments, making guest locker cards, ordering shoe and locker Smartphone: Whether iPhone or Android, room supplies, requesting help from maintenance, checking time cards and cell phones are part of the tech creep that has requests for time off. And it’s also available to visit the club website to see made its way into country club locker rooms. which members have registered to play in upcoming golf tournaments.

And with its arrival there have been met with “When I’m working a tour event, we use a laptop to watch the scores, so mixed reviews. Anytime that staff members we know what to say and not to say when a player finishes his round,” Barilla use their cell phones for something that’s unadded. “It also comes in handy on Friday to know when a player has finished related to their jobs is obviously a distraction. with his round and whether or not he made the cut in case we need to retrieve But there is one feature that can keep staff/ his club glove (if not stored by their locker).” employees focused on their responsibilities Finally, most clubs have a “club app” that members can download to their and actually improves service: texting. cell phone that allows them to make dinner reservations and tee times, as First, it’s a great way for a locker room well as post scores. Great innovation, but the locker room application has manager to communicate with the full time yet to be developed. However, one of my colleagues has been working on attendant in the women’s locker room. In an app for our department to track shoeshines and spike switch outs. Stay season, when the attendant is busy serving tuned . . . the creep continues. B R groups of women playing mahjong, bridge or canasta, her manager can, for example, text her a question without interrupting the games to get a quick answer. It’s definitely a time and energy saver.

Secondly, a manager will, for example, text the attendant(s) that works in the men’s locker room his schedule for the month. Instead of asking when he’s working next, he can just use the manager’s text as a reference.

Third, locker room managers can text their club’s maintenance team to get help quickly when a fixture or plumbing malfunctions (two-way radios have served the same purpose).

As Bruce Barilla, a retired locker room manager who has worked dozens of PGA Tour events said, “Texting is also very helpful if I need to contact a tour official or the doctor on call; although we usually call the doctor first if we need them.”

While most club handbooks prohibit the use of cell phones by staff, the reality is that every employee has one and uses it while on the job.

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COREY SABAN

HOUSE COMMITTEE

Corey Saban is the founder of Newstation.com, named the membership engagement tool of the Year by The Boardroom magazine. A former Emmy nominated and Associated Press winning journalist, Saban and his team help clubs tell their story through affordable short form videos, which are produced in just 48 hours.

Using Video for Engagement • Industries using video grow revenue 49 percent faster than those “The key to being a good manager is to keep the people who hate you, away from the ones that are still that do not (HubSpot) • We retain 95 percent of what we watch compared to 10 percent undecided.” – Poignant and paraphrased words from of what we read (like this) the great, late, Yankees’ manager Casey Stengel.

• 59 percent of senior executives favor video over text (HubSpot) However, there is a tiny hint of truth as it relates to your club members, which is why effecOf course, there are dozens of more relevant stats but look no tive communication is one of the key ingredients further than your favorite newspaper, which you probably no lonof being a great leader. ger subscribe to at home but instead engage with on your phone.

However, the style of communication has Newspapers are producing a great deal of a video each week. The NY changed. Fewer people are reading and in fact, Times reported $24 million profit because of its digital assets while video is taking over the web because of Goggle’s the Wall Street Journal produces 70 videos a week for enhanced enrelationship with YouTube (Google owns it), and gagement. because we are all on the go.

More importantly videos can and should be shared everywhere.

Your members no matter what their age are Ideally you want to email them to your members, which gets a higher more mobile than ever. Like you they check click rate, share them on the club’s website and on Facebook. their email, send texts and delete emails on their Morris says his club shared a flyer on its Facebook page that got Smartphones. In fact, 91 percent of us are never only seven views. However, the same message in a short form video more than five feet from our phones and three received more than a thousand views, capturing the members’ attenout of four of us take it to the bathroom with tion and getting them to act. them (that’s true).

And, remember quality is important,” Morris added.

So knowing this, many general managers are “We make sure not to shoot poor quality video on our phones as ditching text flyers and using short form web this dilutes our brand and our product. Often those videos are grainy, video to deliver their messages. and I don’t have all day to walk around with a camera, nor do I want Not the high end about us videos that many to,” Morris said. clubs have on their home page, but brief little “We outsource our messaging to a company that takes the inupdates sharing everything from the benefits formation and turns it into a high-quality professional video that of merging with the POA to an upcoming pasta features a professional spokesperson wearing one of our golf polo night. It’s vital to your messaging. shirts. This allows us to push out messages that are not choppy and “Text doesn’t motivate us anymore. We send tell a great story. I highly recommend them.” out four to five videos a month to our members.

Remember, we are visual learners and video is easy to retain and We highlight construction projects, social and increasingly becoming the norm. In fact, 89 million Americans will dining events even our newsletters are in video. watch 1.2 billion videos today. Will that number continue to rise?

The members find them more engaging because Casey Stengel once said he would “never make predictions, espeit’s convenient and easy for them to watch on cially about the future.” their phones and we’ve seen a tremendous inBut the future is now, and forecasts say that in the next three years crease in our engagement,” says Brett Morris, 82 percent of all internet traffic will be video. Clubs that have emgeneral manager/COO of the Polo Club of Boca braced the change are communicating more effectively and seeing a Raton, FL. positive difference. B R The statistics support him: • Four times as many people would rather watch than read (HubSpot) 112

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TOM NEILL Tom Neill is president of Private Club Historical (www.ClubHistorical.com).

His company creates strategic historical plans, enhances current displays, discovers club history, designs historical exhibits and displays, books, and historical videos. He may be reached at (949) 497-6543 or via email: tom@privateclubhistorical.com.

HOUSE COMMITTEE

MET with Awe Telling a Cohesive Story of History Is your club’s historical collection drawing interest from members? Or is it out of date, inaccurate, disorganized, damaged or without narrative? Taking a cue from the MET, many clubs can improve in telling their history by properly organizing and enhancing their current collection.

Often times significant historical photos commemorating visits by noteworthy people are thoughtfully framed, but then placed on a wall without regard to how it fits into the club’s broader story.

Pulling together a club’s valued resources into curated collections will not only eliminate the need for a scavenger hunt, but also maximize the club’s brand while also enhancing the member experience. Shared common spaces are valuable real estate and prime locations to tell the club’s history, celebrate important events and people and display important club artifacts.

Combing through your club’s storage rooms, pro shop, offices and attics might reap an abundance of memorabilia, which can be categorized and assembled into cohesive thematic displays. Contacting current club members and families of past members for additional memorabilia will increase your resources and provide added interest for club members.

Even if you currently have your artifacts displayed in collections, are they still fresh? Do members stop and look at them? Do they show them off to guests, or do they walk by disinterested?

Photos and artwork may fade, display cases left too long become stale.

It might be time to take stock of your assets and consider how best to use them to your advantage.

So, taking a cue from the MET, it may be time to enhance, organize and update your history and instill your members and guests with AWE! BR

On a recent visit to New York City my spouse and I had a free afternoon which we spent at the magnificent Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET).

The MET’s displays are so captivating, so cohesive, so beautifully presented and well described. Rooms we thought we could fly through instead held us in awe. We thought we would breeze through the Arms and Armor Room, but instead were transfixed by the collection.

Being able to see so many variations of armor together in one room, seeing how they changed over time and varied by country was so much more riveting than seeing one or two randomly scattered throughout an actual European castle. Our trip to the MET was a solid lesson in how to tell a cohesive story.

Regardless of a club’s age, there’s no doubt a rich collection of memorabilia, artifacts, awards, historical documents and photos reside within the premises. Most clubs harbor a wealth of resources useful for telling a club’s distinctive history, but often these valuable assets are scattered throughout the property making a trip down memory lane more like a game of hide-and-seek.

As most artifacts are collected over time, each unique item may have wound up with the last person who handled it – the articles of incorporation locked in the GM’s file cabinet, original brochures, newspaper articles and important RIVIERA COUNTRY CLUB MEMBERS DEAN MARTIN, CARY GRANT, LUCILLE BALL, correspondences in a binder on the marketing GREGORY PECK AND OTHERS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER FROM VARIOUS PLACES manager’s desk, event trophies on the backbar IN THE CLUBHOUSE FOR THIS UNIFIED TRIBUTE TO THEIR LEGACY AT THE CLUB. between the single malt and the gin.

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JOHN R. EMBREE John Embree is CEO at the United States Professional Tennis Association and can be reached via email: john.embree@uspta.org.

Embracing Technology What is interesting about those 300 Unfortunately, tennis as a sport has been a bit late to the party when it comes to hours of education is the technology embracing technology. being utilized to make the modules acOther sports have been much more proactive in the pursuit of data to help cessible. With the collaboration of the its professional athletes perform better and providing enhanced fan experiUSTA (the governing body of tennis), ences while attending live sporting contests or watching them on television. we will be producing jointly education In every sport, technology companies are sprouting up everywhere offering that pros want and need. incredible insights as to how to elevate amateur and professional athletes alike It is analogous to seeing a library filled in the pursuit of improving their game or to make the weekend warrior have with thousands of books but none of greater access to data that is intended to make their own playing experience them of interest. We will be providing that much more enjoyable. education that pros want and need, not But things are changing in the tennis world and for the better. The problem just education that they have to have. is that using technology in our day-to-day lives does not come easy to the With the help of the USTA, we plan Baby Boomer generation. And so many of our current tennis teaching proto create 60 modules by the end of this fessionals and members of the USPTA who are delivering the game today are year with 94 additional modules slated older, with the average age of a member in our association being 49 years old to be completed by March of 2020. By and trending north. the time we are set and done with all As a result, embracing all the technology options that could make them betof the projects slated, there will be 400 ter in their jobs at your club or facility can be challenging. modules.

On-line education is one of those areas to which the older set is unaccusAll of these modules will provide valutomed. Education for us (who lived in the 1970s and 80s) was delivered in a able information to both the rookie pros traditional forum: going to class, being lectured and taking notes. who needs guidance in their careers or Yet, today’s Millennials have grown up with on-line education being the the seasoned veteran looking to bone norm. So, they are not intimidated by the process. They like the fact that they up on their skills. And everything will can devour these learnings from the comfort of their home or office 24/7. be hosted on a universally accepted I make reference to on-line education because of the new standards that are going platform called Blackboard Ultra, which to be required by those who wish to join our industry as tennis teaching professionhappens to be preferred platform of als. These new, more stringent standards take effect on January 1, 2021. many institutions of higher learning.

As I have reported in this BoardRoom for some time now, the industry has For all of you reading this article and adopted a paradigm shift in what an aspiring professional must complete in are affiliated with a club that has a tennis order to become a certified tennis teaching professional. component, please take the time to share The current standards in the U.S. of a six-hour course called, Coach Youth this information with your current staff.

Tennis, before taking a certification exam is the lowest in the world of tenIf any of them have questions about nis-developed nations. I can make the argument that because our standards what the new certification pathway is are so low, we have not grown our game in the states over the past 10 years. going to look like, or if they need some Thus, it’s imperative that we improve the on-court experience that consumguidance as how best to proceed in their ers get when, in the future, they are instructed by a certified professional, if respective careers, I would be happy to we expect our game to attract more players. help. Please have them contact me via Thus, we have instituted a major change in the education required before email: john.embree@uspta.org. one can become certified from six hours to 1,500 hours. Don’t let that number Let’s make tennis a thriving activity of 1,500 hours scare you. in your club by helping educate your It is broken down to 1,200 hours of experiential learning, which really professional staff with the latest techequates to one year of apprenticeship at a club under the tutelage of a mentor. nology in the marketplace. BR The other 300 hours will consist of either on-line education or face-to-face learnings at workshops, seminars, conferences, etc.

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FRANK BENZAKOUR F. H. (Frank) Benzakour is a Cornell graduate, professor of Contemporary Club Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Contact Frank at www.frankbenzakour.com Check our Frank Benzakour’s 12 Golden Keys of Hospitality Excellence on Amazon.com

HR COMMITTEE

Over Invest In People - Part I A company’s most precious asset is its staff. In other words, your employees are crucial to the success and viability of your private club and well worth any cost.

Hire the best: To acquire employees who are the best fit for the job, your hiring practices and day-to-day operations need to be directly aligned with your club’s values. Also, you have to be able to describe the duties and control points of the position for which you are interviewing. So, design jobs based on what your club needs and target the right candidates. The best applicants are usually found through referrals.

Once you have suitable candidates there’re several qualities to look for when choosing the best person for the job. One is attitude because anyone can learn skills but honesty, courtesy, enthusiasm and friendliness, which employees of a private club critically need to deal with members and coworkers in the best way possible, aren’t easy to teach.

Another trait you want in a candidate is integrity. Search for displays of ethical behavior in their previous jobs as well as honesty. Interview any senior level candidate at least three times and ask the same questions including those regarding important values to ensure their answers are consistent.

You also need someone who is very competent. Look at what the candidate accomplished at the previous club they worked in regarding improving operations, impacting member services and how many people they mentored. Most

likely they’ll repeat their work performance in the past in their new job at your club.

Another key quality is compatibility. The candidate’s management style should fit within your club’s culture. Your company culture is the cement that holds your private club together. Researchers have found that cultural incompatibility is why half new hires fail in the first 18 months of a new job.

Some key points to observe in the interview, to prevent this, are how well the candidate articulates their thoughts, their body language including eye contact and the types of questions they ask.

Overpay to avoid sabotage: If you don’t pay your employees what they’re worth another club or organization will. Therefore, inadequate wages can result in other clubs poaching your prodigious workers SEE HR COMMITTEE | 127

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HR COMPLIANCE

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INNOVATIVE

IDEAS

America’s Only USGA Rated Par-54 Course Opens in Scottsdale We don’t often talk about innovation in course design and play in this column, rience as the centerpiece of the course, we’re seeing Seven become an exciting new hub of but we should! After all, it’s what golfers crave. vibrant activity,” he said.

The 90-acre Seven Desert Mountain™ community in Scottsdale, AriThe average playing time, on the walkable zona features no less than six Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Courses, and course, is 2 hours and 45 minutes, so players now, a new par-54 championship course known as No. 7 at Desert Mouncan take in the surrounding desert landscape tain™. and on-site stream that meanders through It is the only USGA rated, par-54 course in the country because it meets the course. Several holes play over the water the relatively new requirement of having two holes that extend beyond feature and golfers can enjoy a 22,000 square 250 yards. It is also unique in that is maintained entirely by electric vehifoot greens’ complex that connects with the cles and equipment, making it quieter for golfers and more environmen18th green, fully lit at night for evening play. tally friendly for everyone. It is the only golf course in the country to have “Prospective members are drawn to the these two distinctions. energy, and seven has positioned us perfectly No. 7 also introduces the “Sandy” – an alternative teeing bunker on as we welcome new homeowners and memeach hole that allows golfers to play 18 holes teeing off from a bunker. bers to our community,” said DiOrio. BR The idea is to enable golfers to practice their short game approach shots from the sand.

Designed by Wendell Pickett and Bill Brownlee for players of all ages and skill levels, the 18-hole course plays at full length at 3,114 yards. In conjunction with its playability for all ages, No. 7 also features a special handicap system for a match-play experience.

“Members are taking in all the fun and enjoyment at No. 7 just as the designers intended,” said Damon DiOrio, Desert Mountain Club’s CEO. “It has truly become the gathering spot for players of all levels and the course can be played in just a couple of hours. With our clubhouse expe-

COURSE FACTS

COURSE DESIGNERS BILL BROWNLEE AND WENDELL PICKETT OPENED 2019 PAR 27-27 – 54 YARDAGE BACK: 3,114 MIDDLE: 2,363 FRONT: 1,672 GRASSES BENTGRASS (GREENS, TEES, FAIRWAYS) 116

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MEGHAN THIBAULT Meghan Thibault, Innovative Ideas editor, is a professional writer and communicator with a passion for storytelling.

A writer at heart, Thibault has been involved in the hospitality and club industry in Canada, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

She is currently a member and on the membership committee, at Mid-Pacific Country Club in Kailua, HI. To submit an idea or story for this section, please email ideas@boardroommag.com

An Author Series Connects Club Members In A Novel Way Army Navy Country Club (ANCC) launched its Author Series in 2012 and has since hosted more than 40 prominent book authors.

The Virginia club, with two campuses located in Fairfax and in Arlington, boasts about 2,300 resident members and plenty of absent members. “Junior officers join and then get posted elsewhere,” explained Andrew Welch, director of clubhouse operations at ANCC. A typical speaking event takes place on a Wednesday or Thursday evening and begins with cocktails and refreshments at 6:30, followed by the author’s talk and a stimulating Q&A session.

The authors are unpaid and use events as an opportunity to promote their latest work. Some of the better-known authors bring their publisher along to help sell their books, and they linger to offer signed copies to members.

Invited authors have covered a wide variety of book types, including memoirs, fictional novels, historical biographies, travel and cookbooks, and children’s stories. Golf-themed books are popular, of course.

The series was born out of a request from a club member who had penned a book they wanted to share with fellow members. Welch subsequently began receiving requests from other members who were also looking to promote their latest book. Since then, about 30 to 40 percent of the authors have been club members.

The series has since expanded to include writers who’ve been recommended by club members, or referrals from publishers in the area with whom Welch has built relationships over the years.

The club holds an average of six or seven events a year. “I don’t like to force it,” says Welch, who takes the opportunities as they arise. Sometimes he is contacted by an author or one of the nearby publishing houses.

He plans an event when he receives a suggestion that he thinks would spark interest in the club’s membership.

Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana’s private secretary, was a favorite of the British born Welch, and of the club membership. The biographer drew an audience of almost 300 people.

Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary, was another popular speaker in the series. “He was hilarious, and people really loved hearing some of his stories,” said Welch, who claims that even the less well-known authors draw a club audience of 40 to 50 people.

“I was getting asked about the book writing and publishing process,” Welch told us, so he devised an evening event called, “So you want to write a book?” An invited subject matter expert visited and spoke on the topics of self-publishing and publishing in more traditional channels. Topics also included book publishing industry trends, the writing and ghost-writing process and agency representation.

“Because we are the Army Navy Country Club, quite a few of the speakers have been military officers,” shared Welch. Rear Admiral Terry McKnight, USN (Ret.) spoke about his book entitled Pirate Alley: Commanding Task Force 151 Off Somalia.

“We have a writer, [Frances] Gary Powers, speaking in October.

He’s the son of the U2 pilot shot down by the Russians and who was held by the KGB,” said Welch of the co-author of a book entitled Spy Pilot.

Author Andrew Och shared stories from his book about America’s First Ladies. “He was fascinating,” said Welch. “He’s got a huge expertise in that area.”

ANCC’s author series is promoted to members through the club’s monthly newsletter, website and email blasts. Members are asked to register for the event through the club’s website for a nominal fee of just five dollars. B R SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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INNOVATIVE

IDEAS

Greenville Country Club Announces Internship Opportunities Greenville Country Club (GCC) announced a new internship program earlier this tinue to provide exceptional service in year that incorporates day-to-day work experience opportunities in all opera- their future endeavors. We wish them the tional aspects of the historic club, founded in Greenville, South Carolina in 1895. best of luck.”

GCC features two championship golf The program, designed for individuals preparing for a career in the pricourses, a 17-court lighted tennis comvate club industry, offers a tiered learning experience. Eight students particplex, a two-pool aquatic center and a ipated in this summer’s GCC program. new, 45,000 square foot clubhouse that All selected interns are currently enrolled in four-year degree programs in features a fitness and wellness center. For related disciplines, including hospitality, turf management and professional those interested in upcoming internship golf management. opportunities at Greenville Country Club, “We enjoyed having these eight bright college students intern with us you may contact Angie Dickerson at (864) this summer,” says Greg Hobbs, GCC’s general manager. “They have had 232-6771 or adickerson@gccsc.com. BR the opportunity to learn and gain valuable hands-on experience at one of the top country clubs in the southeast, and we are confident they will con-

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MEGHAN THIBAULT Meghan Thibault, Innovative Ideas editor, is a professional writer and communicator with a passion for storytelling.

A writer at heart, Thibault has been involved in the hospitality and club industry in Canada, the Caribbean and Hawaii.

She is currently a member and on the membership committee, at Mid-Pacific Country Club in Kailua, HI. To submit an idea or story for this section, please email ideas@boardroommag.com

New Bee Habitats Are Creating A Buzz in Virginia The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) tapped into the zeitgeist to create a unique solution to improve the aesthetics of their golf course and, at the same time, help better the environment.

By replacing unsightly blue stakes that marked irrigation valves on the roughs of the course with bee habitats constructed from natural materials, the club implemented a unique program that taps into what’s on the minds of their members.

The program also aligns with the club’s Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Certification.

Research shows that wild bee habitats are in decline around the world. According to EarthDay.org, beekeepers have reported declines in hive losses of 30 percent or more.

There are 20,000 distinct bee species around the globe, with 4,000 species here in the U.S. It is alarming to note that one in four bee species here at home are currently at risk of extinction.

Since bees pollinate an estimated 30 to 40 percent of our food sources, creating, protecting and expanding habitats for bees is

important to help maintain and even increase wild bee populations.

Declining bee numbers are on the minds of most golf course personnel and creating a habitat for bees has been a great way to accomplish the club’s several goals.

Brian Mitchell, irrigation manager at The Country Club of Virginia, conceived of the idea and is working to make it both economical and functional.

“We are still experimenting with the bee habitats and have had limited interest from the bees,” he said. “To save on cost, we are trying to use materials found on the property to construct the habitats, such as bamboo.”

At CCV’s Tuckahoe Creek Course, the new bee habitats are not only more pleasing to the eye, but they also facilitate the groundskeepers’ ability to locate irrigation valves quickly.

“The markers are used to locate irrigation valve boxes in the tall grass areas around the golf course,” said Mitchell. “We are still trying to find materials that last in the environment and also attract bees for habitat use.” B R

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GORDON WELCH

BOARDROOM PERSPECTIVES

Gordon Welch is the president of the Association of Private Club Directors (APCD), the only association representing the club’s board. He can be reached at gordon@apcd.com or by calling (949) 376-8889.

30 Points Your Board Needs to Review Your year is winding down quickly. What have you and your board accomplished?

Many times, in my career I’ve heard board presidents refer to themselves as a has-been or a short timer. That’s not the case. In fact, this is the perfect time to collaborate with your incoming president. The two of you need to resolve together the next year’s agenda.

You also need to review the strategic or long-range plan with your GM/ COO. This is the perfect time of year to review next year’s plans. Your budgets are in process and now is the time to make next year’s “magic” come true.

As you are planning make sure you ask and answer two questions. First, do these plans match our club’s mission statement? Secondly, do these plans match the club’s “why?” Why you do what you do. If you answer no to either of these, start over!

BOARDS SET STRATEGY We never work alone. The ethics of collaborative governance require the board and GM/COO to work together.

They may not have the same role or task, but boards work to support the GM/COO and the GM/COO keeps the board informed and shares accurate and timely information Boards lead governance and the GM/COO manages the staff. Boards tend to fall into the trap of micromanaging over and over. Don’t do this! The consequence is confusion in management and GM/COOs who are not happy being micromanaged. Remember – boards set strategic direction and staff implements the strategy. As you, the incoming president and GM/ COO are doing these things, your board members should be evaluating the past year. They should be evaluating themselves and the board. B R 122

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Here are 30 points your board should review.

1. Does the board understand and advance the club’s mission statement, distinguishing the difference between mission, vision and values statements?

2. Does the board have a vision of how the club should evolve over the next three, five or 10 years?

3. Does the board engage in strategic planning resulting in appropriate long-range goals and annual objectives for the club, board, staff and committees?

4. Does the board periodically reviews bylaws, articles of incorporation, mission, vision and policies?

5. Does the board adopts policies to reflect board and management wisdom to pass on to future boards and staff?

6. Is the board familiar with all programs and services offered to the membership and community?

7. Does the board or a committee periodically reviews all programs and services; improving what needs improving, eliminating ineffective programs and recommending new programs and services?

8. Does th board adopt and follows an annual budget?

9. Does the board receive monthly financial reports?

10. Does the board delegate enough policy and operating authority for the executive director – CEO, general manager to lead and manage the organization?

11. Does the board regularly assess the chief executive’s performance and compensation in a fair and systematic way, related to the goals of the club in the strategic plan?

12. Does the board give direction to staff only through the chief executive?

13. Redirects staff who have an issue to the appropriate superior or committee rather than making it a board issue?

14. Does the board understand its responsibility for protecting the club and risk management techniques and acts accordingly?

15. Do board members understand the legal principles of Duty of Care, Duty of Obedience and Duty of Loyalty?

16. Does the board ensure adequate insurance coverages for the organization and avoids risk?

17. Is the board size is ideal for the organization?

18. Is there an effective process for identifying and orienting new leaders?

19. Do board members avoid conflicts of interest and disclose to the board in a timely manner any possible conflicts?

20. Does the board promote respect for new ideas and people among board and staff?

21. Do board members respect confidentiality of all board meetings and materials?

22. Is there sufficient leadership rotation and limitation on terms?

23. Does the board defer to the chief executive or chief-elected officer in matters requiring a spokesperson for the organization?

24. Do board members understand the concept of apparent authority and does the board have policies about speaking on behalf of the organization?

25. Does the board have a strategy and hierarchy for communicating with news media and government officials?

26. Does the board agenda focus largely on significant policy issues and the future, not short-term operating matters?

27. Does the committee structure and activities contribute to board productivity and advance the club’s mission and goals?

28. Do committees have a stated purpose (mission/descriptions) and annual plan of work?

29. Is it assured that the board does not undertake committee work inside board meetings?

30. Do board members find serving to be a satisfying and rewarding experience?

When you begin to think your time is up as president, take a moment to rethink and recharge. For more information or a copy of BoardRoom Institutes complete board assessment contact Gordon Welch at gordon@BoardRoomInstitute.com or call (918) 895-2723.

GREGG PATTERSON Gregg Patterson is president of Tribal Magic and can be reached via email: GJPAir@aol.com

TRIBAL MAGIC

Ponder Time Clubs are busy. Filled with doing. Be quick! Be efficient! Get results, now!

“Doing” is good but too much “doing” and not enough “pondering” can burn out the team, constipate their brains and deaden their souls.

The manager and staff need a time, a place and a process where ideas can flow, bonds can be forged, spirits can be energized and checklists can be built. Those who produce hunger for an escape location, a together opportunity, a go-deep engine and a creativity powerhouse.

Time’s needed for pondering operational stuff, upcoming stuff, success stuff, failed stuff, past stuff, strategic stuff and for the personal stuff that mucks up performance and personality.

These are big needs needing an answer. And… ponder time, properly delivered, is the answer. Easy. Cheap. Effective.

Here’s how.

Step one – Find the champion: A preacher-teacher-believer is needed to make ponder time happen. This person, the champion, will trumpet the vision and be the energizer of, the organizer for and the enforcer of the ponder experience.

The “who” is key, and the best of the “who’s” is the general manager.

Step two – Agree on the principles: Ponder time is fueled with three beliefs. 1) Everyone is born curious and reflective.

2) Everyone is eager to reflect, to participate and to contribute.

3) Everyone is stimulated to reflect and contribute when the right questions are asked in the right way by the right person.

Step three – Identify the ponderers and the ponder teams: Everyone is a ponderer regardless of position, age, sex or political persuasion. Every group is a ponder team regardless of department, numbers or payroll. Ponder time is an “everyone does it” type of thing.

Step Four – The time: “When” is related to the rhythms of the club and the schedules of the ponderers. Ponder time can be most anytime – start of shift, end of shift, mornings, afternoons, early evenings. Scheduled is good because “predictable” goes in the calendar and what’s in the calendar gets done. Unscheduled is good as well – unanticipated, an upside surprise and a break in the routine. Either way, find time!

Step Four – Find the place: A ponder place is simply a gathering spot with tables and chairs. It can be a “sacred space” like the board room or it can be a not-so-sacred place, like the bag room in the basement. Out of the way and private is best though anyplace can do in a pinch.

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The ponder place should have a few ponder tools – a flip chart, markers and a lot of pens and paper, three by five cards and Post-Its for scribbling and “documentation” of ideas and insights.

Step Five – Create the ponder boxes: People are filled with insights and suggestions they’re eager to offer if the right questions get asked in the right way by the right people. Asking is made easy when ponder boxes are used.

Each of these ponder boxes is nothing more than a box or a bag or an oversized envelop filled with three by five cards, each with a questions-of-consequence for a given topic – operations, emergency procedures, bad behaviors and the like.

Questions will be drawn by the team, raffle style, from the box, each question a mystery until it’s been pulled. This non-linear Q&A format delivers a BUZZ to the pondering – brains stay looser and laughter is easier when you don’t have a clue what’s coming next.

Here are a few of the ponder box options managers can use to stimulate the pondering.

The question of the day box containing attendee names.

When a person’s name is drawn, they have to ask their question of the day. Any question is a good question – personal, operational, even foolish and inconsequential. And if the question’s good enough, it’ll be added to the questions ponder box, which contains all of the questions staff have asked during these ponder sessions.

The all-staff questions of consequence box for those operational/club questions that are “must knows” by all the employees.

Our department’s training questions box with questions entirely focused on that department’s training issues.

The solve these issues now box for issues that need resolution now in that department.

The story box with real life staff, member and club stories – previously recorded in the club’s story book – having instructional importance.

The current events box with questions about issues addressed in the weekend edition of the Financial Times.

The assigned reading box with questions about that week’s assigned readings.

The macro box for “this-will-effect-members-and-staffalike” big club issues.

The micro staff box for multi-departmental staff issues such as team motivation and retention.

And there should be an evil one’s raffle box addressing perennial irritants in clubdom. The member expert, who isn’t.

Micromanagement by committees. Visibility blackmail. Going guilt. The Evil Ones who’ll be hounding the management team…forever.

There are dozens of ponder box possibilities with hundreds of ponder box questions. Fun stuff for the club’s ponderers to ponder!

Step Six –The process: There are three phases to ponder: Warm up (question of the day and sory of the day), MEAT (ponder boxes) and cool down (review, summarize and prioritize).

The ponder process requires two must-haves. There must always be a facilitator assigned to select the ponder boxes, to ask the questions and to make sure everyone talks. And there must always be a recorder to document the stories that are told, the questions that are asked and the ideas that are generated.

Warm-up – Each ponder session starts with the two-part warm-up process. Part one of the warm-up involves the question of the day, with the name of that day’s questioner drawn from the question of the day ponder box. The ponderer’s question is then added to the questions ponder box for future discussion.

In part two of the warm-up the facilitator asks each ponderer for their story of the day, with the best stories

entered into the story book for later inclusion in the story book ponder box.

MEAT – After the group’s warmed up and primed for some serious pondering, the facilitator chooses which boxes to ponder that day. One of the ponderers reaches in and pulls out a question, the question gets asked, the discussion begins and the insights are recorded on cards or Post-Its. Cool down – At the end of the session, the Post-Its and the cards written up by the recorder are prioritized and an action plan is developed to make sure the stuff that was discussed, happens.

From “think” to “do”– the ponder time process is action oriented.

Step seven – Translate vision into action: SMART assignments – Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time related, are given post-ponder time. Accountability is emphasized.

When the ponder time seven are done right, good things happen. Ideas are generated, staff are stimulated and bonding takes place…Guaranteed!

Make ponder happen: Staff members need ponder time.

Costs nothing. Does lots.

Set aside ponder time. Find a place. Generate the questions. Energize the discussion. Deliver the buzz and…Enjoy the journey! B R

Clubs of Distinction

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N PALM BEACH 561.626.9704

W W W . P E A CO CK A N D LE W I S . CO M

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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DAVID W. LACEY

HR COMMITTEE

David W. Lacey is managing director, HR Services, The Hirshorn Company.

He recently completed his second board term at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

He can be reached via email: dlacey@hirshorn.com

What Is Hot and What Is Not! Mercer, the prominent human resources consulting firm, reported in early 2019 that “more than 60 percent of private employers agree or strongly agree retaining their best and brightest employees is a concern for them.”

High-performing private clubs have adopted retention of their best talent as a performance metric to evaluate their human resource department. The prominence of retaining the club’s best talent has led to new HR initiatives – or what is hot – being implemented.

Our what is hot list includes these three initiatives: 1. New compensation practices 2. Expanded use of technology 3. Feedback and coaching, as a replacement for annual performance reviews NEW COMPENSATION PRACTICES

For most private clubs their payroll is by far the most significant line item in an operating budget. Therefore, it deserves the most focused attention.

At high-performing clubs, the HR department is designing and implementing these compensation practices.

Top-performing clubs view pay as an ongoing dialogue with employees, not an annual event that comes and goes.

The dialogue has these dimensions: 1) a direct connection between performance contributions and base pay increases; 2) frequent market studies (at least annually) to determine the competitiveness of our pay practices; 3) offering cash bonuses or other forms of incentives for outstanding contributions which make the GM proud of their employee (VISA or American Express gift cards) at least quarterly, and 4) variable pay percentages – one size does not fit all employees (the same percentage increase for all club employees).

These practices, when implemented, have a significant positive impact on a club’s talent retention ratio, a key performance metric.

EXPANDED USE OF TECHNOLOGY

As a function human resources have historically lagged behind finance and new member recruiting in its use of contemporary, tech-based platforms. These platforms now allow HR to collect data about: 1) the number of days to fill 126

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a position; 2) the voluntary turnover rate of employees; 3) the performance distribution of current employees across five different performance ratings, and 4) the level of performance contributions in relation to bonuses paid and/or base salary increases.

Technology-based platforms equip HR with the tools to dive into the data, spot prevailing trends and then inform line managers of the implications for employees. Using analytics in the HR space helps private clubs make better informed and wiser decisions about employees.

Despite the presence of integrated platforms or techbased suites in the marketplace, only one-third of HR departments are using them. Still there is too much use of paper-based systems in HR. Now is the time for HR to emerge as a true partner with other data-driven departments at a private club, such as finance. This “tech effect” or the accelerated use of analytics

by HR will explode in 2019 and beyond.

ANNUAL REVIEW REPLACEMENT

The annual review is dated! Employees in the age range of 25 – 38 seek more frequent feedback about this performance question: How am I doing? Most likely this employee group accounts for one-third to 40 percent of employees at your private club.

At high-performing clubs mini-reviews have replaced one annual review. The minis, or performance-based briefings, occur three to four times during the year, typically after a major event. The mini focuses on what worked and what did not.

These minis reward contribution and remedy performance shortfalls with immediate improvement actions. The minis have an added advantage – a short feedback cycle between observing performance and commentary – both pluses and minuses – about it.

A short cycle, 24 hours or less, is best because the feedback is heard, understood and then acted on by the employee.

What’s hot in human resources places a premium on actions by the private club that promote higher levels of employee engagement and effectiveness, that lead in-

evitably to ever improving operating performance.

What is not hot are the reverses of the top three and include: 1. The same increase percentage for all employees.

2. Manual systems for all reporting and with little attention to prevailing practices or trends in the market.

3. A simple annual discussion of performance.

These three “not hot” practices were once very prevalent at a club because the majority of clubs were doing them.

What has changed?

Like all employers, private clubs are experiencing changes in culture; new preferences of younger employees, and a renewed emphasis on HR as a true strategic business partner.

Today HR has the status of business partner with the general manager and their operations team. With all these changes HR must emerge as a strategic advisor alerting the club’s operations managers to employee trends and proposing constructive action plans that address one or more of these trends.

HR is no longer on the sideline, but now is an active and true business partner. BR

from HR Committee | 115

one by one. This gives the competition a tremendous advantage over your club.

Additionally, low pay can result in low productivity and high turnover rates.

Employees who are unhappy with their wages and are looking for a better job aren’t productive. Also, if you aren’t paying the highest income reflected in the market you won’t be able to recruit the best of the best. Moreover, if an employee feels underpaid and unappreciated they won’t care about their job and might be rude to the members. So, paying low wages can lower your club’s reputation and credibility. BR SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 | BOARDROOM

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MACDONALD NIVEN MacDonald Niven, MA, MCM, CCE is with Niven Research and CEO of Lakewood Country Club, Rockville, MD and can be reached at (510)-439-8522 or via email: mac@niven.cc.

ON THE FRONTLINES

Some Realities of Social Media Marketing “CHRIS, what are you doing? I just got a call from my neighbor who asked me what was going on at the club. He said he just saw an ad for membership on his Facebook feed and joked that we must be desperate if we’re targeting him. This is an elite club and that’s embarrassing, Chris. You need to straighten this out. And, I mean right now.”

As everyone knows, all internet information is correct and anyone advertising on the net becomes Amazon. But, is that really the way it works for clubs? Yes and no.

This scenario’s somewhat true. The club experienced very high, six-figure initiation fees for years and had a solid membership. Then, things softened, and the directors challenged GM Chris to “fill the pipeline.”

Chris recruited several marketing firms, gave them distinct goals and then selected the firm with the best ideas and price. The board discussion on the plan was short and unanimously approved. At the time, Chris had thought, “This went way too quickly, I’m not sure we all understand the possible unintended consequences.”

But approval was granted and the plan was implemented perfectly. The neighbor to whom the president refers was a perfect candidate and right in the demographic that the firm was targeting. The marketing hit the mark! The club experienced hundreds of “hits”, but no new members from the effort, and an embarrassed president. What’s the deal?

A problem is that direct marketing for memberships has consequences. The easiest of these consequences pertains to the legal aspect of a private club. It’s not at all complicated for private clubs – they may not advertise. In simple terms, a private club is an extension of your private home.

All expenses are paid by the family (think members). While that’s quite a simplification and the law is actually complex and governed differently by each state, that simplification holds pretty well true.

However, private may be different from non-profit. Most of the clubs are non-profit public accommodations because they accept outside revenue such as Monday tournaments, non-member banquets, or other funds not provided strictly by the members. A club trying to hold on to its non-profit status may advertise for members – maybe – but not for non-member use of activities (golf, banquets, etc.).

According to the IRS, because membership is important to a club, it is reasonable to advertise for new members.

However, this may cause problems with selectivity, which is where some confusion enters the equation. A club may 128

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remain selective provided that its advertising includes the criteria upon which the selection is made and that criteria does not disallow a protected class. Open advertisement will disallow any selectivity on the prospective participant.

Most of us can then advertise, as Chris has done, but do we – or should we? Through surveys and conversations with many managers and members from across the country, we find that the use of social media (SM) and advertising appears to have three levels of club usage: 1) Private, 2) public accommodation clubs in a strong position, and 3) struggling public accommodation clubs.

We’ve already established that private clubs cannot and do not advertise. So, how about the public accommodation clubs?

It appears that the elite club leadership uses SM for two reasons: To bolster their brand and engage their membership.

They post a good bit of high-end pictures of their food operations and spectacular photos of their golf course and grounds to an open public sight, but do not have any call to action. They also post club happenings to their private site, as well as ads for club events, with calls to action.

Chris’ president was resentful of the call to action in the direct advertisement that was sent to the general public. Struggling clubs, on the other hand, are more direct and will advertise for memberships, golf and banquets in the public forum.

A common, and verified tactic is that members recruit their friends. Our survey tells us that this is not done through posting of club specific happenings through SM. In actually running statistics on the survey results we find that clubs with a waitlist for entry have a negative correlation to the use of SM. It would appear that their brand is already known and that “advertising” may diminish the brand.

The elite public accommodation clubs focus on brand enhancement without calls to action and the struggling clubs simply advertise.

The research seems to confirm what most managers already knew – members come from friends of members and that is from friends speaking to one another about the joys of their club. Once again, we get back to fundamentals – provide members with what they want, they tell their friends and the club does well. Chris’ thought after approval was a good one, successful clubs have a strong brand, communicating that brand takes creativity. B R For a more complete explanation of the legal aspects, psychology of joining clubs, Millennial characteristics, data on clubs, and review of current activities, visit niven.cc and read the research paper.

from Executive Committee Cichy | 40

from Executive Committee Vain | 42

The iGENs added this final observation: “You cannot be a leader without empathy.”

Now that you have heard what we have discovered, we know you want to know if there is a way to assess your empathy. BR

Such an aspirational mission gives the leadership and members both the direction and latitude they need to reflect evolving preferences and sustain its reason for being.

The members know what makes this club important, and the board and management have a serious charge when making decisions about behaviors, practices, investments and programming. By continually refreshing, refining and extending its mission, Multnomah has remained relevant and attractive to current and prospective members.

This has led to things like their foundation and community activities, giving the club a higher purpose. In a world where good works and community engagement are more valued than ever before, this will play well.

Having a mission as compelling as enriching lives and fostering friendships opens doors that don’t exist when activities and amenities are your measuring stick. Your mission should work like a magnet, drawing to your club the type of people you want and repelling those who do not share your values and interests.

For the board that wants to have long term impact on its club, exhibiting knowledge of the past, having confidence in the approach to the present and keeping an eye on the future are critical to governing with a purpose. BR

TRY THIS EMPATHY ASSESSMENT Everything, every experience is focused on the other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not me Always me Meet the other where the other is coming from 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Not me Always me Put yourself in the place of the other, as much as humanly possible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 Not me Always me Attend to the needs, wants, and desires of the other by actively listening 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not me Always me Take the responsibility for building/nurturing the relationship with the other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not me Always me Hear what the other is saying or feeling in the meaning behind the words 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not me Always me Yearn for and act to develop a deep understanding of the other 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not me Always me ASSESSMENT TOTAL 60-70: You are empathetic!

50-59: Your empathy strengths are a good place from which to lead.

40-49: You have work-ons to practice empathy.

39 and below: Read more about empathy. Observe those who practice empathy. Take a course on increasing your human relations skills.

Use this assessment as part of either volunteer or paid club leadership positions. Make it a part of talent training and ongoing coaching.

Practice empathy, as practice makes permanent.

from Food for Thought | 104

is different in some way – and I am constantly amazed at the level of sophistication required to meet these needs.

The point of all this is to consider maturity of software as opposed to “look and feel” or fancy techno-features.

Newer systems may look cooler than older ones, but they generally lack not only the sophistication depth, but also the benefits associated with large user bases and the suggestions and needs associated with them.

Systems that are mature have already dealt with the issues associated with lack of capability and depth – not to mention bugs. Always consider maturity, user base and ownership changes when evaluating and comparing critical systems. B R

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how the concern can be improved. This is all part of a review process. The problem in our industry is that many times board members or officers don’t like or want to undertake a comprehensive evaluation process. There’s no ongoing

communication throughout the year.

Problems are left to grow exponentially. You want to promote immediate communication. There is nothing worse than getting fired or not having your contract renewed. Maybe, by being more

proactive, you can prevent many of the problems that drive boards to make the decision of separating with their manager.

Investing in your job can save your job.

But hey, it’s only your job. BR

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from Publisher’s Perspective | 10

“The board could potentially be working toward a different result than the club manager if they do not both agree on common terms, objectives and success metrics. Worse yet, the club manager’s role and position may be in jeopardy if they are known to not understand their financial environment.

“If both parties haven’t taken the time to understand each other, benchmarking the club’s financial position and then planning for the future then the club’s health is at risk,” she explained.

“Sadly, we see that there is a hesitation by some club managers to take on the important work of understanding the language of finance at their clubs for fear that they will be perceived as unqualified to lead their clubs by their board, staff, or their peers.

So is there a reluctance to understand the private club industry specifically and, if so, what concerns are raised by NOT understanding the specifics of club finance?

Club Benchmarking CEO Jim Butler put the disconnect in context: “If a software company were looking to hire a new CEO, they probably wouldn’t look for someone whose previous experience was in the commodities world. That person would be predisposed to focus on “cutting expenses” to increase profit.

“Applying a cost-cutting approach to a company in the software industry could drive profits in the short term, but eventually it would lead to not being able to invest properly in research and development and in marketing and ultimately it would imperil the company’s long-term prospects.

“That’s the kind of misdirection that occurs every day in the club industry when people who don’t truly understand the drivers of success in the club industry become board members. Those are the people who pressure the general manager and their fellow board members to cut expenses as if a club were a commodity, rather than focusing on the needs of prospective members and then investing to ensure the club can meet those needs in the future.

“That lack of understanding of the key success factors in the club industry can and does take a huge toll on clubs over time,” Butler said.

If finance gives a strategic view of a club’s operations, what numbers tell a board of directors whether their club is remaining relevant and is financially sustainable?

“One financial metric that can be embraced by every business – for profit and not for profit alike – is Net Worth Over Time,” explained Cronin.

“A common goal for every entity, whether a business, family or organization, is to increase its net worth (equity) over time. If net worth is decreasing over time, so are the assets the organization has to meet its mission and vision.

“It is a fact that more than 50 percent of the clubs in our industry have a net worth decreasing in real terms (meaning the net worth of half of all clubs is lower today in real dollars than it was in 2006).

“For our industry, that decrease quantifies a financial outcome reflecting two critical themes: 1) The relevance of clubs is declining and inhibiting the ability to generate initiation fee income, which data shows has been the foremost driver of net worth over time in a club.

2) Club assets are shrinking over time. Some 80 percent of a club’s assets are comprised of property, plant and equipment (PP&E), which means the asset base is depreciating faster than clubs can re-invest. It is a dangerous cycle of decline since prospective members are likely going to be turned off by old and worn facilities.

“According to our research, the net worth of a club must increase at a minimum annual rate of 3.5 percent over time for a club to be able to properly maintain its PP&E. Right now, only 35 percent of clubs are meeting that threshold,” Cronin stated.

FINANCIAL DRIVER

How then, do we explain how clubs should look at financial modelling …what do club needs to do?

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“For the majority of clubs (90 percent) the ‘operating ledger’ (income statement) is set to break-even, excluding depreciation, which is considered a capital expense. Club Benchmarking data proves this fact,” said Butler.

“From a financial model perspective, the key is the realization that the operating ledger does not produce the club’s financial outcome. A breakeven outcome, by definition, is simply not a financial driver.

“The operating ledger is the vehicle for delivering services and amenities to the members and it is consumed every year by members enjoying the club, as it should be.

“The financial driver is capital income, which is the money available to drive a club forward financially. If the operating ledger is break-even (or close) the net worth of a club will only increase if there is enough capital income to overcome the depreciation expense. If not, the net worth that year will decrease.

“So, the appropriate financial model is this: The operating ledger is the vehicle for delivering services and amenities to members. It is the club’s programming and a critical piece of the value proposition.

“The real financial driver is capital income and specifically, enough capital income to consistently and continuously reinvest in the club’s PP&E to assure the asset base remains relevant and appealing to prospective members,” Butler explained. “Those new members will then contribute more capital (through their initiation fees) when they enter the club as an owner. Financially, the most critical metric is net worth over time,” he added.

What does this mean for individual clubs?

“Financial modeling is an essential road map for Vestavia Country Club to base important short and long-term decisions. We believe that the club must understand all important member, staff and facility information and then create a vision for how we will grow the experience and net worth of the club,” explained GM Farr Evans.

“The models allow us to be agile when various scenarios, such as a sudden economic downturn, throw us off of the course we choose. Models give us the information we need to explain the club’s business to the members and team so that there is alignment in reaching our goals.”

Are there specific metrics private club should use in understanding the club business?

“The balance sheet is the best place to apply financial analysis to determine how your club is faring. The metrics that provide clear insight are: Net worth over time, net to gross PP&E ratio, equity to assets ratio and debt to equity ratio. The table below can be used to quickly and accurately, assess your club’s financial strength,” added Cronin.

“One other simple metric to assess your club’s health is your club’s ratio of operating dues to operating revenue – what we call the dues engine,” said Cronin.

“Clubs with golf likely have a weakness if the ratio is less than 45 percent. For clubs without golf, less than 35 percent indicates a weak dues engine.”

However, clubs like Vestavia Country Club do set out specific metrics to help understand their business.

“Every club should develop a scorecard that they consistently watch, benchmark, and work towards over-performing. The scorecard should include alignment metrics as well as financial metrics. I’m including a list of my top high level KPIs,” explained Farr Evans.

“Mission and vision - A club must know why it exists and where it is headed. While some feel that mission and vision is a squishy concept, I’m convinced it’s critical to making good, aligned choices for the club.

“Net worth over time - Tracking if the club is growing is the first step in knowing the health of the club.

“Net available capital & deferred maintenance levels The club must have enough capital to support property plant and equipment replacement, as well as fund future new facilities. Understanding the replacement needs of its existing property is key to funding that replacement. A capital reserve study and functioning property management system that tracks maintenance is a must for a club to remain healthy,” Farr Evans added.

“Debt to FME and debt to operating revenue - The amount of debt in today’s environment needs to be watched so it does not become untenable. Watching the club’s funding levers gives club leadership a fuller ➤

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from Publisher’s Perspective | 131

picture of the success of the club behind top line revenues: • Full member equivalents (FME) Having a good understanding of the equivalency of dues paying members is important to knowing the amount of support for operational endeavors.

• Annual full membership category dues levels - When understood, this benchmark, is at a sufficient level to support the yearly use of the club.

• Net operating results - Answers if the operation is performing as planned as well as providing a source of revenue to support capital endeavors.

• Total capital income and capital dues to FME - The amount of dues that is supporting depreciation and facility projects.

• Total debt and capacity - The club’s total debt and borrowing power guides the club as to whether or not it could or should increase loans or leases.

Some clubs are obviously more financially healthy than others. Are there reasons for this?

“There is absolutely a common reason for a club’s financial health or lack thereof,” Club Benchmark’s Butler responded. “Healthy clubs are generating the necessary capital and unhealthy clubs are not.”

“The healthiest clubs of all consistently generate the capital to meet both oblig-

atory capital needs (repair and replacement as quantified by a capital reserve study) and aspirational capital needs (forward-looking focus on remaining relevant through continuous addition and improvement of services and amenities).

“The least healthy clubs are not even generating enough capital to meet their obligatory capital needs. They are literally consuming themselves over time and you can actually see it because the club’s PP&E becomes increasingly worn and depleted,” he added.

Still there are clubs that make assumptions when looking at their operation as a business. But what do these assumptions really mean?

“Clearly, the most dangerous assumption is that a club can cut its way to financial success. Successful clubs (and businesses) are growing, not shrinking. With growth comes more revenue and more expense over time.

“There are very few instances in corporate history where any business successfully cut its way to success. Historically, successful companies grow, adding more customers, adding more products and services. Clubs are no different,” Butler opined.

So, where do a club’s board members stand in this discussion? What questions should board members be asking and how do they decide what’s important when discussing a club’s business operation?

“Board members, as a group, should clearly understand the club’s mission (why it exists) and vision (exactly where the club is going in the coming years to remain appealing and relevant to prospective members).

“Board members, as a group, should oversee a club with an initiation fee that is growing over time (indicating relevance to prospective members) and they should be asking themselves how much it should grow and when.

“They should understand the key balance sheet financial indicators and where their club sits in relation to industry norms. Board members should be asking questions about the club’s future - not focused on tactical, operational matters,” Cronin said.

Farr Evans concurs.

“Board members should start with what is our long-term vision, what is our strategy to get there, do we have the resources, and how can I help?” Farr Evans expressed. “We strongly believe that ensuring the success of today means that we have planned as well as we can to create it yesterday.”

Along with board members what do club managers need to do to better understand their club business?

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“Club managers should master each of the financial key performance indicators and be able to explain each of those to board members, finance committee members and members at large. The club manager should feel able to discuss the financial KPIs with any person – even someone who may be a financial expert in other industries but who may not be a financial expert on the club industry,” Cronin added.

“Club managers have an incredibly powerful support, mentoring and educational peer group with our various associations and in our surrounding clubs,” Farr Evans commented.

“Managers need to take advantage of the education sessions that are offered. Connect with peers to ask how they are being successful. Benchmark other clubs to witness their successes.

“Club managers also need to connect with their members even when the beginning of the discussion might be a little bit intimidating,” she suggested. “Our greatest resource for knowledge often lies within the volunteers or professional ability of members. Members are so generous in giving help and advice if we only ask them.”

And the future? What do clubs need to do to become more sustainable?

“Board members and members at large should make the club’s future their primary focus while allowing their general manager/COO to manage the day to day operations,” Butler emphasized.

“They should all be working together to create the future for their club, assuring it remains relevant in a constantly changing society with constantly changing demographics and social and entertainment norms. Board members and

the language of finance. In reality they need to know the language of finance.

And as Club Benchmarking’s Ray Cronin has emphasized, those in the private club industry should use financial metrics and perspective tied to key success factors appropriate for the private club industry.

“Industry data shows metrics are important, and we want to use finance and the correct perspective to focus on the main drivers of success,” he tells us. It’s important because a lack of understanding of the key success factors in the club industry can take a huge toll on clubs over time.

As he stressed, “One financial metric that can be embraced by every business – for profit and not for profit alike – is Net Worth Over Time.”

Certainly, a common goal of every club is to increase its net worth … its equity, over time, because if this net worth is decreasing over time, so too are the organization’s assets.

Perhaps one of the Cronin’s most striking comments is this: “It is a fact that more than 50 percent of the clubs in our industry have a net worth decreasing in real terms (meaning the net worth of half of all clubs is lower today in real dollars than it was in 2006).”

No question, board members, as a group, must understand their club’s mission, the vision and core values so the club can remain appealing to both current members as well as prospective members. Their club’s future should be their primary focus, thus allowing the club’s general manager to manage the club’s day-to-day operations. Micromanagement be gone! members-at-large should embrace their role as owners of the business and understand that as owners they have an obligation to invest in creating that future. On the margin, the owners (members) should be willing to contribute the capital necessary to create that future,” he added.

Farr Evans suggested, “The future is very bright for clubs that choose to know their business today and plan for their future. My fear is that clubs that are doing fine today will suffer tremendously in a down economy.

“We know that over 100 years we will have more than 20 down economies, so the best route is to plan for the inevitable, execute and then be agile when changes occur,” Farr Evans proposed.

PUBLISHER’S FINAL THOUGHTS

To reiterate, club managers can be experts in delivering an extraordinary member experience, but often they, as are some members of their boards of directors, not experts in

As Club Benchmarking’s research shows, “The net worth of a club must increase at a minimum annual rate of 3.5 percent over time for a club to be able to properly maintain its PP&E. Right now, only 35 percent of clubs are meeting that threshold.” All the more reason for board members and club managers to know and understand the language of finance.

No question, board members, as a group, must understand their club’s mission, the vision and core values so the club can remain appealing to both current members as well as prospective members.

Their club’s future should be their primary focus, thus allowing the club’s general manager to manage the club’s day-to-day operations. Micromanagement be gone!

At least, that’s the way I see it. B R John G. Fornaro, publisher

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CHRIS BOETTCHER Christopher Boettcher is a certified club manager and can be reached at: Chris@Boettcher.com

CLUB SERVICE

Loyalty to all…

Before you can have loyal members, you first must get them to come back. And then get them to come back again – and again.

Loyalty doesn’t happen on the first interaction and probably not the second. It’s a series of predictable and consistent experiences that get that member to come back and eventually become loyal.

They know what to expect, and additionally, since they pay dues, they “own” their experience with you.

I often remind my board members that loyalty of the members also translates to loyalty of the staff. In old line clubs, staff have a lot of pull and their experiences count too. How they treat your new members is key.

That said, it does start with getting the member back to the club often. I read an article and share some of this content from a Forbes article about Michael Burns, chief revenue officer at Aventri, a company that, in its own words, “Helps create valuable in-person experiences, grow influential communities, and expand brands.” Sounds like my job!

Aventri has won multiple awards for its exceptional customer service. While its business is interesting, I’ve been more focused on what we can learn that would apply to my club experience. Here are some of Burns’ ideas, followed by my commentary.

Don’t assume you know why your customer is working with you: Don’t get comfortable with what you know about your members. Their needs will change over time. What used to be important may not be anymore.

Continuously engage with your members to confirm you are giving them the best service and keeping up with their business. According to Burns, “The moment you don’t have to worry about them because they are comfortable, you’ll lose that connection.”

Never forget post-customer acquisition: A fellow club member told me once, all he has to do with new members is orient them. After that he pretty much leaves them be.

Same for membership committees: once they are in, they should figure it out.

Many refer to a customer’s decision to do business with a company as “closing the customer.” That couldn’t be fur134

BOARDROOM | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019

ther from the truth in clubs. Once the prospective member decides to join, that’s the true start of the relationship. It’s up to your entire team and their fellow members to continuously prove to your members that they made the right decision when they chose to do join your club – the first time they touch them and well into the future.

Train your entire staff on the customer experience: If you’ve been following my articles, you know I believe that service is key to the club experience. It’s the club’s culture.

It’s the philosophy of the leadership that permeates from the club manager to the newest hire. Everyone must be trained to understand this.

No doubt the person in a kitchen or in the accounting department will be trained differently than someone on the front line in the dining room, but everyone must be in alignment with the member-service vision. What’s happening on the inside of a club, in the “heart-of-the-house” is felt on the outside by the member.

Give your member a voice: Don’t forget to give your members a voice in how they are treated. Done right, they love to share their feedback – both good and constructive.

Committees are the best atmosphere for feedback.

Focus groups and samplings of member opinion can come in many forms. Getting info from them is key but so is sharing info back through them to the club community.

In clubs, knowledgeable committees can help the membership-at-large understand the big issues by helping spread the word. Here’s the most important point: Once you get that feedback, act on it. Asking for feedback and not acting on it frustrates both members and employees and that’s the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

These ideas are reminders that are not to be overlooked. Some of you may be thinking these are common sense and maybe they are. But, are you actively implementing these tactics and strategies? These ideas provide opportunities to deliver the best service to your members and an experience that will get them to come back again and again. Lead ON! B R

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VOICES OF NET GENERATION

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USPTA Elite Professional | Tennis Director, Braemar CC | Orange County, CA “Braemar is a busy club with 12 pros servicing a wide array of tennis activities. That’s why when it comes to our youth programming, we count on Net Generation. Net Generation gives my team and me everything ‘junior tennis,’ under one roof. The website has a space for Providers, Players, and Parents to navigate the tennis pathway in a fun and playful way. We use the Net Generation app to set up our weekly lesson plans. It’s so easy....Take the time to learn about Net Generation, it will help grow the game.”

Register or renew your Net Generation account today!

Net Generation, official youth tennis of the USTA, is helping to grow youth tennis participation in communities across the country. The aim is simple: More kids on more courts in more places—all of them having more fun. That’s a goal we can all rally behind.

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Net Generation embraces all aspects of the sport for kids ages 5-18, while also setting important new standards for those who teach the sport to kids. Net Generation is designed to create a safe and fun environment for young players, making it easier than ever to get kids engaged in the sport and stay with it.

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T he Bo ardRo o m m ag az ine

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BOARDROOM MAGAZINE TECHNOLOGY FEATURE - PAGES 60-82 Back Row L-R: Peter M. Kressaty, EVP Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide; Keith Jarrett, President, BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs; Bill Thomas, Executive Director, BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs Front Row L-R: David R. Tyson, CCM, CAM, VP Private Clubs, Global Partner Services, Forbes Travel Guide; John G. Fornaro, Publisher/CEO BoardRoom magazine and CEO/Co-Founder BoardRoom’s Distinguished Clubs