For the last 3 months, clubs have faced an unprecedented set of circumstances and it’s unlikely that your club is operating today exactly as it did one year ago. Despite the challenges, clubs still need to attract new members for the long-term health and viability of the club. Sharing an inside look of what community means to your membership during this time, gives prospects a connection to the heart and soul of your club. It is time to think creatively and try new initiatives --big and small!

Share Stories of How Your Club Has Handled the Closures

We have seen inspiring examples of clubs doing great things to keep their members engaged. Some clubs even took the chance to share videos on their website and social media. You can share photos, videos, and blog posts that highlight how your club has helped your members and provide services that they otherwise were having difficulty accessing.

We saw some great examples including:

• Meal deliveries
• Groceries deliveries
• Pharmacy errands
• Home repairs

Addison Reserve in Delray Beach, FL started a delivery service so that members could order food from the club’s dining venues without having to leave their homes. They captured club staff working together in a beautifully produced video.

You can also share some of the fun programming that your club did during the closure to keep members connected and engaged with each other. We saw some of the following programming at clubs across the country:

• Zoom Happy Hours
• Wine Tastings
• Cooking Classes
• Fitness Classes

What are some of the creative ways you kept your members engaged during the club closure? 

Use that programming as content that you can share on your club website’s blog or social media channels. It will show the vitality and strength of your club’s community. 

Share How Your Club is Responding To Change 

There are a lot of ways that clubs are adapting in order to provide the same activities enjoyed by members, with a higher attention to member well-being. Whether your club has added additional cleaning staff or increased cleaning frequency, you’re probably doing something in addition to the normal high standards you’ve always maintained. Clubs that have never used Tee Time Bookings for their golf course, have now made online booking available. Club dining venues may have removed tables or created new outdoor venues so that adequate space is maintained for social distancing. Whatever it is that your club is doing, share that with prospective members. Whether it’s outlined on your membership information page, or included in your membership request-response, potential members will want to know how you’re keeping members safe.

Re-engage with Leads

March and April, for many clubs, is a key time to engage with new potential members for the upcoming summer season. Even clubs that operate year-round are always having conversations with prospects. So when clubs closed in March, most of those conversations had to be put on hold. Now that your club has reopened, it would be a good time to reach out to those leads through an email to ask how they are doing. Even share how members are enjoying the club right now. The goal is to reopen the lines of communication and to not be too aggressive in promoting your club membership. Quality content that paints a picture of what membership means to your club and how members are experiencing your club, is a great way to establish if leads are still in a position to explore membership.

Give Club Tours Online

Having a potential member come in for a tour of the club was practically a basic requirement in the recruitment toolbox. You want your lead to get a feel for the clubhouse, maybe meet some of the key staff and even a few members before making a decision to join. If this is not currently possible at your club, then a digital alternative is a great option. Using a mobile phone and an app like Apple FaceTime, Google Hangouts or Zoom, you could take your potential members on a live tour of the club, introduce staff, and conduct a video interview so that you can both ask and answer any questions that haven’t already been addressed.

Create a Virtual Tour of Your Club

If you’re ever used Google Street View you know the power of a virtual tour. Whether it’s your neighborhood, a country across the globe, or even your club, a virtual tour can port you into a space, and you can experience its physical surroundings. Digitize your club’s space and let prospective members take a look around, on their own time. 

Explore some of Virtual Tour examples that we’ve created for our partner clubs.

The way your club is operating will play a significant role in how your club will be able to promote itself. Take an assessment of how you are marketing your club and look for opportunities to share new relevant content that focuses on club life and the experience it offers. Because even if the message is different, attracting new members is as essential today, if not more, as it was a year ago. 

Watch a Video Recording of the “20 Ideas too Inspiring Not to Share Webinar”