Membership Recruitment Ideas

[Crazyface]

It seems to me that a lot of clubs are struggling to make ends meet and seriously need to come up with some ideas to prevent the decline in membership. Also a few on here have indicated they will not be renewing membership at their current clubs, myself included. So what ideas does anyone have that clubs could adopt to try an stop this exodus of membership? Everything can be suggested, do not jump on things and be negative about suggestions.

I'll kick it off

Offer a 6 month membership April to end of September at 80% of full membership cost.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

It seems to me that a lot of clubs are struggling to make ends meet and seriously need to come up with some ideas to prevent the decline in membership. Also a few on here have indicated they will not be renewing membership at their current clubs, myself included. So what ideas does anyone have that clubs could adopt to try an stop this exodus of membership? Everything can be suggested, do not jump on things and be negative about suggestions.

I'll kick it off

Offer a 6 month membership April to end of September at 80% of full membership cost.

Can't see that working as a lot of people already tend not to play much during the winter so your overall subscriptions would drop as full members take up that offer plus you may also loose revenue in the bar/restaurant.

Bad idea IMHO.

 

[Marshy77]

It's difficult as I'm thinking about when I was a member and what could have made me stay. My membership was initially very cheap, yet in the end it worked out expensive as I didn't use it enough.

I think a membership like you say from March/April to Sept/Oct would work with a time apportioned membership fee.

Time is precious at the end of the day and if you don't any enough of it it doesn't matter what deals are on offer which is why I'm not a member anymore.

 

[Beezerk]

Offer a 6 month membership April to end of September at 80% of full membership cost.

Blimey, bargain of the century that lol.
40% of full membership may turn people's heads but not 80%.
Our place has started a long term membership deal, not sure of the details but it's something like pay for 5 years up front and get a discount of x amount.

 

[ADB]

I think golf clubs need to take a look at what Millennial's respond to now, to build up a longer term strategy. Paying upfront for something you may or may not use discourages uptake (in my opinion) but simple payment and linked offers that build loyalty could be something that attracts.

For example, how about a sliding scale of green fees (starting high and reducing with every round/drink/food/basket of balls etc taken) with added loyalty benefits as you build up visits.

 

[Curls]

Worth thinking about imo. Another thing millennials are apparently attracted by is the opportunity to make a difference by being part of a group. They also feel you should pay relative to how busy a place is, I'm talking about off-peak memberships, you can play at weekends but only after 12, for example. This is the sort of division many of them expect - I.e. Why on earth would I pay the same as an old guy who can play whenever he wants? I only want to use the course when it's quiet - that's what I want to pay for

And yes - it's a generalisation based on incomplete data and opinion I've formed by reading different things - It's a forum not a think tank in Google HQ.

 

[upsidedown]

3 clubs near us are offering complimentary playing rights at each others courses. Not sure how it works but on FB it was suggested you can enter their opens but at Members prices as one benefit .

 

[Swingalot]

Best ways to recruit members - have a golf course that is in top nick and is better than others nearby. Then make sure you have open events and lots of league games so the word gets around.

Best way to lose members - have a golf course that is not in good nick and then compound that by spending little or no money on it and at the same time don't communicate with your membership.

 

[Curls]

3 clubs near us are offering complimentary playing rights at each others courses. Not sure how it works but on FB it was suggested you can enter their opens but at Members prices as one benefit .


View attachment 24530

Great idea!

 

[Val]

It seems to me that a lot of clubs are struggling to make ends meet and seriously need to come up with some ideas to prevent the decline in membership. Also a few on here have indicated they will not be renewing membership at their current clubs, myself included. So what ideas does anyone have that clubs could adopt to try an stop this exodus of membership? Everything can be suggested, do not jump on things and be negative about suggestions.

I'll kick it off

Offer a 6 month membership April to end of September at 80% of full membership cost.

And watch your club fold as those fair weather golfers who don't play October to March jump on this

 

[patricks148]

And watch your club fold as those fair weather golfers who don't play October to March jump on this

very true. as i said in another thread, weekend and summer golf are the premium for any club and charge accordingly. I would suggest most clubs would want to charge more for either of these options not less

 

[GB72]

I like the idea of local clubs joining together for a combined membership. The ability to play more than one course under your membership would help compete with hotel chains or multiple course groups.

A decent year one discount for more than one person signing up at the same time, people like to play with their mates so a group of mates signing up would be good for the club and a discount good for the golfers.

Maybe allow a certain number of free guest rounds every month. If you have mates at other clubs, the opportunity to play with them at your course once or twice a month may swing the decision to play elsewhere.

Simplest thing, have a role up open to all club members every weekend. Amazing that only 1 club that I have been a member of has open weekend roll ups and what a difference that has made to my enjoyment of the game.

Other than that, a simple change in attitude. Golf clubs seem to be very much 'what can you do to help the club' whereas they need a bit more of 'what can the club do to help you'.

 

[patricks148]

3 clubs near us are offering complimentary playing rights at each others courses. Not sure how it works but on FB it was suggested you can enter their opens but at Members prices as one benefit .


View attachment 24530

i suppose that works as long as the clubs involved are equal quality and cost. when you have one thats better then you end up with one club inundated and its members hard done by.

 

[duncan mackie]

Overall I think this club, already referenced by upsidedown, has just about every option covered!

https://lhgolfclub.co.uk/visitors/membership/

 

[upsidedown]

i suppose that works as long as the clubs involved are equal quality and cost. when you have one thats better then you end up with one club inundated and its members hard done by.

That is the interesting point and as neighbours to them we await to see how it pans out. Two of the courses get very wet in the Winter, which would could lead to the third getting a lot of traffic but reaping the rewards with an increased bar revenue ??

If we weren't very well settled at our existing club would be tempted as one of them is £100 cheaper per annum than us and the other £180 !!

 

[Deleted member 21258]

We need more of this kind of stuff, for the long term future, lets get the kids into it and families/mum/dad may follow :-

https://twitter.com/RSDproshop/status/968134252150902785

I am always surprised at the lack of families that play golf. For me getting the family involved was always really important.


For individual clubs, once people are in the system, then reciprocal agreements to me are great for individual clubs and very attractive.

 

[DCB]

A few years back, nearly all the clubs in our area had one offer or another on the table to attract new members. There was a lot of choice so it boiled down to which club had the better course and which club had the course in best condition for the longest part of the year. A year later, come renewal time, all the clubs hit the market with "new" offers. There was a dramatic shift between clubs, with one club particularly badly hit.

There is no easy answer to the problem. Many of the suggestions made before have been tried out with varying degrees of success. What is evident nowadays is people aren't willing to pay for golf club membership in the manner that once happened. Well, the long term effect of that is that there will be more & more casualties as clubs fold or go to the wall. Reduced memberships or special offers are just a band aid that can not be sustained indefinitely. Clubs cannot budget as they should based on the reduced income that these categories bring in. Sooner or later, cuts have to be made, that is the start of the downward spiral.

For those who want a special six month rate or part season rate for just the summer months ......... a question ........ does the package holiday market have special cut price deals just for the school holidays

 

[Val]

The more I give it thought, the more i'm into this combined membership thing with other clubs rather than reciprocal arrangements. I think with the right policies and ideas in place it has mileage for struggling clubs, maybe good for 2 clubs in the same town like what we have.

This really has given me food for thought.

 

[richart]

Best ways to recruit members - have a golf course that is in top nick and is better than others nearby. Then make sure you have open events and lots of league games so the word gets around.

Best way to lose members - have a golf course that is not in good nick and then compound that by spending little or no money on it and at the same time don't communicate with your membership.

Totally agree. My course is in a small town, which until recently was basically army. Don't think we had any army personnel members. All the bigger towns nearby, Farnham, Alton, Petersfield have their own courses, so we had to provide a better course to attract members, and make the longer drive to the course worthwhile.

We had a lot of open days to recruit members, letting golfers play the course, and then giving them a deal on the day to join. Think Hawkeye joined through such a open day. Holding the Selbourne Salver each year helps get us on the amateur map, and last year we had the English Girls Open. Speaking to some of the parents they were very complimentary about the course, but amazed they hadn't heard of it. Fortunately more locally the course is well known.

There are a limited number of golfers out there, and with a lot of courses to choose from locally, you have to have a decent course to keep existing members and attract new ones.

 

[JV24601]

Best ways to recruit members - have a golf course that is in top nick and is better than others nearby. Then make sure you have open events and lots of league games so the word gets around.

Best way to lose members - have a golf course that is not in good nick and then compound that by spending little or no money on it and at the same time don't communicate with your membership.

:thup:

It's as simple as this for me