5 gifts on every club's wish list this holiday season
By Srishti Singh
‘Tis the time of year when we put together those holiday wish lists. In the spirit of the season, we thought we would share 5 enchanting gifts that every club we know would love to receive.
1. Enthusiastically connected members
Enthusiastically connected members power the success of any club. Building and maintaining these connections is crucial. That means providing an excellent experience when members are at the club. But it mustn’t stop there. We also need to go outside the club to meet them where they are—online, specifically on their smartphones.
We must provide them with useful functionality, timely reminders, and an intuitive experience that allows them to extend their connection to the club beyond the physical grounds. This is why the member app has become such an essential part of any successful club.
A member app can make things more convenient for your members. Whether they want to book a tee time, make a dining reservation, sign up for a class, order food on the go, or pay a bill from their phone. The app makes it easy.
Plus, the app can simplify planning a get-together with your club friends. For example, Northstar’s member app offers a buddy list functionality that helps members easily organize an outing at the club.
The app also allows you to send targeted push notifications to keep members updated on everything happening at the club. Through its dynamic feed, you can share important announcements, promote upcoming events, and encourage interactions.
All of these features energize members and help them feel more connected to the club even when they are not at the club.
2. Passionately engaged employees
Empowered employees are a gift to any operation. In fact, they are the backbone of any successful club. Smart clubs know that building this empowerment is the key to everything from improved operational efficiency to an elevated member experience.
One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to launch an employee app at your club. With an app like Northstar’s, employees have the much-desired ability to manage their own schedules right from the app.
Moreover, it can streamline work, allowing employees to create reservations and bookings right from the app.
The app also enhances employees' ability to personalize your members' experiences. Through the app, they can see who is at the club, who is seated in the restaurant, and even access members’ profiles.
To top it off, your employees can use the app to access BEOs, pull up powerful club analytics, and more to help further optimize operations.
By providing employees with a new tool to do their jobs efficiently and effectively, you can boost morale, reduce turnover, and improve overall job satisfaction.
3. Conveniences that surprise and delight
Nothing improves member satisfaction like making it easier for them to enjoy the club. And nothing helps you accomplish that like a smart website solution that makes your site as functional as it is beautiful.
A modern solution can incorporate the ability to make online reservations a snap. Whether it’s getting a tee time, setting dining reservations, or signing up for a class or activity. Plus, it should offer e-commerce functionality to sell merchandise from any of the club shops online.
Another convenience is the ability to set up a member portal through which members can access their accounts to check charges and minimum balances, pay bills, and more.
Having all this conveniently accessible online improves how members view the club and how it caters to them.
Finally, a smart website will also make it convenient for you and your staff to deploy advanced marketing campaigns. For example, Northstar’s built-in tools allow you to segment your members by interests and preferences. And then send targeted email campaigns and notifications to keep members updated and engaged.
4. Unparalleled understanding
What club manager doesn’t have this one on his or her wishlist? In-depth operational analytics can provide a deep understanding of your club’s performance across various departments – from food and beverage to golf to fitness. That is valuable understanding you can use to improve your club significantly.
This is why Northstar has created NS Analytics. Every module in the Northstar system offers a rich set of NS Analytics reports as well as a set of KPIs and charts. This insightful data puts the information you need at your fingertips. The information that helps you get a clearer picture of the state of the club. And the opportunities at hand.
Northstar also offers member sentiment and behavior analysis data through Happometer. With it, you can track member usage patterns, preferences, and spending habits to identify opportunities for targeted marketing and personalized experiences.
With these advanced tools, clubs can make informed decisions, optimize operations, and improve the overall member experience.
5. Game-changing operational support
An optimized back-office operation is the gift that just keeps on giving. When everything is optimized here, it lays the foundation for creating an exceptional club experience.
Northstar recently collaborated with hundreds of clubs worldwide to understand how the back-office software could be improved to better serve the club. The result is NS Office. This exciting evolution gives you and your staff a system that is intuitive, powerful, and customizable.
A user-friendly interface delivers modern UX features like a mega menu and customizable shortcuts such as ‘favorites’ and ‘recents’ to quickly access the functionality you need, saving valuable time and reducing frustration.
A robust search function gives you quick access to the information you need – from member records to financial reports. Customizable reports provide valuable insights into your club's operations, helping you identify trends and make more informed decisions. And there’s much more.
By rethinking how the back office software should function, NS Office helps improve the workflow, increase efficiency, and empower data-driven decision-making to boost your entire operation.
A holiday wish for your club
As you're putting together your wish list for your operation, consider giving your club these 5 gifts. Gifts that can help ensure members are even more delighted, employees are even more empowered, and operations run smoother than ever. Of course, if you’d like to learn more, just request a demo.
May you and your club have a joyous holiday season and a prosperous New Year.