3 C’s for increasing event registrations using club event management and reservation software

By Srishti Singh

Events offer a great opportunity to remind your members why your club is an essential part of their lives. Just think of something like an annual Christmas dinner. It can stir strong emotions as members find themselves surrounded by friends and immersed in the spirit of the season. When you can help foster those kinds of feelings, it makes your club something special to your members.

Of course, making that happen can feel like a chore. But it doesn't have to. You can go a long way to achieving impressive results by simply following the 3 C's.

Consolidate: getting all the details in one place.

There are numerous pieces to building event participation among your members. From helping them discover your event to building their interest to having them sign up. And doing it in a way that is convenient, feels helpful, and builds anticipation.

Getting all the details in one spot is key. Timelines, spreadsheets, and checklists are good for consolidating all the details of the effort. But here's a pro tip: it becomes exponentially easier when you can take care of these tasks with club reservation software that integrates with your club management system. That means having one spot where you can connect to:

• Your membership database to track those who are interested
• Your campaign manager for sending announcements and reminders
• Your website builder to add event banners
• Your online calendar to publish the event
• Your events registration module to sign up members
• Your billing module to automatically invoice members

Coordinate: get it all working together.

It's important to choreograph the activities that will engage members and get them signed up. For starters, you want to make sure you're scheduling on a date that does not conflict with another event that could compete. The calendar function in an integrated system can give you a comprehensive view of everything scheduled at the club.

Once you set the event, you want it to populate to the club's calendar – both on the website and in the club's mobile app. This ensures members see your event every time they check their calendar.

You also want to promote the event across the website and the mobile app so the event stays front and center for your members. We'll cover that more in the third C.

One of the keys to improving participation in your club events is to remove the friction to signing up. It should be easy for members to register with the ability to purchase tickets on the website or through the app. You can boost the success rate even more by giving them the ability to see a seating chart and choose the seats they want.

Once a member registers, you can email tickets to them. Or print them out and distribute them if that works better for you. You want to get the billing out right away as well. With an integrated club management platform, this can be automated, populating the charges to the member's billing page on the website.

With one integrated system, the coordination of the details becomes easier and, in some cases, even automated.

Communicate: keep everyone engaged

Communication is essential to improving member participation in your events. That means making the effort to announce the event early and then staying in front of your members with reminders in order to boost sign-ups.

Here is a list of ways to engage members and build anticipation for your event:

• Send out an announcement in an email, texts, and push notifications through the club app
• Get it on the website and app calendars - we talked about this earlier, but it's important to remember the impact that this can have
• Get it in the news feed - an upcoming event makes for a great news item and is another avenue for promoting your event
• Use your website builder to create event banners to post on the site
• Send regular reminders as the event draws near - again using email and messages delivered through their mobile phones

It's worth another mention of having integrated club management software to help you handle all of this. Having everything in one system makes it easy for anyone involved in club operations to review what's needed (for example, F&B for planning a menu or facilities management to prepare the room or grounds.)

The advantage of club reservation software beyond the special events

There is an added bonus to having event registration software within an integrated club management software solution. You can use that same system to set up and manage the ongoing events at your club. Like exercise/training classes, activities, and more.

Additionally, you can take advantage of functionality to create specific rules for each program or class. For example, you can designate that an exercise class is only open to women or a program is closed to minors. You can also include any forms you require like a liability waiver members must sign. Or you can create a form to get things like clothing size, entree preference, and more. Plus you can designate when registration opens and closes, and you can make events recurring.

Events, programs, & activities offer a unique opportunity to a club. You can make the most of this opportunity by employing smart club reservation software and the 3 C's. Do that and you will improve that invaluable engagement every club hopes to build with its members.