As a reputable golf club with a loyal customer base, you may have multiple concerns about bringing in a flexible points system or question how much profit you can realistically achieve using this
method. That’s why we have collected some of the most common myths about flexible golf memberships and clarified the facts surrounding each of these. Read on to discover the answers…
1. Joining PlayMoreGolf means we risk our existing members swapping to a cheaper flexible system, creating a loss.
You might be concerned that joining PlayMoreGolf will deter full paying members from using their traditional memberships, encouraging them to swap to a cheaper, flexible category, inevitably creating a loss for your club. But this is a myth. We have found that the vast majority of existing club members prefer the membership programme they’re already on, and only 0.4% - 2.5% transfer to a flexible product. This is great news for clubs for two reasons. Firstly, it means you’ll retain the huge majority of your members at their regular rate, and secondly, you’ll find that the overwhelming majority of PlayMoreGolf members are new customers, increasing revenue and giving you a greater demographic variety.
2. PlayMoreGolf members will take up too many playing slots, making our members unhappy.
It’s reasonable to have a capacity concern when introducing a new wave of customers to a club, especially if a potential consequence could be existing loyal customers having fewer playing times to choose from. But what we have actually discovered is that PlayMoreGolf members will play 65% of their golf during off peak times, and that on average PlayMoreGolf members use between 50-55% of their points each year. Furthermore, the way the flexible product is marketed drives customers to the quieter times on your golf course as to not disrupt your busier time slots. Another important factor is that golf clubs get to set their bespoke booking window for their PlayMoreGolf members ensure full members retain the peak tee times. This means your existing members can continue to play as normal, as the new customer base will not mean fewer playing slots for them.
3. Joining PlayMoreGolf will mean our club loses control of the membership product
You may be under the impression that joining PlayMoreGolf as a provider means you give away a portion of control over your club. But this is also a myth. The way you value your membership product offers is completely up to you, and we will work with you from the very beginning to ensure you’re completely happy with the points system agreed upon. PlayMoreGolf does not dictate or control any aspect of your club or offering.
4. Surely joining PlayMoreGolf can’t create any profit?
Given the cost effectiveness of the PlayMoreGolf membership, as well as the fact members can be flexible with where they spend their points, you might believe there’s little value in you getting involved. But this is also a myth. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that the value per round of flexible members is 3-4 times higher than traditional members. Furthermore, the membership retention in 2017 was 81%, giving you confidence that your flexible members will be just as loyal as your traditional members. A case in hand, in the first 12 months of Hillsborough Golf Club joining PlayMoreGolf, they saw an added profit of £26,622.
5. Joining PlayMoreGolf means extra admin and marketing that we simply won’t have capacity to manage.
Finally, bringing in any additional golfing product can inevitably come with extra administration and marketing, and this can be perceived as costly and time consuming. But PlayMoreGolf doesn’t overload you with paperwork and complicated marketing processes. Instead, an expert marketing team handle all activity on a bespoke, club-by- club basis, providing thorough marketing analysis and reporting so that you don’t have to. Furthermore, clubs and members are given access to a straight-forward, instantaneous online booking platform where you can both manage points and bookings in real-time. You won’t receive excess phone calls or emails and will receive highly focused and skilled sales and marketing management support from day one.
Should you wish to ask any further questions about joining PlayMoreGolf as a club provider or have any concerns you want to smooth out before proceeding, we are happy to help. Call us today on 0330 555 6555 (option 2) or book a FREE consultation with a member of the team