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The golf balls print is the favorite gift between golf fans. This initial payment is subject to certain conditions and terms as set forth in the golf club’s membership plan and by-laws. A common scenario provides a refund to a resigning member based on some formula, such as for every 3 or 4 new members who join; one resigning member receives a refund. This formula continues until the club reaches its membership cap after which resigning members are repaid on a one to one basis. Additionally, sometimes the continuation of the payment of membership dues is required in order to receive a refund.
Every week I speak to private clubs experiencing problems with membership. To gain an understanding of their situation I ask a series of questions that include the initiation fee required to join the golf club. The majority of time, there is a provision for the return of a fraction or in some cases all of the initiation membership fee that is required. I then start to inquire about the business reason behind the membership initiation fee structure that is currently in place and I typically get a response like, “I do not know of the reason” or “that is something I have never really thought about” or “that’s a good question”, or they will get uncomfortable about the question I have asked because no one at the club really has an answer to this question.
The return of an initiation fee can make a lot of sense if there is a sound business reason behind the plan and it works very well if the golf club is in a great market and is enrolling new members at a rapid pace. However, more often than not, membership enrollment speed will begin to slow long before the golf club has reached a full complement of members and members who have decided to resign cannot be repaid at the time they wish to resign.
And membership resignations will always occur. Even in the finest of golf clubs, attrition rates are six percent or larger as members in many cases, even if they are totally content with their golf club, resign due to relocation, health issues, change of employment, and other interests. And, as noted earlier in this article, they may even be required to continue to pay for dues in order to receive their refund payment.
Trying any new approach without thoroughly considering the many factors involved including clearly understanding your market and where your club fits in it, your competition, your approach to prospecting for new members, your enrollment and attrition rates, what you are permitted to do legally, and the effects the changes may have on the club’s financial stability, may actually turn a bad situation into a worse one.
Does your golf club currently have a waiting list to of members wanting leave? Are you just starting a new golf course and structuring your golf membership offer? Does you golf management firm have a membership sales program in place to preserve your current members as well as bring in new ones? Do not simply assume that the way membership plans have been set up for decades is the right approach for you. Do not fall into the trap of short term thinking or advice from well intentioned friends or board members who are not professionals with experience in the membership or golf club business.