Month: April 2022

Stoke by Nayland is one of the busiest 36-hole venues in the UK with a significant membership who like to play a lot of golf.

Managing the differing needs of members, hotel residents and pay-and-play golfers represents a challenge, but also being just one moving part in a significant resort business means I have to coordinate the activities of the various elements of my own department – booking, retail, starters and marshals, greenkeeping and academy – as well as managing a relationship with key partners such as membership committees and other hotel departments, such as rooms and F&B.

I’ve worked with 59club for around 11 years – the last three here at Stoke by Nayland. Of all the many benefits we’ve enjoyed from working with 59club, I would say the most significant – and something that helps us grow as a golf club – is the ability to benchmark against other venues.

For example, how do you know that what you’re doing is any good, in comparison to other properties? The beauty of 59club is that it gives us the ability to choose a cluster of venues that are very similar to us and our operation and to see how they perform as a collective; and with that peripheral view ultimately, we’re able to benchmark ourselves in terms of where we lie in the market.

And that mystery shopper intel isn’t limited to those competitor properties either; we also benefit from insight into 59club’s industry benchmark defined by the 3 best performing venues, which is always slightly higher than the actual industry average data. So, we’re comparing ourselves constantly not only to our immediate competition but also with a range of properties, which really helps us.

I have an excellent relationship with 59club and we speak regularly, whether it is to discuss ideas related to the club, or to discuss challenges. We also use the data we receive as part of our internal induction process and ongoing staff training. We have monthly team debriefs where we use that data as the key training issue or the tool to highlight the training need.

If, let’s say, our mystery audit comes back and it appears that a retail member of staff wasn’t particularly clued up on an item of clothing they were trying to sell, that indicates, clearly, a requirement for further training for the team. Pretty much every month we’ll highlight the big downfall, for want of a better word, within any audit and we focus our training on that area over the next few weeks.

Again, the ability to benchmark our member and guest survey data against similar facilities, is absolutely vital for us. An example is where I ask the members to survey the bunkers – and we score six out of 10. To the untrained eye that score may look pretty poor, but what 59club can do for us, in terms of the survey platform, is telling us the average score that club members across the industry have rated their bunkers, and a lot of the time that industry data is not as high as you’d imagine.

In a perfect world you’re aiming for a 10 out of 10 but the ability to know that some of the better courses may only be scoring 8.8, for example, is a good tool for us to be able to manage what we’re trying to achieve. Six no longer looks as low as it might have done previously.

The benefits to staff training and planning are also manifold. It could be somebody in the halfway hut, who hasn’t greeted a guest in a particularly great manner, or the example of the retail staff. We go through a series of meet and greets and building relationships with people.

We sit down at the start of the year and one of the big things we do is we review the mission statement we have with the golf club. The mission statement doesn’t necessarily change much, year to year, but some of the measurements we use to ensure we’re on track do change.

In the last couple of years, we’ve set benchmarks in terms of the member satisfaction scores generated from our 59club surveys and a guest satisfaction score from our mystery shopper audits, and, additionally, one of the measurements we aim for has been the 59club silver flag award, which are presented to the venues that not only achieve the required standard of service as part of the mystery test audit criteria, but also provide excellent facilities for customers to enjoy… It plays quite a big role in the bigger picture.

We didn’t get to win the silver flag award we covet, so that’s something we’re aiming for this year, but we have seen multiple success at the awards based on our appetite for gathering feedback from members and guests and the effective management of the survey data we received. We won an ultimate service excellence award in 2019, being one of only two venues recognised at that standard, and again in 2020 we retained that premium title, and also in 2021, we were honoured with a service excellence award in the same category.

From a personal perspective the most important and valuable element 59club delivers for me, is the data; collecting data, helping make sense of the feedback and being able to action any kind of changes accordingly, because of what our actual customers and a panel of mystery shoppers are telling us. Ultimately, it’s a really objective measure of the performance of the golf business.

Furthermore, every year we run the members’ survey and, as a result of that, we identify the three or four lowest scoring areas, and we implement changes based on the feedback. The changes we’ve made in the past are ongoing, and we will address any further necessary changes when we complete this year’s member survey.

We deliver pretty much the same survey, annually – albeit we break it down into three different parts: you and your membership; the course and its facilities; and staff. So, we can track progress that way.

In 2020 we used the survey platform more frequently for really nuanced stuff. For example, when coronavirus hit, we surveyed the membership on its preferred choice of touch-free hole inserts and, from the golf-club perspective, it’s really factual. It’s not my decision to use option A, for example, it’s the decision of the membership, because they’ve voted on it. I’ve found it’s far easier to justify a decision with a set of data to support you.

Without doubt, if we weren’t working with 59club we’d have a really subjective view of the golf club’s performance. I would only have opinions to judge my business on, rather than truly objective measurements.

If you look at the real top-quality venues in the UK, there’s a very high possibility those venues are working with 59club and what that says to me is that 59club gives you a really good, stable platform upon which you can build your business, whether that be a service or a product.

There’s a very experienced team of people inside 59club, and, ultimately, if you follow the guidance of these guys you’re not going to go far wrong.

Knowing that, I don’t understand why clubs in our sector wouldn’t work with 59club, to be frank. It’s a tool that offers so much in terms of looking at the broader picture, as well as somebody who wants to look at minute details in terms of, for example, selling golf shirts.

It’s a no-brainer for me. I’ve worked with 59club for years and I will continue to work with them wherever I go in the future. It’s incredible value for money.

59club, the industry leading sales & customer service analysts has today announced its global operations are expanding into Canada.

The new opening signals great opportunities for the Canadian golf & hospitality market, as 59club’s signature performance management tools and global intel are now made available to businesses within the region.

59club has driven a data revolution within the industry, and are famed for their insightful customer satisfaction surveys, mystery shopping audits and employee education pathways. Their expertise and industry insight into global sales performance and customer service standards are well documented, and many of the greatest names in the club industry credit 59club for their properties success, working with them to measure, train, support and recognize their workforce as they achieve sales and customer service excellence, while elevating customer acquisition, satisfaction and profits.

Headquartered in the UK and firmly established in golf, hotels, leisure, spa and restaurants, 59club now has seven divisions across the USA, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Asia, two in Europe, with the latest opening in Canada.

With customers who include the likes of TPC Sawgrass, Bobby Jones Links, Emirates Golf Club – Dubai, Thai Country Club, The Belfry Hotel & Resort, Gleneagles, Le Golf National and Marco Simone to name just a few, and hundreds of other properties. When it comes to driving sales and customer service excellence 59club are proud to work with venues of all size and profile, supporting club management to deliver unprecedented service experience whilst simultaneously driving revenues and profits.

And the front man behind 59club Canada is Club Study owner and PGA member Ryan Tracy. Commenting of the new opening, Simon Wordsworth Founder of 59club said; “Ryan will be a great ambassador for our brand, and we are all excited to begin working with him and his existing clients as we introduce our products and services to the wider hospitality business community across Canada. We champion ‘service excellence’, and with this new division, golf as a global entity only serves to become bigger, better and stronger, with enhanced services and greater experiences tailored to the discerning golf & hospitality enthusiast, engineered from real live intel and expertise”.

Tracy added; “I have been fortunate to serve the golf industry in Canada for the last 20 years, specifically with Club Study providing customized pools of operational data in club management over the last two years. When a mutual client made an introduction to Simon, conversations over our shared passions and subsequently the similarities between the two entities made the decision for us to work together a natural progression. I realized immediately that the insight that 59club creates will help operators in Canada, and I am excited to bring these resources to market”.

And now as Club Study falls within the 59club armory, the pair can deliver even more industry insight as the bi-weekly national surveys, which had previously been connecting Club Managers in Canada & US, are now made available to the entire 59club global network.

Head to 59clubcanada.com for more information.

Clubs in Canada can sign up now for a Demo and to unlock a Free Trial by contacting Ryan.tracy@59club.com

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that Michael Gove MP was wrong when he said: “the people of this country have had enough of experts”. If you require a medical diagnosis, consult a medical professional, don’t Google it; if you want accurate information about a pandemic, listen to a virologist, don’t believe social media; and, if you wish to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the global golf and hospitality industries, few organisations are as well placed to offer comment as 59club.

With unprecedented access to performance data from a wide variety of venues across the globe, 59club, with its seven divisions, is in the perfect position to assess the vagaries of the sector, as well as knowing who’s doing what well, and when. And, who isn’t …

Mark Reed, 59club Director, explained: “When comparing 2021 performance levels with pre-covid 2019, we have witnessed a minor decrease in measured service standards within our golf visitor experience mystery shopping programme.

“Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, golf clubs have experienced significant increased traffic, often alongside a depleted workforce and amid challenging operating conditions. It is, therefore, remarkable to think that fewer servicers have been servicing more people, but to almost the same levels of 2019, when it comes to ‘customer experience’.”

Available data shows that the global industry average for service standards across 59club clients had decreased by just 5 per cent in 2021, when compared with the pre-Covid 2019, and that visitor and member rounds increased dramatically, whilst staffing levels reduced.

It’s an anomaly, yet, perhaps, part of the reason for that lies in the fact those facilities are clients of 59club. That means, of course, each is routinely visited and rated. Those facilities where such measurement isn’t undertaken will not have access to such knowledge or data, though data suggests a 20 per cent lag across the industry for non-59club venues. (non-contracted venues receiving 59club trial audits).

Reed is prepared to go further, and posited: “Not only are we able to advise clients of performance stats, we are able to see when they invest a higher proportion of capital into 59club resources to develop and educate both new and existing staff and, ultimately, relate that to maintaining the experience afforded to members and guests.”

During the past couple of years, that investment has been made largely in onsite and/or remote training, in tandem with 59club’s virtual education platform; MyMentor, which affords data driven learning directly linking to an individual’s mystery shopper audit, and, as a consequence, filling any learning gaps for employees.

Indeed, a 34 per cent increase in the number of venues being trained – either in person or virtually – by 59club staff in 2021, compared with 2019, might be seen as a direct correlation with the service standards remaining almost the same. What’s more, across the ‘podium’ venues – the best-performing facilities – service standards have remained stable over the two-year period.

This is also reflected in 59club’s own performance in the years in question. It has seen a 200 per cent increase in contracted venues around the globe, in the two years since 2019 – and all this at a time when the globe – and golf in particular – spent large periods of time in both lockdown and shutdown.

A good example of how investment in staff training and data analysis can have a direct effect on satisfaction levels of members and visitors is Hoburne Golf, which operates three venues in the south of England: Crane Valley GC, in Verwood, Hampshire; Bulbury Woods GC, in Poole, Dorset; and Hurtmore GC, near Godalming, in Surrey.

Each has embraced the challenge of mystery shopping and has engaged in a tailored staff training programme that has delivered, not only, a 10 per cent growth in their 59club visitor experience measurement, but also a four per cent increase in membership satisfaction (measured using 59club’s Survey platform; My59, between 2019 and 2021).

That experience is not solely the preserve of Hoburne Golf, either. Harpenden GC, in Hertfordshire, joined the 59club community shortly after reopening following the first English lockdown in early 2020.

The club’s general manager, Tom Scott, explained: “Having worked with 59club in a previous role, I had a good understanding of what it delivers and felt it could support our aim of delivering a better level of service to our members and guests.

“We began a programme of mystery shopping in 2020 to gain a thorough understanding of our strengths and weaknesses and were thrilled to be awarded a Bronze Flag Designation in the 59club annual awards ceremony, based on our year one results, and a year later we increased to Silver; an incredible achievement in such a short time frame, which is testament to the commitment of our staff members.

“59club has supported the development of our team by delivering a number of engaging training sessions at the club, and we are delighted to report we increased our measured service across all operational departments in 2021, by 16 per cent.

“We plan to continue this training alongside the virtual mentor platform, which can be used on a day-to-day basis. The My59 Survey platform also allowed us to gather valuable feedback from our members on a number of important topics in a very user-friendly way, delivering an overall response rate of more than 75 per cent.

“This gave our data further credibility and allowed the club to make confident and informed decisions. The entire team at the club remains fully engaged in the process and we look forward to challenging ourselves further in 2022.”

Other clubs are following the lead of Hoburne Golf and Harpenden GC according to 59club’s own data. The total number of surveys undertaken by member clubs via the My59 Survey Platform showed a huge leap of 268 per cent in 2021 compared with those launched in 2019, across the globe. Positive engagement with members, guests and staff has never before been so prevalent.

Meanwhile, the MyMentor virtual learning experience now supports in excess of 2,250 employees to develop themselves and the team. And, with 59club clients reporting challenges in recruitment – especially with greenkeepers and catering staff – the on-line training platform is expected to further increase its reach in 2022, not least as recent independent data stated that one in eight roles in the hospitality industry remains vacant.

Ironically, the increase in 59club’s client portfolio may, initially, skew the average figures.

Reed added: “In addition to the challenges facing the industry it is important to note that an influx of new clients is likely to create an initial dip in the industry average as managers and their teams often spend time gathering performance data and generating a full understanding of strengths and weaknesses, before undertaking necessary training, reinforcing standards and developing a plan of improvement.

“However, with golf clubs becoming more accustomed to increased footfall, an increase in skills, and an increased sense of ‘business as usual’ – in tandem with a number of clubs moving in to a second year of measurement – we would expect to see a return to pre- pandemic levels or higher this year.

“Of course, clubs not utilising the 59club toolkit won’t be in a position to discover their strengths and weaknesses until much further down the line, by which time, they may have lost disgruntled staff or members, and be back to square one.”

He concluded: “One challenge that will remain this year is that of attracting and retaining great people. It is, however, very gratifying to hear more and more clubs recognising wellbeing, education and a need to invest in their people, and, to assist with this, 59club UK delivered more than 50 days of training and education within clubs between December and March alone.”

Ian Knox, head of European Tour Destinations – a network of world-class venues with a close association to the European Tour – has worked with 59club for over 10 years. Maybe the last word should sit with him – he is an expert, after all.

He said: “In 2020 and even the start of 2021, for a lot of venues it was a case of controlling costs, and there was almost a survival element. Now … they are realising their operational focus needs to be back on the levels it was, in fact, exceeding the levels it was. So now is the time we have been kicking in with mystery shopper visits and working with venues to look for areas where they can continue to improve.

“The biggest area people are now focussing on is human contact again. You’ve missed that through the problems you had with the pandemic, so that personal service, that personal touch is really going to be the key focus. That’s what we’re looking for our venues to be delivering.”

As the great Willie Nelson once sang, “Nobody said it was gonna’ be easy”, but, with experts available to guide one through the metaphorical minefield, it’s a journey that can be made with a lot more confidence.