Check out 59club’s recent Press Releases
Golf’s Customer Service Management Specialists expand operations as 59club Nordic launches.
02/09/202359club, the industry leading Customer Service Analysts and Training Provider has today announced its expansion into the Nordic regions of Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden & Denmark, bringing their wealth of Mystery Shopper Audits, Satisfaction Surveys and Employee Training Programs - created specifically for the golf & hospitality industry - to the fore.
Incentive Referral Programs – Are They Worth It?
12/07/2022Keeping good talent is hard work. Hiring new talent is even harder. 59club USA – in partnership with 59club Study – conducted a survey of 67 private club managers on the effectiveness of their recruitment tools with regard to hiring new, non-management staff. The results are interesting.
Study Finds Managers are Way Too Stressed
12/02/2022The holidays can be stressful. And while most people are busy worrying about what their kids want for Christmas or how to ensure their mother-in-law doesn’t bring up that embarrassing story or the time you burned the roast, club operators are stressed for different reasons. Employee turnover and training, increased quotas despite slowing demand and decisions based on holiday hours are stressing out club operators all over the country. In fact, a recent survey of American club operators found the stress level of an average golf club general manager is a whopping 7.6 out of 10. That’s not exactly reminiscent of a cool breeze on a tropical island.
Using Data to Drive Holiday/Special Operations
11/24/2022The holiday season is officially here, and for club operators, that means added stress in nearly every aspect of your business. Will you have the staff you need to provide the service your members and guests expect? Should you open earlier or later than usual? Do football games and World Cup soccer matches mean specials, promotions, advertising dollars, extra seating or new televisions? Should you offer a special menu for the winter holidays? Should you even open your doors at all?
Identifying Opportunities through Unbiased Survey Data
10/06/2022If only we knew! Clubs have a lot going on right now. Economic uncertainty, all-time employee turnover and whipsaw fluctuations in membership demand have managers seeking to batten down the proverbial hatches to stay afloat in an angry sea of ambiguity. There are decisions to make – a lot of them – but what is correct? What do my players want? What do my employees need? Why did that dues-paying member leave after 12 years at my club? Can we afford to greenlight that capital expenditure? Can we afford not to? Clubs and club managers need answers, which means first they must ask the right questions. And if you and your club aren’t armed with data to support your inquiries and decisions, you’re effectively stumbling around in the dark. Best way to illuminate your path? Survey data.
Customer Experience as Club Currency
09/15/2022Time is money. It’s a phrase as old as the United States and as widely known in business circles as just about anything. The phrase was originally meant to explain the “cost of laziness.” But with the business world moving closer and closer to a fully digital experience, there’s a new “currency” on the market other than time with its own opportunities– customer experience.
Mystery Shopping – What is it Good For?
09/01/2022You have heard it 100 times. Maybe you read it in a textbook in business school. Maybe your mentor added emphasis to make it a point that stuck with you for the rest of your professional career. As a manager, you simply can’t be everywhere at once. Employing mystery shopping techniques allows managers to expand their reach and collect data and information they would otherwise be unable to acquire and is easily one of the most cost-effective data collection tools available in today’s business climate. But mystery shopping helps your club in myriad other ways outside of data collection and pain-point identification.
Upselling and Cross Selling at the Golf Shop – Proven Techniques
08/24/2022The golf shop can be traced back to – who else – Old Tom Morris in the home of golf in St. Andrews, and over the past nearly 175 years, it has been a way for golf clubs to add value to their operation, increase their bottom line and offer a wide array of different products suitable for a very specific customer with very specific needs: the golfer. For a century, it was one of the very few places a golfer could purchase the necessary equipment to play the game. That is certainly not the case today.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WRITTEN CONFIRMATION
05/12/2022THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WRITTEN CONFIRMATION
59CLUB USA ADDS NEW BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGER TO THE TEAM
04/08/202259club USA announced today Patsy Forester has joined the team as Manager of Business Operations. Forester will manage the recruitment, training, and coordination of 59clubUSA’s Mystery Shopper team and assist with marketing and social media for 59clubUSA.
HOW STARTERS AND RANGERS ENHANCE YOUR CLUB’S OVERALL EXPERIENCE
04/06/2022In the later parts of the 20th century before the recession of 2008 and its aftermath which all but gutted the golf industry, it was extremely common to find many specialized jobs within golf club operations. Starters, rangers and even bathroom attendants were at nearly every club – especially private clubs – and the reasoning behind these jobs was simple: to enhance the overall club experience. But as less and less golfers walked through the doors at golf clubs throughout the world, clubs look to stay in the black by cutting costs, and that meant cutting staff. And despite the United States economy rebounding after the recession, a lot of these jobs didn't come back. Instead, many clubs elected to continue operating without starters, rangers and other specialized staff and the golf experience suffered.
The Dos and Don’ts of Prospect Property Tours
03/23/2022Any kind of golf property from the most exclusive private clubs in the world to ultra-affordable city municipal courses have some sort of sales staff and operations to bring new revenue into the club outside of regular tee times. If your club is a daily fee operation, event sales and group golf day sales are an absolute must to supplement your regular tee time revenue. And on the flip side, membership sales at private clubs are the bread and butter of club revenue generation. But if your sales staff is fumbling or the property tour, you can probably kiss that supplemental revenue goodbye.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MYSTERY SHOPPING AT THE CLUB LEVEL
03/22/2022Mike Kelly, Managing Partner of 59club USA, has been at the club operations game for a while. And as a general manager of any type of club – especially a golf club spanning hundreds of acres – it’s just not feasible to be everywhere at once. That’s where 59club USA’s mystery shopping services come into play.
59CLUB USA TO PROVIDE MYSTERY SHOPPING SERVICES TO WESTHAVEN GOLF CLUB
03/22/202259club USA announced today they added Westhaven Golf Club in Franklin, Tennessee, to the 59club USA client roster. 59club USA will use their industry-leading proprietary software and objective data analysis tools to provide mystery shopping services to help increase member satisfaction throughout the entire club experience.
Have You Played Here Before? The Perfect Personal Question
02/03/2022Have you played here before? It’s an innocuous and generally harmless question with enormous upside. Other industries – especially the restaurant industry – have used this relatively innocent question for decades in order to prime the pump for an engaging customer experience. Asking someone if they have been to your golf course, restaurant, spa – or any other hospitality or leisure venue – opens the door for conversation and questions, builds rapport and emotional connection between the customer and your staff/brand, and provides an opportunity to share your club’s best stories or things a customer should know before heading out. 59club USA has crunched the numbers and, once again, the top-performing clubs never miss an opportunity to ask this question. The rest of the pack, however, fails to ask this question 64% of the time. Let’s dive in.
WELCOMING NEW MEMBERS THE RIGHT WAY
12/17/2021You’re long past it now, but try to harken back to your days as a middle schooler or teenager, full of angst and hungry for friends and meaningful relationships. Maybe you were one of the cool kids who never had trouble making new friends, but for a lot of people – especially for those who moved into a new school district – building new relationships was full of difficulty and anxiety. The same might be said for new members joining a private club. And if your members are paying dues to be a part of a community instead of simply taking advantage of the facilities and amenities, it’s imperative to make them feel welcome and part of the family.
59club USA Client, Landscapes Golf Management, in the news
12/15/2021Landscapes Golf Management has been making news lately with a handful of key developments, bolstering their position as one of the 10 largest golf course operators in the country.
The Power of the Phone Call – New Membership Prospects
12/03/2021The internet and the myriad new ways it allows people to connect has forever changed the personal and professional communication landscape. Text messages, emails, digital direct mail and online forms make it possible for people to digest and respond to messages on their own time and keep a sense of privacy – which is great for rudimentary transactions and appointments. But when it comes to private club memberships or other high-value propositions, there is simply no substitute for the old-fashioned phone call.
59CLUB USA ADDS 19 NEW CLIENT PROPERTIES THROUGH AGREEMENT WITH ESCALANTE GOLF
12/02/202159CLUB USA ADDS 19 NEW CLIENT PROPERTIES THROUGH
59CLUB USA SIGNS MYSTERY SHOPPING AGREEMENT WITH THE CLIFFS’ SEVEN PROPERTIES
10/21/2021STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they added The Cliffs and their seven golf properties to the client roster. 59club USA will use their industry-leading proprietary software and objective data analysis tools to provide mystery shopping services to help identify strengths in weaknesses in the overall golf experience at each individual club.
GET THE DETAILS! INDUSTRY MISSING OUT ON REPEAT BUSINESS
10/14/2021If you think back to your networking or sales calls in the before the last turn of the century, you might remember the humble business card – something now considered archaic and overly obsolete. But the simple business card was one of the greatest first-party-data collection mechanisms ever made. It provided necessary information in which to produce a customer profile including name and geographical locations, contact information, certain demographic information based on the company and card stock and built trust and rapport throughout the sales process – often in the form of a firm handshake.
THE FOUNDATION OF PROFESSIONAL RAPPORT: ADDRESSING THE CUSTOMER BY NAME
10/08/2021Manners and proper etiquette have been a staple of human introductions and discourse since the dawn of civilization. Titles remain incredibly significant in day-to-day conversation. And the topic is so well-engrained in our society, there have been hundreds of etiquette books published throughout the years, with some recent examples including Amy Vanderbilt’s 1952 best seller “The Complete Book of Etiquette” and Tiffany’s “Table Manners for Teenagers.” It’s important! And while the definition of what is “proper” or “polite” or “appropriate” differs widely between cultures, age ranges, geographical areas, and – of course – what era of human history in which you find yourself, most western civilizations agree a proper address – greeting a customer by their name – is the easiest way to build a foundation of professional rapport. The problem? With respect to this topic, the golf industry is left wanting. Badly.
59CLUB USA TO CONDUCT MYSTERY SHOPPING TESTS, PROVIDE SURVEY TOOLS FOR MEMBER-OWNED ST. IVES CC
08/30/2021
59CLUB USA INKS DEAL TO CONDUCT MYSTERY SHOPPING TESTS FOR VICI PROPERTIES’ FOUR GOLF COURSES
07/30/2021STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they added VICI Properties and their four golf courses to the 59club USA client roster. 59club USA will use their industry-leading proprietary software and objective data analysis tools to provide mystery shopping services to help audit and improve the golf experience, event sales and group-outing sales at all four VICI owned golf courses.
Do You Know What You Don’t Know?
07/14/2021A unique question was posed of PGA TOUR star Marc Leishman during his 2018 BMW Championship appearance – do you know what you don’t know? The philosophical, almost Zen-like inquiry left the Aussie star perplexed and confused, but he eventually answered the riddle with charming befuddlement, stating with a chuckle “No. I don’t know what I don’t know.” Lucky him.
Friendly Conversation Starters – The F&B Upsell Engine
07/09/2021Making members and guests feel valued and welcome is an absolute no brainer for any hospitality venue, but for golf course F&B establishments which often operate with smaller margins and lower foot traffic than traditional restaurants, the line between success and failure is razor thin. And with labor shortages and employee turnover at levels not seen in decades, the importance of increasing margins through upselling and keeping good employees has never been higher.
59club USA Adds 20 Clubs to Rapidly Expanding Client Base Through Agreement With Landscapes Golf Management
07/06/2021North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm59club USA announced today they added Landscapes Golf Management (LGM) – a sister company to Landscapes Unlimited – to their client roster. 59club USA will use their industry-leading proprietary software and objective data analysis tools to provide mystery shopping services to help audit and improve the golf experience, membership sales, event sales and group-outing sales for 20 LGM golf properties in 13 states.
59Club USA Adds Bret Garrison as Regional Director of Sales to the Team
06/21/202159club USA announced today Bret Garrison is joining the team as Director of Sales. Garrison will work remotely for 59clubUSA and manage new client sales operations, client retention strategies and strategic marketing initiatives.
59club USA signs agreement with The Old Club
04/26/2021https://thegolfwire.com/59club-usa-the-old-club/ STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they have added The Old Club to their client roster. The Old Club, located in Harsens Island, MI, is a member-owned, exclusive island resort and yacht club surrounded by the pristine, freshwater of the Great Lakes delta known as the St. ClairFlats. 59club USA will use their industry-leading proprietary survey tool to assist the Club in gathering information that will allow the General Manager and the Board to be able to make strategic, data-driven decisions.
59club USA Renews Agreement with Haig Point
04/22/2021https://thegolfwire.com/59club-usa-haig-point-2/ STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they have reached an agreement to extend their partnership with Haig Point located on Daufuskie Island in Hilton Head, SC. The extension allows 59club USA to continue to use its proprietary, industry-leading software and objective data analysis tools to provide Haig Point with valuable, quantitative, and unbiased customer service feedback.
59club USA Adds New Business Operations Manager
03/30/2021
59club USA RENEWS AGREEMENT WITH TPC
02/16/2021STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they have reached an agreement to extend their partnership with TPC Network which operates 30 high-end golf properties in North America many of which are featured on the PGA TOUR. The extension allows 59club USA to continue to use its proprietary, industry-leading software and objective data analysis tools to provide TPC Network with valuable, quantitative and unbiased customer service feedback. 59club USA will provide these services to 14 of TPC Network’s 30 golf properties.
59CLUB USA ADDS THREE STORIED DEVELOPMENT LUXURY CLUB COMMUNITIES TO CLIENT ROSTER
10/14/2020STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they’ve added three private golf communities which Storied Development’s actively involved with to their client roster including The Grove in Nashville, Tennessee, Boot Ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas and Talisker Club in Park City, Utah. 59club USA will use its industry-leading proprietary software and objective data analysis tools to provide feedback on Member satisfaction and utilize their exclusive my59 Mentor on-line training platform for Storied Development.
59CLUB USA INKS DEAL WITH RUARK GOLF IN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND
09/10/202059club USA to Provide Mystery Shopping, Member Survey Tools and Virtual Training Services
59CLUB USA RENEWS CUSTOMER SERVICE BENCHMARKING RELATIONSHIP WITH BOBBY JONES LINKS
09/01/2020STATHAM, Ga. – North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they have renewed their professional relationship with Bobby Jones Links. Bobby Jones Links manages a diverse portfolio of golf and social clubs on behalf of developers, private investors, municipal and government entities, associations, club boards, and lenders. 59club USA will continue to provide survey tools, mystery shopping services, and virtual training services for Bobby Jones Links to measure and improve performance throughout their club portfolio.
THE GRASS IS GREENER: GOLF COMMUNITIES SEEING NEW BUYERS AMID PANDEMIC
08/17/2020Golf course communities, which had been losing popularity for a few years, have seen a resurgence in interest since this spring.COURTESY OF HAIG POINT Kathy and Rodger Cole searched sporadically for a second home for the past several years with their sights set on Lake Tahoe. The couple, who live in the San Francisco Bay area, accelerated their plans when the pandemic hit, and switched gears to look at Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, California.
59CLUB USA FINALIZES RELATIONSHIP WITH THREE MORE BOBBY JONES LINKS MANAGED CLUBS
06/08/202059club USA to Provide Full Suite of Services to Big Canoe, Hope Valley Country Club and The Champions Club.
59CLUB PROVIDES COMPLIMENTARY DATA TO CLUB INDUSTRY
05/07/202059CLUB PROVIDES COMPLIMENTARY DATA TO CLUB INDUSTRY
59CLUB USA PROVIDES COMPLIMENTARY EMPLOYEE SURVEY TOOLS, HELPING CLUBS IDENTIFY STAFF NEEDS DURING CHALLENGING TIMES
04/08/202059club USA announced today the company will provide its finalized employee survey tools to golf clubs and other hospitality venues amid the COVID-19 crisis for free. The employee survey tools capture employee challenges, concerns, and potential opportunities all in one easy-to-use snapshot. 59club USA has previously made available survey tools intended for club guests and members. The complimentary survey tools will be available throughout the current crisis.
59CLUB USA PROVIDES ADDITIONAL COMPLIMENTARY SURVEY TEMPLATES, CONTINUES SUPPORT OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM INDUSTRY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
03/31/202059club USA announced today they will offer additional complimentary COVID-19-specific survey templates amid the ongoing global crisis. Additional survey templates include two direct-member communication surveys – dependent on whether the respective facility is currently open or closed for business – as well as two golf instruction templates also dependent on the current state of the respective business. Golf clubs and other hospitality venues may use the complimentary survey tools to communicate directly to their membership and identify member and guest needs through May 31, 2020.
59CLUB USA PROVIDES COMPLIMENTARY SURVEY TOOLS, HELPING CLUBS IDENTIFY MEMBER NEEDS DURING CHALLENGING TIMES
03/31/202059club USA announced today they will offer complimentary use of their proprietary survey tools amid the current COVID-19 crisis. Golf clubs and other hospitality venues may use the survey tools to communicate directly to their membership and identify member and guest needs through May 31, 2020.
59CLUB USA FINALIZES RELATIONSHIP WITH REYNOLDS LAKE OCONEE
02/18/202059club USA to Provide Employee Survey Tools for the Exclusive Club 59club USA announced today they added Reynolds Lake Oconee to their client roster. Reynolds Lake Oconee is a private residential lake and golf community on Lake Oconee just 70 miles East of Atlanta, Georgia offering spectacular lakefront residential properties, unrivaled and adventurous sporting grounds, more than 40 distinct member clubs and six incredible golf courses designed by legendary architects like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio and Rees Jones. 59club USA will provide employee survey tools and services for Reynolds using their proprietary software and objective data analysis tools.
59CLUB USA INKS DEAL WITH CUSCOWILLA ON LAKE OCONEE IN GEORGIA
02/06/202059club USA to Provide Mystery Shopping and Customer Service Benchmarking Tools for the Club 59club USA announced today they added Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee to their client roster. Cuscowilla is a private residential lake and golf community on Lake Oconee just 70 miles East of Atlanta, Georgia offering unrivaled lake views, true southern hospitality and Georgia’s No. 1 residential golf course designed by world-renowned architect duo Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. 59club USA will provide mystery shopping services for Cuscowilla using their proprietary software and objective data analysis tools.
59CLUB USA ADDS THE MID OCEAN CLUB IN BERMUDA TO CLIENT ROSTER
02/03/202059club USA to Provide Mystery Shopping and Other Customer Service Benchmarking Tools for the Club 59club USA announced today they added The Mid Ocean Club to their client roster. The Mid Ocean Club is a private members’ club in picturesque Tucker’s Town, Bermuda, offering exceptional amenities, private beaches and a world-class golf course recognized by Golf Digest in 2018 as one of the Top-100 World’s Greatest Golf Courses. 59club USA will provide mystery shopping and membership benchmarking services for The Mid Ocean Club using their proprietary software and objective data analysis tools.
59club USA Inks Deal With Haig Point In South Carolina
01/23/202059club USA to Provide Mystery Shopping and Other Customer Service Benchmarking Tools for the Club North American customer service satisfaction and benchmarking firm 59club USA announced today they added Haig Point to their client roster. Haig Point is a luxurious, sea island community off the coast of South Carolina between Hilton Head and Savannah, Georgia with two Rees Jones designed golf courses, as well as tennis, equestrian and outdoor recreation amenities. 59club USA will provide mystery shopping and membership benchmarking services for Haig Point using their proprietary software and objective data analysis tools.
59club business interface now available for Concept Customers
08/12/2019Concept has partnered with 59club to provide its golf, leisure & spa clients with new service analysis intelligence to measure customer satisfaction levels within their businesses via its high-end operations software suites
Golf industry leaders to be recognized at the Home of Golf in 59Club’s Service Excellence Awards
03/01/2019The very best individuals, teams and venues in golf unveiled for 9th annual awards celebrating excellence in sales, service, operations, retail and management The nominations for the 59club Service Excellence Awards have today been revealed, with some of highest-profile and best-loved venues across the globe in the running for a golf industry sales and service excellence ‘Oscar’.