59club’s Annual Awards Ceremony recognises the outstanding individuals, teams, venues, and groups within the global golf & hospitality industry for having achieved the highest standards of customer service excellence & sales performance.

Qualification for these prestigious accolades is unbiased; and determined by scores achieved through a detailed and objective mystery shopping program, which measures the experience afforded to members, visitors and prospective members spanning the entire Golf, Leisure, Spa, F&B & Hotel operation.

59club’s Industry Benchmark of excellence, it’s Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Designations are also awarded annually, these highly prized accolades recognise member clubs’ and resorts that provide excellent facilities for golfers to enjoy, as well as having achieved the required standard of customer service throughout the year.

View the 2023 MEA/Asia Award Winners

Members are the life-blood of many clubs; failure to convert them can prove expensive in both the short and long-term. But maximizing the opportunities which present themselves often comes down to having the correct person adopting the correct policies.

Yet one of the most overlooked aspects of converting a prospect comes at that very first stage: the answering of the call. Firstly, it’s essential that the correct person is available to answer the call. Those who hesitate are lost, and so are those who are not there in the first place.

Ask yourself how many opportunities are lost if the phone goes unanswered? Or if the correct staff member is on holiday or sick? So, when you consider that on only 58% of occasions did our mystery testers get to speak to the correct person on the first attempt of calling – according to the 59club industry score – we begin to appreciate how many opportunities may be lost.

That’s effectively twice in every five calls a prospective member speaks to the wrong person, necessitating a call-back. Worse still, what if the prospect calls a competitor while waiting for your return call, and they went on to impress them so much that they signed up!?

One of the most important aspects of the initial enquiry call is the art of building a rapport with the caller. This comes naturally to an engaging staff member, but this technique is lost when the wrong person tries to deal with an enquiry.

An engaging staff member will attempt to build a rapport; asking the prospect about their golfing background, how often they play, where, and what is their handicap, all simple conversation pieces. Yet the industry are only getting 28% of the picture, while the best-performing clubs glean a much better understanding of their prospects, as they achieve 77%.

Asking what has prompted the enquiry is likely to provide you with further valuable information. They may, for example, be a member elsewhere and be unsatisfied with the condition of the course, or a lack of investment, allowing the staff member to respond with positives about the excellent course condition and raft of recent and future investments. This is designed to edge the caller towards a positive outcome, both now and then later in the sales process when they visit the club.

There are countless reasons why somebody will make the initial call; employees who fail to delve into them will find it harder to persuade the prospect to put pen to paper. The podium performers have realised this and without fail, they established what prompted the membership enquiry every single time; the industry asked the question 70% of the time.

Furthermore, establishing the caller’s primary requirements for a membership - competitive golf, the social aspect, entertaining clients, meet new people etc - leads to other opportunities that will relate to their needs, with the intention of exciting them at the thought of a membership later in the call. Again, the podium score reflects the success therein with 86%, while the industry average drops to 44%.

Effectively, taking the last three areas together, it’s clear that industry-wide we’re failing to establish the caller’s history and membership needs on every other occasion.

A further vital question is required to establish whether the caller is also contacting other clubs with the same enquiry. With relevant SWOT analysis of your competition, your staff are in an ideal position to stress your strengths over your rivals’ weaknesses, without the need to openly criticise them.

However, the importance of this approach seems to be lost on many clubs; with a podium score of just 50% and, even more disappointingly, an overall industry rating of just 14%.

Using all of the personal information gleaned, you are now in a position to make a ‘related’ promotion of the member services, club facilities and USPs, for how else is one to excite the caller? Yet, despite the obvious importance of this action, the industry comes in with a rating of just 55%, and the podium not much higher at 72% when analysing their promotion.

Now that the prospect is excited at the thought of membership, the emphasis is to encourage the individual to visit the club in order to view the facilities and discuss member benefits further.

In future issues, we will look at how the membership sales appointment should be structured.

If you would like to take a closer look at the membership sales process, visit the 59club Mentor education platform to fill any shortcomings in your member sales enquiry process.

For those of you who are new to 59Club Study; the platform connects curious Club Managers and industry personnel from around the globe, creating opportunities to explore operational decision making from a wide range of operators in different locales, under different cultural norms, as we learn from each other.

59Club Study’s goal is to build a professional network of hospitality managers, driven by data and club research, with a strict focus on collaboration and tackling tough topics together.

Each fortnightly report highlights technical, conceptual, and philosophical insights from inside Golf, Leisure & Hospitality businesses across the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia & New Zealand.

Managers are encouraged to submit questions they would like to appear in subsequent surveys, putting you in control of the direction the study takes, providing an industry perspective like no other.

The insight, collaboration, and community that 59Club Study creates, will inspire curiosity, and ultimately empower Club Managers to make informed data-driven decisions.

As a 59club client, you now have free access to this incredible tool.

Click here to read three of 59Club Study’s most recent reports.

Which is more important for employee retention: higher wages or schedule flexibility? Employee turnover can be costly and time-consuming, and it's essential to keep your top talent motivated and engaged. Any club manager will tell you it’s much harder to find and train a new employee, than it is to keep good staff members happy.

If you get word a few of your best employees are beginning to think about working elsewhere, what do you do?

You could pay them more, certainly, but that might not be the underlying issue for their unhappiness. Schedule flexibility could help, but you need them at the club as often as possible. After all, they’re your best staff members.

What is more important: higher wages or schedule flexibility? What would work the best? How could you possibly know? It might depend on individual needs.

Higher wages can be an attractive option for employees, as it can increase their sense of financial security and stability. Employees who feel that they are being paid fairly are more likely to be motivated and committed to their work. However, there is only so much you can offer in terms of a salary before it becomes unaffordable for your business. It's essential to consider whether you can sustain paying higher wages in the long term, especially if it means compromising on other areas of your business, such as investment in training or new equipment.

On the other hand, schedule flexibility can be another key factor in employee retention. Many employees value having the ability to adjust their work schedule to accommodate personal or family commitments, such as attending a child's school event or caring for a sick relative. Offering schedule flexibility can increase employee satisfaction, which can lead to increased productivity, engagement, and loyalty. However, it's important to ensure that schedule flexibility doesn't impact business operations or create any staffing gaps that can impact other employees' workloads or morale. Can your club operate successfully with that amount of flexibility for just one or two employees? Does it have to be available to every employee?

So, what's the answer? Which is more important: higher wages or schedule flexibility? It's challenging to determine what's more important without asking your employees directly.

By surveying your employees, you can gather unbiased feedback and gain valuable insights into their preferences and needs. You can ask staff about their thoughts on higher wages versus schedule flexibility and use this information to make more informed decisions about how to retain your top talent. All anonymously and without bias.

These are only two answers to a delicate problem faced in the club industry. Both options have their advantages, and the answer to what's more important may vary depending on the individual needs and preferences of your employees. To make an informed decision, it's essential to gather feedback from your employees and use this information to make adjustments to your retention strategies.

With 59club’s survey tools at your disposal – you really can ask whatever you like. Plus the HR survey templates make it easy to monitor employee wellbeing, engagement & satisfaction levels, ensuring that you are providing existing employees and new hires with the support they need to thrive in their roles - and there’s always something to learn from an employee exit survey.

If the reality is that ‘happy employees = happy customers,’ then it’s high time we prioritise employee well-being.

As J. Willard Marriott famously said; “Take good care of your employees, and they’ll take good care of your customers, and the customers will come back”.

Running a golf club located in one of the most luxurious destinations in the world, Abu Dhabi, certainly puts a premium on excellent customer service. The city attracts a diverse range of visitors from all around the globe, from business executives to leisure travelers, all of whom expect a high level of service and experience and are accustomed to top-notch treatment wherever they go.

In a place like Abu Dhabi – and for general manager of Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Rhian Lobo – investing in customer service operations is crucial to meet the expectations of both local and international guests.

“As a premier golf destination in the region, we understand the importance of delivering a world-class experience for our members and guests,” said Lobo. “By investing in our customer service operations, we can ensure that we meet and exceed the expectations of our customers, and maintain our position as a leader in the industry."

One of the key investments for Lobo and his team was partnering with 59club, to work on many aspects of their customer-facing operations.

"We strive to provide our members and guests with the best possible experience, and 59club has been instrumental in identifying not only areas of improvement, but also how to capitalize on things we already do well. They’ve been instrumental in helping us achieve our goals,” said Lobo.

Identifying needs and opportunities are one thing. Collecting and implementing actionable data is another. Using data collected through 59club’s survey tools, Abu Dhabi City Golf Club was not only able to identify that their customers wanted improvements to their driving range, but also used data to create a pitch to their governing board. With the help of such intel, they now have ball tracking technology on all 48 bays, something their members & guests greatly valued.

Lobo adds, "The reports from 59club has given us a fresh perspective on our operations, enabling us to focus on the areas we might have otherwise overlooked. We're thrilled with the impact it's had on our driving range, and we look forward to implementing further changes based on new reports down the line.”

In addition to their unbiased mystery shopping audits and survey data, Abu Dhabi City Golf Club has also benefited from on-site training sessions with 59club. These sessions bring the team together and provide them with the tools they need to excel in their roles.

Lobo explains, "Investing in our team is crucial to maintaining our high standards of customer service. The F&B, golf operations, membership sales and retention training sessions provided by 59club have helped us identify our team's strengths and weaknesses, enabling us to provide targeted training that has ultimately improved the customer experience."

The investment in 59club and commitment from Lobo’s team has already paid dividends. According to 59club’s data comparisons over the course of the last three years, Abu Dhabi City Golf Club’s customer service satisfaction scores have shown double digit increases in eight different categories, spanning; staff sales & upselling aptitude, customer engagement, facility management, on-course service standards, and the food and beverage operation to name a few.

“The ability to measure our investment and see our success through these reports has been absolutely incredible,” said Lobo. “It can be easy to implement a new program as a manager and simply forget about it. When you forget about it, so do your staff. With regular mystery shopper reports from 59club, we make sure we’re always focused on what matters to our customers, and we are able to reward our staff for achieving measurable success.”

Abu Dhabi City Golf Club has come a long way in their customer service journey. Starting from a Bronze Flag Designation, they have progressed to the 59club Gold Flag standard, a testament to their commitment to excellence.

Lobo concludes, "59club has been an integral part of our success, and we wouldn't be where we are today without their support. We're excited to continue working with them to provide the best possible experience for our members and guests."

Making 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 labour 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.

According to 59club’s global data; the F&B customer service tactic most in need of improvement is also the least costly, and happens to be a catalyst for increased margins. It also helps raise tips for servers and happens to be one of the key components of exceptional customer service – friendly conversation starters, A.K.A the upsell engine.

Customers are far more likely to purchase additional or premium items when they have a personal connection to their server.

Something as simple as a friendly introduction from the server, with the attempt to involve the table in engaging conversation can be the difference between your customers ordering the least profitable items on the menu, or on their recommendation, opting for the higher ticket, higher return options, or additional courses.  

Developing rapport through the ‘friendly conversation starter’ tactic is something every server in your organisation should strive for at the beginning of each individual interaction. And it works.  

This same tactic is also one of the driving forces of higher tips. Since most diners chose to tip a percentage of the bill; raising the final total through upselling – made easier through friendly communication – will increase gratuities and employee satisfaction, and assist in lowering employee turnover.

The Stats…

Clubs are simply not taking advantage of this tactic. When it comes to a server’s willingness and ability to initiate friendly conversation starters; the podium performers score just 58%, the 59club industry average drops to 40%, showing an industry wide opportunity for growth and higher F&B margins.

Despite all the positive scenarios related to upselling, staff are just not on board. We have to focus their attention and encourage them, and give them the confidence to give upselling a go. The opportunity to sell more and increase F&B profits is easy money, yet the industry only attempts to upsell additional items on 37% of occasions. The podium venues also need to re-focus their servers, as they only achieved 56%.

Let’s do the math based on a club that see an average of 140 players per day, of which 40 of them order a meal after their round.

If the servers use friendly conversation starters to prime the table for the upsell of an additional course priced at £5 (with a 60% margin), and managed to convert just half of the 40 diners; the result is a £21,900 uplift in profit over the course of one year, just by implementing a simple conversation piece in your customer service toolkit. Win win.

And let’s not forget the opportunities to upsell simple but highly profitable snack items & drinks to the 140 golfers before they even teed off ! And that’s something we can all get more bang from our buck; with the podium set performers only attempting to upsell 30% of the time, and the industry missing even more opportunities, as they only attempt to upsell to a fifth of all golfers !

Implement friendly conversation starters today, and watch your profits sore.

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Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club will welcome 59club clients from across Europe on the 12-13th March 2020. An extension to the ceremony will see The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa host the awards to recognise excellence across Asia, The Middle East & Africa on the 20th April 2020, as the Service ‘Excellence’ Awards are split for the first time.

The Ceremonies will bring the industry together to honour great individuals, clubs and group achievements across all 59club spectra, with revellers invited to attend their choice of local or international awards, with many expressing the desire to celebrate and network across both events.

Whilst proceedings may have diversified, the principals remain the same, as 59club stand to recognise the leading Golf and Leisure venues that consistently achieve ‘service excellence’ across all areas of the business – sales, service, operations, retail, facility, food & beverage and management. With winners recognised by the genuine scores collected from the independent visitor panel who evaluate the experience afforded to both visitors and prospective customers.

The climax of the night for many is when the 59club’s Industry Benchmark awards are announced; the Gold, Silver and Bronze Flag Awards. The awards are bestowed on the finest member clubs and commercial 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.

59club will also bestow accolades upon venues for their commitment to engage, analyse and enrich their member and guest experience, utilising a collateral of survey tools across the my59 software platform.

An Educational Day will precede the evening Awards Ceremony in true 59club style; with the promise of inspirational content for those looking to start 2020 on the best foot. Further to last year’s success 59club will continue to include a Golf Day.

59club’s driving force very quickly grabbed the industry’s attention, and saw the event hailed the ‘Industry Oscars’ in its early days. Now in its 10th year, amid huge expansion plans across the globe which have already signified openings of local 59club offices to accommodate growth in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the USA; the 2020 line up is set to once again deliver a spectacle of glory, equally fitting the calibre of nominees, winners and all those present at the awards for their commitment to delivering ‘service excellence’.

Simon Wordsworth, 59club CEO said: “59club is fully committed to assisting the industry to advance. The awards for us is about bringing everyone together and paying tribute to what we have achieved collectively."

“What started out as a simple idea to develop people and process in the early days, has grown into a global pioneering brand that has taken every experience across the hospitality industry and made staff, managers, venues and groups accountable for the service and sales etiquette they deploy. That 59club seal of approval means everything to the staff on the ground, the managers leading their team and the people at the very top - who all revel over the quantifiable effects that come with achieving best in class standards.”

“A special thanks goes to our award sponsors; 3DIFS, CGI Insurance, Club Car, Golf Genius, Golfbreaks.com, Gunners Cocktails, Kennet Leasing, Tacit and Toro who have been instrumental in creating the 2020 Awards, these are set to be the best yet!”

Concept 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

Concept users can now benefit from 59club’s expertise, mechanism and freedom to independently deliver customer satisfaction surveys using their industry specific benchmarking assessment criteria, flexible survey templates and automated software.

The new partnership enables the auto-generating functions to remain switched on for mutual affiliated clients – meaning that each time member and guest data is entered into their operations software, 59club will auto-invite the customer to complete the venues bespoke satisfaction survey based on their recent encounter - for example after having joined the club, paid to play, visited the spa or F&B outlet or having relinquished their club membership. The functionality can even track a customer’s experience at significant landmarks during their journey, auto-generating a series of questionnaires, in sequence at set intervals as programmed by the venue, measuring a new member’s experience over a set timeframe as a guide.

With a wealth of survey templates that cover all areas of the hospitality industry and as a result of the two software giant’s new pairing, club staff can now save valuable time delivering surveys, avoiding additional data entry, and elements of human error or resistance are eradicated.

The new interface will go live at one of the most prestigious properties in The UK; The Belfry - with other leading Golf Groups such as Dubai Golf and premier clubs and resorts that includes the likes of Old Thorns, Celtic Manor, Stoke Park, Ramside Hall and Dalmahoy also set to win as a result of the new pairing, with concept looking to roll-out the update to all of its clients very soon.

Chris Reeve, Director of Golf at the Belfry Hotel & Resort, said: “The 59club surveys have been a huge success for us and we are just about to introduce a link between our EPOS [Concept] system which will talk directly to 59club’s software [my59] and provide a survey to anyone that plays a round of golf at The Belfry with a few key questions. This is going to open new doors for us and gives us even more insight into what our customers are looking for and allows us to retain our number one position as the best golf resort in the UK”

The new partnership has been forged to assist venues to improve and maintain sales and service quality, in addition to comparing their internal customer satisfaction levels against 59club’s benchmark; the industry average and the best performing venues globally. Ultimately venues stand to capture more consumer insights than ever before.

Simon Wordsworth, 59club CEO, said: “Our recent partnership with Concept is hugely exciting for 59club. Linking our customer satisfaction survey software with the complete enterprise solution for the world’s leading resorts couldn’t be a better match. Both companies have a focus on being in control; whether that’s assisting clients managing memberships, reservations, POS or business intelligence.

“The addition of ‘real-time’ customer service analysis sees the essential day to day operation of golf, leisure & Spa venues worldwide get a whole lot smarter. As 59club continues to grow with new operations in America, Asia and Europe, I’m looking forward to seeing our collaboration with Concept continue to advance service excellence standards across the industry globally”.

Concept, a Shiji Group Brand, offers its users with leisure software for spas, clubs, resorts, and golf courses. The Concept Golf product is a complete enterprise solution for the world’s leading golf resorts and venues and caters for all software needs for golf operations.

Malcolm Rennie, Commercial Manager of Concept, said: “This new relationship and integration with 59club is so exciting for us. The cross-over between our mutual clients is staggering and we were delighted to see so many of Concept’s customers being recognised at 59club’s annual awards ceremony. We can’t wait to rollout this integration to new and existing clients and see the positive results.”
For more information on 59club, visit: www.59club.com
For more information on Concept, visit www.concept.shijigroup.com

Notes to Editors:

About 59club

59club was established in 2007 and is now the market leader in providing bespoke mystery shopper performance measurement programs for the Golf, Leisure, Spa, Events, F&B and Hotel Industries.

Specifically designed to elevate sales and service standards, 59club provides ‘Mystery Shopper Audits’, ‘Customer Satisfaction Surveys’, and ‘Training Services’, empowering venue managers to analyse their entire visitor and member experience, enabling them to set targets, monitor performance and ultimately make informed decisions to advance.

The founder of the company, Simon Wordsworth, has a wealth of experience having worked in the sector for many years at one of the worlds' most renowned Golf and Leisure resorts. At the heart of our operations is an established and dedicated team of professionals who all bring a vast amount of experience from the Golf, Leisure & Events industry, most of which who worked at Senior Management or Directorship level. This knowledge allows for a true understanding of your business needs and the difference customer service excellence can make to your reputation.

About Concept, a Shiji Group Brand

With high-profile clients in nearly 70 countries worldwide and software available in 15 different languages and a global support network to match, Concept, A Shiji Brand, is a global leisure software, development and consultancy company specialising in supplying spas, clubs, resorts, hotels and golf courses with high-end software suites to manage operations.

In 2018, Concept joined the Shiji Group who provide software solutions and services for the hospitality, food service, retail and entertainment industries, ranging from hotel management solutions to food and beverage and retail systems, payment gateways, data management, online distribution and more. Shiji Group today comprises 3,000 employees in 70+ subsidiaries and brands, serving over 60,000 hotels, 200,000 restaurants and 400,000 retail outlets.

For media queries please contact:

Scott Peddie
Director of PR & Communications – Performance54
E: scott.peddie@performance54.com

For further information on Concept please contact:

Teresa Correia
Sales & Marketing Manager – Concept
E: teresa.correia@shijigroup.com

59club Asia opens its new office in Bangkok, signaling an increase in customer service standards and sales performance levels across the region, with Golf & Leisure club providers set to take advantage of the force that is the 59club ‘effect’.

59club - the industry leading Service & Sales Analysts – currently operate across the UK, Europe & the UAE, and have now opened new offices in Bangkok to meet the ever-growing demand for their performance management tools and training services around the Globe.

59club are delighted to welcome Araya Singhsuwan who will run the 59club Asia Operation following a successful playing career and having worked and developed a very detailed understanding of golf and its operation. Araya has now turned her considerable skills and focus to the commercial and service world of Golf working with 59club Asia. Araya will lead the business with a solid foundation from which she and her colleagues at 59club will further develop and raise the service culture across the industry, improving the customer experience for the hundreds of thousands of golfers that enjoy playing within Thailand and across the region.

Over the past 10 years, 59club has taken the industry by storm, leading venues have quickly aligned their sales & service principals to the industry benchmark. Whilst an annual Awards Ceremony, regarded as the ‘Oscars’ of the golf industry, honors the front runners, who reap the rewards associated with achieving 59club’s Customer Service ‘excellence’ seal of approval.

The 59club ‘effect’ is destined to make a huge impact in Asia, as some of the very best golf venues vie to advance their member and guest experience. Calling on their industry leading analytical tools and training services, 59club’s mystery shopper audits, customer satisfaction surveys and their interactive member communication apps are set to assist the Asian market to performance manage staff to achieve elevated levels of service and sales etiquette.

Venues, for the first time can benchmark their golf visitor experience, ability to manage a group golf day, their prospective member enquiry procedure and deliver surveys that measure new member satisfaction levels and club life alongside each visitor experience within golf, leisure & spa. Complete with the ability to compare performance levels against chosen local and global competitors, industry standards and the best performing venues, 59clubs powerful data generates real and current information of the highest quality and value.

The results highlight countless opportunities for venues to improve their operation, in turn increasing member and guest satisfaction, plus revenue & profits in the process.

59club is endorsed and supported by governing bodies such as The Professional Golfers Association & England Golf, 59club are also a chosen partner of the Golf Club Managers Association (GCMA), European Tour Properties, and are partners with many leading golf suppliers including Toro & Club Car.

59club are proud to work with leading hotel chains and resorts such as Gleneagles, The Belfry, Celtic Manor, The Grove, The Dukes St Andrews, Emirates Golf Club, Yas Links, Monte Rei, Macdonald Hotels, RBH and Marriott Golf, plus many members focused private clubs including, Roehampton, Stoke Park and Foxhills to name just a few...

Those wanting to take advantage of 59club’s services will be able to meet the team at the Asia Pacific Golf Summit, Bangkoktaking place 1st - 4th November. Whilst, later in the month Simon Wordsworth, 59Club CEO will be a key note speaker at the PGA Members International Conference, Laguna Phuket between 11th - 14th November.