at Tales - Cattail Creek Country Club

at Tales
Membership
August 2011
Why the Membership Season
Is Not Over Yet
Lynn Slupski
Membership Marketing Director
The period of time known as
‘Membership Season,’ refers to the
most popular months that prospective
Members tend to show interest in, and
hopefully join the Club. Traditionally,
this unwritten timeframe includes the
months of April, May and June, give or
take a couple of weeks.
Historically, it was virtually unheard of
for new Members to join far into the
latter summer months, and prospective
Members never joined during the
cold winter months, instead opting to
wait until spring when things “started
back up.”
At Cattail, we are experiencing a positive
and encouraging shift in the
‘Membership Season’ trend. Over the
past couple of years, we have seen the
“busy” months expand to encompass
March, July and September. Currently,
we are on track to report that new
Memberships were started at the Club
in at least 9 or 10, but hopefully all 12
months in 2011.
What has changed? The main draws to
country clubs were previously, and
justifiably, golf, tennis, and swimming,
which are all usually outdoor activities.
In regions such as ours, which experience
all four seasons (whether we like
it or not), the common misconception
is that there is nothing to do at a club
before Memorial Day or after Labor
Day. While this is still the case for
some clubs, quite the opposite is true
at Cattail.
In recent years, priority has been
placed not only on enhancing the indoor
social activities during the “off
months,” but also on finding ways to
extend golf and tennis options
throughout the fall, winter and early
spring. It is no secret that the fall and
winter months are packed with social
events for children and adults alike.
Theme nights in the restaurant, holiday
celebrations , Trivia Nights, Scotch
& Cigar Nights, Family Nights, the Fall
Festival, Children’s Etiquette Classes,
Movie Nights, Cocktail Parties and
Santa Claus appearances, are only a
sampling of the multitude of scheduled
activities that crowd the social
calendar!
This past year, we implemented a
USGA-approved winter course with
temporary greens and tees that enable
us to keep the golf course open yearround.
Currently, we are making plans
and exploring details to add an indoor
teaching/practice facility for winter
private lessons, even when the ground
is frozen solid and there is snow.
From a tennis perspective, Cattail continues
to maintain a relationship with
the Circle D indoor facility in Woodbine
that allows our tennis professionals
to offer both our regularly scheduled
clinics and also private lessons
year-round at our regular rates. Currently
we are researching possibilities
to install a bubble in the somewhat
near future, that would enclose our
own tennis courts and allow yearround
play.
Our Head Swim Team Coach, Karen
Heinz, coaches a winter swim team,
and though it is not affiliated with Cattail
Creek, it allows our Crocs swimmers
to continue swim practice with
the same coach they have come to
respect and trust during the summer
season.
Members take the lead. Another contributing
factor to the expansion of
membership season, that holds equal
responsibility, is our Members’ takecharge
mentality when it comes to
referring new Members. In the past,
Members might have suggested to a
friend or colleague, that they should
look into joining the Club. If the friend
took the next step in seeking out information,
the Club would take over the
process from there.
Now, the process of educating a prospective
Member about the Club, acclimating
them with the Membership
experience, and ultimately encouraging
them to join, is a joint effort between
current Members and the
Membership Department. We work
together to arrange visits to the Club,
to discuss any topics that may be holding
the prospective Member back, and
to make the new Member feel completely
comfortable.
In acknowledgement of our current
Members’ more dominant role in the
recruitment of new Members, the
Membership Committee put a referral
program in place for the 2011 year
that rewards referring Members with a
$200 statement credit for each new
Social Member they refer and a $400
credit for each new Golf Member.
Seemingly the program was well received
and evaluated as a great way to
thank our Members for their efforts.
The year is only half over, and we have
welcomed 47 new social families and
15 new golfing families. Let’s work together
and make an equally strong
effort to increase the numbers even
more in the second half. Membership
is truly more fun when your friends
belong and can participate too! ▪
www.cattailcreekcc.com 6