Leading the Strategic Planning Process - Club Managers ...

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124 Chapter 4members have access to great tennis services and facilities, but little else—butthey offer a great value to tennis enthusiasts.• Focused differentiation: Focused differentiation emphasizes uniqueness andprice, but for a narrow market. For example, some high-end, independent,member-owned clubs offer a single membership plan at a high price, marketingthemselves as “elite”—and thereby appealing to a narrow, affluent audience.Their intangible array of desirable relationships and excellent facilitieshelps them capture a low number of total sales, but at high price. Rolls-Royceand Ferrari market in this manner.While the focused differentiation strategy is often stereotypically assumed tobe the business model of all private clubs, any of these generic strategies can workquite well. Remember, though, that the desirability of each strategy depends onthe goals of each particular club.During the vision stage of strategic planning, it is essential to clarify the club’sgeneric strategy. Are we going to be a low-cost club (relatively speaking, in relationto other clubs), a differentiation club, a focused low-cost club, or a focused differentiationclub? The important thing is to not allow your club to get stuck betweenthese positions somewhere. When a club is neither fish nor fowl, it gets into trouble.Often, competing forces within a club’s membership demand both high quality andlow price, which can lead a club to an untenable middle ground if it tries to satisfyboth demands. The conversation may proceed something like this:Look, I know that the regular price for a banquet is $39 per person. However, this is animportant function for a great cause. We need for you to do it for $30, including tax andgratuity, and it has to be the best event of the year because the senator will be attending.Or:Okay, here’s the plan, we really need to get a ton of new members in here. So, for the next50 members who join at the regular $100,000 initiation fee, let’s give them free dues forten years.To begin such a fire sale on a “Rolls-Royce” club should be unthinkable,because it would betray the club’s vision, cheapen the product, and upset currentmembers. Clubs that consistently stick to their chosen strategy in every decisionthey make, whether it be about pricing for a banquet or ways to recruit new members,are the most successful in the long run.Connect the Vision with Operations. For a club’s vision to become reality, thereshould be a strong connection between the vision and the operation of the club.MBA students often speak of operations as “the burning platform.” Envisionan ongoing business operation as an offshore oil rig that has caught fire. The oilrig’s engineers and laborers are trained to expect a fire as part of daily operations,and are so well-trained that the operation continues even in the midst of such acatastrophe. The idea behind this illustration is simple: a club’s vision should beso well-integrated into operations that, even under stressful conditions, everyoneexecutes his or her duties in a manner consistent with that vision.
Leading the Strategic Planning Process 125To connect the vision with operations, make sure that your discussions aboutthe club’s vision address these issues:1. Define the club. This may seem an obvious task, but it should not be underestimated.Such discussion is essential, especially if the club has never establisheda definite purpose and reason for being. Comparing the club to cars, assuggested previously, is one way to help you define the club. A private clubcan also be defined by answering three questions:• Who are the club’s members?• What are the members’ wants and needs?• How will the club satisfy the members’ wants and needs?2. Decide the long-term strategy. The long-term strategy should consider a timeframereaching five to ten years or more into the future. Generally, the moreestablished the club, the further out into the future the timeframe.3. Communicate the vision. The vision should be stated clearly and in a way thatinspires staff and members alike. Communicating the vision in everythingthat a club thinks, says, or does is as important as the creation of the visionitself. Share the vision! Construct a concise, well-worded vision statement toempower employees with a higher sense of purpose. For example, a painterin the engineering department who is in tune with the club’s vision mightconsider it his job to “maintain a treasured showplace,” not simply to “paintthe white trim.”MissionMission includes the broadest and highest level of club goals and objectives. Awritten mission statement includes not only the club’s vision and purpose, but alsothe basic services the club provides. Generally, the mission statement is one that, ifrealized, ensures the club’s success.To make the distinction between vision and mission, vision is a broaderapproach, while mission includes the vision and then adds the basic services providedat the club.More than any other element of the strategic planning process, the missionstatement spells out the first-order reasons for the club’s existence. The missionstatement flows directly from the club’s vision and helps crystallize it.The mission statement should be used everywhere to communicate and reinforcethe vision, and to remind the club community—members, staff, guests, vendors,and others—of why the club exists and what basic services it provides.To achieve this end, the mission statement should be reproduced and printedin all club publications—in the monthly newsletter, on club stationery and letterhead,in advertisements, in public relations articles, club employee handbooks,board orientation manuals, new-member materials, and even on the membershipapplication. In short, any time you are putting together a communications piece,
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