There’s a transformational change occurring in the world of private golf and country club operators, and it’s having positive effects on their members.
Long the No. 1 provider of golf management software space for public, semi-private and resort operations, Lightspeed Golf is now in the private club space.
The company recently made a significant investment in advanced technology specifically to enhance efficiencies and profitability of these members-only sanctuaries.
The timing couldn’t be better as many private club operators are struggling with disjointed, legacy systems, some dating back to the 1990s. They are forced to toggle between spreadsheets, enter data manually and often erroneously, and submit to countless other annoying, frustrating and time-sucking hassles.
But thanks to a new Lightspeed Golf / Whoosh partnership, the siloed, outdated systems are switching to this new mousetrap with lightning speed.
Combining Lightspeed Golf’s cloud-based membership management and payments infrastructure with Whoosh’s intuitive scheduling tools, finally there’s a single system that automates workflows, reduces labor costs and so much more.
Furthermore, the point-of-sale, payments and supplemental features are directly integrated into clubs’ tee sheets for automated, real-time views of member activity across the club – golf, racquets, simulators, events, fitness, dining and accompanying areas of the operation.
Clubs now have comprehensive profiles for every member. The data includes utilization rates, preferred tee times, spending behaviors by channel, individual interests and a host of additional metrics and attributes. The information informs clubs to properly hyper-target and personalize their marketing, driving club utilization, upsell opportunities, and member satisfaction and retention. The result: greater member lifetime value to the club with extended and extensive dues lines.
“The chaos is gone,” said Fraser Marriott, Head of Golf of Lightspeed. “Operators now enjoy a full view tracking members’ journeys that provides real-time, data-driven insights to help them make better business decisions.”
Likewise, members enjoy frictionless digital booking experiences, weather updates, special events and other information, and direct messaging through a mobile app.
Members no longer have to book a round of golf one app and a dinner reservation on another app.
“All this is part of Lightspeed Golf’s “outcomes orientation and club-first approach to making operators’ lives easier in a more, better and faster way,” said Marriott.
Industry pundits who sneak previewed Lightspeed Golf / Whoosh private club platform universally praised it. Saving staff 20-plus hours weekly in administrative work, reducing billing errors and revenue loss, improving internal and member communications, and loading data and producing proper reporting means clubs are much better with this platform than without.
The early returns project a 4X, year-over-year increase across reservations and charges. Add Lightspeed Golf’s industry-low credit card processing fees often offsetting more than four months of platform fees and you have the ultimate in modern-day management software with the healthiest of healthiest returns to staff productivity, member satisfaction and ownership P&L.
“Our business is contingent on helping golf courses – behind the scenes – save and make money toward a more profitable existence,” said Marriott. “They’re now armed with the proper tools to run private clubs with the efficiencies required to be successful.”
