(1=poor, 10 = excellent), Please rate the quality of the food. The food and beverage minimum at a country club is typically $50 per person, but it can vary. The . Club Governance, COPYRIGHT CLUB BENCHMARKING 2023. On the other hand, if the survey does not incorporate all of the questions necessary to gather the information needed, the time and effort used to create and mail the survey will have been wasted. The best way to start measuring how satisfied your members are today is by going straight to the source. This new found interest has created an area of growth for clubs. Lets say I have a Cabernet that I know 10 members are going to drink. . If so, please provide their first and last name. Were cleaning stations appropriately distributed throughout the course and well-maintained? In your next assessment, consider using some of the following questions to determine how your members feel about the different areas of your private club: If youve been effectively maintaining membership records using your club management platform, you should have this information already, but this is a simple way to frame the members responses for the rest of the assessment. Do you find our course yardage system meets your standards and if not what changes would you like to see made? As clubs find new footholds for revenue and member engagement, food and beverage services will continue to grow as an important marquee feature. Typically, food and beverage cost of sales run higher for private clubs, between 35% and 42% of food and beverage revenue, while merchandise cost of sales typically average 75% of merchandise revenue. Did the showers provide an adequate amount and degree of hot water? The true root of the problemmembership countwas obscured by the boards singular focus on F&B as the answer to the clubs financial pressure. The food minimum amount and rules vary by club, but almost always it is a use-it-or-lose-it fee. Suite 301 They can also be high profit centers for private clubs. Please rate your overall experience at the Oxmoor pool facility. The author who developed this survey question was either consciously or sub-consciously steering respondents toward a particular response option. Misconceptions related to food and beverage profit or loss are the private club industry's most dangerous and pervasive issue. No matter how carefully the questions are worded to eliminate ambiguity, bias, and simplicity, no matter how clear the instructions, chances are that someone will misunderstand items in the survey. Consider the following question-. Expense metrics which go beyond simple dollars and cents, are generally harder to come by due to the wide variety of operating models, departmental structures, and local market conditions for labour and other products and services. These financial benchmarks were weighed against the need to stay relevant and respond to member desires. Additionally, if your private club offers on-site banquets and events to non-members, you can use an automated follow-up survey to assess their experience. Please rate your check in experience with the golf shop? Estimated $58.7K - $74.4K a year. Beyond the course itself, members need to feel satisfied with the facilities, the clubhouse, and the service. they are looking for other areas to drum up member engagement and raise club revenue. Click here to view a sample Club Benchmarking report. Each member will have a different perspective on the issue in question and these perspectives will make for a more thorough survey and create leadership buy in into the process. And raising wine sales by $3,000 a month at Troon Golfs The Clubs at St. James Plantation. Too many clubs find themselves stuck in the F&B Trapwhich we define as rigid adherence to the belief that a club should make a profit in F&B (or lose less money) and that a club is healthier if it makes a profit in F&B than if it shows a deficit in F&B. The prospects for the clubs eventual recovery seem in doubt absent a dramatic shift in the boards internal dynamics and a willingness to govern based on fact rather than opinion or agenda. It is not the answers to the surveys that are truly of interest, but rather how these answers provide insight into the larger issue or question that necessitated the survey in the first place. On a scale of 110, how would you rate your pro shop experience overall? The format of the member survey is almost as important as the wording of the questions. All clubs have those who are vocal with their opinions, however do not represent the view of the entire membership. Misconceptions related to food and beverage profit or loss are the private club industrys most dangerous and pervasive issue. How often do you dine at the clubhouse? These questions enable important final segmentation analysis of the final results and their location is important too. This virtual happy hour is an informal get-together of women leaders in our Section. 9. The average Country Club Manager salary is $86,102 as of February 27, 2023, but the salary range typically falls between $78,115 and $100,424. Members expect a quality dining experience with exceptionally personalized servicefar more than the average dining experience in an off-site restaurant. Wean off revenue driven activities like Marriott guest golf and outside banquets. Food and Beverage, On a scale of 110, how would you rate your dining experience overall? Generally, food and beverage cost of sales as a percentage of food and beverage revenue average between 26% and 36%, while merchandise cost of sales as a percentage of merchandise revenue average between 65% and 75%, depending on the mix of hard and soft goods sold. Required fields are marked *. We have a specific set of clientele. Another trend that we noticed within countryclubs was an accentuated emphasis on a higher standard of personalized service for its members. The use of KPIs and benchmarks need to be part of the toolkit for management and the owner. F&B profitability was at the 95thpercentile. Have you worked with an event planner before? Please Check the event(s) you could see yourself participating in for the upcoming year. Labour and Other Expenses Generally, questions regarding age, income, membership type, number of children, etc., should be asked at the beginning of the survey instead of the end. Industry benchmarks are key to a successful operation without them your operation is at risk. Club Management Software, For 90% of country clubs, the bread and butter comes from golf operations and member dues. A private club shall provide regular food service adequate for its members and their guests. Private Club Financial Performance Raymond S. Schmidgall Ph.D., CPA . About this report and how data was collected. Benchmarking standards are commonplace in most industries. He achieves profits in the department He is responsible for employing and dismissing 2. The feedback from the pretest is then used to further refine and improve the survey. Going Digital New. The distinct business model for private clubs often demands unusual operating models for their kitchen inventory and beverage programs. . With some analysis from the manager or committee, they could narrow down the losses to identify the primary source or sources. Again, the answers to this question could be highly misleading. They drew swords over expenses that CB reports showed were well below national norms including executive salaries, total labor expenses and a series of other critical expense benchmarks. City clubs were better in attracting new members over the last few years with a 1.2% increase in 2019. Other duties include monitoring the food . How would you rate the Rough grass conditions on the course? Would you consider hosting an outing for your company, or to help a charity if we outline the event and help you organize the event? The average response rate for mailed customer surveys by private industry is approximately 20%. . If you included special instructions when placing your order, were they met? In North America, the pandemic awoke a sleeping giant. A member of a licensed club may sponsor private functions on club premises for an organization or group, of which he is a member, such attendees being guests of the sponsoring member. Podcasts. In fact, club industry data shows that dues revenue makes up roughly 80% of the money clubs use to support operations regardless of size or geographic location. Department: Food and . Do you know any members of [INSERT CLUB NAME HERE]? In addition, most people do not want to belong to a club that appears run down; as such, an important KPI is expected capital maintenance costs and the funding of those costs through entrance and capital maintenance fees. As an example, the city can't interrupt a private club party as long as the party is organized for a legitimate reason ( New Year's Eve party) and the occasion does not cause a breach of the peace (the music is too loud). The term "food service adequate for its members and their guests" shall mean that . Oracle Food and Beverage, formerly MICROS, brings 40 years of experience in providing software and hardware solutions to restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, coffee shops, cafes, stadiums, and theme parks.Thousands of operators, both large and small, around the world are using Oracle technology to deliver exceptional guest experiences, maximize sales, and reduce . If so, how many? While the private club industry does not have published statistics, a general rule is that 40-75% is typical depending on the size of the club. Once the list of questions has been developed, the wording of the questions needs to be refined to prevent the three most common mistakes in survey development- Ambiguity, Bias and Simplicity. Club Background:This cautionary tale begins in the boardroom of a long-established country club that has been part of its local community for nearly one hundred years. For example, being able to find average membership lifespans can help you determine the best way to retain members going forward. Please rate your level of service from our outside service staff? A requirement for effectively using benchmark standards to improve your specific circumstances is the application of experience to compare and contrast your results with that of the standard, investigate discrepancies and develop focused improvement plans. Salary ranges can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, the number of years you have spent in your profession. New customer facing technologies like digital wine menus can add an exciting feature to a beverage program. Labour related costs as a percentage of revenues and costs. Being able to back up his decision-making process with actual sales data when it came to buying decisions for your menuand pricing was a huge boon to Tim and he was able to discover marked improvements. Since 1927, the foundation of genuine hospitality has remained constant. When was the last special event you attended at the club? The best event planning questions to ask corporate and wedding clients. Generally, a member survey is necessitated because of an issue or opportunity facing the club. RCS Hospitality Group, now honored ten times by BoardRoom Magazine for excellence, is the "go-to" group for customer service centric operators seeking state-of-the-art management consulting and hospitality training services that combine 21st-century techniques with the timeless 'art' of hospitality service. The suit and subsequent economic downturn caused member counts to drop significantly and club leaders were anxious to reverse the tide and expedite the recovery process. For example, if the food and beverage operation is identified as the main source of losses, a highly specific survey focused on the level of importance and the level of satisfaction that members have with specific areas within the food and beverage operation could then be created. In recent years, it has become evident that benchmarks and KPIs have significantly helped golf course owners and operators measure and modify their operations to improve financial performance. The use of benchmarks allows operators to both measure performance and adjust operating procedures to improve performance and meet the goals of the club. Base Salary. Ive seen club managers who are comfortable with a 50% margin, because they are competing with restaurants and want members to dine with them. Gaining member perspectives on the quality of the course can help you determine where to focus the most attention and how to delegate man-hours. By Erica Nonni, Foodable Contributor. (5= Excellent; 4= Above Average; 3= Average/Good; 2= Below Average; 1= Poor . We will treat your information with respect. Retail, food and beverage, and appointment scheduling functions are all covered by Square, all with high-quality hardware options and a reputation for excellent . Any resemblance between this story and your worst nightmare is purely coincidental. While we've mentioned the 10 most important questions to ask in a survey, we advise you not to ask them all at once. However, developing a survey that actually generates usable and actionable data is more difficult than it might appear. In many clubs, there is a more severe dress code on the Golf Course, than in the clubhouse and dining areas. (1=poor, 10 = excellent), Please rate our wine selection. Start a FREE Trial Today! This is simply due to the culinary and beverage programs being a secondary income generator for these clubs and just an additional amenity to offer to members rather than the feature attraction. From a management perspective, KPIs and utilization statistics can be used to align labour costs with activity. For example, private clubs have realized the benefits of modeling the [], Canada: 905-475-4017 Private clubs operate in a unique sector of the hospitality industry. A club is evaluating its food and beverage operation. The following are a few examples of important KPIs by category: Naturally, a key measure of performance is rounds played. ClubCentral by ForeTees is the most comprehensive mobile solution for private clubs. Upon arrival, did staff greet you personally and appropriately? For a public course operator, it is essential that their information system be real time, so KPIs can be calculated, and if needed, communication to the general public adjusted in a timely manner (yield management). Product variance is still an issue. Your survey is completely confidential. After the recession hit in 2007, private clubs had to push through a turbulent economic period worsened by membership decline. The tools exist for every board in this industry to be properly informed and thoroughly equipped for success. change on the aesthetics of the course? Would you recommend Oxmoor Country Club to a friend looking at membership? From an expense perspective, most private clubs have excellent controls in place to keep expenses in line with the approved budget. How many rounds did you play at Oxmoor Country Club in the past 12 months?