Aluisy Gabriel - The Definitive Guide to Membership Marketing

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

First and foremost I want to thank my wife, Ana Maria Aluisy, for her help and support as I wrote this book. Without her, my thoughts would not have made it to this page. Next Id like to thank my good friend Chris Krimitsos, who lit a fire in me to get this book written and who has mentored me along my journey as a speaker and podcast host. Id like to thank Gary Teaney, Ronica Richardson, and Adam DiMuzio, who pushed me to carve out my direction and have advised me on my path. Many thanks to Alex Rodriguez and Doyle Buehler, who held me accountable and encouraged me as I wrote this book. My sincerest gratitude to Topher Morrison and the team at Entrevo USA, whose business accelerator has opened doors I never thought were possible. To my father, for instilling a passion for the game of golf in me. To all my friends and family who have voiced their support, thank you!

Foreword

This book is not about magic elixirs or silver bullets. Its about logic, reality and the psychology of sales. It is about strategy and planning to reach your markets relevancies and sound techniques to increasing sales closing ratios.

Soon after immersing himself into the world of private clubs Gabe realized that sales and marketing were key to the clubs financial stability. He also learned quickly that sales and marketing of private clubs was a disturbingly misunderstood process. This book takes a step by step approach and is a perfect primer for Boards, Membership Committees, General Managers and Marketing Directors. There are incredible lessons for the entire team.

Gabe writes very similarly to how he speaks. His message takes a natural progression leading to logical and understandable conclusions. From sales strategies to the building of a winning team, to social media and networking, virtually every area of the private club marketing opportunity is touched in this guidebook to membership.

Combined with proper market due diligence and intelligence on what your members and potential members want and need, virtually every private club can realize greater potential for increased growth, retention, member usage and member satisfaction.

If you subscribe to and implement the principles described within this book you will most definitively transform yourself and your team into more proficient salespeople and marketers.

As the late Robert Dedman Sr. once said, With members everything is possible! Without members, nothing is possible. Philosophically, this is the perfect book to get all of your key players on board with the reality of a changed culture and the means to penetrate an ever changing marketplace. Read it and pass it along. It will make a difference in your entire organization.

Rick Coyne

CEO, Professional Club Marketing Association

Managing Partner, Club Mark Partners

Lifetime Achievement Award Winner BoardRoom Magazine

2 Time Gary Player Black Knight Award Winner

Everyone whos in business wants to sell their stuff to people who are hungry for the stuff theyre selling. Creating, packaging, communicating and selling the right stuff to the right people requires marketing. And to the innocent, marketing is simple and uncomplicated---find out what they want, then give it to them.

But for those of us who manage clubs, who are in the business of creating, packaging, communicating and selling the club experience, We Who Do know how tough real world club marketing can be. The devil is in the details. And We Who Do need help spanking the devil.

We club managers are looking for a Club Marketing Primer thatll give us background into the complex world of club marketing, a document thatll provide insight into the club buying community, a mentor to guide our creative process, a document thatll explain how to properly package the goods, services, programs and facilities weve created, how to communicate those packages to the right audience and how to secure a commitment to buy from those weve targeted.

Many of us out here in the real world are needy---and lost.

Then along comes a writer who knows marketing, knows clubs and knows how to explain the complex ins and outs of the marketing cycle to those of us who are hungry---but clueless.

That somebody is Gabe Aluisy whos been in the marketing trenches, knows his stuff and has written the definitive guide to membership marketing---called, not so surprisingly, The Definitive Guide to Membership Marketing. Better than anyone I know whos attacked membership marketing, Gabe breaks The Marketing Adventure into its component pieces, explains all those bits and pieces in language non-specialists understand, provides a template for action and does it all in an upbeat, can do, positive way that gives confidence to those of us who are hungry for insight into The Marketing Journey.

Gabes book walks the reader through The Marketing Cycle. Membership marketing defined---done. Changes in the wants, needs and expectations of the user community---done. Changes in the way memberships are being marketed---done. Data collection and interpretation---done. Tools club marketers need to generate and deliver the message---done. Channels of communication to be understood and used---done. To sum up The Definitive Guide to Membership Marketing---Gabe done good.

Gabe hits it all. Clearly and succinctly.

If youre in the club business, you need Gabes book. Itll give you understanding. Itll give you process. And itll deliver a coherent vision of The Marketing Journey.

Buy it. Read it. Use it. And give thanks to Gabe for giving us---The Innocents--- clarity and understanding.

Gregg Patterson

President and CEO Tribal Magic!!!

Creators of WOW---Builders of Community

Introduction

Marketing has been a dirty word in the private club industry for a long time. Im intent on disproving that notion. Marketing doesnt have to be sleazy or unseemly and it shouldnt conjure up images of used car salesmen, heavy handed approaches, or the sale of the minute. In fact, much of marketing, what I would call good marketing, isnt even selling. It is much more subtle than that. Its not discounting either. Good marketing will actually help you raise your perceived value in the mind of the public.

This book is the missing guide they never handed you when you took that role as general manager, membership director or membership committee member. Its the down-in-the-trenches lessons that they didnt teach in your college marketing courses. Its the stuff they dont cover at industry conferences.

In the first section of this book Ill describe the current state of our industry and how we got here. Im also going to show you why I believe that most clubs are approaching their membership wrong, why theyre focused on the wrong things and why theyre going about it in the wrong way. And dont worry, Ill be providing you and your club a solution to each of these.

As you progress further into the book, Im going to equip you with the tools to modernize your marketing efforts. In this book youre going to learn what marketing channels you have available to you right now and how to maximize their uses in growing your membership. Im even going to share some up and coming marketing channels and tactics that you should know about and start utilizing today. Youll find out what statistics and key performance indicators you should be tracking to ensure youre hitting your goals. Ill also give you some little known hacks for things like building an email list from LinkedIn, negotiating better deals with vendors and getting quoted in major publications.

Finally, towards the end of the book, Im going to lay out my vision for the future and tell you what you should be prepared for in the next ten years and beyond. Ill share with you where I see clubs and membership marketing going and hopefully get you thinking about the ways you can set yourself up for the future.