“Director of First Impressions” is the title now given to many receptionists or front desk personnel. But did anyone mention that the goal is to have a good first impression?
I laugh because I was visiting my local private city club for lunch the other day and the young ladies behind the front desk seemed less than enthused about their job on that particular afternoon. I hadn’t been to the club in awhile and so I presented my membership card upon arrival to make the greeting less uncomfortable for them. (I have worked in the private club industry for eleven years and always hated asking members for their names. I always felt it was part of my job to know their names. In fact, prior to club events my colleagues often found me flipping through the photo directory matching up the faces of members with the reservation sheet so I was prepared to greet them by name. This was always much appreciated by the member.)
When I arrived, the club was not busy being as it was after the lunch hour. I took a seat in the bar area just 20 feet away from the front desk. When the server finally made his way over to me he had to ask for my member number. I thought to myself…being as the young gal sitting behind the desk had nothing else to do, shouldn’t she have gotten up and walked the ten feet over to the bar to let the server know what my name and member number were so he could greet me by name? It didn’t even cross her mind. Instead, she sat there with the other young lady and a gentelmen from the dining room (all employees) deeply embedded in some personal conversation.
Nice first impression.
On my way out I noticed her placard emblazoned with her title on it and I commented, “Director of First Impression, what a title!”
She didn’t even smile.
Ha! I thought to myself. Someone forgot to mention that she was expected to make a good first impression. I meant to send the General Manager a note about this experience. I shall do so this afternoon….
Don’t feel bad local city club, its the first impression that I believe most clubs fail at. I phoned a professional acquaintance of mine just yesterday to discuss business at his golf club. I wanted to offer my services as I heard they were down nearly 15% for the year and perhaps needed some help with generating new memberships.
The voice that came over the phone when it was answered on their end was less than enthusiastic. She must have been having a bad day. She seemed irritated and was short with me. Hmmm…could her attitude be making a difference in member recruitment and satisfaction? May sound simplistic, but I do believe it could have something to do with it, even on a micro scale.
Let me offer you the opposite end of the scale…
A beautiful high end private club in Gladstone, New Jersey. When you call their club you get no recording, no auto teller, just a friendly voice on the other end of the line that answers with, “Good Afternoon, Thank you for calling X Golf Club, this is Melissa, I can help you.” Her tone is welcoming, friendly, upbeat and ready to help with whatever request I might have. Simplistic? Perhaps. Impactful? Most definitely.
Looking to grow your dues line? Trying to stop the bleeding of member attrition? Start with an unbiased critique of your ‘Director of First Impression’. For a lot of clubs, the person in that role has been there for years and knows the members names well, but are they making a positive impact on the daily visit to the club for both members and guests alike? Are they courteous over the phone? Do they represent your organization in a positive light to prospective candidates for employment? If not, I’m not saying ‘fire them’ just find another position for them.
At the end of the day, the success of this position is just as much about personality as it is about training. So be sure you have the right individual in the position and then train them on the importance of their role within the organization.
Private Club Membership Marketing 