The Troon Privé managed Rio Verde Country Club and Community are in a very good mood. Troon Privé, the private club operating division of Troon, was hired to manage the club in mid-2016.
Earlier this year, members approved a multi-million dollar, member-funded renovation project on the existing 27,000 square-foot clubhouse, with work expected to begin this summer on dining venues, common areas, and the golf shop. A grand re-opening of the clubhouse is expected in December 2018.
Troon Privé says that the NPS Score of the Rio Verde Country Club and Community doubled since mid-2016 due to:
- Troon’s agronomy team implementing strict agronomical practices to provide members with consistent and quality course conditions;
- Service levels improving through increased staff training;
- Improved food and beverage options, including dine-in, carry out or staff delivery;
- An increase in member programs with new experience nights and special events;
- Enhanced communication through a new club website and member portal and other digital messaging.
There were few changes in the Full Membership offer as well:
- It is no longer limited to those who live in the community, Rio Verde members enjoy unlimited access to dining and events, 36-holes of parkland-style golf, a driving range, three putting greens, bunker/chipping complex, tennis, pickleball, swimming, fitness, bocce, and dozens of special interest clubs.
- There are no food and beverage minimums or trail fees (non-residents don’t pay to use the club’s carts),
- Full Members also receive preferred access and rates to more than 270 private, resort and daily fee clubs around the world through Troon. Troon Privé Privilege offers tee times at participating Troon Privé-managed private clubs for just $35 to $55 per round.
- Troon Advantage provides tee times at participating Troon Golf-managed resort and daily-fee clubs at a rate guaranteed to be 15% off the lowest published price. Day Pass access to other amenities such as fitness, spa, tennis, pickleball and more is also available through both programs.
Troon Privé to evaluate: Customer Lifetime Value vs NPS score
I know that Net Promoter Score (NPS) is still a popular customer loyalty measurement tool. However, customers’ loyalty-behaviors are multidimensional. Therefore, a multidimensional metric would be much more accurate. If we want to measure membership loyalty we should consider behavioral data as well.
My concern with NPS is that it does not offer a full explanation of the root cause(s) of a lower score neither of a higher score.
What I have seen in golf clubs that they used it at the end of a customer journey. Thus the underlying issues of concern remain hidden. Therefore, I would not rely 100% on a single NPS score, because it can be misleading. This is why recommended using the combination of Voice of Customer (VOC) metrics.
To ascertain the ROI of the VoC program, it would be wise to connect the VOC metrics, KPIs with the business goals. Did they measure how big was the revenue change?
When we are talking about promoters, it would be more beneficial golf clubs and resorts if their customers and members would proactively promote them. Customer advocates are not waiting passively for you to invite them to promote your golf club, but they are actively doing it on social media.
It also came to my mind that golf club could use customer lifetime value to measure customer loyalty.
It is based on the concept of how often a customer buys from you and how long they remain your customer. Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total worth of a customer to a business over the entirety of the relationship.
I think this could be a more accurate customer loyalty measurement. An eMarketer study in 2014 found that 89% of company respondents and 96% of agencies believed that a great customer experience (CX) is a key requirement for driving brand loyalty, a central pillar of sustainable CLV.
Customer lifetime value is calculated by customer revenue minus the cost to acquire and then serve the customer.
Increasing a customer’s lifetime value should essentially be the goal of any golf club and golf resorts.