Golfing Organization Retains 80% of Members by Adding a Discount Program to Member Benefits

The Goal:

A midwestern golf club’s membership card offers golf fanatics discounted and free rounds at courses across the state. For years the program simply provided a punch card with buy-one get-one rounds, but in 2007 a new director was asked to upgrade the card program to better compete with a rival program in the state.

The director and his staff focused on building out the network of participating golf courses, while moving the program to an online fulfillment model. After utilizing daily deals sites to build a cardholder base of over 5,000 members, the program set out to find a way to retain those customers.

“We built that cardholder base to a good number, now we had to focus on retaining them,” the director says.

That meant adding extra value to cardholders through better offers and more courses.

The Solution:

The director partnered with Access Development to extend the program’s discounts to local merchants throughout the state – not just golf clubs. Access, operators of the nation’s largest private discount network, already had a significant amount discount content in the state.

The offer set was customized to match the common lifestyle needs shared by golf enthusiasts. Within weeks cardholders received access to hundreds of local deals at restaurants, retailers, hotels, and more. 

The Results:

“While golfers primarily purchase the card to save on their greens fees, the added benefits of the Access program create a competitive advantage over other golf savings programs,” the director says.

Today the program boasts over 8,000 cardholders. Even better, over 80% of the people who use the card stick around year over year.

“Renewals are much simpler now,” the director says. “We can show cardholders that they covered the cost of the card by using one oil change coupon.”

As an added bonus, the program is in a circle of continual improvement. The growing cardholder base incentivizes more courses and merchants to join the program. The growing merchant base results in increased usage of the offers, leading to deeper and more valuable offers.