Max Moreno of Boise is a private club professional. With extensive years of executive-level experience in private golf club management, Max Moreno loves the variety of challenges presented to a person in his position. As an executive for a private golf club, Max Moreno of Boise is asked to build a member-focused culture, improve the status quo, assess and tackle the challenges facing the club, and inspire a staff who is the lifeblood of the success of the course. To run a private golf club successfully, a professional must show ability in:
- Club House Management
- Golf & Tennis Operations
- Food & Beverage Operations
- Revenue Growth
- Facility Enhancement
- Change Management
- Club Governance
- Board Relations
- Budgeting
- Inventory
- Client Relations
- Internet and Product Marketing
These numerous abilities often go back to the ability to connect and work with people. Max Moreno of Boise believes the key to his success is the ability to not only establish relationships but maintain them with everyone from board and staff members to club members and vendors. When it comes to attracting members to a golf club, the challenges grow every year. Max Moreno of Boise believes a club manager must view every source of entertainment as competition. As technology advances, it not only provides new marketing tools to take advantage of, but it also provides access to more entertainment options for the average consumer.
People often consider golf clubs as a place for men who are later on in life. While a large percentage of members may skew older, there has been a shift in the industry towards marketing to men and women of a younger age. Breaking away from some of the old traditions allow for modern golf clubs to attract people who will be members for decades. Some clubs are blessed to have waiting lists but most need to constantly market their course and member benefits to survive and thrive within the industry. In order to reach a younger audience, Max Moreno believes marketing managers must be willing to meet people where they spend their time. This starts with social media.
Most courses will start their social media marketing strategy by simply having accounts created on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Max Moreno of Boise believes courses can up their game by posting quality content via pictures of the course and details on upcoming events and promotions. Courses that are looking to increase their post volume should consider having their club pro record some videos of golf advice. Anything that drives interaction is imperative in social media marketing. Once an account is well-established, club managers can begin to research paid social media ads. Sponsored posts guarantee that content appears on the page of targeted consumers. A well-received social media ad campaign can do wonders to boost membership numbers.
Speaking of paid advertising, Max Moreno encourages other golf managers to consider pay-per-click marketing. Most pay-per-click marketing refers to paid ads in the Google search results. These ads can be extremely effective as the advertiser is able to control the search term that will present their ad. For instance, if a golf course doesn’t organically appear in the search engines for the term “golf club near me.” a paid ad can make sure that a club’s website is the first thing a person sees – and as we know, people are much more likely to click on the first course they see in their search results.
When it comes to selling, most golf courses fail to focus on anything outside of the ability to play golf at their course. Max Moreno of Boise stresses that clubs should be pitching an experience for not only the potential signee, but their families as well. Many courses will feature a great restaurant and a lively bar for the proverbial “19th” hole. Potential members are also interested in how easy it will be to go out and play. Courses that can offer online check-ins for tee-time scheduling have a huge leg up on the competition.
