Clubs Made Meaningful
Too many organizations and marketing leaders struggle with their branding and marketing and often focus on solving symptoms instead of the problems. This podcast is about uncovering and identifying the issues and having conversations meant to inform and inspire business leaders looking to have a brand that helps them communicate, differentiate and engage. For more on Sussner, visit sussner.com.
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Ep 118: What 170 Clubs Are Talking About with Kate Scott
<p>Nobody in this industry sees more clubs at once than a CMAA Chapter Director.</p> <p>Join Derek with Kate Scott, managing director of the Carolinas Chapter of the CMAA, one of the largest and fastest growing chapters in the country. Her job puts her in the room with club leaders across the Carolinas constantly, which means she doesn't just see trends. She sees them forming.</p> <p>Right now that story includes a labor market that isn't letting up, a generational gap between who's on the board and who's actually using the club, and the question of how...
Ep 117: Strategy, Not Tactics with Avi Olitzky of Olitzky Consulting Group
<p>Most clubs think they have a strategy towards the future when what they usually have is a list of tactics to deal with the now.</p> <p>Join Derek with Avi Olitzky, president and principal consultant at Olitzky Consulting Group, who has spent his career helping membership organizations understand and close that gap. Avi came to this work not through club management but through years of leading congregations and advising nonprofits, and that vantage point is exactly what makes his thinking on belonging land the way it does. A congregation and a private club have more in common than...
Ep 116: Putting Your Story Together with Ed Heil of StoryTeller Club Marketing
<p>Half of all clubs have a waitlist right now, and the difference between the ones that do and the ones that don’t usually has nothing to do with the golf course.</p> <p>Join Derek with Ed Heil, founder of StoryTeller Club Marketing, who has spent two decades helping clubs figure out why their story isn’t landing the way they think it is. </p> <p>Ed walks through what that disconnect actually costs a club, from the 18 month window when a new member is most likely to become an advocate, to the shift happening right now in how p...
Ep 115: The Data Behind Belonging with Dr. April Seifert of Sprocket CX
<p >Satisfaction tells you whether someone enjoyed their last meal. It doesn't tell you whether they feel like they belong. April Seifert of Sprocket CX on what clubs aren't measuring, and why the most important question isn't how members feel about the food.</p> <p >Most clubs survey their members annually. They track NPS scores, read comment cards, and walk away feeling like they've done the work. But a high satisfaction score can quietly mask something more concerning: a member who rates everything a nine and still doesn't renew — not because the experience was bad, but because the belonging was ne...
Ep 114: Making a Milestone Meaningful with Casey Newman of Lakeside Country Club
<p >A milestone is only as meaningful as the intention behind it. A logo on a napkin and a one-night gala check a box. What Casey Newman did at Lakeside Country Club for their 75th anniversary was something different entirely.</p> <p >Join Derek with Casey Newman, General Manager and COO at Lakeside Country Club in Houston, as she shares how her team turned a yearlong celebration into something members and staff felt genuine ownership of. Lakeside has been through Hurricane Harvey, a pandemic, and a full golf course renovation. The 75th wasn't just a number. It was a chance...
Ep 113: The Cost of Solving Before Understanding
<p >A new website won't save you. Neither will a new logo, a pickleball court, or a redesigned menu if you haven't defined the problem you're trying to solve. Are you mistaking a solution for a diagnosis?</p> <p >Whether you're a GM navigating a board pushing for quick fixes, a club leader sensing something is off but unsure where to start, this episode gives you a framework to slow down before you speed up. Because the clubs that invest wisely aren't the ones with the fastest answers. They're the ones who asked the right questions first.<br> <br> <br> </p...
Ep 112: What Value Really Means to Members with Aaron Dawson, CCM of Viewpoint EQ
<p>Member satisfaction scores look solid. But when the survey asks about value, the numbers soften. Most boards reach for pricing adjustments or reworking their messaging, but what do you do when that shows no results? <br> <br> Join Derek Sussner and Aaron Dawson, founder of Viewpoint EQ and a club leader with more than 30 years in the industry, as they unpack why that gap between satisfaction and value has almost nothing to do with cost and everything to do with how easily the club fits into a member's life and how it makes them feel when they are there. </p...
Ep 111: New GM: The Importance of the First 90 Days with Luke Burbach of The Club at Golden Valley
<p>A new general manager inherits more than a title. They inherit a culture, a team, a membership — and a window of clarity that closes faster than most people realize. Join Derek with Luke Burbach, the new general manager at The Club at Golden Valley. This conversation is an on-the-ground look at what principled leadership looks like in motion: how to build structured listening into the calendar before acting, how to find quick wins that signal engagement without forcing change, and why the single greatest risk of a mishandled first 90 days isn't operational — it's relational.</p> <p>Whether you're a boar...
Ep 110: Club Differentiation in a Local Market
<p >Most clubs describe themselves the same way. Great amenities. Welcoming culture. Excellent service. And most of the time, the club down the street says the exact same thing.</p> <p >Join Derek and Tucker as they dig into one of the most persistent and underexamined challenges in the private club world: what real differentiation looks like and how to know whether your club has an identity problem, a communication problem, or both. </p> <p >Whether you're a general manager frustrated that your club can't articulate what makes it special, a board member trying to understand why strategic plans aren't p...
Ep 109: How Membership Directors Create Belonging with Melissa Hansen of The Club at Olde Cypress
<p>A membership director's job isn't just filling seats. It's curating the first year of someone's belonging—one introduction at a time.</p> <p>Join Derek and Tucker as they sit down with Melissa Hanson, Director of Marketing and Membership at The Club at Old Cypress in Naples, Florida. With 15 years of experience living the brand daily, Melissa reveals what it really takes to transform prospects into advocates, new members into ambassadors, and a marketing role into the heartbeat of club culture.</p> <p>Whether you're a membership director trying to move beyond transactional tours, a general manager wondering how to...
