7 Ways Membership Directors Can Work Smarter, Not Harder: Lessons from Sugar Mill Country Club

In the private club industry, membership directors often find themselves overwhelmed by manual processes, disorganized systems, and the constant pressure to grow membership without adequate tools. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Carly Hall, Membership Director at Sugar Mill Country Club, who transformed her approach by implementing proper technology and systems.

Like many membership directors, Carly struggled with outdated processes before making a change. "I would say there wasn't really a process because there was nothing. I had to keep it all in my brain," she explained. "It was pretty chaotic overall because there was no real process. There was no place for everything to live and to really generate leads and nurture those leads."

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Let's explore seven ways membership directors can work smarter, not harder, based on Carly's experience and insights from other successful clubs.

1. Stop Relying on Your Memory and Spreadsheets

Managing leads without proper systems is the most significant hurdle for many membership directors. As Carly shared, "Before HubSpot, everything was manual. I relied on memory and email folders to keep track of leads, jotting down notes from phone interviews and meetings."

This approach isn't sustainable and limits growth. While spreadsheets might seem "good enough," they prevent you from effectively nurturing relationships at scale.

2. Implement Automation to Reduce Manual Follow-ups

One of the biggest time-savers for membership directors is implementing automated follow-up sequences.

"The automation part of just those re-engagement campaigns, email nurturing, stuff like that—it takes a lot of the thinking out of it," Carly noted. "If you do enough prep work and you have a good content schedule or just an email campaign schedule, it takes so much pressure off of the person and makes it so much easier and more efficient."

3. Create "Set It and Forget It" Campaigns

Modern CRM systems allow membership directors to create campaigns that work in the background while they focus on high-value activities like tours and meetings.

When asked about "set it and forget it" systems, Carly emphasized: "The email re-engagement campaigns immediately were a very 'aha, wow, that's so awesome' moment. As soon as those emails went out to inactive prospects, there was almost immediate follow-up from some people. I didn't have to do any of that work. It was all set up, pre-planned, sent out on a random Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning, here are five more leads that came in."

4. Use Technology to Track Engagement

Understanding prospect behavior gives membership directors powerful insights for more personalized outreach.

"Once you put it into the system, you can kind of be creepy and track everything about them," Carly explained. "You can see they initially reached out at this time, and then maybe it wasn't a good time for them. But they were still interested, poking around on the website, looking at different pages. And then they got interested again and resubmitted a membership request."

This visibility allows for perfectly timed follow-ups that feel almost magical to prospects.

5. Enhance Lead Generation Beyond the "Contact Us" Form

Most club websites rely solely on a generic contact form for lead generation. Modern approaches use multiple touchpoints and content offers to generate interest.

"Having multiple different areas with calls to action on the website is helpful," Carly shared. "The new membership guide, the more detailed one, is very helpful—that new landing page where it says, 'What are you interested in?' So then I can really see if they're interested in golf or just interested in social. That's helpful."

6. Personalize Communications Based on Data

Collecting information about prospects' interests allows for more meaningful conversations. As Carly noted, "It gives you a little bit of insight before you start the conversation. I always like to say, 'I see that you're interested in fitness or social events. What is it about that that interests you?'"

This approach makes prospects feel understood and valued from the first interaction.

7. Use Data to Demonstrate Results to Leadership

Membership directors often struggle to show the impact of their work. Modern CRM systems make this much easier.

"It was nice to be able to say, 'Well, this is what we're doing. Look at this email campaign. Look at how many touchpoints it had. Look at how many people came from it. Look at how many tours were scheduled from it," Carly explained. "Being able to go in there quickly and say, 'Here's X, Y, and Z. This is why it's working.' It stops the conversation.

Moving Beyond "The Way We've Always Done It"

For membership directors who insist their current processes are sufficient, Carly had this insight: "They're just limiting the spread and the growth that they could have. It's a closed-minded perspective because, yes, while you think it does work for you—and it probably does, and you've been probably a little bit successful—but just think about how much more successful you could be. Think about how much your club could grow."

The tipping point for many clubs comes when leadership recognizes that growth requires new approaches. As Carly put it, "When the GM came to me and said, 'Before we can do anything else, we have to grow membership,' that was the aha moment, because we had to stop doing what we were doing and do something else to get a different result."

The Bottom Line

Implementing new technology doesn't have to be overwhelming. As Carly explained about her transition: "Since there was no real system, I was just doing everything based on what I felt was best. But introducing a new system—I didn't have to re-teach myself anything. It was all just kind of a new venture."

The result? "It's taken a lot of pressure off of me. It just takes a lot of the heat off of me."

For membership directors looking to improve their processes and grow their clubs, Carly's parting wisdom applies: "At the end of the day, membership is the most important part of a club. You can't fall into a comfortable pace and take steps back. You always have to be going forward. Technology is right there at your fingertips to help you be successful and grow your club. You're not going to reach your big goals without investing in a little bit of help because no one person can do it all."

Are you ready to work smarter, not harder? The tools and strategies exist—it's just a matter of embracing them.