The GM's Dashboard: 7 Digital Metrics That Actually Predict Club Success

It’s easy for private clubs to fall into a risky pattern - especially in these times when 45% of clubs in America have a waitlist. When membership inquiries are flooding in, club leaders can become ambitious with capital projects. A waitlist develops and it seems like the momentum will last indefinitely. Then the economy shifts, consumer preferences adjust and resignations spike while leadership scrambles to figure out what’s going on.

The challenge with this approach is that by the time a club recognizes declining interest, the trend has often been building quietly for months. Website traffic has been dropping. Membership inquiries have been trending down. Referrals have slowed while the warning signs were there all along.

This reactive approach can lead to expensive miscalculations. A club approves a multi-million dollar renovation based on current waitlist strength, only to find interest cooling by the time construction begins. Or leadership defers necessary improvements during strong years, then faces assessment fatigue when the market softens.

Clubs can make smarter decisions by shifting their focus from lagging indicators—what already happened—to leading indicators that signal what's likely coming. These metrics inform club leaders and help them understand whether current momentum is sustainable. They create space for more responsible, thoughtful long-range planning instead of decisions driven by the pressure of the moment.

Here are seven metrics to consider that can change how club leadership understands where things are headed.

1. Member Engagement Score

What it predicts: Which members are at risk of resigning 6-12 months before they actually leave.

Think about the member who used to dine at the club twice a week and suddenly goes quiet for 60 days. That silence is saying something. Member engagement tracks how actively people participate in club life—dining frequency, event attendance, facility usage, app logins, even email opens. When clubs track these behaviors together, patterns emerge that can predict future resignations.

How it works: Using existing data and AI tools, clubs can create a simple scoring system that weights different activities. Golf rounds, dining visits, event RSVPs, digital engagement—all of it counts. The exact formula matters less than consistency in tracking over time. The goal is spotting trends, not creating perfect reports.

Why it matters for boards: There's a real difference between reactive and proactive leadership. "We had three resignations this month" is a report about what already happened. "We've identified 12 members showing early warning signs and here's our retention plan" demonstrates strategic thinking. Boards can make better long and short-term decisions when they understand risk before it becomes reality.

What this looks like in practice: Clubs can use this metric to effectively set thresholds—maybe members who drop below 30% of their normal activity level trigger a touchpoint. Sometimes a call from the GM or a personal note from the Membership Director can re-engage someone who's drifting away. Not always, but often enough that it's probably worth the effort.

2. Referral Rate

What it predicts: The overall health of member satisfaction and the sustainability of the membership pipeline.

This one's straightforward: What percentage of new members came from existing member referrals? Member referrals are often a strong indicator of overall club health. When that number starts dropping, it could be a strong sign that member satisfaction is declining—long before it shows up in retention numbers.

How it works: The best tracking is more than just noting "member referral" as a source. Clubs can track which specific member made each introduction. This helps identify the club's most engaged advocates and reveals whether the club is overly dependent on a small group of referring members. If five members are responsible for 80% of your referrals, that's useful information.

Why it matters for boards: Club leaders understand word-of-mouth marketing intuitively. When referrals are increasing, it confirms that the club is creating experiences worth talking about. When referrals decline, it opens an important conversation about member satisfaction that needs to happen before the issue becomes a retention crisis.

What this looks like in practice: If referral rates are declining, clubs can identify the cause through member surveys. Sometimes people are unclear about membership availability. Sometimes they feel hesitant to refer friends because they're uncertain about the application process. And sometimes—though hopefully rarely—members have concerns about the club experience itself. The issue isn't always satisfaction. Members might simply not know how to make an introduction.

3. Website Sessions & New Contact Generation

What it predicts: The volume and quality of the prospect pipeline 3-6 months out, and whether current interest levels can support long-term strategic initiatives.

A club's website works around the clock as a lead generation tool. Monthly website sessions reveal how many prospective members are actively researching the club. New contacts—people who downloaded a membership guide, requested information, or filled out a tour form—indicate how many of those visitors are serious enough to identify themselves.

Here's where this metric becomes particularly valuable for leaders considering significant capital investments. A club with a current waitlist might assume demand will remain strong indefinitely. But if website traffic shows a steady decline over 6-12 months, fewer people are even aware of or interested in the club. If membership inquiries are trending down quarter over quarter, that waitlist may not be as durable as it appears.

Website traffic and inquiry trends can help distinguish between sustainable momentum and a temporary spike.

How it works: Clubs can track both volume and conversion rate. A club getting 500 website sessions but only 2 new contacts per month probably has an issue with its digital experience. A club getting 50 sessions and 10 contacts has a smaller but highly qualified audience finding them. Both numbers matter. Tracking them over time reveals the trend.

Why it matters for boards: This metric provides tangible evidence for whether digital marketing investments are working and whether membership interest is sustainable. When boards debate multi-million dollar renovations or new amenity additions, website traffic trends and inquiry patterns offer lead metrics that inform whether the market will support those investments. A club seeing declining website traffic and fewer year-over-year inquiries over a 12-month period might reconsider the timing of a major assessment, regardless of current waitlist status.

What this looks like in practice: Clubs can establish quarterly targets and review year-over-year trends. If sessions are growing but contacts aren't, the website likely needs better calls-to-action or more compelling content. If both metrics are flat or declining, it's time to revisit online search strategy and whether the club's digital presence accurately represents the experience it delivers.

4. Prospect-to-Member Conversion by Source

What it predicts: Which marketing and outreach efforts actually deliver members, not just inquiries.

Not all prospects are created equal. A prospect who came from a member referral converts at a much higher rate than someone who clicked a Facebook ad. Tracking conversion rates by source helps clubs understand where to invest time and budget for the best return.

How it works: With a powerful CRM, clubs can create clear source categories: member referrals, website inquiries, events like member-guest tournaments, community partnerships, paid advertising. Then track how many prospects from each source ultimately become members. Many clubs discover that expensive digital ad campaigns generate numerous inquiries but poor conversion rates, while volunteer events with local charities generate fewer leads but much stronger conversion.

Why it matters for boards: Board members need to know that resources are being deployed strategically. When club leadership can demonstrate that member referrals convert at 60% while paid ads convert at 8%, they're making a clear case for where to focus energy and budget. This data helps leaders make informed decisions about marketing spend and outreach priorities.

What this looks like in practice: Clubs can double down on what works. If event-based prospects convert well, host more events. If website inquiries convert poorly, examine the follow-up process. Prospects might be getting lost in the handoff between initial contact and tour scheduling. Sometimes the issue isn't the source of the lead—it's what happens after someone raises their hand.

5. Member Lifetime Value Trends

What it predicts: The long-term financial health of the membership base and whether the club is attracting the right member profile.

Member lifetime value estimates the total revenue a member generates during their entire tenure at the club—dues, dining, events, guest fees, everything. When average LTV is trending up, the club is either attracting members who stay longer, members who spend more, or both.

How it works: Clubs can start with a simple analysis. Look at members who joined 5-10 years ago and calculate their average total spend. Compare that to members who joined 2-3 years ago. The goal is identifying patterns: Are newer members engaging and spending at similar levels, or has there been a shift?

Why it matters for boards: This metric helps boards think beyond the current year's budget. When discussing whether to lower initiation fees to attract more members, LTV data can help answer whether that trade-off makes financial sense. A member who pays a lower initiation but stays 15 years and dines regularly might be more valuable than someone who paid full price but resigned after three years. Might be. The data helps boards think through those scenarios.

What this looks like in practice: If LTV is declining, clubs need to understand why. Are newer members using the club less? Is the club attracting a different demographic with different spending patterns? These insights might signal a need to change programming, pricing structure, or even how the club is being described to prospects. The key word is "might"—the data raises questions worth investigating, not definitive answers.

6. Retention Probability Scores

What it predicts: Which member segments are most likely to renew and which require intervention.

A member in their third year who serves on a committee and brings guests regularly has a very different likelihood of staying than a first-year member who hasn't visited the club in 90 days. Retention probability looks at various factors—tenure, engagement level, spending patterns, participation in governance—to estimate each member's likelihood of renewing.

How it works: One way to address this is for clubs to segment their membership into risk categories: high retention probability, moderate, and at-risk. The specific factors that get weighted depend on the club, but engagement frequency, tenure, and referral activity are strong indicators across the industry.

Why it matters for boards: Instead of reacting to resignations, clubs can manage retention proactively. Leadership can report "We currently have 15% of our membership in the at-risk category, and here's our specific plan to address it." That's the kind of forward-thinking approach that builds board confidence in leadership.

What this looks like in practice: Different risk levels require different retention strategies. High-probability members might just need occasional touchpoints to stay connected. At-risk members may need personal outreach—perhaps a conversation about whether the club is meeting their needs or if there's a service recovery opportunity. Not every at-risk member will stay. But knowing who needs attention creates the opportunity to learn club weaknesses, and the possibility of an intervention before it's too late.

7. Competitive Positioning Metrics

What it predicts: Whether the club is gaining or losing ground relative to other clubs in the market.

Clubs don't operate in a vacuum. Understanding where a club stands relative to nearby competitors—in waitlist status, new member volume, initiation fee trends, facility investments—helps leadership make informed decisions about positioning and pricing. 

How it works: This requires industry networking and market intelligence. Club Benchmarking data, conversations at CMAA events, informal relationships with peer GMs. The basics to track: Are competitors growing or shrinking? Have they recently changed pricing? Are they investing in new amenities?

Why it matters for boards: When boards debate whether to invest in pickleball courts or update the fitness center, competitive data provides context. "Three of the five clubs in our competitive set have added pickleball in the past 18 months, and two of them have waitlists now" is a much more compelling argument than a gut feeling that pickleball might be popular. This data helps boards understand whether proposed investments are keeping pace with market expectations or moving ahead of them strategically.

What this looks like in practice: Competitive intelligence can inform strategy without driving blind imitation. If every club in the market is lowering initiation fees, perhaps the better move is to differentiate through unique programming instead. The data helps clubs make intentional choices about where to compete and where to differentiate. Not every trend is worth following.

Using These Metrics Without Drowning in Data

These metrics become powerful when they tell a story about where a club is headed, not just where it's been.

For club leaders learning to use these leading indicators effectively, the key is selectivity. Rather than overwhelming board meetings with data, focus on 3-4 metrics that matter most for whatever conversation is happening. Discussing membership strategy? Lead with referral rates, conversion by source, and retention probability. Talking about facilities investment? Bring competitive positioning data and member engagement trends alongside website traffic and inquiry patterns.

The real value in these metrics comes from connecting each one to a decision or action item. Data without context is just numbers. But when your GM can say, "Our member engagement scores have dropped 12% in the fitness center usage category over the past six months, which is why we're recommending we prioritize the equipment refresh over the pro shop renovation," they're giving the board information that leads to confident decisions.

Similarly, when a club has a waitlist but leadership notices website traffic has declined 20% year-over-year and membership inquiries are down 15% quarter-over-quarter, those leading indicators can influence capital planning conversations. The waitlist might represent the tail end of a trend rather than the beginning of sustained demand. These metrics help boards distinguish between durable momentum and temporary spikes. Not always perfectly, but better than intuition and “spidey senses”.

These seven metrics won't solve every challenge a club faces. They can shift their leadership approach from reactive to strategic. In an industry where many clubs still make decisions based on gut feeling and anecdotal feedback, that shift alone can set a club apart. Leading indicators reveal what's coming. The question is whether clubs are willing to pay attention before the trends become obvious.