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12 Features to Look for in a Membership Club CRM

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Sevenrooms

5 min read

May 17, 2022

12 Features to Look for in a Membership Club CRM

Technology plays an important role in ensuring membership clubs run smoothly and guests renew their memberships. A CRM (customer relationship management platform) helps operators keep track of members and give them a great experience when they visit and dine at the club’s food and beverage (F&B) outlets.

With so many options on the market, shopping for a membership CRM can be overwhelming. This guide will help you understand what to look for in a CRM for your membership club’s F&B venues. You’ll learn:

What a membership CRM system is
12 features to look for in a membership club CRM

What Is a Membership CRM?

A membership CRM is customer relationship management software for membership clubs: places like country clubs, lifestyle clubs, golf clubs, professional clubs, etc. When your membership CRM system offers solutions to support your club’s dining outlets, it serves as a database of members and their visit history, dining history, preferences, and more.

SevenRooms is a CRM membership software that lets your club’s F&B outlets share member data internally so that employees make every member feel like a VIP, no matter which on-site restaurant, cafe or bar they visit.

12 Features to Look for in a Membership Club CRM

Shopping for a CRM for membership organizations is a daunting task. However, when you choose the right CRM, you’ll never have to shop for a new one again. Instead, you can just focus on delighting members and surpassing their expectations. Here are a dozen features you should look for in a membership CRM software.

1. Robust member profiles

Look for a CRM system with robust member profiles that track F&B spend, membership status, preferences and more. Make sure your solution lets you share your member data across outlets at your club so you can provide consistent service. A member shouldn’t have to tell staff at the poolside bar that they’re avoiding dairy and then repeat this information at your fine dining venue.  

With SevenRooms, data collection is automated to save your team time to focus on serving members. Profiles build themselves with customizable tags that track key information like allergies, anniversaries, preferences and past visits. 

2. Segmented inventory

Look for a CRM software that lets you customize access to reservations, events and more based on membership level or status. With this ability, you can easily offer reservations to the right people at the right time and avoid uncomfortable and time-consuming mistakes.

SevenRooms keeps you in full control of how you manage and market your F&B offerings. The platform lets you offer tiered inventory for reservations and events.

3. Table management features

Your CRM should be more than just a CRM: it should make operations run more smoothly. Look for a customer relationship management platform that helps you put members in the best table for them – and your business – at your on-site restaurants.

SevenRooms is equipped with an AI-powered seating algorithm that tests thousands of seating combinations each second to assign guests to the tables that will turn over most quickly, reduce wait times and generate the most revenue.

4. VIP notifications

You already treat every member like a VIP, but when a true VIP walks in, it’s critically important to recognize them as quickly as possible. Look for a membership CRM system that alerts staff when an important guest checks in.

With SevenRooms, key team members can get Apple Watch alerts when a VIP arrives to ensure they get the special treatment from the moment they walk in until they leave the club.

5. POS integration

When your CRM integrates with your dining venues’ point-of-sale (POS) system, these platforms share data and can create even more detailed member profiles. 

With SevenRooms’ POS integration, itemized member F&B spend data is automatically added to members’ profiles. When you know what members ordered in the past and how much they spent, you can tailor your recommendations and upsell successfully.

When your membership CRM system integrates with your POS, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and you unlock new capabilities that let you better serve your members.

6. Live table spend

Look for a CRM software for membership organizations that lets you track live table spend. When you know how much guests are spending, staff can ensure that members are meeting the club’s spending minimums. SevenRooms seamlessly integrates with popular POS systems to unlock this capability.

7. White labeling

Your club’s brand is special, so why would you let your CRM’s brand overshadow it? It’s important to find a CRM that lets you white label member-facing branding so that when members go to make a reservation, they only see your club’s logo, and not the CRM’s logo.

SevenRooms lets your brand shine by offering white-labeled, member-facing solutions.

8. Online reservations

Your goal is to give members a seamless, enjoyable experience every time they come to the club. That begins with making it easy for them to reserve a table at their favorite on-site F&B venue.

Look for a CRM that lets members make reservations online, that way they don’t have to go through the inconvenience of making a phone reservation. If phone reservations are the only option, then members can only call during club hours, which could be inconvenient for them, and they may have to wait for a call back if they leave a voicemail. Online reservations make booking a table more convenient for members, and managing reservations easier for club staff.

9. Upgrades and add ons

Let members upgrade their day and/or night at the club with add ons. For example, you could offer paid cabana rentals at your pool, champagne bottles on the golf course or a private dining room at the upscale restaurant on your property.

Your CRM software should let you build these revenue-boosting experiences into the online reservations journey. With SevenRooms, you can do just that, and collect payments in advance to reduce revenue loss from no-shows.

10. Events management 

Look for CRM membership software that makes it easy to manage ticketed events. It should let you create guest lists, build branded landing pages, offer tiered inventory and more. SevenRooms’ integration with TripleSeat makes event management a breeze by filling all of these needs and more.

11. Mobile order and pay capabilities

With a CRM that comes with mobile order and pay capabilities, you can serve members from all over the property: lobby, pool, fitness center, etc. This option not only delights members, but it also gives the club more opportunities to make revenue by extending food and drinks service to parts of the club where it may not have been previously accessible.

With SevenRooms, members can go to your website or scan a QR code to place and pay for orders from anywhere at the club

12. PCI-Compliant Payments

It’s crucial that your CRM lets you capture digital payments and credit card authorizations in a way that protects members’ data. Transactions through SevenRooms are protected by the most up-to-date compliance standards.

Delight Members with These Critical Membership CRM Features

Whether or not club members renew their membership depends on what kind of experience they’ve had. Technology plays a greater role in the member experience than you may think. When you equip your club with a membership CRM system that can help you keep track of members, facilitate bookings and upgrades, and make every member feel like a VIP, they’ll renew year after year.

SevenRooms is the membership CRM for your F&B outlets. Book your demo today.

FAQs on Membership CRMs

1. What Is a Membership CRM?

A membership CRM is customer relationship management software for membership clubs such as country clubs, lifestyle clubs, golf clubs and professional clubs.

2. How Do You Organize Membership Information?

The best way to organize membership information is to store member data in one place, provide members with a dedicated place to interact, track member engagement and consistently review your association data.

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