Putting Trust and the Member Experience First
From the Desk of Paul Kornfeind MCM
Every club leader understands that revenue matters. We have employees to support, facilities to maintain, programs to create, and a responsibility to leave our institutions stronger than we found them. Financial discipline is essential, but when revenue becomes the starting point for every decision, we risk forgetting why our organizations exist in the first place.
The strongest clubs do not build their success by continually asking how much more they can collect from their members. They build it by asking how much more value, connection, trust, and genuine hospitality they can provide. When members believe in the experience and trust the people leading it, retention becomes stronger, participation grows, and financial success follows naturally.
1. The member experience is not part of the business. It is the business.
A spreadsheet can tell us what happened financially, but it cannot tell us how a member felt when they walked through the door. It cannot measure whether they were warmly welcomed, whether someone remembered their name, whether their concern was taken seriously, or whether they left believing that their club genuinely cared about them.
The balance sheet measures the result, but the relationship creates it. Every policy, program, menu, event, and financial decision should ultimately be evaluated through the eyes of the member. If we consistently create an experience that makes people feel welcomed, valued, and proud to belong, the numbers will eventually reflect it.
2. Trust begins with telling the truth, especially when the truth is uncomfortable.
Members deserve honest answers, even when those answers are not easy to give. They need to know that we will not hide behind policies, make promises we cannot keep, or tell them what we think they want to hear simply to avoid a difficult conversation. If we do not know the answer, we should say so and then find it. If something is changing, we should explain why. When we say we are going to do something, we must follow through.
Trust is not created by carefully polished language or grand announcements. It is earned through consistency between what we say and what we do. Members may not agree with every decision, but they are far more likely to respect and support leadership when they understand the reasoning and believe they are being treated honestly.
3. Members can forgive a mistake, but they will not forgive feeling misled or unimportant.
Hospitality is delivered by human beings, and human beings occasionally make mistakes. A meal may not arrive as expected, a reservation may be mishandled, or an event may not unfold exactly as planned. One mistake rarely destroys a relationship, but the way we respond to that mistake can either strengthen the member’s confidence or damage it permanently.
When something goes wrong, we must listen without becoming defensive, take responsibility without making excuses, and follow up after the immediate problem has been resolved. A sincere apology accompanied by meaningful action demonstrates that the relationship matters more than protecting our pride. In many cases, a properly handled mistake can create more loyalty than a perfectly ordinary experience ever could.
4. Retention is earned every day after the membership application is signed.
Clubs often devote tremendous energy to attracting new members, and growth is certainly important. However, we cannot become so focused on the next prospect that we forget to care for the members who are already standing in front of us. Welcoming someone into the club is only the beginning of the relationship; everything that happens afterward determines whether that member eventually becomes deeply connected or quietly drifts away.
Members stay when they discover their place within the club. They stay because someone introduces them to others, invites them to participate, remembers what matters to them, and helps them build relationships that extend beyond a meal or an event. Retention is not secured by a contract or a dues payment. It is earned through repeated experiences that remind members why they chose to belong.
5. Listen before you defend, and respond before frustration becomes resignation.
The most valuable feedback is not always the most comfortable to hear. When a member raises a concern, our first responsibility is not to explain why the member is wrong or defend how we have always done something. Our responsibility is to listen carefully enough to understand what sits beneath the complaint. Sometimes the issue is not the meal, the charge, or the policy itself; it is the feeling that no one was paying attention.
Silence creates uncertainty, and uncertainty can quickly become mistrust. We cannot expect members to understand our challenges, support our vision, or invest in our future if we are unwilling to bring them into the conversation. Leadership requires us to communicate early, explain clearly, and respond thoughtfully before a small concern grows into a reason for someone to leave.
6. Every employee and every leader owns the member experience.
Retention cannot belong exclusively to the membership director, general manager, or board. Every interaction influences whether a member feels recognized and appreciated, from the first telephone call to the final goodbye at the end of the evening. The smallest gesture can become the moment a member remembers most.
Creating this kind of culture requires us to care for the people who care for our members. Employees must be trained, supported, trusted, and empowered to solve problems. When our team feels respected and connected to the mission, that pride becomes visible in the hospitality they provide. The member experience will rarely rise above the employee experience, which makes investing in our people one of the most important retention strategies we have.
7. Stop chasing the dollar. Build the relationship, and the dollars will follow.
This philosophy does not mean ignoring revenue or avoiding difficult financial decisions. Strong finances allow us to improve facilities, support our employees, expand programming, preserve our traditions, and create the experiences our members deserve. Financial strength is essential, but we should never confuse the goal with the outcome.
When members trust the leadership and believe in the experience, they use the club more frequently, invite guests, host important celebrations, support special initiatives, and introduce prospective members. They become ambassadors and stewards because they feel connected to something larger than themselves. That is the kind of growth no promotion or short-term revenue strategy can manufacture.
Before introducing another fee, changing a policy, eliminating a benefit, or launching a new revenue-producing initiative, we should pause and ask what the decision means for the member. Is it fair? Can we explain it honestly? Does it add genuine value? Will it strengthen the relationship, or will it make members feel as though we see them only as another source of income?
Members know the difference. When members know we see them, hear them, and value them, they stay. They participate, bring others into the family, invest in the future, and become proud stewards of the institution they call their own. Build the relationship. Protect the trust. Deliver an experience worthy of belonging.
Do those things consistently, and the dollars will follow.