“We’re very pleased with our Eagle app. Our smartphone-using members are delighted because it gives them the fastest means to find out what’s going on at the club, check out the latest news, find out about the next competitions, and book tee times whenever and wherever they want to. It’s all about making Houghwood part of their lifestyle,” writes Charles de Haan.
That is what Peter Turner, owner and director of Houghwood GC in Lancashire says about the new market-leading Eagle app*. (* put eagleapp.mobi into the browser address bar on your smartphone to see what it’s all about)
Now installed by over 80 golf clubs throughout the UK, according to Turner the best thing about the Eagle app for the members is the speed of communication. So he’s making sure Houghwood adapts the way it communicates with the club’s members, especially as they are switching in large numbers to smartphones as part of their lifestyles.
Reaching those significant others and wider audiences
By putting in offers in the News feature that encourage the members to bring their ‘significant others’, Peter’s also been able to reach a wider audience, and encourage members’ partners to think about the golf club and what it has to offer them as well as their other half. This is helping to secure both existing memberships and potentially, increase the number of new ones.
App versus website
Peter also knows that although similar content can be found or done via the club’s website, the large number of members who carry a smartphone will get the news about Houghwood GC, or hear about a new event or offer, significantly faster than if the club waited for members to check out the website.
“The app is ideal for keeping members informed from day to day, whereas the website is aimed more at visitors who need to know things like green fees or society packages, the kind of things our members don’t need to know.”
Peter continues, “The app is a much better and much faster way of keeping our members informed, so we use the News feature a lot to tell them about forthcoming events, competitions or tee time availability. They also use the competitions calendar in the Fixtures feature a lot.” One of the big advantages of the app is that its information for dates and events is going to be right up to date compared to a printed club diary.
Easier for the manager to use and update
He’s also finding the Eagle app’s dashboard much easier to use to update the app’s content. Because of this, Peter’s created an online editorial team with four other members of his operational team able to use the dashboard as well so that they add in content whenever they feel it’s appropriate.
Driving up the numbers
This in turn means the members at Houghwood that carry a smartphone are getting that much more information that much more quickly, and that helps drive up interest in social events, dining opportunities, tee times and so on. More importantly, it’s helping to make the club a permanent fixture in the membership’s lifestyles whenever they’re thinking of socialising, going somewhere to eat, or simply playing more golf.
Peter summarises, “The app is a great communications tool for any golf club, because once a club understands how to use it, it’s so effective at getting more people coming more often to their golf club, and get more out of their membership.”
Houghwood Golf Club www.houghwoodgolfclub.co.uk
Eagle www.eagle.uk.com