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Whether for golf, tennis, squash or professional instruction, an effective reservations system will please your members, free your club personnel to give better service and give you more opportunities to cross-market club activities to your members.

GolfTennisSquashRacquetballLessons and Services

Back in 2004 Clubessential released a general purpose

time-slot reservations system that supported basic reservations

for clubs. After several years, we realized that to match the

exact needs of our club clients, we needed a family of

reservations modules, each custom coded to fit the sport

or activity in question, but all sharing a sophisticated rules

engine, tight integration with the website marketing database

and a convenient human interface that was consistent

across all applications. We then developed the NetCaddy

Reservations Suite and began releasing a series of reservations

systems, including for court reservations: NetCaddy-Golf,

NetCaddy-Tennis, NetCaddy-Squash and NetCaddy-Racquetball,

and for professional lessons and services: NetCaddy-

Pro-Golf, NetCaddy-Pro-Tennis, NetCaddy-Pro-Squash,

NetCaddy-Pro-Paddle, NetCaddy-Pro-Massage, and

NetCaddy-Pro-PersonalTrainer. Our most recent addition

to the NetCaddy suite, NetCaddy-Dining, complements

Clubessential’s Event Manager by offering clubs and their

members an à la carte dining reservations system.

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Why Reservations 5

Design 6

Member Benefits 8

Club Efficiencies 10

Lotteries 12

Marketing 14

Installation 16

Private clubs install Internet based reservations systems for two reasons:

1. Service. Clubs can no longer deliver the highest levels of service without building a 24x7 electronic communication channel to their members. Members are familiar with, and expect the convenience of, instant online reservations without going through layers of phone prompts or listening to scratchy elevator music on hold. And when the member does arrive in person at the pro-shop or activity desk, they expect courteous service, uninterrupted by dozens of phone calls. To deliver SERVICE, a tee times, court or activity reservations system must be easy for the member to understand, with convenient features to speed the reservations process. At the same time, club staff must be able to manage the reservations quickly and extract the information needed to organize their business conveniently.

2. Member Marketing. Clubs take advantage of the online reservations traffic to expose members to other events and services available at the club, and to introduce members to each other. No other medium available to club management can reach so large a portion of the membership and deliver so many focused impressions about the club. Many clubs, for example, spend $50,000 per year plus untold labor writing, printing and mailing paper newsletters to members – yet these newsletters generate a tenth of the “impressions” that online reservations can create at almost no cost. This constant elevation of member awareness will make club activities a greater part of each member’s life, leading to heightened member engagement. To deliver MEMBER MARKETING, a member reservation system must be integrated with all the tools of the website and preserve the artistic integrity of the website branding and design. Further, it must be easy for the club staff to create sophisticated notices that will catch the eye of members passing through the system for dining, tee time, court, and other club reservations.

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Why Offer Online Tee Time, Dining, Court and Activity Reservations?

Design

When Clubessential began designing its new NetCaddy Reservations Suite we had some key objectives in mind:

• Integration. The Suite needed to be tightly integrated with the online roster/marketing database and between the various reservations modules. We didn’t want to have an independent database of members and their privileges at the pro-shop or activity desk that disagreed with either the online roster in the website or the member billing system.

• Speed. The system needed to be very fast for rapid check-in of members in the pro-shop or at the activity desk and to impress members with the convenience of the process. Clubessential solved the speed problem using two technology innovations: 1) the use of AJAX technology to update small portions of the screen without waiting for full screen refreshes, and 2) creation of a special infrastructure within Clubessential’s hosting environment that allows the NetCaddy Reservations Suite to run at high priority

on dedicated servers without giving up the high level of redundancy all Clubessential applications enjoy.

• Look and feel. All the modules of the Reservations Suite needed to look like they were part of the club’s website - we wanted to carry the club’s custom branding (including colors, themes and layouts – not just a logo in the corner of a generic looking page) throughout the integrated system. And we certainly wanted to avoid placing any vendor advertising on the reservations pages. Instead we wanted this valuable space to be used by the club itself for cross-marketing.

• Cross-marketing opportunities. To get the most out of cross-marketing opportunities, each online reservations module could not be set up as a separate system, but instead needed to be placed within a normal rich page layout along with other items. No website feature attracts traffic as well as tee time, court and other club service and activity reservations, and we wanted to

Design Objectives

route that traffic next to editable areas where clubs could advertise their upcoming events and services using the website tools they already knew.

• Rules. We wanted to allow clubs to impose whatever privilege rules they wanted. We knew from experience that this meant we needed to handle a huge variety of requirements. So we built a “rules engine” that supports rules of all kinds.

• Clarity. We knew that at some clubs there is a rush to claim certain tee or court times and that members can become agitated if they think they lost a reservation time unfairly. So we carefully designed a clear, fair and efficient allocation method for members to locate an available reservation time and then be informed of their status without delays and constant clicking.

• Consolidated Communications. Finally, we wanted to take advantage of all the usual Axis features, such as calendars showing all club events as well as personal tee times,

Design Objectives

SmartLinks, HotPages, personalized webpages, text messages and emails, buddy lists, statement displays, etc. We wanted to offer a whole suite of reservations packages that worked in a similar fashion and shared information about members. We did not want separate calendars and announcements that had to be maintained independently because these would diminish the value of the main club website. Nor did we want a separate set of tools for sending emails and messages that did not look like they came from the club, with unconsolidated history reports and no way to combine information. We wanted one integrated system that let club staff use familiar tools to manage the web traffic, supporting cross-marketing to further the social goals of the club.

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From the perspective of a member, NetCaddy is simple, convenient, fair and easy to use:

• Only one password to remember because the NetCaddy Reservations Suite is built into the website, thus preventing confusion and anger when multiple databases get out of synch.

• All-in-one reservations display brings up all the details of a reservation in a simple, easy to understand, combined window (this window is a modern AJAX window, not a “pop up window” – this is important because sometimes pop-up windows can trigger browsers to block the window, creating confusion and frustration). The use of Ajax technology puts everything the member needs in one place, so they can make changes to any part of the reservation directly without clicking through a series of steps.

• NetCaddy uses Ajax technology to avoid screen refreshes and applies rules in anticipation of member’s choices, reducing unnecessary clicks and frustrating rejections. The “smart” display only includes options the member is eligible for under the rules.

• Members will also find it easier to use reservations tools which are consistent with other aspects

of the website, such as tennis lessons, dining event reservations, golf lessons, etc.

• All of a member’s personal reservations (dinner reservations, tee times, court times, club events, etc) are visible in the main website calendars and also in the My Reservations area. Clicking on a reservation immediately brings up all the details of that reservation so changes can be made. Likewise, member events are visible in the website calendars. When a member event is clicked, the member can read a full graphical description and immediately request a reservation.

• Built-in help tutorials teach members the reservations process if they can’t understand at first glance. The tutorials include screen videos, animations and voice commentary that even the most naïve computer user understands. These tutorials eliminate many frustrating phone calls to the pro-shop and encourage members to take advantage of online reservations.

• Privilege rules are obvious - only those reservations for which the member is eligible are shown. If any choices are made which do not fit the rules, the rule in question is provided.

• The member can create a “buddy list” to save time looking up friends. Some members will

Member Benefits

The style of the NetCaddy Reservations Suite design

includes a pleasing user interface that looks and works in

a modern way, with simple buttons, yet a sophistication

that matches other systems members are familiar with,

such as airline reservations systems.

Reservations Made Easy

Member Benefits 8

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create multiple buddy lists to track different kinds of friends. Buddy lists carry across to other website functions, such as “mail a picture to a friend” or tennis reservations or dining reservations.

• Every time a member adds a guest to a reservation, that guest is added to the member’s guest list for future convenient selection. The guest list not only saves time when making future reservations, but lets the club enforce guest rules and build up a marketing database of guests who have played.

• One click by a member “captures” a reservation time for a “hold” period. A clock shows how much hold period time remains. As long as the member fills in the rest of the reservation information within the hold period, they will get the held time.

• If a member “clicks” but was not first, then a list of other available times nearby is displayed, and again one click will capture a reservation.

• Clubs have the option of allowing members to select two or more consecutive times for convenient booking of groups of players.

• The reservation sheets are color coded (current within five seconds), showing which times are

taken, which are held pending data entry and which are available. These color codes update automatically every five seconds without the member having to click on anything. They can literally sit and watch the reservations sheets fill up by watching the colors change.

• Members in the party can be notified by email or by text message of their reservation times or changes in times.

• Members can see the names of other players in any time slots. Exceptions can be made for certain privacy-conscious members, and those exceptions are carried in the website database, applicable to all aspects of the website and all reservations systems. However, hidden members can add friends to their buddy lists, and then their name will be exposed to just those friends.

• An Advanced Search capability allows a member to search multiple days simultaneously for qualifying reservations in certain time ranges.

• Members can review a list of all of their upcoming or prior reservations (staff can also see this list for any given member).

Club Efficiencies

NetCaddy’s Administrative Dashboard was designed with club personnel in mind:

• The Administrative Dashboard displays all the relevant information for reservations in one easy to manage page. Checking in a golfer or a foursome is as simple as clicking a single check-box. Likewise for court and other activity reservations.

• As members make reservations over the Internet, or other staff members take reservations from other locations, the reservations sheet automatically changes colors, indicating which times remain available. This is accomplished without the delay of page refreshes using AJAX technology.

• Staff can make changes to multiple reservations simultaneously without waiting for any page refreshing. This is accomplished using advanced AJAX technology.

• Automatic rules enforcement. If a member asks for a reservation by telephone or in person, the person at the counter can enter the time for the member - subject automatically to the privilege rules that apply to that member (and the other members/guests of the party).

• Overriding the rules is easy for authorized staff members, but a history can be reviewed later.

• Reservations can be “squeezed in” anywhere very easily, and are then tracked and updated exactly as any other reservation.

• The entire reservations sheet can be displayed at a glance. Various “views” can be defined to meet the needs of the club. If the club has a special format for the reservations sheet that they prefer, this can be introduced as a new “view.”

• Messages can be sent by email or text to a group of reservation holders - for example the

The important features of a club reservations system

are different for the pro-shop or activities desk. For

the people manning the check-in counter the key is

displaying the right information and enabling rapid

check-ins accurately.

Check-in Accurately

Club Efficiencies

first two hours of golf foursomes when there is a frost delay.

• The reservations sheets are easy to set up and easy to change (though there are safe-guards to avoid changing the reservations sheets when there already are times reserved). Once a particular style of play is set up for one day, it can be easily “cloned” for use on different days, simply by clicking those days in a calendar.

• Role-based security allows clubs to designate which functions may be performed by various staff members.

• Sophisticated backup – NetCaddy’s developers did not want to depend on the availability of email in the event of a failure of the Internet. Instead they designed an automated service that will transport the latest version of any NetCaddy documents desired by the club to a local computer on a scheduled basis (for example,

every hour). These documents can be printed and used even if both the Internet and email service have failed.

• NetCaddy’s statistical review displays rounds played broken out by many different variables (over 200 combinations including by course, membership type, hour, day, week, month, etc.). Other special reports cover handicaps, no-shows, etc.

• Additional specialized reports, for example, the starter’s report or the bag room report, can be custom designed to meet the needs of each club using a powerful report generator.

Club Efficiencies 10

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Check-in Accurately

A good lottery system applies the club’s rules uniformly,

but allows some flexibility for the pro to correct problems

(e.g., the Board President wanted to play but didn’t get

a tee time, or Joe Smith was to play right after John Doe

and they are fighting each other in a lawsuit).

Lotteries To Fit Any SituationLotteries

NetCaddy’s lottery system was set up with these issues in mind:

• The rules for the lottery are based on the “rules engine” and so can take on all sorts of exceptions, penalties, and privileges.

• Members can click on the reservations sheet over the Internet to indicate their preferred time, or, if a card system is used, the staff can enter the preferred times.

• The pro can run the rules and examine the result. If adjustments are needed, the rules can be re-run, or the pro can “drag and drop” some reservation slots to reorganize the result.

• After final review, the results can be made “final.”

• Notification can be by email or text messaging or by simply posting the results on the website.

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MarketingManage Reservations Driven Web Traffic

The most important reason to use an electronic reservation

sheet is to capture the resultant traffic for cross-marketing

of other events and activities at the club.

Years of heavy member reservation usage will build the website into a powerful communication channel to the membership. Member engagement will increase not only because they like the convenience of the reservations sheet, but because they are routed through the tightly integrated website where cross-marketing introduces them to other activities at the club. Advanced HTML email formats, airline-style design, consistent graphical branding and overall integration with calendars, other reservations capabilities, etc., will boost each member’s impression of club sophistication and this will lead to higher overall club participation.

From a marketing perspective, reservation systems are advertising channels that just happen to be driven by the need for taking tee times, court reservations, and other club reservations Clubessential designed the NetCaddy Reservations Suite to deliver marketing results in the following ways:

• The reservations mechanisms are embedded in an editable webpage, so announcements, reminders and teaser paragraphs can be added (and maintained) by the marketing staff. These items occupy very valuable real estate because of the vast number of impressions members will receive.

• Consolidated calendars that include both the member’s reservations and other kinds of announcements, result in more “impressions” to influence additional member participation and engagement with the club.

• Multi-purpose “buddy lists” (that is, buddy lists which are used for more purposes than picking golf or tennis partners) provide ever more value to the member, encouraging them to take the time to set up their buddy lists. Usage begets usage. Member to member recognition will increase as well as member engagement.

• The branding of the club and the signature events can be preserved throughout the seamlessly integrated system. For example, emails sent to members can make use of templates – templates kept in the same library as those used for other purposes with the website and maintained using the same tools.

• Data captured about playing habits can be incorporated in targeted marketing campaigns because the data are held in a common database with the website.

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The rules engine can be set up for any of the NetCaddy Reservations Suite applications in a matter of a few days. The incorporation of the NetCaddy Reservations Suite within a club’s website is also easy, because it takes on the branding and artistic style of the existing website.

Once these two steps are taken, all that remains is education. Fortunately, the NetCaddy Reservations Suite’s modern user interface is intuitive, like an airline reservations system, and can be learned in

just a few minutes. NetCaddy includes video tutorials for both members and staff. These reduce calls to the pro-shop by answering questions for members. And if there is turnover, new staff members can come up to speed on the pro-shop dashboard in just a few minutes by watching the video tutorials.

For further information or to request a demonstration call Jim Dries at 513-322-4186 or email Jim at jdries@clubessential.com

Installation

interactive club communications