488: Belonging Over Budget

If you've worked in private clubs long enough, you know this moment. The RSVPs slow down, the numbers look lighter than you hoped, and suddenly the question on the table is: do we pull it or push through?

In this episode of Private Club Radio, Denny Corby shares a real situation — a club, a soft turnout, and a decision that reveals something most club leaders never talk about out loud. Because when a club keeps canceling events due to low attendance, they think they're protecting the budget. What they're actually doing is training their members not to show up.

30 people is not a failure. 30 people laughing, having dinner, leaving saying "that was amazing" — that matters. That's belonging. And belonging doesn't only get built in packed rooms.

Denny breaks down why low turnout is rarely the real problem, what canceling events is quietly teaching your membership, why the worst thing you can do for turnout is cancel because of turnout, and what it actually means to show up for the members who said yes.

If you've ever stared down a soft RSVP list and wondered what the right call is — this one's for you.

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Transcript

Welcome To Private Club Radio

Denny Corby 2.0 0:00

Welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, the show where you get the scoop on life inside private golf and country clubs. I'm your host, Denny Corby, and each episode is a real conversation with club leaders, the pros, the people and partners who help clubs thrive. We talk leadership, culture, food and beverage, member experiences, member engagement, marketing, governance, and so much more. If you want practical ideas, better teams and a club experience, members actually feel and talk about. You are in the right place now. Welcome to the show.

Two Days Before The Show

The Pattern Behind Soft Attendance

Canceling Events Erodes Trust

Choosing To Perform Anyway

An Intimate Room That Rocks

Your Call: Cancel Postpone Or Go

Denny Corby Experience And Goodbye

0:30

In this episode, I want to talk you through a real scenario that happened to me with the club a while ago. Um, this is one of those episodes, one of those ideas that I had sitting in the back of my head for a bit, and I was not totally sure how I wanted to talk about it because I don't want it to sound like a complaint. I don't want it to sound like a, a soapbox. I definitely don't want it to sound like. Oh, like entertain, you know, like entertainer problems. This is not what, this is what, what I do think this is though is a really interesting leadership conversation This is a really interesting member experience conversation and, and, and I think honestly, a really interesting, just trust conversation. So I thought, you know what? Let's just put it on here. Uh, let me tell you what happened. Uh, let me tell you what I did and let me tell you why I handled it. The way I handled it. And then I would love to know if you would have done the same thing, because as you know, if you've worked in clubs long enough, you know the problem, the exact problem, the kind of situation I am going to be talking about. You have a great club, you have great members, a great energy, a great team, and then sometimes for whatever reason you hit this weird. Stretch of time where people are just not showing up to your events, right? Members are just maybe not showing up to the different things that you're trying. Um. It, it's just not, it's just not happening. And if that happens to you or has happened to you, and it probably has happened, you know, you know exactly what I mean. And if it hasn't happened to you, congratulations. Um, please bottle up whatever magical fairy dust you have and give it to the rest of us in the indu industry immediately. Uh, because sometimes it happens, and when it happens, it can sometimes get awkward fast. So here was the situation. I had a club reach out. It was two days before my show there. Two days, not two weeks. Not, Hey, we got a little time to think this through. Not, Hey, let's get ahead of this and make a smart decision. Two days before the events, they basically said, um, turnout is light and it keeps dropping. What are our best options here? So. Not zero, not a total disaster, but lighter than they wanted. And look, I get it. I, I honestly, I really do. Stuff happens. Maybe it was the date, the timing, the, the promotion, the, the busy. There's things going on locally. There's sports, there's schools, there's breaks, there's so many different factors. And maybe just. Had one of those weird stretches where people just keep saying, oh, that sounds fun. And then somehow, um, they disappear. When it comes time to RSVP, like, listen, it happens. And in most cases. I could be flexible. I really am. And if somebody has a real issue, a real conflict, a real curve ball, I'm usually open to talking it through. A lot of it depends on the reason. Um. Honestly, a lot of it depends on how people ask because there is a huge difference between, hey, uh, we're in a really tough spot. Uh, you know, there, there's a, there's a, a way to be like, Hey, hey, you know, this is the whole scenario. Like, let's talk this through. And, you know, there's also the kinds like, yeah, uh, this isn't really working. Um, turn, you know, what, what can you do? Um, same as very different energies and. I'm actually, I'm actually working on another episode called the, the Art of the Ask, because I think that matters a lot more than people realize. Uh, how you ask matters, how you approach people matters. Tone matters, ownership matters, humility matters, all of it. So before I go on that, um, so anyway, we, we, we started talking through. The scenario of what was going on. And it wasn't bad, right? It just wasn't ideal. Uh, there was maybe like, you know, they had a great turnout, but then like it just started like dwindling. So at this point, I think there was around like 30 members showing up. Um, and I was like, oh, that's still not horrible. Like, that's not zero. And that's still people wanting to come to the club and have a good time. Um, but they told me that this was not a one-time issue. They've already canceled a bunch of other member events that they had over the past couple of months, uh, because turnout was quote unquote soft, like three, maybe four events. And that's when my brain. Clicked. That's what my brain went. Okay, hold on. Time out. Um, because now this is not just about one event. This is a pattern. And if I know anything about magic and through people, it's, it's patterns. Train. People, so that means patterns, trained members. And that's the part that really hit me because at this point I stopped looking at this as, okay, only 30 people are coming. I started looking at this as, okay, what are, what are we teaching the members if we keep doing this? Because 30 people is, not nobody. 30 people at a club event can still be a phenomenal night. Uh, 30 people laughing, 30 people having dinner, 30 people having drinks, 30 people being together, leaving, saying, Hey, that was awesome, that. Matters. That still counts. And that's the part of what that, that is part of what a club is supposed to be. And that's really where my head went because I started thinking those 30 people are the ones who said yes, right? They made the time, they put on the calendar, they committed, they raised their hand. So why would we punish the people who said yes? Because other people did not. Why? Why? Why should they be the ones who to lose out? And this is where. I landed on this thought. Because when a club keeps canceling events because the turnout is low, are they protecting the budget? Or are they slowly teaching members not to believe in the experience? And to me that, that, that was the real question because yes, budgets matter. Yes, numbers matter. I get all of that. Yes. Nobody wants to look at a room and think, man, I wish we could have had twice as many people. Like, I get all of that. But what message do we send to members when anytime there's just a low turnout? You, you yank the fun off the calendar. What message is that sending? Especially if you don't want to try it again or because you consider it a failure, just because it was a low turnout, just because it was a low turnout doesn't mean it was a failure.'cause people still showed up and if it was something new that you're doing also, or maybe you had a bad experience with something kind of similar, so you brought it back again and people were maybe a little bit hesitant, uh, but then people showed up and were like, yo, this was actually amazing. This was a great night. Guess what? That was now the catalyst that was now the starting point again. That was now the tipping point again of something amazing. cause every time you cancel on something due to a low turnout, members learn something. And, and maybe it's not out loud, maybe it's not consciously, but they learn and they start thinking, eh, maybe I won't sign up. I'll wait and see. Because if a lot of people don't show up, then it's going to not happen anyway, right? I, I, I don't need to sign up yet. Uh, like I'll believe it when I see it. Um, let's see if they canceled this one too. Um, once that starts creeping in, now you have a bigger problem than turnout. Now. Now things are just more maybes and members can smell a maybe from a mile a mile away, and, and this is why something I really believe in is that sometimes the worst thing you can do for turnout is cancel because of turnout. Because every time you do it, you reinforce the exact behavior you do not want. You teach people to hesitate. You teach people to not commit. You teach them that the event might not happen anyway, so why bother locking it in? Then clubs wonder why people wait until the last minute to never fully show up or do things also, or why then they're trying to scramble and the show starts late because there's people who all of a sudden called late and now they're trying to do seats, and now the show's starting late. So the people who did show up on time, they bought their tickets, they reserved their spots because they did everything right. Now, sometimes they have to suffer a little bit. Um. And, and, and I totally that, that is the uncomfortable part. Low turnout can be absolutely frustrating when you give so much time and energy and commitment and to putting on some, like, I get it a hundred percent. I. Sometimes low turnout is not always the real problem. Sometimes low turnout is the symptom, and the deeper problem is trust. The deeper problem is follow three and the and, and the, and the deeper problem is that the members fully do not believe the club will stick with the experience. So when I heard the club say that they already had canceled on a bunch of member events in the past couple of months because they just didn't have a big turnout, this is when I said, we have to do the show. We're, we're gonna do the show. Not because I want it to be difficult, not'cause I want to make some a dramatic point. We, we looked at a couple other dates and honestly nothing lined up. Um, so that made this decision even easier and. I, I wasn't trying to make this weird point and I wasn't trying to, you know, go the tech, you know, well, technically the contract says, you know, no, and start, you know, sounding like all that, you know, I don't know GEs articulative stuff that I know nothing about that, that's not what this was. I said, we have to do this show because the members who are coming deserved a great night. At this point, it was more than just a line item, right? This was more than just maybe losing a couple bucks, which no one's gonna remember or realize at the end of the day. And if your club is worried about a couple grand, there's a whole bigger issue at stake. This was about rebuilding belief, and this was about showing the members, hey. If it's on the calendar, it means something. And if we say yes, it matters. And if you show up and you sign up, the club is gonna show up too. And that matters. And it matters a lot because as we know with we're not just selling access, right? We're selling belonging and belonging. It's built in rooms like this. Not only in the packed rooms, not only in the sold out events, but, and not only when every chair in the room is full and everyone's high fiving because the spreadsheet looks sexy, belonging also gets built in rooms with 30 people or 20 or 10 or 12, or it's about putting on those events for that small little niche group that you have in your club. Because if those people have a blast that matters. If they feel seen, that matters. And if they leave going, man, that was such an amazing night. Thank you for doing this. That matters. And sometimes I think clubs can get so locked into the, the turnout. They forget the mission is not just to fill the seats. The mission is to create experiences that make people glad they are members. That is the job. That is the whole thing. And honestly, sometimes a smaller event is amazing. Sometimes the energy is better, right? It's more personable. Um, people get to mingle more. They laugh a little bit harder, they laugh a little bit louder. Um, is, and when it you get that intimate, it feels more special. So a giant crowd is not the only version of success. Small turnout doesn't automatically mean a worse experience. Sometimes it just means a different one, a more unique one, sometimes a better one. In this case, I told him we're doing the show and we're gonna have a blast. Because to me, those members mattered. The the, the calendar mattered. And to me, clubs matter so much in doing good events for members who show up to club events matters. Because after a run of cancellations, the answer cannot be to pull more energy out of the room. The, the answer had to be put more energy back into the room, back into the club. That, that was my feeling. And, and, If this was a wedding or a banquet, or what if someone also had a private event and someone came in two days before and hey, turnout's lighter than we hoped. Uh, what are our options? Uh, there would be consequences. So at that point, wheels are in motion. Plans have been made, schedules built, things have been ordered, right? The, the machine is moving. Um, and entertainment's the same thing, right? A real booking, a real date, A real commitment. Yes. There's only so many good prime dates. There's only so good, so, so good weekends. It is just real. So the commitment has to mean something. But even bigger than that, the member commitment has to mean something. I. So. What happened was we did the show, we ended up probably about. 50 people in a very tight, packed room. It was rocking. I had a comedian with me, so I opened, I did, I did some time and I had a, had a comedian buddy come up and also do, do, do some time. And then, uh, I then headlined the show and it was rocking. The room was tight, it was intimate. The members, we, we had so much fun. Everybody was thrilled. And that's what mattered. The happy faces mattered, the people mattered. It was awesome. Everyone was happy. We went forward with the show and the end mission, what we were all it is, it was all about just making the members happy and they left happy and. So I am curious to hear what you think. What would you have done as the entertainer, as me, and also as the club, as you, as the club professional, whatever position you are in. What would you do? What have you do? What do you do? I want to hear what you do. Shoot me an email denny@dennycorby.com and let me know what you would do or what you have done in this scenario. Do you still do the event? Do you postpone it? Do you cancel? Do you take the hit and try again later? And if you're on the other side, how do you think about it? because I do not think this is black and white, but I do think it's worth talking about. Because again, when a club cancels or, you know, moves things around a lot and you know, frustrates members, uh, because, you know, turnout is low, are they protecting the budget or, or are they slowly teaching members not to believe in the experience? And because maybe the worst thing you can do for turnout is cancel because of turnout. That was it. Speaking of fun entertainment. If you or your club is looking for some of the most fun member event nights you can have. You got the Denny Corby experience. There's excitement, there's mystery. Also, there's magic, mind dreaming and comedy. A ton of laughs, gasps, and holy craps from large club shows to guess what, even if you got a couple, we're gonna have so much fun. Check out Denny corby.com. Over 300 plus clubs. You are in an am. You're in amazing hands. Three. Oh, I think there's three. 400 now more. 85. I gotta do some math. But that's this episode. Thanks for listening. Until next time, I'm your host, Danny Corby. Catch y'all on the flippity flip. I.