Club Management: The Best Tools of the Trade

Membership clubs have skyrocketed in popularity for good reason—they bring in a steady revenue stream while nurturing a business’s best customers. Plus, the technology available now makes them much easier to personalize and delight members.

The recurring revenue from clubs gives craft producers the freedom to experiment and invest back into the business to build future growth. At the same time, clubs give back to your best customers. They make members feel special and cultivate brand advocates—one of craft producers’ most effective forms of marketing.

The first hurdle craft producers face is choosing the right type of club program for their business. Your business is unique and your club experience should be too. You’ll want to carefully select a program that embodies your brand, highlights your strengths, and speaks to your customers.

Next, it’s all about marketing the club program. No one will know about your club if you don’t tell them about it in a compelling way—no matter how good your offers are.

The last big step is figuring out how to manage your program. Luckily, you don’t need to manage your club program all on your own. As club experts, we have a few secret weapons up our sleeve that will make managing your club easier, more efficient, and deliver a better experience to your customers.

Use the Right Tools for Club Management

It’s practically impossible to grow your club while using antiquated methods, like spreadsheets. You need systems that are easy to use, talk to each other, and offer automation.

To easily manage customer relationships, you need the right tools to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and you give your members a personal experience.

VineSpring + Square Integration

Your customers experience your brand in two ways: in-person and online. The best place to build relationships and get people invested in your club is in the tasting room, taproom, or barrel room. While your guest is standing in front of you, there should be a clear path to join your club and make a purchase without any distractions or annoyances.

Here’s a secret that many breweries have already caught onto, but wineries and distilleries are behind on: Square is the ultimate POS and payment system for craft producers. As a best-in-class, world-renowned platform, not only is Square easy to use for the customer, but it is a powerful tool for the producer, especially combined with VineSpring.

With VineSpring and Square integrated, craft producers can combine the simplicity and power of both products to enhance the experience. Square provides the in-person software, VineSpring bridges the gap to eCommerce and club management.

With the enhanced integration between VineSpring and Square, you’ll know information like who is a member, if they should get a discount, how much they’ve spent, how long they’ve been a member, and if they have a shipment ready. The integration allows any member to walk through your door or log in online and be given personalized treatment that deepens the relationship, encourages loyalty, and increases the lifetime value of each customer.

VineSpring now supports Square payments. Craft producers can have a customer’s credit card information available in both Square and VineSpring. This makes it possible for credit cards stored in Square to batch process through VineSpring for club and eCommerce orders. Very soon club members will be able to sign up for clubs through Square as well.

VineSpring and Square are the ultimate tools for any craft producer looking to launch a club program or take their current club program to the next level.

See how VineSpring and Square helped Presqu’ile elevate their service level.

MailChimp

Email is the most common form of communication for club programs. It’s an easy way to get information out to club members no matter where they reside.

VineSpring is proud to partner with MailChimp, a world-class email marketing platform that many craft producers use to engage with their customers and club members. It’s easy to get started, affordable, and simple to use with award-winning support.

Not only does MailChimp make it easy to engage with your club members, but it also enables marketing automation so you can send out an email nurture series or remind customers when they leave items in their cart without purchasing.

With VineSpring’s native integration with MailChimp, we make communicating with customers as simple as possible. For more information, check out our MailChimp Webinar recording and additional resources.

Give Them Something Special

There is something that all successful clubs have in common. Exclusivity.

Your management tools will help support your club’s exclusive offers and help communicate them to your members.

Make sure that when you are planning your club that you include a few exclusive perks for members. Those perks can change, too—they aren’t set in stone. As you get to know your club members better and see what they gravitate towards, you can pivot your offerings to satisfy the evolving member needs.

Below are the offers we commonly see from membership clubs:

Offer club-only releases
Give early access to products
Member-only events
Include exclusive swag for club members along with their allotment
Discounted product
Free or discounted shipping
Free tastings
Free or discounted tours
Access to a specialty menu
Insider information on happenings within the winery/brewery/distillery
Special packaging

By giving club members unique benefits, they form a deeper, longer-lasting connection with your brand. It makes your customers feel seen, valued, and appreciated. Make it clear what the benefits are and how to claim them.

Create Customers for Life

Craft producers can’t go wrong by offering a club program—but the management must be done right, or you could end up frustrating the customers you care about most. With the right tools and a healthy dose of exclusivity for your members, a club program will provide a strong revenue channel while building a valuable relationship with your best customers.

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