Adding value to the member experience at Private Clubs is one of the best ways to ensure an engaged membership. Members certainly don’t like to spend money without seeing a return.

A Minimum Food Charge (MFC) is often used by Clubs in the hope of filling up their dining rooms and guaranteeing à la carte business.

Members of the Vancouver Club are assessed a Minimum Food Charge (MFC) of $540 annually. This fee is charged only if the member doesn’t spend this amount on à la carte dining in the allotted time frame.

This fee generated about $10K annually in miscellaneous revenue for the club but often resulted in an unhappy member. This would lead to a crucial moment when a member would question if they really needed or wanted their membership anymore and should they resign.

James and Megan devised a plan to be proactive and ensure that we turn this into an opportunity to win the moment for both the member and the Club.

Members whose MFC charge was due were contacted and invited to dine at the Club with up to 5 of their friends.

This re-engaged the member and reminded them of why they joined the Club in the first place.

There were 3 key outcomes from this initiative:

1. Customized experience: Being proactive and customizing the experience (Say Italian inspired, multicourse prefix) allowed the member to find value.
2. Additional revenue generation: Beverages are not covered in this MFC. The member views the dinner as a sunk cost and generally will order several bottles of wine to pair with the customized menu created by the chef.
   This adds revenue to the dining room and adds energy to the space as it becomes busier with the MFC diners in the room on top of the members who dine regularly. These dinners were usually held on the quieter Tuesday and Wednesday nights of the week.
3. Prospective members: The hosting member generally brings guests to dinner who are not members. This dinner becomes a showcase for the Club and its culinary and beverage acumen. Add a tour and a glass of champagne upon arrival and you’ve got yourself some interested prospective members!