Virtual Partner Programming

Entry Details

With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, The Golden State Chapter quickly began developing ways to more deeply integrate its partners into its existing virtual platforms and to deeply integrate them into new virtual platforms and opportunities debuted because of the pandemic. This has enhanced our chapter by deepening relationships with our partners, giving our partners even more exposure to our members, creating value for our partners by developing them, allowing us to retain partner revenues, and even creating opportunities to move partners up levels and add partners and buyer’s guide vendors.

Specifically in regards to each item:
1. Weekly Partner Connection Calls: We have created value for partners by coaching them how to support and reach members during this time. We have encouraged partners to look for opportunity in adversity and even saw one partner debut a golf cart partition because of this coaching. We have supported partners in fostering relationships with each other during each weekly call. We have provided partners access to relationships with managers by having managers present and interact during many of the calls. We have encouraged partner innovation by having other partners present on what is working in their business. Finally, we have a partner coach – a successful, retired club industry vendor – who offers insights during some of the calls and provides complimentary one-on-one coaching for partners looking for a sounding board or advice on specific relationships.
2. Sponsored Weeklies: By creating a sponsorship opportunity for our top partners in The Bear Facts, we have been able to make up for other deliverables in their contracts.
3. Promotions in the Weekly: In the second half of 2020, we began offering partners and buyer’s guide vendors the opportunity to provide a featured promotion, exclusive to TGSC members, during two months of the year. With clubs progressively reopening, these opportunities are becoming particularly valuable for our partners right now.
4. Vendor Insights in The Bear Facts: This section has allowed our partners and buyer’s guide vendors an opportunity to gain exposure and create value for our members by providing resources needed by club managers.
5. Partner Video Montage: To personalize our partners to our members, we recently gave our partners the option to respond to a question from a list on video. This montage of our partners is played right before webinars start for those who sign on early. Additionally, we have played the video at breaks and will share the link to it in The Bear Facts for those who want to watch it on their own.
6. Chapter Trivia and Partner Recognition Slideshow: Prior to running the Partner Video Montage prior to our webinars, we ran a Chapter Trivia and Partner Recognition Slideshow. To keep members paying attention to the partner logos, we interspersed engaging trivia about members.
7. Commercial: We just began integrating video commercials of our partners and premium buyer’s guide vendors. This year, this feature was offered to our two top partners and any premium buyer’s guide vendors after receipt of payment. For 2021, it will be offered to all partners after receipt of payment.
8. Celebrity Lookalike Game with Partners Featured in the Footer: To gain partners more impressions, we included partner logos along the bottom of our two-part Celebrity Lookalike Game held during the break of two different educations.
9. Webinars Presented by or Sponsored by Partners: While this idea is not totally new for our chapter, we have enhanced what we do here by asking partners sponsoring a webinar to come on camera and quickly answer a question relevant to their expertise and the current obstacles being faced by clubs (e.g., pandemic, fires, taxation issues). For sponsored webinars, we have enhanced what we do here by creating more opportunities for partners to present webinars if they have material specifically relevant to clubs pivoting in the face of COVID and other challenges.
10. Partners Introduce Presenters on Sponsored Webinars: Subsequent to being introduced and answering a question from Crystal, partners then introduce the speakers as they would at an in-person event.
11. Clubs Creating Podcasts Sponsored by Partners: As another way to substitute for in-person deliverables, a different top partner comes onto each one of our recently debuted Clubs Creating podcast. To offer value to members, the partner speaks about how they are responding to current market factors and offers insights for managers.
12. Virtual Auction (not pictured): We are currently developing a virtual auction to replace in-person fundraisers, and through this our partners will be featured in two ways: 1) partners who contribute items will have their names and companies on the items’ listings and 2) partner logos will be featured in the platform to give them exposure.

Implementation

The implementation for each aspect of integrating our partners is relatively self-explanatory. What generated the ideas and their success is perhaps of more importance to note. That is to say, we have maintained a simple but important guiding question as we determine how to integrate and enhance the integration of our partners in our virtual platforms: “How do we create mutual value for our partners and members.” In turn our partners are coached to focus on offering value in all that they do. On our side, we make sure that impressions of our partners are accompanied by value, whether that is information, entertainment (e.g., the BOD Celebrity Lookalike Game), or cost savings opportunities. Again, the response of the Board and chapter has been incredibly positive because we are finding new ways to create mutual value, which supports our members in operating their clubs with excellence.