Like other clubs across the country, while COVID clamped a vise-grip on many activities, Duxbury Yacht Club saw record levels of engagement and member participation even as many social activities were canceled.
We caught up with the club’s Office Manager, Lindsey Rogers for an interview to see how Duxbury Yacht Club is looking forward and the challenges they face. From onboarding new employees to payments, we covered a range of issues.
You can watch the video here and read Lindsey's account below.
What Makes Duxbury Yacht Club Attractive to Members?
We have a lot to offer. We have a very big footprint. Obviously, we have the golf course and paddle and tennis and swimming and sailing lessons, but I think what makes us most unique is our membership and the strong sense of community and volunteerism that we offer once you are a member.
We have our east campus, which is our waterfront. It has our original clubhouse and our Mattakeesett House where the main offices are and where we have private functions. Then up the street from that is where our golf course, all of our rackets sports, and our pool are.
What Do Your Members Expect?
They want to have fun. They want to see their friends. They want to be social. They want to be able to have a lesson with a group of colleagues or friends or however they know each other. But it's really just about the community, being together, seeing one another, and being out on your boat. And we have all kinds of committees, I think we have 27 different committees that flow through the yacht club – everything from cruise to race, to a waterfront, to golf, to the snack bar, paddle, you name it, we have a committee for it.
What Are Your Three Biggest Challenges?
Onboarding seasonal employees is always a tricky one. Then I would say communication to making sure that all of the staff is aware of everything that's going on because no matter how many times you put it on the calendar, or how many different ways you send it out, someone will claim they never heard it. I think my third biggest is probably just time and finding the time to kind of get everything done that we need to get done within the season because the season is short and Massachusetts for most of what we do.
How Has Clubessential Impacted Your Day?
Oh, right now it's amazing. We went live with Beanworks and Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI) last January and it has been life-changing for me. I am obsessed with it. I can pay bills from anywhere it's glorious. And I, I love that. We discovered that interface because the process before was painful and time-consuming and very manual. I love that I have invoicing at my fingertips. I like that I can give a username and a password to my auditors and they can go in and pull whatever they need to see without me having to print and scan hundreds of pieces of paper for them.(NOTE: Clubessential would like to remind users to never share access credentials with others. External auditors should be given their own credentials to ensure accountability and security.) And I like that my controller can, or my treasurer rather can go in. If he's questioning an invoice, that's on the CSI law and he can go in and he can look at it and it takes me out of the equation. Because everybody is empowered to look at their own stuff without having to say, “Lindsey, can you pull the AP folder from March of 2015? And tell me what I paid this vendor.” It's been really nice because everybody is responsible for their own AP stuff.
What’s Your Impression of CE Payments?
CE payments make my day very easy. I do like that it's user-friendly and anybody who I've ever had to train on how to use it from a back-office standpoint has found it is easy to navigate. That process has been great. We have more members than ever doing online payments. We still have the ones who have to walk the check to my office, but we're getting there.
What Does the Future Hold for Duxbury Yacht Club?
I would like to see more automation. I would like to see less paper. I would like to see people embrace an online handbook and an online, calendar and directory. I think where we're headed in a very positive direction. We're just trying to streamline and be as efficient as possible. When I came on board here two and a half years ago, we had a phone system that I shared. You can't see it, but it's giant. There's one other person who works here and if we both picked up the phone at the same time, we'd be talking to each other like 1984. So we've come a long way in two and a half years. I think that we still have a lot of improvements to make, but we're getting there.
Checking the Horizon
Member experience and technology expectations will continue to increase. Forward-thinking clubs like Duxbury Yacht Club will continue to turn to technology to streamline their processes and accelerate their member experiences. Clubessential was the first to offer specific solutions for lifestyle clubs including yacht clubs. Learn more about Clubessential solutions in these specific areas.
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