The CSGA Links Volume 3 Issue 6 September 2015 | Page 7

FEATURE

PGSA is Tackling Membership Drives for Connecticut Clubs

B

efore founding Professional Golf Services
of America (PGSA) earlier this year,
President and CEO Dan Hallen spent 25
years in the pharmaceutical sector as a recruiter who
filled staffing needs throughout the industry. Three
years ago Hallen, a Country Club of Waterbury
member, helped lead a successful membership drive
that brought 135 new members to the club and
retained 85% of them.

With a group of partners, Hallen combined
his professional experience with his passion for golf
to form PGSA and address the private golf club
industry’s most pressing needs: membership and
staffing.

“Initially we were looking at ways to fill in gaps
or provide shared services to enhance the member
experience,” said Hallen, “but we recognized that
the most urgent need for clubs is in the recruitment
and retention of new members. That has become
our primary focus. And the two do go hand in hand.
Having an excellent staff helps attract members, and
a growing membership requires more staff.”

Unlike some membership recruiting services
that require upfront fees, PGSA is strictly commissionbased. According to Hallen, “We don’t succeed until
you succeed.”

Based in Cheshire, Connecticut, PGSA has
already signed three area clubs and is in negotiations
www.csgalinks.org

with five more. For their first client, PGSA delivered
twenty-two new members in less than a month.

Hallen’s team emphasizes a re-thinking of
recruitment. “It’s not 1985 anymore where people just
show up and join. We’re in an entirely new era now
where inclusivity is preferred to exclusivity. People
want to feel welcome.”

“There are two forces we want to harness,”
adds Hallen, “first, the good will of members who
truly love their club and want their club as a whole to
be successful, and second, those members (and every
club has them) who are motivated by self-interest.
These two groups can both be motivated to help
grow a club.”

Club committees can also take a fresh look at
their objectives and strategies, says Hallen. “Every
successful company in America has a sales force
except country clubs. Clubs need to convert their
membership committee into a sales force.”

Focusing on clubs that offer a “family
atmosphere,” PGSA produces marketing materials
and creates pricing and incentive programs modeled
after the successful Country Club of Waterbury effort.
Says Hallen, “We want to get 100 new members for
every club we serve.”
For more information about Professional Golf
Services of America go to: http://www.pgsa.club
CSGA Links // September, 2015 | 7