Let's Engage

Last week, we explored how to build a custom GPT for marketing—packed with ideas, content prompts, and strategy shortcuts. You can continue test our Marketing AI Assistant, click here and ask it any marketing question.

This week, we’re heading to the other side of the clubhouse: Membership.

What if you had an AI assistant that understood your member roster and could help you segment members, spot churn risk, flag upgrade candidates, and surface hidden patterns in member behavior?

You’re about to.

If you're tasked with managing member engagement, club sentiment, and targeting members for upsells, this will be helpful to you. In the next few weeks, I'll share a similar newsletter for Merchandising professionals.

If this isn't for you, I'd love it if you'd forward this newsletter to your Membership teammates.

And with that... Let's Grow Golf.

How to Get Started with Your Own Club Membership GPT

If you want to experiment with building your own custom GPT for your membership role, I've made it easy to use my test data first before you spend the time organizing your data.
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Here's exactly what you need to do if you'd like to try building one on your own:

STEP 1: Download the Starter Files

I've built a sample dataset for an imaginary club (cleverly named Grow Golf Club) using my Grow Golf Data Checklist. You’ll use these files to practice and test a custom GPT before committing time to organizing your own club’s data.

1. 📋 Download the Grow Golf Club Dataset​
   Use this spreadsheet as a guide to help you create a foundational club membership datasheet that you can update every month or quarter. I created a fictional—but realistic—membership database for a 450-member club. It includes:
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   • Event attendance
   • Complaints
   • Club App/Tech Usage
   • Dining and pro shop spend
   • Join dates and tenure
   • Membership types and upgrade history
   • Payment methods and late payment incidents
   • Golf rounds, lessons, guest usage
2. 👉 You can download the dataset here (Google Sheet, download as Excel/CSV)​
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3. 📖 Download the Grow Golf Club Summary​
   This document includes member and club info (location, membership details, traditions). It helps GPT tailor responses like it "knows" your club like the name of official name of your dining room, the road that the club is on, or the types of trees that are prominent at your club. The more you can provide it, the more it can sprinkle the finder details into its responses.
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   👉 You can download the club summary here (Google Doc, download as Word/PDF)
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STEP 2: Watch the Walkthrough Video

Once you've downloaded both files:

1. 📹 Watch This Video Tutorial​
   I’ll show you step-by-step how to upload these files into ChatGPT, build your own GPT, and start using it for time-saving marketing tasks. Note: this is from last week's marketing walk-thru, but the same setup applies!
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   👉 Watch the walkthrough using OpenAI’s ChatGPT​

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STEP 3: Try It Yourself

• 💡Use the Files to Build Your GPT​
  Inside ChatGPT, selected "GPTs" from the left sidebar, and then select "Create GPT" in top right corner. Then watch my walk through! You'll follow some prompts and then upload your data and summary document. You'll see how GPT can answer questions, brainstorm ideas, or automate key membership analyses.
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• Private GPTs Require Subscription: To create a custom, private GPT (that doesn't allow Open AI to train off your data), it requires a subscription to ChatGPT ($20 a month). However, I think that once you view this tutorial, you'll quickly see the value and how you can save time to focus on the tasks you love most at your job. ​
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Just Want To Use Mine?

If you’re not interested in building your own AI Membership Assistant but would still like to try one out and see how it works, you’re in luck! The Grow Golf Club GPT is currently available to the public. Feel free to ask it any questions—this is a great way to explore its features, whether you’re considering creating your own tool or recommending this one to your team. Click the button below and ask away!
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10 Prompts to Analyze and Act

Once you upload the files into ChatGPT or try the GPT I created, try these prompts:
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1. Segment Your Members

2. Predict Churn Risk

3. Identify Upgrade Opportunities

4. Optimize Event Attendance

5. Understand Pro Shop Spend

6. Boost Dining Engagement

7. Address Complaints Proactively

8. Reduce Late Payments

9. Design Family Programming

10. Promote Digital Adoption

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Conclusion

With the right data and a few smart prompts, you can turn routine member records into powerful insights that drive engagement, retention, and revenue. Whether you're trying to identify at-risk members, optimize programming, or better understand your club's diverse member base—tools like this can give you a major head start.

If you have questions, ideas, or want help building a Membership GPT for your club, feel free to reply to this email or reach out directly. I'd love to hear from you and help bring your data (and insights!) to life.

Thanks for reading,

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ICYMI

New to Grow Golf? Miss a week? Here's a list of Grow Golf's most recent newsletters:

• Newsletter No. 36 - Part 3 - Creating a GPT - Marketing and Communications​
• Newsletter No. 35 - Ask the Shop Presented by Tee Commerce with Davis Ann Boyd at Fox Chapel Golf Club​
• Newsletter No. 34 - Grow Golf Smarter: Data's Role in AI​
• Newsletter No. 33 - New Series: Part 1 - AI for Golf Industry Professionals​
• Newsletter No. 32 - Is AI Already Working for Your Club?​
• Newsletter No. 31 - The Art of the Bundle: Sales Tactics for Your Pro Shop​
• Newsletter No. 30 - Ignite the Spark: Fresh 4th of July Ideas​

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