Imagine being the parent of five children, all of whom speak a different language. Communication and cooperation within your family might be a challenging proposition. That is exactly what your Club staff have been doing with an ever aging computer data system that was comprised of five different POS (point of sale) systems, dating back to as old as 1997.
Frustrations have occurred for our owners, staff and often for guests as they endeavor to enjoy one of our amenities. Couple that frustration of property owners and guests with the vagaries of information available to staff and Board as we seek to make operations leaner and more effective and the picture is not a positive one.
The Club budgeted $62,000 to bring our software into the 21st Century this year and the process is nearly complete. All amenities share a single POS system as of May 1 and effective June 1, our PARS (property accounts receivable software) system will go live. Imagine trading in your 1997 Ford Escort for a 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and you might approach the degree of change we are achieving.
Benefits we are beginning to enjoy include: Better tools to guide management decisions. Guest/owner usage of amenities in detail. High demand/Low demand offerings. Refined measurement of bottom line contributions by amenity offerings
The new system also provides a training data base for new employees, permitting training errors to avoid disruption in the actual accounting process. We are also reaching for the clouds now as our backup system evolves from tapes (yes, tapes) to a cloud based system, securing the detail in a system that will not deteriorate with age.
FFB remains a quiet, quaint lake resort and community, but we now have 21st century underpinnings powering the quiet growth we continue to enjoy.
Community Club Board of Directors /Dwayne Miller