Episode
Why Poor Service Keeps Winning in Clubs (And What It Actually Takes to Change It)
- Published
- Jun 23, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 839
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Summary
Poor customer service keeps winning in registered clubs because the cost of inaction is invisible. Hospitality training expert Michelle Pascoe, a Certified Speaking Professional with over 30 years in the industry, explains that until club leaders build a single service liability number, training investment stays optional, budgets stay cut, and service standards keep drifting.What would change at your club if the board could finally see what poor service is actually costing them?In this episode, Michelle identifies the structural reason service training doesn't stick: the environment it lands in was never designed to hold it. Training works because the culture surrounding it reinforces it. When middle managers aren't modelling the same standards, when recognition systems only notice what goes wrong, and when frontline staff intelligence never reaches the decision-making level, even the best workshop evaporates within weeks.The same revolving door that loses members also loses good people. Every time a service-oriented team member leaves, they take with them the member relationships they built, the institutional knowledge they developed, and the standard they were holding.Key Takeaways Poor service persists in clubs not because nobody cares, but because the cost of inaction never appears as a single number alongside the cost of acting. Service training fails to stick when the middle management layer hasn't been developed to reinforce and model the same standards on the floor. A recognition culture that only notices what goes wrong actively undermines what training is trying to build. The intelligence frontline staff gather about member experience rarely reaches decision-making level because the loop is structurally broken. Changing club service culture requires three t…