Another key product I was heavily involved in for Clubessential was the accounting and POS integration which allows for billing the reservations directly. This involved APIs and connecting to financial systems. A good way to think about the impact this has on operations and revenue is by comparing the traditional to the distributed approach which the software enabled. Also, here is a case study if you prefer to jump right to a testimonial of reducing charging errors by 50%!
Traditional approach
The traditional approach was basically sheets of paper located wherever the activity takes place that an admin fills out, like putting names next to times along with any notes. They would then bring this paper to a POS (point of sale) system to process the charges.
For busier operations, like golf courses, the charges would happen in a centralized location such as a pro shop. This was smoother for operations, but still usually required a paper version where the activity takes place to cross-check or manage the start times (like on the 1st tee of a golf course).
Distributed approach
By combining the online tee sheet with the charging system we allowed transactions to take place anywhere, and with a logical or rules-based back-end for better accuracy. Sure, most of this may seem obvious now since everything is distributed these days, but this was back in 2012 and before everyone started quoting Bezos.
Goals and problems
The main goal for this product is accurate charges, with the secondary goal of saving time and effort for many roles across the club.
The key problems we aimed to address are:
Phases of capabilities
We had two major phases for this product that correlated with the companies rapid growth because it was such a key revenue driver. I'll briefly describe each, along with the basics of my role on the product side while also managing project details from kickoff through launch.
For the 1st few years the reservation sheets acted as the interface for committing charges, but then on the back-end we generated files to push to various accounting systems. My role was to configure the system, determine what could be automated, work with club pros and accounting staff, and even coordinate with the often competing accounting providers to ensure it all worked.
Here's what a competing accounting vendor had to say about me:
"I found Jake to be very well versed in what he did at Clubessential, his knowledge was outstanding and he had complete command in his area of work. He never flinched if there was any sort of challenge at hand. He would always take it head on and made sure that we work as a team and not as vendors which was great."
This role required considerable tact since it was often done in uncertain environments and changed the club operations on the financial side all the way to reporting. Users were often resistant and the requirements were unclear. It was easy to lose deals if the decisions were not approached confidently and correctly. Because I am persistent and seek deep understanding, I was able to work within these constraints with optimism.
My primary contributions beyond managing the projects were as follows:
In 2014 Clubessential acquired Clubsoft and with it an accounting system. Along with many other capabilities and new friendships, the reservations were then able to connect directly to an accounting and POS system. This increased functionality and revenue considerably. It was such a big move that only a short time later the company was acquired by Battery Ventures in 2016.
I played a major role in unifying the people, processes, tools and cultures between Clubessential and Clubsoft by working directly with developers and leadership on both sides because of my position as product expert for reservations and the accounting integration.
For example, I managed the flagship installation by transitioning over the McConnell Golf reservations, a collection of 11 clubs each with multiple reservations systems (ie. golf, tennis, dining), all with the same launch date and in conjunction with an MVP or Lean approach to combining the Clubessential and Clubsoft software. This meant I was often primarily involved with the product backlog and roadmap to translate and integrate the systems.
It was a real challenge converting and translating the two disparate systems and company cultures, but we were able to accomplish this in short time due to the agility and professionalism of both companies. Clubessential continues to be successful today because of the foundation we set bringing together the companies and products.