How the University Club San Diego welcomed 15 new members in about 7 months
The University Club San Diego is a private business and social club on the 34th floor of Symphony Towers downtown, part of the Invited (formerly ClubCorp) family. Its members are the executives, founders, and professionals who use the Club to work, host clients, and build relationships.
Jon Osting
B2B Whale Hunter
The challenge: The Club’s membership team relied on referrals, events, and traditional channels to find new members. The leaders they wanted to reach spend their days on LinkedIn, but the team had no consistent way to start conversations there, and following up one prospect at a time took more hours than they had.
The solution
Startup Sales Shop ran a done-for-you LinkedIn outreach program from the profile of Mitch Semon, the Club’s Director of Membership, so every invitation came from a real person at the Club. The program included:
Prospect List Curation
We built lists of executives, business owners, and professionals who live and work near the Club in downtown San Diego, the people most likely to use it every week.
Connection and InMail Campaigns
Daily connection requests, InMails, and follow-ups went out in Mitch’s voice with a simple invitation: come see the Club for yourself. We refreshed the personas and messaging along the way to keep replies coming.
Content That Shows the Community
Our team wrote LinkedIn posts about the Club’s events and member experiences, so prospects saw the community in their feed before they ever walked in.
Website Visitor Retargeting
A tracking pixel on the Club’s pages identified local visitors who browsed and left, and we invited them back with a personal note.
The results
Over about seven months, LinkedIn became a steady source of new members:
- 7
- MonthsApproximate length of the campaign
- 30
- ToursProspects who came in to see the Club.
- 15
- MembersTours that became new memberships.
Mitch SemonDirector of Membership
“Working with Startup Sales Shop helped us expand our reach and create meaningful conversations with prospective members. Their outreach felt authentic, generated qualified interest, and ultimately helped bring new members into the University Club community.”
The Whale Hunter’s take
By sending personal, on-brand invitations from the Director of Membership’s own profile, Startup Sales Shop gave the University Club San Diego a new channel for reaching the leaders it wanted. Half of the prospects who toured became members, proof that the right message from the right person fills a room with the right people.