How To Build Member Experiences That Keep Guests Coming Back - Avante Agurs, NeueHouse
- March 7, 2024
Welcome to How To Be A Host podcast, hosted by Charles Ewudo. The show features experts, veterans, movers, and shakers in the nightlife and hospitality worlds here to show you everything you need to know about hosting a party.
Avante Agurs, Director of Member Experience and Development at NeueHouse – a place that he describes as the “quintessential co-working space”. In this episode, Agurs takes us deep into Neuehouse and shows us his approach to building member experiences that keep guests coming back.
We recorded this episode in their Hollywood location where the old CBS broadcast building used to be. It was the first broadcast building in Los Angeles. According to Agurs, the NeueHouse Hollywood building was erected in 1936 or 1939. “I mean, right here in our soundstage in Studio A – we call it I Love Lucy was recorded in front of a studio audience.” That was the first time like I Love Lucy was done in front of a studio audience. They’ve had people like Led Zeppelin Janis Joplin, and The Beach Boys used to record in these conference rooms.
“You've had people like Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, and The Beach Boys used to record in these conference rooms that we're in now, each one had their own conference room that they record in.“
When Agurs first arrived at NeueHouse, he had a different viewpoint coming in of like what membership events should be and how members should mix and mingle.
He kind of morphed different events and programs over the timeframe since he joined the NeueHouse team. “So before the member mixers, the happy hours, we’d call them were more so just like eight members come and enjoy, enjoy a drink, meet a member, which is great, but it’s very low level, I was like, can we just raise the bar, just by 3% and turn this into something that we’re excited about, and something that our members can be excited about and set their watch on it every month”.
Highlight: The key benchmark for events boils down to procurement and retention. “Our promise to our members is to elevate them personally, but also elevate them in a business sense as well. So we need to keep doing these events, whether they’re large or small, whether one person shows up or 15 people show up. We need to keep doing these events because that’s our promise to our members”.
People who aren’t in sales don’t realize that retention is just as important as the sale. You know, you’re going pound the pavement hard to get this sale done. But you can’t forget about the membership base that we already have here. Check out more thought-provoking conversations on How to be a Host hub.
