| News & Know How | First Person CBI Spends 10 Minutes on the Line with


Michael McDonald L


Michael McDonald is the provincial director of fitness services and member experience for World Health Club/ International Fitness Holdings, Inc., in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He attended the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, and is a gradu- ate of the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy, also in Ontario.


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To learn more about World Health, a prominent, 19-facility Canadian club chain, log on to worldhealth.ca.


When I joined the membership sales department of World Health, the personal training depart- ment was fairly limited, so we were required to introduce new members to the fitness programs. I immediately noticed there was a real difference with respect to exercise adherence. A small percentage, maybe 15% of members, loved to exercise and came in regularly; they were com- mitted and didn’t need any external motivation. But, for the other 85%, working out was a chore.


These are the members I feel compassion for, and I focus my efforts on them. I try to make the club experience fun. One way I do that is by creat- ing a sense of community. One of the major obstacles to joining a fitness facility is the mis- conception that everyone in the club is in great shape. That intimidates new members. But if a prospect meets members and staff who, in many ways, are just like them, that factor disappears.


A sense of community is critical to the success of any club. IHRSA research suggests that the first 90 days of membership are critical, so that’s where we concentrate our efforts. We track new members over that period by creating connection points—formal contacts with staff members, including people in membership sales, personal trainers, the fitness manager, and the GM. We also connect with new members by telephone and e-mail.


Ironically, the toughest challenge to instituting this type of program has been posed not by new members, but by the staff. When you think about it, though, it’s not surprising because staff members typically fall into that dedicated 15% category. They’re individuals who are generally focused on their workouts, and aren’t easily distracted, and they assume that everyone else


ast month, you spoke on “Relationships, Results, Retention, and Referrals” during IHRSA’s 31st Annual International Convention and Trade Show in Los Angeles. What were the main takeaways from your presentation? What do you regard as the principal obstacles to successful member integration and retention? And how do you overcome them?


feels the same way. But most members using a bike or a treadmill are gazing around, looking for someone to talk to, or something else to dis- tract them. So the challenge is to convince staff that they’re not being intrusive if they approach a member. Often a simple hello is all that’s required. But you can’t leave this step to chance, so we drum this notion in during our Member Experience training program.


Remember, success is a process. It’s gradual. And, unless clients feel a sense of community and have staff and other members to lean on, they’re going to become discouraged.


It’s my strong belief that clubs are missing out on a huge opportunity if they leave members to exercise on their own. And here’s where the fun comes in. Most clubs have members representing different demographic groups—baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, etc.—but those cohorts may well have overlapping interests or connection points. For instance, a love of golf or an interest in wine. We encourage our staff to encourage and facilitate these affinity groups, these mini-communities, via small-group training.


I’ve distilled my work with new members into a program that I call the Four R’s: Relationships, Results, Retention, and Referrals. We facilitate relationships between members by creating communities. We track results to ensure their progress, making them feel successful. Remem- ber, people don’t give up relationships, they give up club memberships. Finally, referrals are the cheapest and most valuable way to build mem- bership. If a member loves the experience they’re having at a club, they’ll tell their friends … and if their friends join, the club community becomes that much stronger.


” —| ihrsa.org | APRIL 2012 | Club Business Internat ional 29


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