RETENTION
QUALITY STANDARDS
How important is the quality of your offering in keeping hold of members? Dr Paul Bedford investigates, in the third part of his retention series
S
ince the latter half of the 1980s, health clubs have evolved from small, privately owned facilities or sports
centres with multi gyms into what we see today: gyms full of state of the art equipment, along with studios that once only required mats as an accessory now full of additional props and tools to deliver a wider range of classes. And yet, while the size of clubs and
their memberships has grown, the way in which the products and services are delivered has not evolved at the same rate. Some might even argue that quality in this area has gone backwards.
Clean and fresh In our latest research, we spoke to experienced health club users with multiple years of working out under their belts, who had also been members of numerous different clubs. And we identified that what was of importance to members 10 years ago is still
important to them today – yet many operators still appear unwilling or unable to meet member expectations. Cleanliness, for example, remains
one of the most important factors in how members judge the performance of their club – and an area in which many clubs fall down. “This is the only time I share so much stuff with so many people, and with so little clothing on. If the last person left the mat sweaty, I’d rather lie on the floor than use it,” said one respondent. “You’d have thought the club would have worked out a way to avoid that by now – it’s been open nearly 20 years, with three different owners. Do none of them try to improve this or do they just not care?” A facelift from time to time is
Cleanliness
remains a key factor in how
members rate their club
also important in helping drive the impression of quality. Another respondent said: “Why can’t they get the basics right? It needs to be clean and working, with enough staff to help you as and when you need it. They also need to change it up every now and again so it doesn’t get boring. I’m in here three days a week and painting a wall and changing the mats every three years just doesn’t justify the monthly fee.”
Design logic The design of a club plays an important role in selling and
retaining members, and yet design elements are often overlooked as operators seek to make maximum use of the space available. In terms of layout, easy to navigate
spaces that naturally flow from one area to another help members acclimatise and feel comfortable within the club very quickly, in much the same way that modern airports are designed to have passengers flow from check-in to security and then into duty free. In the airport, each area nudges the traveller to the next location. Similarly, clubs could ‘flow’ members through the restaurant to get to their classes, or past the free weights area to get to the cardio equipment. On a positive note, hard to navigate
gym floors are already decreasing, with the application of retail behavioural psychology and equipment layout beginning to find its way onto the gym floor. These developments allow members to make optimum use of the equipment in the time available. “I used to have to walk around the
entire gym to get a workout – one piece here, another over there. Since they re-fitted the gym, it’s easy: start at this end, finish at that end [points to a line of equipment]. I actually get more done in less time – brilliant.” However, the devil is in the design
detail. Our research shows that many respondents continue to have issues with operators’ failure to take
Many respondents continue to have issues with operators’ failure to take into account how they will actually consume the gym experience
44 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital January 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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