If operators investment in new equipment, they also need to train staff to support any members wanting to use it
into account how they will actually consume the gym experience. “They have TVs on the machines and
on the wall, but if you’re on the cardio equipment, you should expect to be able to listen to the TVs on the wall too. It’s ridiculous that you can’t listen to TVs that are on different channels from the machines. I often watch the sports channels, but I can’t listen to what’s going on,” commented one member. Another said: “In the showers, all
of the shower heads are high up. This might suit men, but I don’t want to get my hair wet when I shower. Why can’t they be set at shoulder height? They haven’t really thought about how men and women differ.”
Service standards As the industry searches for the next big thing – the thing they hope will improve retention – answers are often sought in innovative new equipment and classes. However, while operators will spend thousands of pounds investing in these products, they often fail to train staff sufficiently to support members. When staff are not available,
members feel they have to turn to more experienced exercisers around
January 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
While the physical environment is more conducive to exercise nowadays, clubs don’t appear able to match member expectations with service delivery
them – or, indeed, increasingly report conducting YouTube searches and watching the manufacturers’ advertisements to learn how equipment should be used. “We have that, over there [pointing
to a suspension training A frame], but I’m not sure what to do with it,” said one respondent. “I’ve seen the personal trainers using it with clients, but none of the gym staff seem to know how it works. When I ask for help, they just tell me to book a PT session or read the poster. Why can’t they just show me what to do?” This results in misuse or lack of
use, because staff are unable to demonstrate where that particular piece of equipment could be used as an alternative to something the member is already doing. “What happened to the fitness staff – where did they all go?” asked
one member. “It used to be that you had staff who would come and help you with things. They would write you programmes, talk to you about your day and check you were OK. What happened to them?” Indeed, our research shows that
service levels remain a particular bugbear. While the physical environment is much more conducive to exercise nowadays – with fewer rows of kit and more design – clubs don’t appear able to match member expectations with delivery of service. Members aren’t after the ‘wow’ experience every once in a while, but rather the basics being done consistently well – and this isn’t generally happening. Another finding that came out of our
research is that members are happy to buy, but are unhappy being sold to. “Overnight my club turned into an advertisement for a large German car
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 45
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