Does less mean more? Some experts say scheduling a huge variety of classes doesn’t make for greater attendance
tom withers gladstone • head of sales
and feed it back to the operator, so they can make informed business decisions. Gladstone provides the tools to
“A
capture data on the sessions – such as class occupancy and who’s attended – and provides reports for the operator. For example, we provide a class/course
viability report, which shows the classes scheduled for the next week, the maximum and minimum capacity, and the current numbers signed up. However, the final decision on getting the right mix of classes is down to the operator. Traditionally we struggled to persuade health clubs that
recording class bookings was important – since classes were part of the membership, they were paid for whether or not they were well attended. However, in the last five years, we’ve seen a change, with clubs wanting more information about course programming in order to avoid over-subscribed classes and the cost of running unpopular classes. Now operators want to know how to use the data to provide the right customer service. Retention is all about understanding the customer and giving them what they want, including the right mix of classes.
” april 2012 © cybertrek 2012
s a software provider, our piece in the jigsaw is to gather the data
neil withington physicals fitness club • owner and manager
“I
change the studio timetable every six months, basing the decision
mainly on members’ and instructors’ feedback and industry trends. The change isn’t always popular, but it does expose members to other classes, and I’m a great believer in cross-training. Because we’re an independent club, we can respond quickly to trends and I
like looking out for the next thing. We were one of the first UK clubs to offer Body Pump and were an early adopter of Spin. Now I’m trialling five Wattbikes for small group exercise classes. I know our members well enough to anticipate what will be
popular. Although it has softened, this was once a hardcore fitness club, so classes with an emphasis on fun – such as Zumba – go down less well than serious fitness. For this reason, I sold the studio space at dead time to a Zumba instructor and asked for a concession for our members. This generated an income, some more memberships and gave members more choice. I’ve noticed that the peak slot has shifted forward: it used to
begin at 6.30pm, but now it’s 5.30pm until around 8.30pm. We start the more relaxing sessions at 7.30pm: people say they are too energised for bed if they are lively too late in the evening.
” Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 31
PIC: RIDO/
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