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gym


operations


Enhancing Value


Is equipment availability actually the key determinant of member satisfaction? Kate Cracknell talks to Rory McGown, founder of GYMetrix, about what he calls the Higgs Boson of gym operations


Q


You call your approach ‘Lean Thinking’ – what is this?


Lean Thinking is an established methodology used by a number of the world’s leading businesses, including Toyota, Tesco and Microsoft. Lean focuses on enhancing value from the customers’ perspective, and removing everything not adding value. The fundamental question is: ‘Given the choice, would the customer pay for this specifi c element of our offering?’


Q


How can this be applied to the fi tness sector specifi cally?


Applying the Lean Cycle to gyms fi rst involves identifying value from the customer’s perspective. You then map Value Streams: as customers use the gym, what’s the order of value-generating events? Customers should easily fl ow through their value stream without having to wait for anything – parking, equipment, water fountains, showers etc – as waiting inhibits them gaining value. They must also be able to ‘pull’ resources into the gym that add value for them. This is an ongoing cycle, continually looking to enhance value for customers and eliminate waste. From an operator perspective, being lean means less fi nancial


GYMetrix founder: Rory McGown


outlay – you identify and enhance only what is valued by your customers – as well as improved revenues, with happier customers driving business growth. But the fi tness industry is not currently


lean, and a key problem is that it operates on an ineffi cient ‘push’ model: operators and suppliers push equipment into gyms with little data on customer demand. At GYMetrix, our focus is on gym equipment availability as a key driver of added value, and in only 20 months we’ve identifi ed over £1.8m-worth of


What are your favourite 3 types of equipment you like to use the most in the gym?


Treadmill ..................................... A ................ B ................... C TRX ............................................. A ................ B ................... C Free Weights Bench ................... A ................ B ................. C


Please attach the statement that best describes how you feel about that equipment.


A The equipment is usually free and I am happy B The equipment is usually busy but it doesn’t bother me C The equipment is usually busy and it does bother me


equipment that’s either not used or under-used – an average of £36k for every gym we’ve worked with. At the same time, there are shortages of other types of kit, resulting in frustrated customers not being able to fl ow easily around a gym fl oor. Our recommendations show that the investment required to address these shortages averages out at £14k per gym. Gyms can save money and improve service at the same time.


Q


How did you identify equipment availability


as your key measure? By being a gym customer myself – the frustration and loss of value I experienced while waiting to use equipment when there wasn’t enough of it. I realised gyms were providing a bad service because they had no system of measuring and responding to demand for equipment; if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.


Q


60 50


40 30 20


10 0


-10 © GYMETRIX TM -20 Figure 1: Users rate the availability of machines – A, B or C -15 3As 2As 3Bs 2Bs


2Cs 5


49


How directly is equipment availability linked to Net


Promoter Score (NPS) results? Based on the consolidation of over 14,000 customer surveys, they’re very directly linked.


Net Promoter Link to Equipment Availability 52


44 43 Avg NPS of all 14,232 customers (40)


3Cs


Figure 2: These availability ratings – A, B or C – impact NPS 62 Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital october 2012 © cybertrek 2012


Net Promoter Score


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