ADVERTISEMENT PROMOTION
Customers are incentivised with the offer of cheaper fees for online booking
BOOKINGS AT SPORT SHEFFIELD The introduction of Gladstone’s Connect has freed up staff and greatly improved customer service
A
t Sport Sheffield we have more than 13,500 active members, mostly students, staff and alumni, but we also
have a public membership base that equals many of the country’s leading health clubs. We have been using Gladstone
Health and Leisure’s Plus2 membership management software since 2000 and launched the Connect online booking system more than six years ago. Initially the response was slow, with only 15 per cent of transactions taking place through Connect, despite repeated email campaigns and advertising in and around the Sports Centre. With increasing complaints about our
busy reception desks and telephones not being answered due to busy staff, in summer 2007 we decided to reconfi gure our products and offer different ‘online’ and ‘in person’ prices. People booking at reception saw a 50 pence increase to all facilities, while online prices were frozen, effectively offering a 50 pence discount for booking online. In anticipation of complaints we created two terminals (one at each
July 2013 © Cybertrek 2013
reception), which had the online site permanently loaded, allowing people to book online at the actual centre, as well as from home. The impact was immediate and within
just a few months we increased our online bookings percentage to around 35-40 per cent. Within 12 months just under half of all bookings were being made online. The number of users booking online continues to increase steadily year on year.
reducing queues Fitness class bookings now make up around 78% of all online bookings. We
targeted the fitness class users more than any other, as, with mass amounts of relatively small transactions they caused the biggest problem at reception, taking a lot of staff time to process payments, ultimately leading to big queues. Connect has had a huge impact on
our business. We have been able to consolidate the two receptions into one and have redeveloped the old reception area into a new cafe, creating a great secondary spend opportunity too. The benefi ts of online booking have
been numerous; staff time saving, reduced telephone waiting times for customers, and most of all an overall improvement in customer service - meeting the expectations of members. Customers now expect and
sometimes demand to do things online, including booking their sporting activities. Providing this service improvement that customers have come to expect, coupled with the benefi t of savings in staff time, makes online bookings a must for us. ●
There is now less waiting time for customers calling the centre
Lee Beckett, Sport Sheffi eld, The University of Sheffi eld
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 9 CONNECT BOOSTS ONLINE
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