RETENTION HASSLES & UPLIFTS
What kind of experiences do members have when they visit their club, and how are these experiences related to retention? Dr Melvyn Hillsdon reports
W
hen members make a visit to their club, there are a whole range of experiences they may
encounter – good and bad. Could they park easily? Did the receptionist speak to them? Was there a towel available? Were the changing rooms clean? Did the fitness staff speak to them? Did they have to queue to use the equipment? Did they enjoy their workout? These and many other factors contribute to the overall experience of the visit. In the fourth part of our series based
on the TRP 10,000 report, we look at what people say when asked about their experience, and examine whether this is associated with the likelihood of them cancelling their membership.
That’s annoying Members were asked how frequently they experienced hassles (see Figure 1 for a list), as well as more positive uplifts (see Figure 2 for a list), and how much they found these hassles annoying and uplifts enjoyable. Figure 1 shows the proportion of
members who reported hassles that happen to them frequently (red bars). The blue bars represent the proportion
of members who say hassles happen at least occasionally and also say the hassles are annoying. So just 2 per cent of members say they frequently can’t get a locker, but 69 per cent of members say if they can’t get a locker it’s annoying. Overall, 55 per cent of members say
they don’t often experience the hassles listed in Figure 1, with the remaining 45 per cent typically reporting an average of two hassles that occur frequently. The two most frequent hassles
reported are either fi tness staff or reception staff not talking to them. However, only 16 per cent and 14 per cent of members who say this happens to them fi nd it annoying. On the other hand, only 10 per cent of members report frequently queuing for equipment, but 69 per cent fi nd queuing annoying. So some things are common but not
necessarily that annoying, while others are less common but very annoying when they happen. The most annoying hassles are cancelled classes (not very common) and dirty changing rooms. By combining the frequency with
which hassles are reported, and how many members say they fi nd them annoying, we can rank the club hassles by order of burden. The top fi ve are:
● Equipment broken down ● Changing facilities not clean ● Queuing for equipment ● No parking space
● Fitness staff not speaking to you
Equipment breakdown and dirty changing facilities are mostly reported as frequently annoying hassles by long-standing members, whereas queuing for equipment is primarily an annoying hassle for younger males. Not being able to park and fitness staff not speaking to you is a hassle that isn’t unique to any particular member group.
Uplifting experience So what in-club ‘uplifts’ do members report, and which do they enjoy? Figure 2 shows the proportion of members who reported uplifts that happen to them frequently (red bars). The blue bars represent the proportion of members who say an uplift happened at least occasionally and also say they enjoyed it. Just 7 per cent of members say they frequently learn a new piece of equipment, but 72 per cent of members say it’s enjoyable when they do. Fifty two per cent of members report
they frequently experience at least one of the club uplifts listed in Figure 2.
Fig 1 Percentage of members reporting frequent hassles, and hassles they fi nd annoying
No locker available No parking space Toiletries run out
No towels available Cancelled class
Equipment broken down
Changing facilities not clean Fitness staff not speaking
Reception staff not speaking Queuing for equipment
0 Frequent hassle Two-thirds of members are annoyed if they can’t find a locker 42 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital September 2014 © Cybertrek 2014 10 20 30 40 Very annoying 50 60 70 80 90 2
69 9
73 7
48
11 28 3
86
13 80
12 84
28 16
24 14
10 69
PHOTO:
WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
PHOTO:
WWW.SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/ROBERT KNECKLE
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