Great member retention is only really possible with great staff. There are lots of strategies, tools, and systems that help, but without good people, they are just not as effective.
A whole chapter is dedicated to people in the book Stick Around (strategies to keep your gym members motivated). Staff is also a recurring theme discussed by many guests on the YourDreamGym podcast, and is often prioritised above certain equipment, spaces, or types of gym.
Motivating and inspiring staff is also one of the hardest nuts to crack, in any industry. There’s a wealth of articles on this across the internet, so we’re going to focus on three key areas that you can look at in your business, that will help with your member retention.
First, a true story about two secondary schools we looked around for my son recently…
The first is a large growing school, with a brilliantly delivered presentation from the headteacher, as well as some students. The tour was conducted by a couple of students who explained the route of the tour, how long it would take, and greeted everyone (staff and students) that we passed in the corridors. They interacted and answered our questions, and talked about the clubs and extra-curricular activities that they did. They were clearly very proud of their school, and our son decided it would be his first choice. Their staff retention is very high too, which is a bonus, or actually a sign of the good management and culture at the school.
The second is switching to a co-ed school to be able to bring in more students in 2024. We were shown around by a deputy head who had started 3 weeks previously (staff retention clearly an issue), and there was an avoidance of eye contact by almost everyone we saw on the tour, both staff and students. This was much more of a sales pitch tour than the first, and while the facilities were slightly more impressive (including a pool, gym, and FIFA Approved undercover 3G pitch), the vibe just didn’t work for us. If anything, it dropped in our rankings to lower than second choice.
Culture and the 3-metre rule
One of the simplest but most effective culture ‘rules’ is to make eye contact and say hello to anyone you come reasonably close to. Often known as the 10 & 5 (feet) hospitality zone, it’s popular at great resorts such as Disneyland. The 2-metre zone became notorious during social distancing during the COVID pandemic, but acknowledging someone you walk past (within, say 3m) in your club should be a basic customer service standard. Especially to members, but also to other staff, whether peers or management, it becomes the norm, and expected by everyone all the time. We’ve ‘trained’ this and seen it have great effect at many clubs, like the LC2 in Swansea, Waterside in Didsbury, and you will recognise clubs that do it.
Although the students at the first school perhaps don’t know about the rule, the staff clearly all do, and it spreads (like a good virus!)
Experience your experiences
It’s amazing how many staff at clubs have not had a gym induction, body composition measure, or ever attended a group exercise class. You don’t need to be working out in the gym regularly (some prefer to exercise somewhere else, which is fine), but you need an understanding of what you’re selling, recommending, or trying to persuade members to do. Challenge all your staff to try something new within your facility each month. You can’t mandate that everyone uses myzone (although some have tried), or jumps on the body composition scales, but actively encouraging them to experience what they’re ‘selling’ will boost your member engagement and retention.
This is part of investing in your staff, not simply training, education, or CPD points, but investing in their time, fitness, health, and experience. Again, it’s easy to recognise people that have bought into the culture and attend classes and LesMills launches (Horizon Leisure set a great example here).
A Culture of Feedback
Welcoming and seeking feedback on and for your staff is the third key to improving your member retention through your people. You should be requesting feedback from members at key points of their journey, after joining (or after not joining – what went wrong?), after the induction, when they cancel, and regularly, so that members get in the habit of leaving feedback. Here are a couple of examples…
A quick post induction (welcome session, activation, step1, etc) survey helps in several ways. Nearly universally positive, the results should be shared across the business. The comments/scores help to boost the instructors’ morale and confidence, so they want to deliver more. Front of house staff will sell/promote more inductions when they understand how much members get from them. And the comments will help new members understand the benefits better.
Mystery shopping feedback is also very useful for improving service standards and retention. Proinsight Mystery Shoppers add heaps of value through their insightful reports, and when it creates an action plan for improvement, everybody wins. The key part here is creating a culture where staff look forward to mystery shop reports, rather than dreading them. It’s an opportunity for learning, growing, improving, rather than time for criticism.
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