The front desk-it’s the first thing members and potential customers see when they walk in the door, and while it serves as a central area for check in and communication, it could also be the key to increasing retention and referral rates and improving overall member satisfaction with the products and services you provide. Dazzling clients with a efficient front desk speaks volumes about the caliber of equipment, training and customer service your health club provides members. This is a direct statement on the quality of your business. Understanding the components of a front desk designed and staffed to optimize business results is a complex task that includes design and placement, customer service attitudes and the use of software and technology for security and customer tracking. Text: Sara Cardine
Design
Every club owner has individual needs and goals to consider when planning the design of a front desk, and architects work to incorporate those ideas into the overall layout of the space, according to Peter G. Smith, principal and senior vice president of BWBR Architects in St. Paul. “Club owners should list out, on paper, all of the functional needs for the desk area when considering a redesign or first design,” Smith suggests. “It is amazing how much this area needs to accomplish in terms of functionality, and this first step is critical to make sure all aspects are addressed.” Listing needs can help you identify when functions can be reassigned to other areas to achieve greater efficiency. It also helps keep your plan unique to you and your members, as opposed to your following a formula designed for another market.
Because the front desk area is crucial to marketing, customer service and daily operation, it’s important to put careful thought into planning the details of how it will look and run, says Doni Vasani, senior design principal for Denver-based Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative. How you design and place your front desk communicates to members how your club operates as a business.
“The design concept for a front desk should clearly respond to the club’s mission,” Visani adds. “Clearly the look and feel of the design will impact the image of the club, but its layout and shape can convey the club’s character as well.” A too-large desk, for example, can create a sense that the club is empty while having the desk too far away from the action of the club could isolate staff and limit interaction with members. Counter height is also important. If it’s too high, smaller members will be inconvenienced. Counters placed too low force clients to bend down or lean while talking.
One thing to avoid when planning your desk design is clutter, suggests Daniel McGee, director of CTA Sport for CTA Architects Engineers. Storage space should be built in so the overall appearance makes visitors feel welcome. “The functionality of this has little impact on the way you do business, but it changes the perspective of what the members are used to seeing,” McGee says.
Member perspective is also key when planning an area that fits your club’s needs and goals. An important element to consider is lowering your club’s intimidation factor, according to McGee. Owners can accomplish this through design by making efforts to reduce noise from the fitness area and creating an open floor plan where customers can talk to staff without being taken to a sales desk cubicle.
The front desk is an integral part of your club’s profit center, so you’ll want to maximize it as a place to display company logos without going overboard on distracting signage for deals and special offers, advises David Phillips, designer for New Jersey-based Fabiano Designs. “A well-designed front desk provides the proper look in the order of club recognition, logo placement and staff-to-member interaction,” Phillips adds. “Areas for personal service with privacy along with quick service at point of sales can have a great impact and tell you a lot about your club and how efficient it is.”
Staff
When it comes to making guests feel welcome at a health club-whether your goals include great customer service, increased profits or both-there is perhaps nothing more essential than finding the right staff for your front desk area. Front desk employees are the embodiment of what your club represents and hopes to become. For many, they may be the only point of interaction with your company, so it’s important to be able to see their role through the eyes of members and potential customers.
Do they have the ability to be friendly and truly care? Do they live a healthy lifestyle? Do they model what your gym stands for? Are they high energy and not shy? Answering these questions before you make or approve a hiring decision can be crucial to the success of your business, says Mike Feinman, COO of Gold’s Gym.
Making members feel like part of a family could lead to increased profits, higher retention and referral rates and a higher level of appreciation for the services you provide, agrees Ed Trainor, vice president of Fitness Services and Product Development for Town Sports International. “We want to have stars at the front desk,” Trainor says “The industry as a whole could benefit from putting stronger people in this position who are articulate and good at customer service.”
At Gainesville Health & Fitness clubs in Florida, a priority is placed on hiring people committed to developing their customer service and problem-solving skills, says Operations Manager Shawn Stewart. These employees not only make members feel heard and appreciated, but tend to facilitate communication between all different acting areas of the club.
Staffing your front desk with this kind of employee is really quite simple, according to Gainesville Health & Fitness Owner Joe Cirulli. Simply hire people who naturally embody the traits you would want to see as a fitness club member. In an interview, it’s relatively simple to gauge someone’s politeness, knowledge of health and fitness, willingness to help and ability to still give good service – even when the pace picks up.
Martin Stein, Chief Operating Officer for Urban Active, agrees. “We train our front desk teams to treat our members as they would like to be treated-getting a positive vibe each and every time someone walks through the door,” he says. “This leads to great customer service.” To make sure employees consciously mirror the overall values of the club, Urban Active supervisors regularly engage in customer service role-playing scenarios, Stein adds. This exercise is part of an ongoing training regimen designed to ensure consistency.
Supervisors should also be trained, in order to set an example for staff of how the management expects customer service to be executed, says Feinman. When management models great behavior, other employees understand its importance and learn different ways to accomplish and reflect that pattern of behavior.
Software
Technological advances are improving performance and output in a number of industries, and the health club industry is no exception. Today, software programs not only let clubs keep track of membership, but also offer reminders for sales teams about products and services purchased by members. Software can also allow people to schedule appointments and classes throughout different departments in your club. In short, software programs let clubs transition from tracking past transactions to creating sales plans and strategies for the future, says Patti Walker, a sales associate for Twin Oaks Software.
“When front desk staff members are armed with a powerful software program, they can make every member and guest interaction profitable from the standpoint of sales and retention,” Walker adds. “An easy and fast connection between check-in and sales gives staff the opportunity to make a sale and turn leads and prospects into members. The profit possibilities are endless.”
The key for owners looking to implement a new software program or re-outfit their old system is determining how they can make the best use of the wide variety of programs available on the market, according to Barry Duncan, owner of Momentum Fitness in Vancouver BC and founder of health club software company Volo Innovations. “The more knowledge you have about how it affects your business, the quicker and easier you can make informed decisions about what you need to do to keep moving forward,” he suggests.
As soon as a member checks in, staff can track that person’s enrollment in fitness classes or equipment use and can see if the member has purchased product lines through the club, says Larry King, owner of Shape.Net Software. Automatic reminders tell employees when memberships expire or classes need to be re-scheduled. Integration between the scheduling and payment functions of the software lets users pay for continued service with just the swipe of a card, and can send confirmation and enrollment information by e-mail to the member and trainers or instructors. “All of the data collected at check in will help club owners more effectively understand what members are doing and using at the facility,” King says. Bottom line: Good front desk software will help sell more products and services to members.
Clubs can typically choose between traditional desktop software that is installed on in-house computers, and more modern browser-based software, which offers secure service through the Internet, according to Kelly Sweeney, vice president of sales for ABC Financial. The benefit of using an online system, Sweeney says, is that owners don’t have to worry about regularly backing up and storing information in the event of a system failure. It also doesn’t require a large up-front purchase, which can be beneficial to clubs.
Costs vary widely based on the kind of software used and its capabilities, so it’s important to know which features are necessary and which function more as accessories. Walker suggests owners figure in hardware costs, including card swipe machines, barcode scanners and printers, as well as the soft cost of training staff to use programs efficiently. If the front desk is unable to use the software and take advantage of its features, then all the bells and whistles simply don’t matter.
DESIGN RESOURCES:
BWBR Architects
www.bwbr.com
CTA Sport
www.ctasport.com
Fabiano Designs
www.fabianodesigns.com
Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative
www.olcdesigns.com
SOFTWARE RESOURCES:
ABC Financial
www.abcfinancial.com
Shape.Net Software
www.getshape.net
Twin Oaks Software
www.tosd.com
Volo Innovations
www.myvolo.com
