The other day, I was watching the show “Undercover Boss,” and began to reflect upon my own club and how it performs when I am away and unable to supervise. It was difficult to watch, as with each show, you were able to see how disconnected the upper management of each business was from their company’s systems and staff.
Our clubs are much smaller than the businesses presented on the show, but even as we expand, we make such a strong emphasis on staying connected to every member and employee. At Gainesville Health and Fitness (GHFC), we maintain close relationships with our members through a simple set of six guidelines we define as “Priority #1.”
The six guidelines include the simple actions of saying “hello,” and “goodbye,” escorting members to their destination, using first names, introducing them to other staff members, smiling and being warm and friendly to everyone we encounter. We develop strong relationships with our staff through regular coaching sessions, evaluations, team meetings and a variety of social events. It is through these processes we are able to keep our company’s core purpose at the forefront of everyone’s mind — to create an experience that helps people get the most out of life and inspire them to become their best.
Going undercover is a bit more difficult at GHFC because of management’s constant interaction with our members and staff. However, through the use of regular member surveys and secret shoppers, we can still receive great insight into our performance.
We use a program called MEDALLIA by Member Metrics to regularly survey our members on all areas of the club. This program sends out surveys to our current members, which gives them a platform to let us know how we are performing across the board. Through the comments, the survey gives us back our net promoter score, which we use to motivate the organization to become more focused on improving the services we offer.
We use a system of secret shopping to provide stronger insight on our member-employee interactions. Call your business, ask for yourself and see how long you are on hold. Listen to how the employee answering handles transferring you to the voicemail system. Or, have your secret shopper ask for a tour of the facilities. See if all areas of your center were shown, and even if a presentation on joining the club was made. Brace yourself for what you may find out. We use the results of these experiences as a means to coach up all of our staff, from housekeepers to our sales team.
Lastly, take the time to use your club when you’re not at work, and put yourself in your members’ shoes. Use every part of the club, and you will be amazed at how much more of your business you see than just from what you look for when you’re working.
Adrian Antigua is the operations manager for Gainesville Health and Fitness in Tioga, Fla. Formerly a desk manager, Antigua is heavily involved in customer service and staff training. For questions on operations, e-mail Antigua at AdrianA@ghfc.com.
