There are so many areas a club should focus on regularly. Most would regularly suggest the big three: sales, retention and marketing. Respectively, those three are the lifeblood of your club. However, if a club doesn’t dig deeper into the facilities themselves, each of those three could become more and more difficult.
A few years ago the staff at Club Solutions was working out at a few different locations, but from all the locations each one presented a similar problem — cleanliness. We openly discussed the cleanliness of these facilities regularly in meetings. Also, we continually scratched our heads in an attempt to discover why the facilities never seemed anymore clean than the previous visit.
One person noticed what appeared to be molding in a shower unit, and reported the issue, but continued to take notice a few months later. Another person complained about dirt being around the treadmills. And still, another person discussed the perpetual odor that seemed to seep out of the bathrooms and into the hall near the fitness area.
My mental image was of someone churning out that extra mile, really feeling the flow, only to be knocked back by some increasingly disgusting odor. If I had been that person, I would retake to the concrete paths outdoors and brave the elements, which may or may not be any better, but at least they are free.
Cleanliness, although it’s not the lifeblood of your facility, is more like the muscle. Certainly you can have skin and bones, but without muscle everything just sags on itself and cripples. You don’t want your club to be saggy or crippling — in business, that would be failing.
Cleaning a club on a small staff can be expensive and time consuming. However, it’s a must for any club owner or manager. If your facility isn’t clean, the best sales tour in the world couldn’t close a new member.
Additionally, if you are in a facility battle with another gym, you’re going to want your club to be spotless. Sure, you might be able to win on price and zero enrollment fees, but I for one would be glad to pay a little more to have an extremely clean facility.
The importance of a clean facility cannot be overstated. If you plan to operate a successful club in the fitness industry, it’s vital that you present the cleanest facility in your market. Please don’t destroy your big three (sales, retention, marketing) because you don’t want to spend some time doing a little scrubbing.
Tyler Montgomery is the editor of Club Solutions Magazine. Contact him at tyler@clubsolutionsmagazine.com.
