As the first thing your members see when they walk in your doors, it’s important that your front desk be well organized. You want to ensure your club is putting its best foot forward on first and lasting impressions.
At Orangetheory Fitness, it’s especially vital that the front desk stays organized. That is because members not only receive heart-rate monitors supplied by Polar, but bands as well, both needing to be returned after class. Basically, there’s more organization required to ensure everyone who’s there has signed up for a class, received the correct monitor, and that monitor was returned at the class’ conclusion.
To streamline the process, Orangetheory Fitness has found success with MINDBODY software. “Every time we’re about to start a class we’re able to print off a class roster that’s numbered, which allows us to keep everything organized and make sure members get the [heart-rate] monitors that were assigned to them,” explained Ryan Reeves, the director of pre-sales for Orangetheory Fitness in the Chicago area.
According to Reeves, MINDBODY’s mobile app and web portal, which allows members to schedule their classes themselves, has also been useful at streamlining front desk operations. “That’s one more thing that’s taken off of our plate,” said Reeves. “It’s nice to let the members be able to do that on their own.”
This helps take some of the human error out of scheduling as well. For example, it’s no longer an issue if staff misheard a member or accidentally booked a class on the wrong date. “Members can schedule themselves online or on their phones,” explained Reeves.
Having an efficient and effective software to assist front desk operations can not only be time saving, but it also helps reduce errors. This is especially the case if front desk staff possess multiple roles. For example, at Orangetheory Fitness, front desk employees not only greet and check in members, but are also involved with the membership sales process.
“As front desk staff, [Orangetheory’s front desk employees] do more than a standard front desk person in the industry does,” said Reeves. “There’s a lot of sales training on sales tactics and networking. That’s a big part of their training.”
In addition, staff are trained on general operations, check-in, running payments, cleaning practices and more. Thanks to MINDBODY’s software, the tracking of front desk activities has become easily accessible. “It’s our inclusive system,” said Reeves.
By having streamlined front desk operations you can limit errors and ensure the first thing your members see — the front desk — is a glowing example of your business’ effectiveness.
By Rachel Zabonick
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
