When a piece of cardio or strength equipment breaks down, it can cause a headache for both operators and members alike. With this in mind, Tim Boggs, the maintenance manager for the Planet Fitness locations owned by GNT Holdings, explained how FitnessEMS provides gyms with solutions for everyday problems associated with health club equipment management and maintenance.
CS: How were you introduced to FitnessEMS, and why did you decide to partner with them?
TB: Tom Strickland contacted GNT Holdings, the owners of 17 Planet Fitness locations in North and South Carolina, to introduce FitnessEMS to us. I had a brief conversation with him and then set up a conference call with the owners and maintenance department to discern if this system was going to be able to work for us as we continue to expand. We hit it off right away when discovering that FitnessEMS and GNT have some of the same business principles and methods in place. We knew right away that this is a company that would look out for our best interests and would be able to take us to the next level of our maintenance program for our 17 Planet Fitness clubs and beyond. FitnessEMS took the spreadsheets I had been using for each individual Planet Fitness location and incorporated them into a single, web-based system that was user-friendly, as well as functionally sound for our business. FitnessEMS enables us to keep account of all equipment by manufacturer, serial number, model number and maintenance history.
CS: What are the benefits to your business as a result of this partnership?
TB: The benefits to our business are many. Each Planet Fitness general manager is able to log in and enter maintenance issues, which generates an email to me that allows me to prioritize the nature of the problem. We have been able to meet parts needs in each location by planning ahead to have parts on hand for our maintenance techs as they go out for repairs. Regional managers are able to look at each club and see daily what maintenance issues the clubs have and when those items will be repaired. Our service providers are set up so that when a maintenance item is entered into FitnessEMS, it can be sent via email to the vendor to schedule repairs. This a very valuable tool in time management for me in helping to coordinate maintenance without phone calls. I have taken steps to increase the number of vendors, service providers and building managers into this system so they can be contacted as soon as the maintenance complaint arrives to me. We have seen an enormous change in keeping our equipment online for our customers. It has been a tremendous help to me, as well as GNT Holdings, in the way we look at maintenance and how to control our repairs and costs.
CS: What are the benefits to your members as a result of this partnership?
TB: Our members benefit in reduced downtime of equipment. When an item is out of order, the downtime has been reduced to, at times, only a few hours, from a maximum of a few days. Keeping on top of these items through Fitness EMS has given us a sense of knowing that satisfied customers are your best advertising tool.
CS: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with FitnessEMS in any way?
TB: Yes, by the setup of all 17 of our Planet Fitness clubs. FitnessEMS has been a tremendous help in taking all 17 clubs and making this system work for us. The tech support from FitnessEMS has given us a broader-based plan that could take us to even higher levels of maintenance and preventative maintenance programs as we continue to grow.
CS: What else can you tell other club owners about the benefits of working with FitnessEMS?
TB: I recommend FitnessEMS to anyone who wants to improve their maintenance program and efficiency of their equipment. FitnessEMS will change the way you look at the maintenance aspect in your club. The ease of this maintenance system will have you asking yourself why you haven’t already switched to using FitnessEMS.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
