It is possible to run a health club and take a vacation too. Here’s how a combination of good staffing, technology and planning can give you the break you deserve this summer.
Wouldn’t it be great to go away for a nice week-long, 10-day or even longer vacation? As we all know, in the club business that is far easier said than done.
It is possible to run a health club and take a vacation, too! Here’s how a combination of good staffing, technology and planning can give you the break you deserve this summer.
Start With Staffing
Make sure staff is in place to manage in your absence. Get key staff involved up front in decision making and give them added responsibility. This will empower them and lead to stronger, happier and committed employees who will exhibit a take-charge attitude while you’re away. Review and share the goals and projects that should be accomplished while you’re gone to set expectations. These should come from a structured, written plan. It’s even helpful to post these goals on a wall as a reminder.
Face to face, let key employees know you value their opinions and trust their judgment while you’re gone. They could and should consult with other key staff if an important decision comes up. Yes, they should call you in an absolute emergency, but define what that is-a break-in, roof collapse, etc.-not for everyday decisions like whether they can give a new member a free month or if they should order more paper towels.
Trust and Use Your Technology
Even when you’re not on vacation, you should have peace of mind that your data is safe and secure-make sure you are working with a certified CISP billing and software provider.
Only owners and key managers should have full security rights and privileges in your software. Staff access to any computer data that involves member information and account numbers should be fully user ID and password protected with authentication changed every 90 days at a minimum. Any and all reports containing member information and account numbers, whether printed in-house or sent to you by your software and billing company, should be fully encrypted. These reports should never be emailed, mailed or faxed.
Your club management software should allow you to access information from anywhere you can get an Internet connection to review up-to-the minute sales stats, daily revenue going through point of sale terminals, membership numbers and possibly even trainer schedules. Log in to see daily reports if you have concerns about a particular area. If necessary, you could also make data entry changes and corrections.
Plan Ahead
You’ve probably spent time planning your vacation, where to go, what to do, now do some in-house planning to ensure a worry-free time.
Make a list of things that need to happen each week, and determine which staff member will be in charge of each-printing out the time sheets and calling in payroll; doing the daily bank deposit; performing the point of sale reconciliation; getting and sorting through the mail. If you have concerns about your mail, have the post office hold it during your absence or have it sent to a post office box.
Set up automatic reminders and reports that need to be done while you’re away. Many software solutions can be preprogrammed to allow this functionality. Set up reminders to send email notices of late payment or non-to-low usage, renewals, welcome notes to new members, etc. Retention can still happen even when you’re not there.
Do a thorough review of how to handle major tasks, as well as how to contact the electrician, plumber, equipment-repair specialists, etc. if something should happen while you’re away. Have written “emergency scenario” plans in place (for severe weather, power outage, a major class cancellation or equipment malfunction), and review them with your staff. If everyone knows what is expected in an emergency, the outcome will be much more positive.
Get Out of Town
While you’re gone, don’t overdo it on calling in or your employees will rely on you to be available instead of making decisions for themselves.
When you come back, recognize those who contributed and really stepped up while you were away. Consider rewarding them not only with the extra pay that they’ve earned, but perhaps also with an extra paid day off, a fully paid seminar/class, a pro shop credit, a gift card to a local retailer, some guest privileges at the club or even a gift membership for a person of their choice. Be sure they know how much you appreciate their loyalty and hard work. Then, start planning your next well-deserved vacation!
Carol Oat is the national sales manager for Twin Oaks Software. She can be reached at coat@tosd.com ; or call Toll free 866-278-6750.
