CLUB COMMANDOS

By Ed Gaut

Yesterday I received a letter from my long distance telephone company. They had analyzed my calling pattern and were writing to tell me that, by changing my calling plan, I could save money. The purpose of telling me this was not to cheat themselves out of my money, but rather to develop a relationship with me. As you have probably noticed, lots of companies who used to concern themselves almost exclusively with finding more customers and selling more products and services are starting to spend time listening to the specific needs of individual customers.

That is the key to relationship marketing: building a relationship with the customer by customizing products and services to meet his or her specific needs. It is premised on the fact that it is almost always easier to sell something else to an existing customer than it is to find a new customer. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, more and more companies have realized this and have started taking better care of their existing customers.

This logic applies as much to gyms and health clubs as it does to any other type of business. Think about the amount of time and energy required to attract a new member. Now think about all the members who did not renew their memberships simply because no one gave them a good reason to do so.

In spite of this, however, many fitness facilities that spend a lot of time and effort attracting new members, spend relatively little time and effort keeping existing members. Perhaps this is because few fitness facilities managers understand the real key to member retention. Retention is not just a matter of providing the best equipment, the latest fitness classes, or free towels. These are important. The real key to retention is building relationships with your members.

A friend of mine recently moved from one town to another. He still frequents the barber, tailor, and many of the other shops in his old town, however, despite the fact that they are now a forty-five minute drive away. It is not that there are no good barbers or tailors in his new town. The reason is relationships. He has developed relationships with the businesses and the businessmen and women in his old hometown. These relationships are important enough to him that he is willing to travel some distance and spend the extra time and effort to maintain them.

All of us have had experiences similar to that of my friend; we all at one time or another have gone out of our way to patronize a business because we had a good feeling about the people who worked there. We all know the power of relationship marketing. The trick to member retention in your gym or health club is to develop relationships with your members just like the relationship my friend has with his barber. That way, when it comes time for renewal, your members will have a reason to stay with your club in spite of the megachain down the street offering $7 per month memberships.

If the key to member retention is building relationships with your members, the key to building relationships is your front-line staff, your personal trainers and your aerobic instructors. These are the people who are in contact with your members everyday. They are the human face of your club. You may have thought that the primary purpose of your personal trainers was to instruct members in correct exercise form or to prevent injuries. Or you may have thought their primary purpose was to bring in additional income for the club. These are important aspects of their job. But from the point of view of attracting and retaining members, the primary purpose of your personal training staff should be to develop relationships with your members.

Making sure that your personal trainers build relationships with your members starts with the hiring process. When evaluating potential trainers, spend as much time looking at their interpersonal skills as you do at their fitness credentials. How does the trainer interact with other people? What is the reaction of people who come in contact with the trainer? Does the trainer listen to members and genuinely care about their needs? Do you feel comfortable with the trainer? If you feel uncomfortable with the trainer during your interview, chances are you members will feel uncomfortable with your trainer as well. You can teach a trainer how to spot an exercise for a member, but you cannot teach a trainer how to be warm and friendly.

Once you have hired a top-notch training staff, be sure to empower them to solve problems and meet the needs of your members. If you have ever called a customer support number only to be told by the operator that he or she is not allowed to do what you need done and therefore cannot help you, you know how frustrating it is to deal with powerless customer support staff. Set limits on what your personal training staff can and cannot do, by all means. But, at the same time, be sure to give them enough flexibility and authority so that if a member has a problem—be it a last minute schedule change or a request for some fitness advice—your training staff has the time and the power to respond quickly to your member’s request.

Empowering your personal trainers is not enough, however. You also need to motivate them to build relationships with your members. To do this, do not reward trainers for the number of training sessions they do a week. Instead, reward them for the number of times a member trains with them. For example, give each trainer a bonus after a member has been training with the trainer for a certain number of sessions or a certain number of months. Also consider starting a Trainer-of-the-Month program to reward trainers who go above and beyond the call of duty in serving members. By rewarding trainers for building relationships with your members, you make it clear to your trainers that this is their goal while providing them with real incentives for reaching that goal.

Finally, listen to your trainers. They are your eyes and ears on the floor; use them as such. Encourage them to come to you with problems and suggestions. If members are unhappy about something, your trainers will hear it first. Whether it is a strange smell in the men’s locker room or a bad aerobics class, your trainers can alert you to a potential problem before it becomes a crisis. The last thing you want is a problem which is turning away members but which you know nothing about. Listening to your trainers and encouraging them to tell you what is going on can prevent this from happening.

Your personal training staff are your commandos, an elite corps of men and women who you send into your club everyday to protect and serve your members. Used correctly, they can literally improve the experience of everyone who walks into your facility, building relationships with your members and giving your club the edge that keeps your members coming back and keeps you ahead of the competition.

Ed Gaut is the author of numerous articles and books on fitness and the business of fitness including The Personal Trainer Business Handbook, the best-selling guide to starting and running a personal training business.