To be a Five 9s Award winner, you need to have an industry-best Member Experience. It’s not easy to win a Five 9s Award, as you need to score a nine in at least five categories - all of the requirements are listed below.
MXMetrics selected the winners based upon two criteria:
- The club must have had a statistically significant number of feedback responses during the last 6 months of 2021.
- The club must achieve a trailing 6-month average score of 9.0 in four critical experience categories and one flex category.
- Critical Experience Categories
- Front Desk Staff Friendliness
- Overall Staff Friendliness
- Gym/Club Cleanliness
- Likelihood to Recommend
- Flex categories
- Equipment Condition
- Locker Room/Showers
- Staff Assistance
- Group Exercise/Fitness Classes
- Personal Training Services
It takes a long-lasting commitment to achieve excellence in Member Experience, so I want to personally call out three clubs who were kind enough to share some insights from the past year - insights that are the result of taking home some hardware.
A great big thank you to Beth Carotenuto, General Manager at ACAC West Chester, Nathan Adams, General Manager at Beaumont Health Club and Mary Thomas, Owner of Western Racquet Club.
We asked our winners a series of questions - around Friendliness, Cleanliness, Likelihood to Recommend & among Other Categories.
So let’s go learn from a few of our highest-performing clubs!
Question 1: What Do You Look for in an Employee?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
- Friendly- can they smile and carry a conversation?
- Walk them through the club- how do they interact with members and guests? Do they say hello, do they hold the door open, and do they ask questions?
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
- Effort (i.e. on-time, work ethic)
- Chemistry (i.e. relationship with peers, coachable)
- Fun! (i.e. do they show enthusiasm and energy)
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
- They WANT to be here- we want individuals who have an interest in growing with the business and be a part of what we do for our members and community
- They have history with us- many of our employees have been members who have fallen in love with Western or they have been referred by members
- They bring the energy- we make sure that anyone we hire has a great smile, firm handshake, consistent eye contact, and can have fun and laugh!
Question 2: How do you onboard new employees?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
First they meet with our Department Head and then spend time shadowing. We also have them participate in the Wealsohavea scavenger hunt where they can interact with others in the club and even win gift cards.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
Our staff are all asked to perform observational hours in their designated department. They also review the New Hire Onboarding Manual with their Direct Supervisor.
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Our staff often has had the benefit of first being a member or being tied to our club. This helps tremendously during onboarding as they’ve already utilized many of the systems we have in-house and can speak to the programs and offerings within our club.
Generally, we train new staff members by pairing them with a director or current staff member in that same position to allow them to shadow and learn the role hands-on.
Question 3: How do you keep your friendliness scores so high?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
We use key performance indicators (KPI’s) tacked by MXMetrics scores. Additionally, we implement ongoing training, weekly updates, and hold monthly meetings where we focus on key themes that reinforce member interaction. We attribute our high friendliness scores mainly to our great people and positive spirit- it’s contagious!
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
We use MXMetrics’ KPI’s that give us a clear and shared vision. For example, all recognitions are sent to the respective staff member within 24 hours of receiving a survey. Quarterly, all staff receive NPS and other metrics to better understand how we can best serve our members. We also study Medallia at each week’s Leadership huddle.
Our ongoing training and true enjoyment from staff keep our friendliness scores high. Our staff enjoy being at the club- it’s not work!
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Friendliness is a prevalent component of Midwestern culture. Our area, Green Bay, is a close knit, inviding area in which to live. We’re fortunate that many of our staff have grown up in this area and their welcoming, caring nature pours out to the members.
Members and staff alike say that there is magic in the walls of Western. Much of that is a tribute to the authenticity of our staff and what we genuinely work to carry out every day. Quite frankly, we also like to have fun every day. We try to laugh, connect, and visit with one another. This all makes for a friendlier and happier environment!
Cleanliness Category
Question 4: Do you use in-house or third party cleaning services?
Beth Carotenuto, acac West Chester:
We use an In-house cleaning service.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
Our cleaning is done by both; all staff are expected to be “all hands on deck” with cleaning and we also employ a third party servicer. Day cleaning by our staff is beneficial as our members can see the work being done. At night during closure a third party comes in for deep cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting.
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
We have in-house cleaning Monday through Friday. We have a third party cleaning service that comes from Friday evening through Sunday. We clean day and night with several zone cleaning sweeps daily, as well as double coverage during prime evening times.
Question 5: How do you keep your cleanliness scores so high?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
We use KPI’s to keep our cleanliness scores high. These are sourced from member comments, Medallia and daily inspections. We also have hands-on training with our Director for several shifts to demonstrate to our employees how to clean areas and what products to use. Our Director also works in housekeeping, so the team sees him doing the job that they do as well.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
All staff understand the importance of a clean and organized club. I am personally rounding the club every hour on the hour or less cleaning, organizing, etc. We also keep an eye on our KPI’s to feel the pulse of member satisfaction on our cleanliness.
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
This starts with my focus on the look that we present to our members. We have an amazing maintenance team that makes that happen. It is communicated and demonstrated often that we all pitch in when we see things that need to be attended to. We also continually look for ways to improve storage and make sure to repair and maintain the areas of highest usage on a regular basis.
Question 6: Does everyone own the cleanliness scores?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
Yes, each department has some level of housekeeping responsibilities outside of our housekeeping team.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
Yes!
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Yes, everyone on staff helps: the trainers organize the weight room daily, the membership team checks on the locker rooms and the directors even fold and restock towels when the need arises. Everyone on staff takes ownership and pride in keeping the club clean since some of our local competitors (we often hear) have facilities that are not maintained as well.
Question 7: Is cleanliness a part of your onboarding process?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
Yes, each employee meets with our cleaning director.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
Yes!
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Yes, everyone is shown how to keep their respective areas clean with daily checklists as well as shown how to fold towels, locate the larger garbage bins, replenish necessary supplies, etc. New employees also see current staff pitching in constantly. It becomes the way in which they operate as well!
Question 8: Is ‘Likelihood to Recommend’ a focus for your staff?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
It is mainly a focus for our Department Head leaders.
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
Yes!
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Yes, but more so in the sense of referrals vs the score. Referrals are the largest source of leads for us, so we are always looking at ways to incentivize and encourage our members to refer their friends and family. We have a monthly referral credit given to current members for new members referred, a free one-month unlimited buddy pass for new members, a one-month unlimited birthday buddy pass, and, just recently, a 30-day trial pass for members that have a score of 9 or higher on this metric so they can share Western with their friends and family. Most of this score is a result of a very organic and natural way of taking care of our members who are like family to us.
Question 9: Do you have a bonus or have KPI’s for this metric?
Beth Carotenuto, ACAC West Chester:
No, but I wish we did!
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
No.
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
No, we actually don’t have a bonus or KPI for this metric.
“Other” Category
Question 10: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Nathan Adams, Beaumont Health Club:
I believe the “Fitness Results” category to be one of the most important metrics to keep an eye on. If I see a low fitness results score, I immediately reach out to the member to get them a refresher onboarding session with our Fitness Coach to ensure they can successfully meet their health and fitness goals. If left unresolved, the member may not be equipped to sustain health and fitness success. Thus, they cancel and/or stop coming.
Mary Thomas, Western Racquet Club:
Almost all of our staff uses the facilities and knows how the machines and equipment should work. Because of this, the staff notices when things aren't working or needs maintenance attention.
Finally, we have all needed help in our areas at some time and we understand the collaborative, "it takes a village" approach to running this bad boy of a business. For myself and many of the staff members, working at Western is truly a labor of love. We are not checking our stock prices and bank accounts each day- we are checking the scores from MXMetrics and watching usage and membership numbers to make sure that the promise we are making to our customers is what we are delivering on.
