“Create frontline freedom for team members through rigorous recruiting, training and continuous education aligned with member feedback.”

Training and education are separate, exclusive elements in the design of your health club. Each should be addressed independently to properly deliver your desired member experience. Your team members are the conduit between your message and methodology, and can be leveraged in amazing ways with the right amount of both.

Employee training is the simple part - the logistics of your club. These are your checklists and processes, and while you might tweak them here and there, your teams can reliably perform these tasks through simple instruction.

Education is your fundamental priority. Your purpose is fostered first, and with continued cultivation, it will naturally metamorphosize as your club grows and improves to embody the atmosphere and member experience you have envisioned. 

Education is the process of imparting the purpose of your club to your team members. Members know the difference between genuine messaging and scripted marketing. Allowing your team members to internalize your purpose will enable your message to radiate in a way that feels natural to your members.

Customer Excellence isn’t scripted. It’s being human and freely having the ability to share your own thoughts, recommendations, ideas, humor and so on. The personal connection your members make with your staff as people matters just as much as the professional relationship that they develop. These relationships factor into the experience your members receive at your club, and create higher levels of loyalty.

Fostering "Frontline Freedom" in Your Fitness Club

Your staff is your greatest asset in your club simply because of their relationships. They are the link between management and members, and the primary source for improvement ideas. With “Frontline Freedom” as the goal, everyone in your club, including your staff, should feel that the experience has been designed just for them. Your staff will feel inspired to spread your message knowing they play such a valuable role by just being themselves.

How can you build this into your member experience? Senior Customer Success Manager Aron Branam explains how easy it is to put your assets to work for you with member surveys from MXMetrics. Watch here.

Innovation: Not Just a Buzzword for Techies

When everyone feels like part of the process they have “permission” to express their ideas for improvement.  “Your” club is best described as “Our” club, and no two are alike. Publicizing your improvement efforts for all to see both reminds staff of goals, and offers opportunity for members to redirect efforts that don’t meet their needs. 

Once your staff of individuals feels valued, and their organic member relationships open up the flow of ideas, you won’t believe the amount of positive feedback you can collect! Positive feedback from your members is your trophy and deserves to be displayed for all to see, because it was earned thanks to everyone’s efforts  at “Our” Club!

MXMetrics Customer Success Expert Calen Williams goes into further detail in this video defining “Social Proprioception,” which is the way you are perceived by others. The value of proprioception for your gym is defined by you: how much effort do you make to direct the way your gym and staff are perceived by others? Your gym’s member experience will be discussed in a multitude of settings. It’s up to you to set the tone of the conversation.

Leveraging Member Feedback for Success

Your staff is the frontline, but your Club's data is the overarching informant. It gives you high-level views of what's actually going on in your gym in real-time to help you and your staff strategize for success by identifying areas for improvement and targeting opportunities for growth.

Having your staff directly gain feedback from members can generate inconsistent and insincere responses (especially if the feedback is about your staff). People are generally more likely to share their concerns and praises candidly when there is an element of anonymity.

Candid feedback is a roadmap to an improved Member Experience. And providing a quality Member Experience is what sets your gym apart from the rest. It's what gets people in the doors, keeps them there, and helps your Club gain new customers by way of reputation. Happy members are your BEST marketing tools.

So, how are you actually getting feedback from your members?

If you want to talk more about member feedback and how you can implement it, we'd love to put together a plan for you to take action. Click HERE to schedule some time with our team. MXMetrics can be the catalyst for change at your clubs, and it starts with feedback.