Differentiate with Service

How To Create and Implement Minimum Service Standards in a Health Club

In order to have a successful Health Club you need to deliver a standard service to all of your members. Creating and implementing Health Club minimum service standards lets your employees know what you're expecting of them and helps gain loyal members. In this article, we explain what Health Club minimum service standards are and why they're important, list the steps for creating and implementing Health Club minimum service standards and provide you with several examples. Don’t let the term minimum lead you to thinking low service standards. Here the term minimum is a level that service will not fall below. Hotels like Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons have minimum service standards that are higher than most of their competitors’ best efforts.

What are Health Club minimum service standards?

Health Club minimum service standards define what a Health Club guest or member can expect from their visit to a Health Club establishment. They refer to the interactions between a Health Club and its members and the resulting member expectations. Health Club minimum service standards essentially determine what a member can expect from the establishment.

They include consistency regarding the level of service, the welcome and farewell someone can expect from club reception. The tour, sales and onboarding processes associated with the service delivery, even the quality of the group exercise classes and gym floor interactions.

Why are Health Club minimum service standards important?

Health Club minimum service standards are important to a Health Club's management team, its employees, its members, and its potential members. Not only do they remind the Health Club's management team and employees of the obligations they're expected to live up to, but they also inform members of what kind of service they can expect when they walk into their Club. When you have standard procedures, it helps ensure consistency in member service, which can help you generate member loyalty and improve retention.

How to create and implement Health Club Minimum Service Standards

Along with your member journey, minimum service standards help your employees create a memorable experience for all of your members. They also ensure your employees continue to perform well on the job. Use these steps to create and implement Health Club service standards:

1. Get staff suggestions

While you may know your members, your employees likely know them better. When creating your Health Club service standards, refer to your employees since they spend the most time interacting with your members. Keep in mind that your minimum service standards need to cover every aspect of a member or guest's experience at your Health Club. Therefore, welcome a wide variety of suggestions. While you don't need to fulfil every idea, make your employees part of the process and listen to their suggestions. This shows them you value their opinions and can make them feel more confident and prouder of their work.

 2. Stay true to your Health Club's values

As you develop your Health Club's service standards, keep in mind the original reason you opened your Health Club. For each suggestion or idea you consider, determine if it reflects your Health Club's values. For example, if you had an original goal of creating a one-of-a-kind experience for every member, your standards need to reflect this.

3. Consider your Health Club's style or category

Along with your values, you also need to make sure your standards align with the type of Health Club you have. If you have a Low Cost, High Volume Club (budget) for example, your minimum service standards need to focus on how quickly you can meet and satisfy your members. If you are a premium, full-service club members expect a broader experience where they will dwell for longer and, therefore, require more attention and care.

4. Check Member reviews and feedback

To help you set minimum service standards that better align with your members wants and needs, monitor your guest reviews, feedback questionnaire and exist surveys. This helps you determine what your members and former members like and don't like about your club.

Have your employees ask your members for their immediate feedback via comment cards or electronic messaging. You can also monitor your Health Club's online reviews to see what everyone has to say. If you see many comments on rude member service or lack of cleanliness, broken down equipment, then you know the areas that need improvement. Once you implement your service standards, monitor your reviews again to determine the response to the changes.

5. Train your staff

Once you've created minimum service standards for your Health Club notify your staff of these standards. Encourage them to meet these standards and your expectations. Every member of your staff needs to receive training on the established service standards. Post these standards somewhere every staff member can go to review them.

It's also important to implement these standards across materials such as employee handbooks and training manuals. Make everything easy to understand—especially for your new hires.

 6. Ask for feedback

After implementing your service standards, check in with your staff to ensure they're meeting your expectations. Ask your employees about processes they think are working and those that aren't. Ultimately, checking in periodically can help you refine your standards and help you identify ways to improve.

7. Reflect on your service standards

After your Health Club grows, look back on your minimum service standards and determine if they align with your Health Club's evolution. Determine if you need to modify any of your minimum service standards to meet the current state or style of your Health Club in the current trading environment and don’t forget to check your digital assets also reflect your physical standards.

Examples of Health Club service standards

Here are some examples of common Health Club service standards:

• Welcoming Health Club members with a professional attitude and hospitable gesture
• Offering members support via your onboarding process, if you have one.
• Asking for the member's feedback about the Health Club's service
• Helping members make decisions about how to train or what classes to attend based on their preferences and experiences.
• Repeating a member's goals and desired outcome from training back to them during the consultation process.
• Ask them how their workout/class/swim was today
• Ask them when are they in next

If you would like help creating and then deploying your own service standards then get in touch and we can discus how the Retention Guru team can help you with that.

Paul

[email protected]

+44 (0) 7956 311 899 (don’t forget I am on UK time)