22 Fitness Business Canada May/June 2010

» Club Design

Ask Susan Knox about the neigh-bourhood fitness club she belonged to briefly two years ago, and she will groan and roll her eyes. It wasn’t out-of-order equipment, grotty showers or overcrowded classes that led her to cancel her membership after just three months. It was the front desk staff. “I don’t think one of them ever smiled or said hello to me,” recalls the bank cus-tomer service representative who lives in London, Ont. “It was such a negative way to start my workout.”

“The front desk people set the tone for the entire facility,” says Stephanie Roth, general manager of Prince Edward Fitness and Aquatic Centre in Prince Edward County, Ont. “When they have happy smiling faces you have happy smiling members, and that positive outlook resonates through the rest of the facility.”

Want to boost your membership numbers, crank up member satisfac-tion or increase your daily visits stats? According to successful club managers, your front desk can help you do all this and more. Welcoming faces is the first step. Here are six more.

1. Hire people with the energy and vitality you are selling

“Our front desk people are as im-portant as our programs, classes and equipment, and the club location,” says John Daminato, of his 1,800 member Lethbridge Fitness Club in Lethbridge, Alta. He hires energetic and enthusias-tic people who can have fun manag-ing the desk at a high standard. They also need to be capable of juggling the

responsibilities of the juice bar, tan-ning salon and making an occasional membership sale.

“For the majority of our members, the club is their second home, so it’s essential that the front desk person-nel give off a positive energy and make members feel comfortable,” says Daminato. He notes that members’ high energy can actually deflate when they encounter disinterested and un-inspired front desk personnel.

“My front desk staff have fun with members while treating them with re-spect and importance,” adds Daminato. “For example, when our mayor scans his finger, the staff arranged that a picture of Brad Pitt comes up on the monitor. He thinks it’s hilarious, and so do we.”

Though it may seem minor, encour-aging staff to stand up as they work shows your members respect and lets people connect eye to eye. “They also look more alert and engaged when they’re standing,” says Liza Coté, di-rector of member and guest servic-es at Toronto’s Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

2. Set ground rules for high visibility jobs

It may sound too obvious to men-tion, but employees who don’t work in private offices need specific guide-lines for appropriate behaviour. For

example, eating meals at the desk just isn’t professional, says Roth, whose fa-cility provides a lunch room and meal breaks for employees. “Eating in the workplace looks unprofessional and can present a health hazard, plus we don’t want food near our computers or food stains on paperwork.”

Discreetly munching on healthy non-messy snacks like carrot sticks and apples is acceptable, she says, but she asks her staff to pour drinks like coffee and juice into non-branded cups. “The drink may be from a mem-ber’s business competitor or be a com-petitor of one of our event sponsors.”

3. Don’t let electronic check-in shut down interaction

At many clubs, members swipe their own cards when they check in instead of handing them over the desk. But this doesn’t have to result in less inter-action with members, says Roth. Staff still have the opportunity to address them by name by discreetly check-ing the screen as their data comes up. ”People love to hear their names be-cause it makes them feel connected to the club,” says Coté. “When people don’t feel engaged there’s the poten-tial to lose them. You really need to provide outstanding service because there are always lots of other places to work out.”

The best front desk people use the

6 Smart Tips to Create a Brilliant Front Desk Experience

By Barb Gormley

Never underestimate the power of your members’ first point of contact.

22 Fitness Business Canada May/June 2010

» Management

sk Susan Knox about the neigh-bourhood fi tness club she be-longed to briefl y two years ago, and she will groan and

roll her eyes. It wasn’t out-of-order equipment, grotty showers or over-crowded classes that led her to can-cel her membership after just three months. It was the front desk staff. “I don’t think one of them ever smiled or said hello to me,” recalls the bank cus-tomer service representative who lives in London, Ont. “It was such a negative way to start my workout.”

“The front desk people set the tone for the entire facility,” says Stephanie Roth, general manager of Prince Edward Fitness and Aquatic Centre in Prince Edward County, Ont. “When they have happy smiling faces you have happy smiling members, and that positive outlook resonates through the rest of the facility.”

Want to boost your membership

numbers, crank up member satisfac-tion or increase your daily visits stats? According to successful club manag-ers, your front desk can help you do all this and more. Welcoming faces is the fi rst step. Here are six more.

Hire people with the energy and vitality you are selling

“Our front desk people are as important as our pro-

grams, classes and equipment, and the club location,” says John Daminato, owner of Lethbridge Fitness Club in Lethbridge, Alta. He hires energetic and enthusiastic people who can have fun managing the desk at a high stan-dard. They also need to be capable of juggling the responsibilities of the juice bar and tanning salon and making an occasional membership sale.

“For the majority of our members, the club is their second home, so it’s

essential that the front desk person-nel give off a positive energy and make members feel comfortable,” says Daminato. He notes that members’ high energy can actually defl ate when they encounter disinterested and un-inspired front desk personnel.

“My front desk staff have fun with members while treating them with re-spect and importance,” adds Daminato. “For example, when our mayor scans his fi nger, the staff arranged that a picture of Brad Pitt comes up on the monitor. He thinks it’s hilarious, and so do we.”

Though it may seem minor, encour-aging staff to stand up as they work shows your members respect and lets people connect eye to eye. “They also look more alert and engaged when they’re standing,” says Liza Coté, di-rector of member and guest servic-es at Toronto’s Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

BY BARB GORMLEY

Never underestimate the power of your members’ fi rst point of contact.

Smart Tips to Create a Brilliant Front Desk Experience

6

1A

May/June 2010 Fitness Business Canada 23

scanner and any related problems to their advantage. “Our staff are happy to show new members how to use it, and they make jokes when there are issues,” says Roth. “They’ll say some-thing like, ‘Oh, you need to stand on your left leg today to get it to work.’”

4. Match compensate to responsibilities

When your staff are doing more than simply answering phones and checking membership cards, mini-mum wage just isn’t enough, says Roth. “Our front desk staff do walk-abouts, test the pool, book appoint-ments, process payments, provide general information about our facil-ity and town facilities, register people, promote programs and classes, handle member issues, and much more. It’s a pretty dynamic job with lots of respon-sibility.” Giving her staff ownership of their jobs, a high level of responsibility and a fair wage have resulted in a dedi-cated team and very low job turnover.

5. Empower staff to make decisions

When you have well-trained and sensible front desk people who un-derstand your facility and its proce-dures and philosophy, allowing them to make independent decisions can quickly settle member issues. “I tell my staff that if they’re in a tricky situa-tion, and I’m not available, they should use their best judgment to solve the problem and then let me know the details,” says Roth. Situations could include assisting a guest who has for-gotten his wallet, resolving the chaos when a lifeguard doesn’t show up, helping a member who wants to regis-ter for a program that is full or manag-ing a medical emergency.

6. Keep the praise flowing

As with any club position, be sure to provide positive feedback and ver-bal reinforcement for a job well done. Roth likes to award gift cards of $10 to $20 from movie theatres, grocery stores and even hair salons. “I know my staff well, and know where they get their hair or nails done, so I can run out quickly at lunch to get a gift

certificate.” Cash as a token of appreci-ation works wonders too, she adds.

Provide feedback cards to your members so they can formally dem-onstrate their appreciation, advises Coté. “I have a file full of cards for one front desk person who is absolutely phenomenal. She cracks jokes, knows how many towels certain members like, their likes and dislikes. She really makes a difference, and members ap-preciate being able to tell us about her excellent service.”

Barb Gormley is the senior editor of Fitness

Business Canada, a freelance fitness writer

and a certified personal trainer. Contact her at

www.barbgormley.com.

May/June 2010 Fitness Business Canada 23

Set ground rules for high visibility jobs

It may sound too obvi-ous to mention, but

employees whose work space is in a public area need specifi c guidelines for appropriate behaviour. For example, eating meals at the front desk just isn’t professional, says Roth, whose facil-ity provides a lunch room and meal breaks for employees. “Eating in the workplace looks unprofessional and can present a health hazard, plus we don’t want food near our computers or food stains on paperwork.”

Discreetly munching on healthy non-messy snacks like carrot sticks and apples is acceptable, she says, but she asks her staff to pour drinks like coffee and juice into non-branded cups. “The drink may be from a mem-ber’s business competitor or be a com-petitor of one of our event sponsors.”

Don’t let electronic check-in shut down interaction

At many clubs, members swipe their own cards when

they check in instead of handing them over the desk. But this doesn’t have to result in less interaction with mem-bers, says Roth. Staff still have the op-portunity to address them by name by, if necessary, discreetly checking the

screen as their data comes up. ”People love to hear their names because it makes them feel connected to the club,” says Coté. “When people don’t feel engaged there’s the potential to lose them. You really need to provide outstanding service because there are always lots of other places to work out.”

The best front desk people use the card scanner and any related problems to their advantage. “Our staff are hap-py to show new members how to use it, and they make jokes when there are

issues,” says Roth. “They’ll say some-thing like, ‘Oh, you need to stand on your left leg today to get it to work.’”

Match compensation to responsibilities

When your staff are do-ing more than simply an-swering phones and check-

ing membership cards, minimum wage just isn’t enough, says Roth. “Our front desk staff do walkabouts, test the pool, book appointments, process payments, provide general information about our facility and town facilities, register people, promote programs and class-es, handle member issues, and much more. It’s a pretty dynamic job with

lots of responsibility.” Giving her staff ownership of their jobs, a high level of responsibility and a fair wage have resulted in a dedicated team and very low job turnover.

Empower staff to make decisions

When you have well-trained and sensible front desk people who un-

derstand your facility and its pro-cedures and philosophy, allowing

them to make independent deci-sions can quickly settle member is-sues. “I tell my staff that if they’re in a tricky situation, and I’m not avail-able, they should use their best judg-ment to solve the problem and then let me know the details,” says Roth. Situations could include assisting a guest who has forgotten his wallet, resolving the chaos when a lifeguard doesn’t show up, helping a member who wants to register for a program that is full and managing a medical emergency.

Keep the praise fl owing

As with any club posi-tion, be sure to provide pos-itive feedback and verbal

reinforcement for a job well done. Roth likes to award gift cards of $10 to $20 from movie theatres, grocery stores and even hair salons. “I know my staff well, and I know where they get their hair or nails done, so I can run out quickly at lunch to get a gift certifi -cate.” Cash as a token of appreciation works wonders too, she adds.

Provide feedback cards to your members so they can formally dem-onstrate their appreciation, advises Coté. “I have a fi le full of cards for one front desk person who is absolutely phenomenal. She cracks jokes, knows how many towels certain members like, their likes and dislikes. She really makes a difference, and members ap-preciate being able to tell us about her excellent service.” FBC

Barb Gormley is the senior editor of Fitness

Business Canada, a freelance fi tness writer

and a certifi ed personal trainer. Contact her at

www.barbgormley.com.

Smart Tips to Create a Brilliant Front Desk Experience

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6“WHEN YOU HAVE WELL-TRAINED AND SENSIBLE FRONT DESK PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND YOUR FACILITY AND ITS PROCEDURES AND PHILOSOPHY, ALLOWING THEM TO MAKE INDEPENDENT DECISIONS CAN QUICKLY SETTLE MEMBER ISSUES. ”