[quote]Large Dave wrote:
Ok everyone, I need some advise. I have recently become the senior member of gym staff at my leisure centre and hence the unofficial gym manager.
I’ll be frank, I am not experienced in gym managment and I was wondering if there are any instructors, PT’s or gym managers out there that could give me any advise on keeping the gym in one peice.
You know, member aquisition and retention, selling PT, promotions, dealing with arseholes. Anything guys, no matter how small or silly (but not to silly) I have a good team behind me and I don’t want to let them down. All suggestions welcome![/quote]
Well, having worked at a large gym chain in the early 90’s, and since no one else has responded, I’ll give you the unabridged version of what I think is important (better go get a snack, I took 2 Spike about 2 hours ago).
As far as member acquisition goes, the hard pitch is a thing of the past. People got fed up with it in the 90’s, which is why you see so many pay-as-you-go deals with Lifestyles and the like now.
If I were you, I would call a meeting of your sales staff (if you haven’t already) to make sure everyone is on the same page when touring potential members. We tend to take for granted what we think is so simple, but you never really know what different members of your staff may be telling the people they tour.
Most importantly in this meeting, get your staff’s feedback on what they think works as far as pitching memberships and condense this into a, I don’t want to say script, but a guideline to follow and when to call you in when things get hairy.
As far as member retention goes, smiles and courtesy go a long way; make sure this point is not lost on your staff.
And let’s face it, the vast majority of people aren’t so internalized about their desire to train as, say, those of us on T-Nation. People want a sense of exclusivity, that they are part of something that sets them above the general public even if they are marathon stair-stepper-climbers, or squat rack curlers. Towards this end, encourage your staff to get slightly personal with certain members regarding their training goals. Example:
“Hi, how’s it going? Membership card? Thanks. Have a great workout.”
Said with a smile and nice demeanor, this is pleasant but sterile. Compare it with:
“Hey, Ed, today’s your bench press day, right? What are you up to? You said last time you did ___ and you were going for ___ . C’mon, man, quit slackin on me, you can do it!”
The inflection loses a lot because this is text, but done in a lighthearted, half-joking manner with a smile, this can go a long way for, say, an older, single member who may get no other encouragement other than what he/she hears from your staff.
This serves many purposes as far as customer retention: 1) The fact that their effort in the gym (such as it is) is being acknowledged, 2) Because of this acknowledgement, they have a sense of being accountable to someone other than themselves as far as their exercise goals, and are much less likely to slack off and/or let their memberships lapse, 3) Gives members a sense of belonging and well-being associated with the gym; make it a place they want to be, and you’ve done your job.
Obviously, this kind of banter is going to be unwelcome/unneccessary with certain members, so good customer relations (listening to responses) and a healthy dose of common sense rules the day.
Now, as far as selling PT, this can get tricky. It is hard to tell someone they need personal training without sounding judegemental (gasp!). My best advice here would be to focus on the members’ goals, and let them tell you what they want to change about themselves.
All it takes is one critical comment, no matter how non-invasive or below the radar it may seem, to make some people feel that every time a staff member looks at them, they are being scrutinized. Example:
“If you add more weight and do fewer reps on calf raises, your calves will tone up in no time.”
Sounds like good, helpful advice delivered in easily digestible lay terms (“tone”, ugh.), but an insecure housewife is going to hear, “your current routine sucks, and your legs look fat now”. Maybe a little harsh, but you can see what I’m getting at.
Pitched another way:
“I see you wrote down ‘more toned calves’ in the goals section of your profile,” or however this is done where you work “that’s a great goal to have, because, hey, you’ve got to walk around using your calves every day, right? This is something our trainers can absolutely help you achieve…”
I always hated this mamby-pamby, kid gloves way you have to go about this, but business is business.
As far as promotions, I don’t know what kind of freedom you have with regards to that, but if you can, definitely push the “___ free PT sessions with every new membership” angle.
And lastly, dealing with arseholes. I never had to do this while working in a gym, but I was head of security at a large nightclub for a couple of years. Obviously, gym management is a much mellower gig, but most of the basic principles still apply.
If a member is complaining loudly to you or a staff member about something, get them out of the sight and earshot of the other members as quickly as possible. Depending on the nature of the complaint (and the state of the complainer), one of the best used lines is, “I understand what you’re saying. Why don’t we go into my office and get this resolved.”
In the hospitality biz, we called this “keeping your room”. Nightclub patrons don’t want to feel like they are in a war zone with fights breaking out all over, and gym members don’t want their focus disrupted by some jackass screaming about the mens’ room being low on hand soap, how he pays X amount of dollars a month, what he expects for his money, blah, blah, blah…
If a guy (I’m going to assume a male) gets to the point where he threatens violence, or looks to be violent, I would make sure that you and your staff have some kind of contingency plan in place, where if they hear a disruption, they all converge on the area quickly, but don’t crowd the irrate member (this can push them over the edge) while someone calls the proper authorities.
I’m not saying your staff have to become part-time bouncers, but in a worst-case scenario, which is worse:
A) Having to restrain one idiot from hurting himself and/or others and having him try to file suit against the gym (highly unlikely to be sucessful if proper restraint was used, and the guy was really posing a threat)
OR
B) Having the gym sued by several people because some idiot went on an unchecked rampage, swinging an EZ curl bar and injuring other members while the entire gym staff stood by and watched and/or hid?
Not sure what your laws surrounding this are in the UK, but here in the sue-happy U.S. of A. the answer is definitely “B”.
Good luck in your new position, and I hope this was helpful.