Interesting Article: Putting in Place a Culture of Service Excellence
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Brett Miller
Jul 29, 2010, 10:37:27 AM7/29/10
to 3 Cubed Athletic Center
Jul 2, 2010 1:54 PM, By Scott A. Chovanec
Join the conversation Scott A. Chovanec, MS, MA, MBA, FAWHP, is
president of Scott Chovanec & Associates Inc., a strategic planning
practice providing design services, thought leadership and decision
support for the fitness and wellness industry. An author and presenter
at major health and fitness conferences, Chovanec is often asked to
help organizations improve their managerial leadership and customer
service standards. His facility and customer service audits have
helped companies achieve unparalleled levels of service. Chovanec
holds four master’s degrees, including an MBA in finance. He can be
reached at scottc...@comcast.net.
Don’t have time for the delivery of exceptional service? Don’t worry.
Someone else will gladly do that for you.
The biggest reason that people leave a club is poor customer service,
not competition. In fact, 65 percent of customers leave because of
poor service while only 12 percent leave because they’ve been won over
by your competitors. If you concentrate on that 65 percent, giving
them what they need rather than what you think they need, then you can
sustain a competitive advantage that will distance and differentiate
you from your competition.
So, if good customer service is so important, why do I still see such
poor customer service when I do my club evaluations? I’ve developed a
list of eight ugly things I see at many clubs:
1. No greeting initiation by the front desk staff, which often means
no greeting occurs.
2. Inattentiveness, which is shown in body language and manners.
3. Lack of any personalization.
4. Gossip and “desk talk.”
5. Lack of information imparted to members and guests.
6. Lack of follow through.
7. A multitude of facility issues.
8. Lack of “positively aggressive” floor help for members who need
help.
Many of these issues can be alleviated if staff members are customer-
centered. Being strong in customer “centeredness” will not only
distance your club from others, but it will differentiate and define
you as well—which will help your bottom line. Simply said, customer
centeredness is the ability to create a remarkable, memorable or
magical experience during every customer encounter at your club. It
requires you to offer the kind of service in which one extremely
satisfied person tells one person after another about your great
service.
To be able to focus on your customer, you must remember that your
customers need and expect four things at your club:
1. Qualified staff. Do you post your staff qualifications, credentials
and certifications for customers to see?
2. Instruction. Are you providing ample floor instruction during peak
times, and are your staff members anticipating members’ concerns and
needs?
3. No overcrowding. Are there policies and practices that address busy
times on equipment?
4. Safe environment. Are tripping hazards eliminated and safety
procedures practiced?
But good customer service doesn’t end there. Customers want everything
better, cheaper, faster and their way. Customers value reliability,
responsiveness, assurance, empathy and the special tangibles that set
your facility apart from others. Because leisure time is at a premium
for most people, they also appreciate shortened wait times for
equipment, on check-ins or on the phone.
In addition, customers become confused and annoyed when you use
industry jargon. Explanations and instructions should always be given
in clear, simple language.
Members also want to be valued. Nothing can justify making a customer
feel like a nuisance.
Customers expect quality and satisfaction in direct proportion to the
membership prices they’re paying.
When it comes to customer service, your front desk staff is your most
important asset. They make a first impression with every encounter.
And the first and last impressions are extremely important because you
are in the “memory management” business. If you manage the first and
the last impression with all the members and guests who enter your
operation, you’ll always come out on top.
Involve your front desk staff in making decisions, allow them to
attend conferences, engage them in professional development
opportunities and empower them to remediate complaints on the spot.
They are in a position to deliver a remarkable or memorable experience
that prompts your customers to tell others.
As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, once said, “The folks in the front
lines—the ones who actually talk to the customer—are the only ones who
really know what’s going on out there.”
This is especially critical when dealing with complaints, which are
unique opportunities in disguise. How we handle complaints will make
the long-term difference with the customer. Empower your front line to
resolve a customer issue immediately without adding extra steps for
the member. Empathy is a core value. It is especially crucial in
dealing with complaints.
Remembering the customer in all transactions and encounters during his
or her visit to your facility can be challenging. To help, consider
this simple but highly effective customer-service formula:
Look at me
Smile at me
Talk to me
Listen to me
Thank me
Remember me
Most successful fitness operators, knowing that cost and quality
differentiate the winners, also understand that customer perceptions
drive the reality of their operations. In many fitness markets,
customers hold cost secondary if they perceive the value of their
membership as something that exceeds expectations. This only happens
through the delivery of effective customer service strategies. The
accountability of those strategies creates this culture of service and
makes it a reality.
It makes all the sense in the world to deliver exemplary service at
every opportunity, especially at a time when the dollar is so
stretched, where it costs five to seven times more to attract a new
member than to keep an existing one and when the battle for the
discretionary dollar is at an all-time high. Anticipate your
customers’ needs. Make safety, quality, service and satisfaction not
just words on paper, but the premise for the creation of a culture of
service that will distance and differentiate you from all others.
Join the conversation Scott A. Chovanec, MS, MA, MBA, FAWHP, is
president of Scott Chovanec & Associates Inc., a strategic planning
practice providing design services, thought leadership and decision
support for the fitness and wellness industry. An author and presenter
at major health and fitness conferences, Chovanec is often asked to
help organizations improve their managerial leadership and customer
service standards. His facility and customer service audits have
helped companies achieve unparalleled levels of service. Chovanec
holds four master’s degrees, including an MBA in finance. He can be
reached at scottc...@comcast.net.
Don’t have time for the delivery of exceptional service? Don’t worry.
Someone else will gladly do that for you.
The biggest reason that people leave a club is poor customer service,
not competition. In fact, 65 percent of customers leave because of
poor service while only 12 percent leave because they’ve been won over
by your competitors. If you concentrate on that 65 percent, giving
them what they need rather than what you think they need, then you can
sustain a competitive advantage that will distance and differentiate
you from your competition.
So, if good customer service is so important, why do I still see such
poor customer service when I do my club evaluations? I’ve developed a
list of eight ugly things I see at many clubs:
1. No greeting initiation by the front desk staff, which often means
no greeting occurs.
2. Inattentiveness, which is shown in body language and manners.
3. Lack of any personalization.
4. Gossip and “desk talk.”
5. Lack of information imparted to members and guests.
6. Lack of follow through.
7. A multitude of facility issues.
8. Lack of “positively aggressive” floor help for members who need
help.
Many of these issues can be alleviated if staff members are customer-
centered. Being strong in customer “centeredness” will not only
distance your club from others, but it will differentiate and define
you as well—which will help your bottom line. Simply said, customer
centeredness is the ability to create a remarkable, memorable or
magical experience during every customer encounter at your club. It
requires you to offer the kind of service in which one extremely
satisfied person tells one person after another about your great
service.
To be able to focus on your customer, you must remember that your
customers need and expect four things at your club:
1. Qualified staff. Do you post your staff qualifications, credentials
and certifications for customers to see?
2. Instruction. Are you providing ample floor instruction during peak
times, and are your staff members anticipating members’ concerns and
needs?
3. No overcrowding. Are there policies and practices that address busy
times on equipment?
4. Safe environment. Are tripping hazards eliminated and safety
procedures practiced?
But good customer service doesn’t end there. Customers want everything
better, cheaper, faster and their way. Customers value reliability,
responsiveness, assurance, empathy and the special tangibles that set
your facility apart from others. Because leisure time is at a premium
for most people, they also appreciate shortened wait times for
equipment, on check-ins or on the phone.
In addition, customers become confused and annoyed when you use
industry jargon. Explanations and instructions should always be given
in clear, simple language.
Members also want to be valued. Nothing can justify making a customer
feel like a nuisance.
Customers expect quality and satisfaction in direct proportion to the
membership prices they’re paying.
When it comes to customer service, your front desk staff is your most
important asset. They make a first impression with every encounter.
And the first and last impressions are extremely important because you
are in the “memory management” business. If you manage the first and
the last impression with all the members and guests who enter your
operation, you’ll always come out on top.
Involve your front desk staff in making decisions, allow them to
attend conferences, engage them in professional development
opportunities and empower them to remediate complaints on the spot.
They are in a position to deliver a remarkable or memorable experience
that prompts your customers to tell others.
As Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, once said, “The folks in the front
lines—the ones who actually talk to the customer—are the only ones who
really know what’s going on out there.”
This is especially critical when dealing with complaints, which are
unique opportunities in disguise. How we handle complaints will make
the long-term difference with the customer. Empower your front line to
resolve a customer issue immediately without adding extra steps for
the member. Empathy is a core value. It is especially crucial in
dealing with complaints.
Remembering the customer in all transactions and encounters during his
or her visit to your facility can be challenging. To help, consider
this simple but highly effective customer-service formula:
Look at me
Smile at me
Talk to me
Listen to me
Thank me
Remember me
Most successful fitness operators, knowing that cost and quality
differentiate the winners, also understand that customer perceptions
drive the reality of their operations. In many fitness markets,
customers hold cost secondary if they perceive the value of their
membership as something that exceeds expectations. This only happens
through the delivery of effective customer service strategies. The
accountability of those strategies creates this culture of service and
makes it a reality.
It makes all the sense in the world to deliver exemplary service at
every opportunity, especially at a time when the dollar is so
stretched, where it costs five to seven times more to attract a new
member than to keep an existing one and when the battle for the
discretionary dollar is at an all-time high. Anticipate your
customers’ needs. Make safety, quality, service and satisfaction not
just words on paper, but the premise for the creation of a culture of
service that will distance and differentiate you from all others.
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