The world’s largest health club operator, Fitness First, has launched a new customer service process in its UK clubs to assist with member retention and offer added support, with plans to roll it out worldwide.
‘Star Guest is a unique process, developed by The Retention People, which prompts staff if a member’s attendance starts to decline and provides simple information on the member’s history and their reasons for joining. This prompts staff to further engage with the member to better understand and help to reinvigorate their enthusiasm for exercise.
Global member experience director Rob Gregory said: “Fitness First knows that it’s motivation that gets you to the gym to start with, but habit that keeps you attending regularly. We understand how difficult this can be which is why ‘Star Guest’ prompts staff members to intervene and provide renewed support and motivation to members and give them the kick start they need.
“Interacting and supporting our members is paramount to the Fitness First ethos and ensures a good experience for members in each of our clubs.”
The system’s great user interface, simple interaction process and unique reporting capabilities proved a winning formula for the group which has over 540 clubs worldwide. It boasts powerful reporting functions, enabling all management to see which staff members are being most effective and what impact they are having on increasing member attendance.
“For the first time we can monitor how staff are adding value to the member experience,” added Mr Gregory.
The process was the brain child of 27 year old entrepreneur Alister Rollins of The Retention People which provides the system to Fitness First and following a two year trial of the software, the system has now been implemented across all 161 clubs in the UK.
Mr Rollins commented: “We are delighted to be working with Fitness First and assist in one of the most fundamental aspects of running its clubs. Its commitment to member retention and experience is outstanding and ‘Star Guest’ can only help with producing visible results for the group.
“We are continuing to work closely with Fitness First to develop the solution to meet specific requirements worldwide including different languages to implement the system in all of Fitness First’s global markets.”
Notes to editors
Fitness First is the largest privately owned health club group in the world with over 540 Fitness First clubs worldwide reaching over 1.4 million members in 19 countries. In the UK alone there are 164 Fitness First clubs with over 425,000 members.
Fitness First is a member of the Fitness Industry Association (F.I.A), the industry trade body which represents both private and public organisations that are involved in the fitness industry, visit www.fia.org.uk.
Fitness First was awarded Club Operator of the Year in the Fitness Industry Association’s 2009 FLAME Awards.
The Retention People (TRP) are the worlds largest researchers of health club member loyalty and the leading supplier of Leisure Industry customer retention solutions with offices in UK, US and Australia.
