7 Rules For Being a Great Health Club Member

We write a lot about how to be a great health club and how to deliver great customer experience. We recently worked with Keith Catanzano of 2River Consulting in Washington DC to do someamazing segmentation on our member data.Keith created a “predictive model” using historic membership data to find our common segments reflecting different cancellation rates. This gave us incredible insights into our membership base that I have never had before.

But it got me thinking about what is a “great health club member?” It always pisses me off when someone describes the ideal member as someone that pays for but doesn’t use her membership.  I hate the whole idea of that and chances are, if you are a club operator, so do you. That thinking disappeared with platform shoes – at least I hope. So here are my “instructions” on how to be the IDEAL gym member!

1. Use The Gym

Come in at least 3 times each week. No time?  We can design a kick-ass 12- minute workout that you can fit into your busiest day!  Let us help you with the problem you need to solve so that you can utilize the gym.

2. Report Problems

If you get on a treadmill and that TV doesn’t work, PLEASE let us know.  We want everything to be in working order and you should expect it to be!

NOTE TO OPERATORS: Make it easy and obvious for your members to report problems!

3. Give Feedback

We know you get enough email but as our member we really do want to know how we look through your eyes.  When you receive our email asking for feedback please provide it and don’t hold back!  It won’t take long and we use the information in every meeting to create accountability and to foster continuous change.  We would also love it if you rated us on Yelp! facebook and google+.

4. Bring Your Friends & Family!

Hey, we are a business and would love to grow. If we could get every member to bring in one person to join once a year we would greatly exceed membership goals and have more money to spend on facilities, equipment and programs members love.

5. Bring Ideas

Have you been traveling and seeing anything cool you think we should consider?  Tell us what it is and why you liked it!  Or maybe you are just one of those people that comes up with ideas in your everyday experience.  Keep the ideas coming! We know we need to change constantly and knowing your ideas will help us do just that.

6. Expect Excellence

It keeps us on our toes and we know that your experience here will determine your commitment to these non-mandatory instructions. You see, we know these “instructions” are really “favors” we are asking of you.  You won’t much feel like doing a favor for any business that isn’t working their ass off to earn your trust.  We get that.

7. Use & Know Gym Etiquette

·       Be nice to staff.

·       Be nice to members.

·       Clean up after yourself – sweat, weights, chalk etc.

·       DON’T drop weights – even when doing power cleans.

·       Let people work-in with you.

·       Don’t wear offensive clothing.

·       Don’t take yourself too seriously.

·       Deodorant usage good, cologne/perfume bad.

·       Smile.

That’s it. As club owners we are always trying to create better and better customer experiences.  Perhaps we should include instructions on how to be a great member every time we onboard someone? And while I don’t think it is reasonable to expect all members to follow the instructions, I do think it is reasonable to offer them.