Content area
Full text
The members at Snap Fitness in Douglassville, PA, made a request through a recent member survey. It wasn't a big request, but it was enough to get the attention of club owner John Stockton.
The problem? The TVs were placed too high in the club.
Members said that they sometimes got cricks in their necks when they looked up at the TVs while they worked out on the treadmills. Problem identified, problem solved for Stockton, who had the TVs lowered 14 inches.
Those 14 inches went a long way toward creating good will at the club.
"I had a couple of members come up to me and give me hugs saying thank you," Stockton says. "When members feel that you're listening to them, they're going to tell you more."
Club members expressed a lot more of their opinions in two member satisfaction surveys conducted by the Health Club Development Co., Providence, RI, in conjunction with the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) and Les Mills International.
About 7,600 members were surveyed in more than 20 health clubs in the United States and Canada. The clubs in the surveys ranged from coed multipurpose facilities to wellness centers. The responses also came from multiple- and single-location clubs that were both corporately and privately owned.
The majority of the respondents had previous health club experience and had been members at their current club for anywhere from three months to three years. Three-quarters of the respondents worked out at the club three or more times a week. Women represented 62 percent of the respondents.
"We've learned quite a bit about the industry and our members," says Chris Gallo, president of Health Club Development Co. "There's tremendous consistency. It's very enlightening. You learn how to become better operators. You listen to your members."
Price and Convenience
Given the condition of the economy, one might think that price was top-of-mind among the survey respondents in choosing or staying with a club, but that wasn't always the case.
When asked about the factors that led them to join their current health clubs, members ranked affordability fifth in one of the two surveys. Convenience was the No. 1 response, followed by club facilities, club appearance, atmosphere and hours of operation.
Price ranked...