++ continued/ Operational consideration during audit


OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS DURING AUDIT

- At peak times the car park at the Barhead Foundary Leisure Centre is very busy and there will be a need to look at strategies to reduce this level of congestion as the programmes grow

- There is no use of heat maps to identify the most congested times and this information is not communicated to fitness instructors to help programme induction times

- There is little evidence of the key brands as you enter the car parks to give confidence to new users that they are in the right place

- The overall impression from a customer’s perspective is good on both sites

- The reception team on both sites gave good eye contact and attempted to engage with all customers coming through the doors

- The overall cleanliness of sites was very good but there is a need for real improvements and investment in areas like changing rooms and shower areas

- Clear evidence of receptionist and gym team members working together was not so apparant at all stages of the customer journey

ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL ESTIMATED INCOME TO EAST RENFREWSHIRE CULTURE AND LEISURE TRUST FOR HEALTH AND FITNESS AT THE END OF YEAR 4

(Figure based on a site audit of the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre and Eastwood Leisure and visit to both the fitness gym sites and initial demographic market penetration information)

Current income across both sites [REDACTED]

Average existing income per gym station [REDACTED]

Average existing Current Members per gym station [REDACTED]

Target income by year 4 [REDACTED]

Average target income per gym station [REDACTED]

Target average members per gym station [REDACTED]

Year 1 Additional Turnover [REDACTED]

Year 2 Additional Turnover [REDACTED]

Year 3 Additional Turnover [REDACTED]

Year 4 Additional Turnover [REDACTED]

RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION TO ACHIEVE INCOME OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS BASED ON VISITS TO THE BARRHEAD FOUNDARY AND EASTWOOD LEISURE

Further to the facilities moving into the East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust there is a great understanding of the need to change and to become more commercial overall in their approach without forgetting why they were created in the first place.

The position within market is important to understand so that a proper pricing strategy can be developed which ensures that the facilities are sustainable within increasing public spending squeezes.

Where necessary there is also a need to create new business markets by getting those inactive people more active.

This will mean exploiting gaps in the market that the private sector either don’t wish to gain or do not have the knowledge on getting.

In general, the private sector has done well in moving into both the boutique and budget markets.

However, there is a larger market that sits between.

Part of this process is also to benchmark the facilities against the best operators to ensure that East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust are protecting market share where possible and increasing it in those markets that are most in need.

As an operator, it means holding up a mirror to really critically analyse the performance and make the necessary continuous improvements to keep moving forward.

Segmenting the leisure trust market will be critical and already there are markets such as the corporate market which is very much untapped at the current time.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT

BigWave media met an experienced and enthusiastic team with a considered and thoughtful Sports Strategy and Development Manager.

There was a sense that they were clear as to what was required to meet the Trust’s financial and social objectives within their own facilities but were also very prepared to look at options for developing the business.

The following recommendations and actions would need to be considered over a four year period to implement to achieve the financial performance required.

ACCESS AND PARKING

- At peak times the car park particularly at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre is already getting very congested.

This will continue to be an issue unless a strategy is considered for reducing the number of people attending at peak times or finding realistic alternatives.

The Trust is in the process of getting council workers to move through a new charging policy.

Although this work is already started, it will need to be resolved to make an impact on future sales.

- Many sites across the UK are facing similar problems and are addressing such issues using the programme of the site to encourage users to attend at other times or encourage leaving the car at home and making the journey to the centre part of their physical activity process.

- this could be the case at the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre where there are other parking alternatives in the vicinity.

- Using the programme of group exercise classes and other activities can help support the issue but sites will need to consider parking arrangements as numbers grow.

- Heat maps identifying peak usage times is an important tool to identify these bottleneck times.

- The car park might benefit from flags or pole banners hung out advertising the key brands on offer, health and fitness, learn to swim and swimming.

This type of advertising has been proven to work particularly at sites like the Barrhead Foundary Leisure Centre where there is a large volume of passing traffic in-front of the site itself.

- These messages need to be with you earlier in the customer journey to instill confidence in new clients.

- Many people visit gyms before they join just to get a feel and first impressions and this can have a long and lasting effect on your business.

Looking at ways to enhance that first impression even from the car park is critical and so often forgotten.

- Making sure that verges and hedge rows are regularly cut in the spring and summer months is critical to make the area look under control plus improved lighting during the winter months to make access feel safe and secure particularly wnen customers are parking away from the centres.

- Attention should also be paid to communication via the website which is covered under marketing.

- Ensuring all areas, particularly entrances, are free of litter is equally important and clearly marked as new customers come toward the building.

++ to be continued/ membership types

++ continued/ membership types

MEMBERSHIP TYPES

- The membership types, which have recently been assessed, look controlled and we would recommend a continued assessment of the membership if only to drive yield forwards.

- The introduction of the BigWave media yield logic calculator allows management to consider the financial benefit of changes to the membership packages based upon the current sales volume profile.

- The introduction of add on packages such as weight management or personal training to support the membership and drive up yield is important.

Add on packages need to be available at point of new sales, for existing customers.

- Using the BigWave media yield logic calculator will assist sites in keeping track of their yield as they develop programmes and upsell to their current membership.

- Annual reviews of the current membership would be anticipated to make any necessary changes to support yield requirements.

PREDICTED AVERAGE MONTHLY YIELD PER MEMBER

- It would be anticipated that an increase of the yield per member could be achieved by working on selling more memberships to high yield members once identified through further analysis of income and membership categories.

- This would require greater targeted marketing and outreach.

The use of referrals to get new members would be an important part of the campaign.

- Consistent and effective targeted marketing is essential to the future development of the business.

- All sites will need to become familiar with their yield outcomes and how the profile of sales impacts on this figure.

++ to be continued/ Marketing

++ continued/ Marketing

MARKETING

- The booking online option will need to be made readily available and consideration given to extending the online offer to physical activity readiness questionnaires and even part one inductions.

- The current level of online sales for both sites suggests there is an opportunity to improve this area by using well timed social media and digital marketing opportunities as well as an online submission.

- It will be important to get the marketing campaigns in place with solid marketing mechanics that all members of the team are aware of to take full advantage.

- Clean data capture at the point of entry is critical for successful leads to be generated.

This is a great opportunity to develop this area.

- A guest enquiry card that is separate to the membership application form will need to be introduced but it is critical that it is completed for every potential member walking into the building.

- Making sure that time is spent getting the correct details is equally important.

- Then ensuring that lead is not only passed to the right person but is then followed up.

- This takes pressure away from reception and gives a greater percentage of leads being dealt with by a trained professional who has a greater chance of converting the lead into a sale.

- Lead generation is an important area which needs to come to the forefront of the marketing outcomes starting with the website itself.

- Data capture should become a priority as this area is becoming increasingly important as big data linked to digital marketing techniques becomes more effective.

- Free seven day passes and trial pass can be a great incentive along with a simple referral scheme especially if online joining is a step too far.

- The fitness brand may need to be strengthened to stand out against the competition and reflect the quality facilities now and potentially being offered.

- A single umbrella brand which could be used throughout the Trust might be worth considering.

- East Renfrewshire Culture and leisure Trust would need to become linked to its missions and values just as the Virgin brand has become known for being different and cool.

- Once the brand is agreed this then needs communicating from as far away from the centre as possible.

The website ia an obvious starting point along with structured social media.

- A digital dashboard controlling social media outputs is becoming the preferred method of delivering social media and controlling outcomes in social media.

- However, internal communication throughout the customer journey is equally important and often forgotten.

- A-boards, light boxes and banners are an essential part of the promotional mix along with 4/5 key health and fitness annual promotions.

- Potty news on the back of toilet doors and above urinals and hand dryers is still very effective.

- BigWave media (BWM) will be able to support the completion of a promotional plan including costs and deadline matrix to determine key outcomes through the Big Solution.

- Mystery shopping is critical to maintain standards at the very highest level.

It would be important to run regular mystery shopping both informally and formally to identify ai practical terms whether systems put in are working correctly.

- WWM would also recommend that marketing play a more active role in marketing/communicating to the internal market of managers.

- League table results of sales twice a week plus campaign success will be critical to the success of sales.

- The focus on outputs would be important going forward.

- The production of a marketing plan, promotional plan and deadline matrix will be critical going forward to ensure that campaigns can be monitored and evaluated.

++ to be continued/ Sales

++ continued/ Sales

SALES

- It will be critical to consider who and how sales are going to be made in the future.

Dedicated sales/customer service managers have been proven to drive sales.

However, they can be an expensive person if they are not supported to get results.

- This will also include implementing sales process from enquiry cards through to expired member follow ups and referrals.

- A sales manual will need to be written with clear processes identified and this will need to link to the sales platforms completed monthly.

This manual will eventually need to the retention manual linked to TRP.

- It could be important to identify a maximum club live across both sites that are both acceptable and that was maximising the quiet times currently experienced.

- The effective programming of the gym in terms of getting clients into more group exercise and spinning type of classes plus including lifestyle activities must be considered if the higher end of predicted targets is to be achieved.

- Recommending the swimming pool and getting swimming programmes into their activity schedule is critical for success along with other lifestyle solutions.

- running and other outdoor activities are becoming increasingly popular as well as the use of wearable technology.

These all need to be embraced within the programme produced.

- In fact a welcome brochure that outlines the journey for Customer Advisors that encourages this approach is a good start with several private companies taking this approach.

[PICTURE]

[PICTURE]

- It is forecast that additional sales per month above the current targets could be achieved with the development of the existing of a sales system, effective use of marketing and sales training.

- This will require additional personnel at this level.

However, it would be anticipated that all existing staff who are involved in making existing sales would go through the sales training modules.

- Both centres will need to identify a membership sales area, for meeting prospects and discussing memberships, making calls to prospects, calling absent members, following up on enquiries.

- Once a Customer advisor team are in they will meed greater feedback from marketing than currently given centrally and benchmark their performance against the other advisors on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis.

- Going forward it would be anticipated that driven appointment sales would increase along with an improved referral system through effective use of marketing.

- data capture at point of entry needs considering as there is likely to be lost opportunities if this is not of the highest order.

- A recent visit to David Lloyd resulted in five text messages encouraging the potential member to join and five emails over the subsequent six months.

The rate has slowed to bi-annually but they are still being communicated to with offers having shown no interest in joining.

They have also sent their ‘leisure app’ which makes quarterly promotional offers.

- Lead generation is becoming an increasingly important factor in hitting sales targets.

- Every month there needs to be a systematic approach to lead generation whether this is from the online joining option or through social media.

- There also need to be a measurement of the number of leads generated on each site daily, linked to targets.

++ to be continued/ RETENTION

++ continued/ retention

RETENTION

- The retention of members after securing ongoing sales is no doubt the number one key to long term financial success of the gym.

- The TRP system which has been purchased will need to be implemented and supported and measured daily.

- Member satisfaction and exceeding their expectations must be the number one priority for everyone involved.

- having a focus on interactions, outcomes, goals and improved communication to members is critical.

- Recognition and results based programme for all members is needed.

- Although private member clubs tend to attract more loyal customers in general, the range of facilities on offer at the centres is excellent. There is a wide array of activities on offer and these could be targeted to the market.

- An attrition figure at [REDACTED] which is below the average of 6.06% will require further examination over a period of time.

- Full utilisation of the TRP system will be critical to develop over time for all members and the instructor’s performance.

- The main influence on attrition is customer satisfaction and there is no doubt that the senior management team is aware of this fact. The key will be to get all team members consistently to deliver this level of service.

- Further scrutiny of the ‘customer support’ currently offered is needed. I would recommend regularly Mystery Shopping to get a ‘true’ picture of what the new customer experiences each time.

- From the audit. It suggests they know what to do but do not always follow the ststem every time.

- Clients need to be given specific lifestyle programmes that introduce all the facilities in the centre including group exercise and swimming. Most importantly they need to be offered the activities that are available in the centre and will meet their outcomes most effectively.

- These programmes need to meet the needs of the clients and be outcome focussed.

- The team members need to be aware that when there are peak times it might be appropriate to move activities out of the peak times.

- A greater training budget will need to be allocated to group exercise if instructor numbers are not enough to expand the programme and a more co-ordinated approach taken to group exercise which would include the introduction of the Les Mills systems.

- If these benefits are not fully explained particularly about all that is on offer, then potential customers are not going to get everything out of thei membership.

- Developing clarity within the new member journey will be an important area to review along with the existing member journey.

- Part of this development will be the ongoing messages via mixed media including emails and SN
MS and the utilisation of digital platforms to support the on-site work.

- this will include intervention strategies for the higher risk member and the returning member.

- Expired members will be responded to quickly and a clear process available to all members of the team to get the customer back and training.


++ to be continued/ monitoring and control

++ continued/ monitoring and control

MONITORING AND CONTROL

- It would be recommended that a ‘Gold Standard’ is produced which covers everything already in place plus the extras which must be delivered to customers every time.

- The ‘Gold Standard’ needs to be shared by every member of the team. To reach this standard will require everyone to perform as the audit is based on outcomes rather than just the systems in place.

- Once this ‘Gold Standard’ is in place a gym can submit a request to go through the two day ‘Gold Standard’ assessment. To reach the ‘Gold Standard’ will take a minimum of six months to prepare and only when the Centre Manager is ready can the site request the audit.

- The ‘Gold Standard’ is a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) specific to the site/Trust which need to be achieved to pass the award.

- The success of the ‘Gold Standard’ should come with some financial rewards to the gym team as these standards ensure that increased levels of income are achieved and greater customer satisfaction.

- It also comes for example with a gold lapel badge that only these team members can wear both on the site and at meetings within the business.

- It is essential that all the above areas identified are monitored closely through the Fitness End of Month report. Current KPIs could be added to - monitoring of appointment take up is one example.

- The collection of information for the report should be systematic and uniform each day/month to ensure continuity and reliable information.

- Gym floor performance should also be monitored to ensure best practice is followed and any service plans are adhered to and recorded in the end of month report.

- Feedback on performance via league tables will encourage staff to reach set targets.

- Performance recorded daily to cover:

Lead generation

New sales

Referrals

Cancellations

Number of 7 day passes

Number of 1 day passes

Month trial passes

Driving sales platforms linked to on-site marketing

- In terms of monitoring performance, the following meetings would be recommended:

Daily update on sales performance from site Duty Managers

Weekly sales meeting preferably Monday morning

Weekly sales conference call to sites to share good practice

Weekly management meeting update

Monthly management and sales meeting

BUSINESS PLANNING

- Each site should produce a ten-year development plan which covers monthly sales and attrition targets and clearly outlines the key times when either refurbishments or new development need to be considered based upon the growth of the club live figure.

- Such plans allow managers, even those who are benefiting from considerable capital investment plans, to look ahead and ensure they are ready to respond. So often the need for a development comes as a surprise and it can take time to secure further capital.

- Knowing the challenges well in advance gives organisations the opportunity to respond to the demand when required.

OPERATIONS

- Further to the audit report and the findings included it would be appropriate to idealy have comprehensive quarterly Health and Fitness Audits with action plans for each site. This is to ensure that existing standards are being maintained.

- These audits act as benchmarks for the centre to work toward and ensure that the standards are maintained throughout the year.

- Audits should be updated on a regular basis to keep up with current trends in the Health and Fitness market.

- The same would apply with the introduction of the ‘Gold Standard’.

- This standard is linked to the overall performance of the gym and covers a wide range of KPIs including the number of members per gym station.

- The KPIs should be updated every month and are linked to the ‘Gold Standard’.

STANDARDISED MEETING TIMETABLE

- To support a more commercial approach it would be recommended that the following meeting timetable to be put in place to manage the flow of information throughout the business:

- Daily

AM an PM sales updates and action points from sites

Lead generation targets for reception

Referral targets from incoming calls, walk-ins for receptionists

- Weekly

Monday morning membership sales meeting

Tuesday morning member retention meeting

Tuesday and Thursday site promotional sales update

- Monthly

Full key performance indicators completed

Action plan required to hit targets completed

Present to senior management

Update sales platforms

Updated marketing and promotion plans

Sites sales conference call

- Annually

October Team Budget away day

November start draft 1 budgets

December present draft 2 budget

February present final budget


BWM appreciate that the audit is only a brief snapshot of the situation at the time of the visit and not always how the site is run.

However, in our experience it is the delivery where standards start to drop if they are not being driven every day through the assessment of key performance indicators and measured by regular and systematic mystery shopping.

The frameworks in place need developing and must be robust.

This will require a need to monitor through key performance indicators to ensure that when either standards drop or the outcomes change the business and organisation can respond immediately to the challenge.

An implementation programme will be produced based on the recommendations/action in this document along with regular progress checks made by the Senior Management Team to ensure action is taken.

++ END OF DOCUMENT