Have you ever stepped into a business and instantly felt like you belonged there? Maybe you were greeted quickly upon entering the establishment with friendly faces welcoming you, or someone offered a helping hand to assist you with what you came in for? No matter what it was, that business gave you an excellent customer experience. Today, customer experience is a top differentiator for businesses. A great customer experience is important for the sustained growth of any business–it promotes customer loyalty, helps retain current customers, and encourages brand advocacy. And don’t we all want current customers to shout your praise from the rooftops and refer all of their friends to your gym? Absolutely!
Many gyms are missing out on crucial revenue opportunities because they lack a good customer experience. Brands have to be consistently accurate and dependable while providing the service they guarantee. The opportunity for a higher retention rate lies in delivering what you promised, as well as a willingness to go above and beyond to help your customer.
Here are 5 small (but mighty) customer service processes that you can easily implement right away to take your gym’s customer experience to the next level!
1. Treat your employees like your #1 customer
Great customer experiences start with those delivering it: your employees. When employees are happy, they’ll make your customers happy. So go the extra mile for your employees, and they’ll go the extra mile for you. Make sure you are praising them when they are doing a job well done, and let them know that they are making a difference! A little gesture can go a long way.
Some ways you can show your appreciation include little things like bringing in your front desk staff their favorite latte occasionally or even offering a gift card when revenue goals are met.
2. Build an emotional connection with your customers
The most memorable customer experiences are the ones that create an emotional connection with customers. So how do you create customer connections? It starts with listening.
The process of listening itself shows customers that you care, and you’ll also be able to uncover their needs, challenges, and pain points. Each student that arrives at your gym is unique, and they may require different accommodations at times. Listen to the child, and listen to the parent. Take note of what motivates the child, and remember to always praise them (and their parent) when a job is well-done. You can make a difference in their experience just by saying something like, “Wow, you really nailed that cartwheel today, I am so proud of you! Make sure to stop at the front desk to get your special sticker!”
In addition to praise, make sure you make eye contact when speaking with your students and their parents. It sounds like a little thing, but it can make a big difference.
3. Be Proactive
Having a customer service team that can quickly and efficiently react to a problem is important—but it’s also crucial to provide proactive customer service when possible. For the best customer experience possible, think of how you can anticipate your customers’ needs and where they might need help before they even have a chance to tell you about them.
Some resourceful ways to offer proactive service include: creating helpful documentation–or self-service processes–that resolve common issues, providing answers to frequently asked questions, and taking the time to reach out to customers before any issues even arise.
4. Create Customer Service Consistency
Offering a single customer a phenomenal customer service experience is a start, but until you can repeat this process over and over, you’re not doing your company or your customers any favors. The best type of customer service is reliable, consistent, and extended to every customer in any situation.
That means your customer should be able to call in and anticipate great service and helpful resolutions every single time—not just once in a blue moon.
How do you make sure this happens? By refining your standards of customer service, creating procedures, and establishing protocols. All of these factors should be a part of customer service training from the start, but don’t stop there.
5. Create an Opportunity for Your Business to be Reviewed
Data makes a difference. In order to best understand where customer service issues are arising—and why they might be happening in the first place—it’s important to create the opportunity for customers to review your customer service representatives.
Surveys and reviews can offer you some insight into your rep’s performance and empower you to incorporate more training where necessary, better educate reps that may be struggling, and, going back to our first point, reward hard-working reps for their success.
____________
Customer Service is an area of your business that should always be evolving and growing. By using these helpful Customer Service tips for your gym–and always maintaining a positive attitude–your gym is sure to be a winner!
~ Jessica Alexander, General Manager
_____________________________
Need more customers to serve? We’re experts at loading you up with more customers than you can handle (you might even need to hire more staff)! Book a call with us today and check out our free and paid marketing options to amplify your business.