No More Groundhog Days in 2010?

Well I promised to stir it up in 2010 - I just couldnt wait! As per usual, a few days of not facing customers gives me time to think, mull things over in the slow time ( don't know about you but it takes my brain a day or so to switch off from work - so this is the final act before xmas)

We are about to hit the new year rush to join gyms of all descriptions, the scrumfest that is sales is often a case of get 'em in! A groundhog issue that I keep coming across with our customers over the past year, is the lack of understanding of members Goals, and the process used to identify what a new member is trying to achieve when they join the gym.

It's a regular response from staff in clubs I visit to state "lose weight/get fit" as the reasons they have gleaned from the new member at their first contact (Induction or in some cases sales tour). To me thats skin deep and just not enough detail - I need more, (amount/timescale/impact of success or failure in reaching goal/history and level of weight gain etc)That seems to be accepted as adequate to crack on and create a programme, (which in our observations and scrutiny has no special significance in relation to the goal) Is it really expected that staff will develop relationships with customers over the coming months and then the programmes become more appropriate? Unfortunately contact with new members is sporadic and due to the continuous influx of more new starters in the next few months, priority is given to Inductions, with a failure to deliver service beyond the first week. The result is we are losing the ability to influence behaviour

Now I can sense a few rocks about to come my way, but bear with me, I am not trying to bash Instructors................... maybe we should be pointing the finger at Club Owners/General Managers!! This over promise/under deliver situation has created a lot of ex-members. Perhaps we can find a different more realistic approach in 2010. However some Owner/Managers still don't see this as an issue and do not need/want to tackle this issue head on. Does anyone else notice this?

If you run a club that has no sales team then we are often putting the needs analysis process into the gym staff/ receptionists, yet we have seen expectation of the needs analysis being no less thorough than having a trained/skilled sales team.

Is it time to put in place an effcient, automated process, (possibly online questionnaire in this day and age) that ensures consistent information to be captured then used appropriately by the Fitness Professionals?

Lets throw this around, I am keen to hear thoughts from around the group