Let’s deliver truly
memorable experiences
The way
we were…
In April 1998 the front cover of Network magazine featured the thencurrent Australian Sport Aerobic Champion – and Ms Australasia –
Patsy Tierney.
Inside the magazine, Patsy, who was also a sport aerobic coach
and Channel 7 sports presenter, shared her story:
“They said I was crazy when I gave up my law degree. They thought I
was even crazier when I told them why. I was a fourth year law student,
aerobic instructor and part-time waitress, and I decided I wanted to
be the World Aerobic Champion. It was 1995 and it seemed like the
craziest and riskiest thing I could possibly do. So I did it.”
1 thing I’ve learnt…
Amelia Phillips,
Co-founder of the Michelle Bridges 12WBT,
ameliaphillips.com.au
“One thing I’ve learnt in this industry is to keep
an open mind – which can be really hard! Keep
an open mind about people, fitness trends,
research and new products hitting the market.
When I started in this industry 18 years ago, I
knew it all (at least I thought I did!). If it wasn’t
my method, it wouldn’t work. I remember the
sinking feeling at university when I realised
how much I didn’t know! Sometimes I see
examples of trainers or instructors disregarding
perfectly valid training methods. I remember
people telling me that you can’t effectively train
someone online. One expert tells us that weight
training is the key to weight loss, while another
provides evidence that cardio is the way to go.
I now make a point of keeping an open mind
before passing judgement – and I’ve learnt far
more from this amazing industry as a result.”
As an industry we need to offer more
than great customer service – we need
to deliver memorable experiences
so our members and clients become
loyal and committed advocates of the
services we offer.
Delivering a memorable experience
is not just a fancy term for customer
service. As Joseph Pine says in The
Experience Economy; ‘economists have
typically lumped experiences in with services, but experiences
are a distinct economic offering, as different from services as
services are from goods’. Walt Disney theme parks were one of
the first entertainment businesses to recognise that delivering
an experience had a distinct economic benefit. But today the
concept of selling experiences stretches far further than theme
parks and theatres. A couple of good examples are Apple Stores
and Niketown, which stage experiences for their customers with
the prime objective of driving sales in their core business.
So, what’s the impact of this on our industry? It’s significant:
we are operating in a very competitive environment in which the
consumer is spoilt for choice. Added to this is the competition
from outside the industry, with the likes of Nike and Apple
developing wearable technologies that provide home-based
programming with immediate digital feedback. If, as an industry,
we can provide our members and clients with memorable
experiences then, through word of mouth, we will increase the
consumer base from which we can draw on new members.
Furthermore, we will feel less threatened by the proliferation
of digital wearable technologies and by fitness offerings that
provide minimal face-to-face service.
How do we go about delivering memorable experiences?
We already do a pretty good job at it as we are in the business
of changing lives through great programming, advice, support
and motivation. However, if we really want to get our heads
around the concept of facilitating memorable experiences then
maybe we should consider how we might do things differently if
we charged admission fees to our clubs instead of membership
fees. I’m not saying we should do this, but I am saying that if the
only way we could be profitable was to ensure that every visit
to our facilities was so memorable that people would gladly pay
well for it several times a week, we would undoubtedly come up
with ways to elevate the experiences we deliver.
I’ll finish by suggesting that you should think of your club
as a stage where your staff are the actors and their role is to
entertain, energise and motivate your paying members.
Nigel Champion, Executive Director
[email protected]
Benefit from Nigel’s industry insights in his
FILEX session ‘Grow your membership with your
inspirational fitness story: a social media marketing
strategy (A2A)’. Head to filex.com.au to check out the
session details, full program info and to register.
NETWORK AUTUMN 2015 | 9