Regular readers of this Blog will be familiar with my position on the limitations of customer service. I am by no means anti-customer service (in fact I do believe that it can and should be improved) but I do believe that the current approach to customer service is seriously flawed.
One of the criticisms of the current approach is the tendency, of many, towards an overly simplistic, generic, globalized, application of customer service initiatives to every member regardless of need.
Of course, there are some fundamentals that all human beings like to see from the people they are interacting with… a smile… attentiveness… empathy… recognition… a caring attitude.
However, beyond the fundamentals (as I say in The Evolution of a Health Club Member) what is good customer service for one member can be an unwelcome annoyance for another.
Therefore, simplistic, generic, and globalized will never do… it can’t possibly do.
Typically, in customer service situations demand exceeds resources. There are almost always more members than staff in the club and so there is almost always a choice to make… outstanding customer service to one member means ignoring all other members in the club.
This is where the concept of customer service triage comes in. Triage is a term most commonly (although not exclusively) associated with medical emergency situations to describe the allocation of care when need exceeds available resources i.e. the process of sorting injured people into groups based on their need for, or likely benefit from, immediate medical treatment.
Beginners almost always need, and benefit most from, customer service in the club. Therefore, the club has to prioritize the delivery of customer service to the beginner whenever there is a choice to make.
However, in many clubs staff (left to their own devices) will naturally tend to interact with their regulars, other more advanced members (who they have more in common with), and “squeaky wheel” members (those who aren’t afraid to complain).
Of course, this leaves the silent majority of new members to suffer in silence on the club floor.
Guess what… the silent majority is where most of your attrition is coming from. If you don’t have a plan to get them the care they need your club will continue to haemorrhage.
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