How to help your reception desk team excel

You are certainly well aware of the essential role played by the reception desk and the team working in this department at your gym.

The people who greet members or answer the phone are part of the member's first impression and can make the difference between a great experience and a mediocre one.

So, your front desk team is just as important as any other department. My advice is to give them as many resources as possible so that the member's experience is memorable... in a positive way, of course.

There are many types of members, and sometimes things may not work as they should. What's more, the people at the front desk need to know how to help them, smooth over any conflict and solve any client problem before they even know they have a problem.

Reception training is a rather complex process that differs from club to club, depending on the services they offer and internal procedures. However, how receptionists relate to members and are prepared with answers and clarifications is similar everywhere.

Welcoming members

First of all, how clients are greeted when they arrive at the club or call the front desk is crucial.

Do receptionists greet members when they enter the club? Even when they are busy with someone else or something else? When they answer the phone, do they introduce themselves?

If you don't already have a procedure for this, create a short speech for when someone walks into the club and when the receptionists answer the phone. It doesn't have to be more than two sentences in either case, but it will also be easier for your team to know what to say rather than improvise on the fly.

Frequent questions

There are specific questions or topics that members or potential clients always need clarification on, whether it's memberships, a particular offer, how a machine works or if they can use specific equipment if they have back pain, for example.

These questions must have an exact, concise and, above all, correct answer.

So, meet with the entire front desk team and list the most common questions they get from members or potential customers.

Some of these situations may be addressed through an email to all members or posters pasted at the reception desk or changing rooms. For the rest, create one suitable answer for each and ensure each team member has these answers in writing.

This way, you ensure that your members get the correct information correctly.

Role-playing games

Another problem I'm sure your club receptionists face is problem members. No matter how tight-knit and awesome your community is, there are bound to be problems or grievances occasionally. It is normal! The question is how these problems are solved by your team.

Whether we're talking about members who complain about various inconveniences at the reception, or members who don't follow the rules, all these cases must be solved by your employees in a firm, professional, but above all, empathetic way.

No matter how good you are at customer service, there are many situations where you just don't know how to react and what to say. To avoid these events as much as possible, you can organize role-play sessions between your reception desk team members.

Generally, people react better and faster in situations they have already faced. So if you do these little role plays with your employees on various topics, they will know how to react when it happens in reality and how to respond correctly.

Of course, there are plenty of other strategies and procedures that can be implemented at the front desk of your fitness club to ensure that the member experience is the best it can be, but these three ideas are a great start.

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