How to provide excellent customer service in your leisure centre

How to provide excellent customer service Svend Elkjaer Sports Marketing Network

Svend Elkjaer Sports Marketing Network o Dane, handball, o publishing, events, o excitement, creative, bad manager, o even worse politician, o Bedford, event consultancy business... o now Norseman returned to Yorkshire o always in the experience business

Today o Purpose o Process o Payoff Learn from holiday camps, pubs, Disney, Starbucks and …Ripon Cathedral!

“Follow the customer, if they change... we change”, Sir Terry Leahy, Chief Executive, Tesco

“Unwelcoming clubs”… a word from the Secretary of State o “Let’s be honest, a lot of our clubs have got a very unwelcoming environment. They must develop a more supportive environment, making people feel more comfortable.” Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (England Netball magazine)

Excellent customer service means…

Excellent customer service means… o doing ordinary things extraordinary well o going beyond what’s expected o adding value and integrity to every interaction o being at your best with every customer o discovering new ways to delight those you serve o surprising yourself with how much you can do o taking care of the customer like you would take care of your grandmother

When did you last receive/see/give excellent customer service? How did it make you feel? Why is it important? Who decides what is excellent customer service? How long could I be standing at your centre before somebody says ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’?

Excellent customer service… Culture/attitude or skill or both?

Excellent customer service… passion or process or both?

“Unless you have 100% customer satisfaction...you must improve” Horst Schulz, Ritz Carlton Hotels chief executive officer

Welcoming centres…more customers and more money o Focus on your customers their needs and then work to attract and retain them to support your centre o Your membership and revenue will then grow and long-term you will have a winning centre

Why customer service matters… o If you retain 90% of your members/customers every year, you’ll have lost more than one third in year 4. You will have lost almost 60% if you retain 80% every year o David Lloyd retains 72% per year

Retention…the £ implications o 100 customers @ £100 Retention Rate Year 1 2 3 4 5 Total 90% 10 9 8 7 6 40 80% 10 8 6 5 4 33 70% 10 7 5 3 2 27

Where’s your customer focus? 1. We are completely focused on our customers, and we are aware of their different needs and we work hard to satisfy those needs. We constantly listen to our customers and make improvements whenever we can and when we can't we explain why. 2. We are getting increasingly customer focused although the whole organisation may not be as customer-focused as we would like. We know how we want to improve and we are working hard to get there 3. We need to focus less on internal and political issues and more on the customer 4. We rarely talk about customers - do we really know who they are? 5. We are a leisure centre - why are we talking about customers?

Your mission o Why do customers remember us? o How do customers feel about us? o What do customers tell their friends about us? o In what ways do we help one another?

The customer profit customer experience minus customer sacrifice = customer profit

The WHOLE experience o Think of the whole experience of joining your centre: (Moment Mapping) n Decision to attend n Seek information n Booking n Transport n Experience at your club n Do you make them love you n Follow up n Ask/listen

Dirty / Clean? – Cheap / Quality?

All the world’s a stage o What is smart to you? o How do you feel when you’re looking good at and you know it? o What impression does that make to our guests?

The three 2s 2 seconds 2 minutes 2 hours

5 words you rarely see in sports plans Fun Passion Customer Technology Innovation

o If you invited me to your house you would treat me a guest… o If I came to your centre you would treat me as a ………?

You have an Goodwill Bank account with all your customers o Make you sure make regular deposits and that you are NEVER overdrawn

Close the loop o There’s no point getting people through the front door if the back door is wide open: n Lack of follow up n No place for feedback n No evaluation From out-reach to in-reach

Getting to know you… First visit Second visit First week Prospect Put info in Phone call gives database contact info Send email/text Ongoing Every 6 weeks First month Newsletter Newcomer Follow up Birthday card support Prior/post Christmas call card

What do people think? o How big a percentage of your local community know your club exists? o How many know where you are? o How many have been? o What reception would they get and would they want to come back if they came to a game, class, function or just to have a look?

“You cannot improve one thing by 1000% but you can improve 1000 little things by 1%” "Coffee stains on the flip trays tell the customer that we don't service our engines properly" Jan Carlzon, former Chief Executive, Scandinavian Airlines

One-to-one marketing Treat ALL customers as individuals

Customer service for all…everyone wants to be treated as an individual

Say what and how? o Face-to-face Communication n 55% body language n 38% tone of voice n 7% words used o Telephone communication n 82% tone of voice n 18% words used

Remember him… "I only ever had a few seconds to resolve a situation and therefore using the right body language was essential. You just have to use the appropriate behaviour for the moment – it could be a smile, or I could be much firmer, depending on the situation.“ Pierluigi Collina

Try and convince these two!

The customer’s view…not yours o Passionate vs. aggressive o Relaxed vs. indifferent/apathetic o Smiling vs. condescending

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes… Guest: “Can you see things from my point view?” “Well, if I was in your situation…” NO, take your shoes of first!

How to find out what your customers think o Ask them and listen n How many customers do you ask every day? o Create an environment where people feel comfortable giving you feedback – good or bad o Thank customers who complain (at least they bother!)

Imagine if… o 3 things you would need from experiencing a great Three 2s? o How would that make you feel?

Knowing me knowing you o Why is building rapport useful? o How long does is take to build? o How long does it take to lose?

Active listening (how do you feel when no one listens to you?) o On my way to Loughborough I… o Barriers to active listening?

Open questions o Solicit more than a “yes” or “no” pr other one-word response o Aim to get someone talking o Are useful when you want general questions o Common lead-ins are what, how and why

Closed questions o Solicit a “yes” or “no” or other one- word response o Aim to limit talking or to control direction of conversation o Are useful when you want specific information o Common lead-ins are who, when, did, which, would, are, can, have, do is, will and may

Welcome to my centre… It’s great here because…tell twelve year old teenager five-a-side football team two unfit women in their forties

“If you are not here to serve the customer, or support the folks that do, what are you doing here?” Sam Walton, Founder, Wal-Mart (the world’s biggest retailer)

What you can do without asking the boss… o Smile o Be polite o Follow up What else….

Your best friend – the awkward customer o Can be a big drain on staff So what can you do: o Let the customer vent (don’t take it personally) o Listen (actively) – repeat key points, take notes – make customer believe you are taking notice o Empathise – ‘that’s awful’, stay calm, relaxed and in control, offer two solutions and let them choose, what can you do o Avoid getting trapped in negativity o Follow up

Empower people to give excellent service o Set a budget – both in cash and time terms o Share best practice o Look back at some ‘live’ examples where people felt there not empowered o Create a ‘no fail’ environment where people are prepared to make mistakes and learn from them o Do it. The secret is in the doing

What not to say and do o Our system is down o I don’t know o I tried but… o That’s not my job o Calm down o No o We’re having a staffing problem… o We’ve been very busy… o We can’t do that because… o Our policy is… o Our rules are..

What to say and do o Thank you for your feedback o I’ll find out o What I can do is o I’m sorry o We learn from what our customers tell us…(make sure you do) o From what you have said we could be a lot better o Is there anything I can do for you right now to win back some of your trust?

Bounce back Two types of problems: Predictable get them sorted! Surprising empower people to show initiative and creativity

Turn the pyramid upside down Receptionists, instructors, life-guards etc. Senior management

Reliable, honest promise o Rules create robots o Systems create consistency o Values not procedures

“No one ever tells me anything” “A person without information can’t take responsibility. A person with information can’t help but take responsibility” Jan Carlzon, former Chief Executive, Scandinavian Airlines

It would never work here… (selling excellent customer service internally) o “I am an electrician, so I don’t deal with customers” o “I am a manager, so I don’t deal with customers” o “I work in sports development, so I don’t deal with customers” You try and run your leisure centre without customers

o Deep down, we believe that the problem put simply, is THEM. They, of course, believe WE are the problem

Where’s your customer focus? 1. We are completely focused on our customers, and we are aware of their different needs and we work hard to satisfy those needs. We constantly listen to our customers and make improvements whenever we can and when we can't we explain why. 2. We are getting increasingly customer focused although the whole organisation may not be as customer-focused as we would like. We know how we want to improve and we are working hard to get there 3. We need to focus less on internal and political issues and more on the customer 4. We rarely talk about customers - do we really know who they are? 5. We are a leisure centre - why are we talking about customers?

Is there anything else o What else can I do for you today? o How else can I be of use? o What else might you be looking for? o Do you have any other questions I can answer for you? o What else can I help you with today?

What have you done for me lately? o Send thank you/birthday/Christmas cards o The ‘Passion Bell’ o More than just a leisure centre o “We haven’t seen you for a while, are you OK?” o “Have you lost weight?” o Who have received the most ‘smile- backs’ today?

So what you are going to change? Tomorrow Fortnight 3 months Now you know what’s stopping you from doing it

“Man who doesn’t smile, should not work in leisure centre” Chinese proverb (from Yorkshire)

Let’s stay in touch… Svend Elkjaer Sports Marketing Network 5 Station Terrace Boroughbridge, York YO51 9BU 01423 326 660 svend@smnuk.com

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How to provide excellent customer service in your leisure centre

by Sports Marketing Network on Aug 31, 2009

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How to provide excellent customer service in your leisure centre — Presentation Transcript