AusLeisure

Fitness industry consultants Active Management recently secured a contract to help Anytime Fitness improve their clubs’ sales processes, using ‘mystery shopping’.

The contract sees Active Management ‘mystery shop’ individual Anytime Fitness franchisees in advance of their training with the Anytime Fitness head office, enables the staff training that follows to be shaped around identied strengths and weaknesses.

Explaining Active Management’s concept Active Management Managing Director Justin Tamsett states “mystery shopping is the best way to inspect what to expect from your team.

“When I was a club owner, I always hoped that telephone or walk-in enquiries were treated exactly the way my team were trained, but I never really knew for sure.

“So, when we launched Active Management, mystery shopping was the first product we released, and I employed my former club manager Stacey Hurley to manage the program. “She knew exactly what owners and managers look for, so she was a perfect fit for the role.”

Hurley, Active Management’s Mystery Shopper Captain, adds “in our first month we made 33 calls to numerous Anytime Fitness clubs based in New South Wales and in doing so, we identified several key areas for improvement.

“While we have been working with a few independent clubs and council facilities, the Anytime Fitness owners have demonstrated a high level of proactivity, to ensure their teams are consistently delivering quality sales experiences. We have been working with one particular Anytime Fitness client for three years now, and over that time their scores have improved by at least 50% since they began.

“Clubs of all sizes have benefited from the information they receive from a Mystery Shopping program. Some owners are surprised when they discover that the enquiry from our visit was never even recorded, while other owners are surprised when staff members they didn’t expect to be strong in sales, score impressively.”

Explaining the potential of mystery shopping in the fitness industry, Tamsett concludes “contracting an independent mystery shopping service is a relatively new service within the fitness industry.

“We understand that owners can be nervous about committing to a long term program and, as such, we have developed an introductory package which is less than $1,000, that gives owners and managers, a snap shot of how walk-in, phone and web enquiries are truly handled in their business.

“One client said ‘the fitness industry is now the most competitive it has ever been, so we need to handle every enquiry like gold. For this reason, employing Active Management to Mystery Shop us is the best investment to ensure we do.’”

Active Management is dedicated to providing innovative resources and opportunities for fitness industry business owners to grow their business. It provides practical and proven resources such as events, newsletters and an opportunity to ask specific questions of industry experts.

Mystery shopping (mystery consumer/secret shopper), is a tool used externally by market research companies, watchdog organisations, or internally by companies to measure quality of service, or compliance with regulation, or to gather specific information about products and services. The mystery shopper's specific identity and purpose is generally not known by the establishment being evaluated. Mystery shoppers perform specific tasks such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way, and then provide detailed reports or feedback about their experiences.

To learn more about Active Management’s Mystery Shopping program contact Stacey Hurley on 02 9484 5501.

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