Workout How to Deal with Lifts in Gym Enquiries in the New Year

Every year without fail thousands of people start searching for a gym to join around Christmas time, and with the health and fitness industry growing at an unprecedented rate this year is set to be no different. In fact it has been reported that 1 in every 7 people (9.7 million) in the UK is now a member of a gym, with revenues climbing at a compound annual rate of 3% over the past 5 years. Naturally these huge increases in enquiries put a real strain on gym resources and satisfying customer needs can become increasingly difficult. That being said, we caught up with Brett Cutbush, Client Services Manager at GFM ClearComms, who shared with us what he believes to be 5 key benefits of gyms outsourcing their contact centre services so that they can effectively and reliably service their customers during these peak activity times.

5 Reasons to Outsource Call Centre Services

1. Call Volume Predictions

It can be extremely difficult to predict call volumes during busy periods over the holiday season and inaccurate predictions can leave you unprepared to deal with high volumes. Call centres have the experience, expertise, and technology to accurately forecast these call volumes using historical data, tracking, and various other statistics. As a result, this will enable you to ensure you have sufficient resources in place so that you can effectively handle these calls quickly and efficiently. Moreover, hiring lots of seasonal staff can be expensive, especially as they need to be paid during slow periods when they may not be needed. The great thing about outsourcing your call handling services is that the provider will have a large workforce of agents who can be allocated to your customer service requirements on an as-needed basis. In addition, having more agents will reduce wait times for your customers, which will subsequently increase their satisfaction.
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2. Bespoke Omni-Channel Solutions

Call centers specialise in being able to provide customer service for a wide range of clients who all have different needs; whether that is phone, e-mail, live chat or social media. This makes them a great option for the holiday season when special circumstances may have you wanting temporary 24/7 service or support. Call centers have a lot of options that can meet your gym’s specific needs, thus allowing you a cost-effective option for making temporary or quick changes to your customer support. This allows them to quickly deal with customers based on the level of service they require and they can also then prioritise calls based on these needs.
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3. Improve Customer Retention

As crucial as it is to seek new customers during the Christmas period, the importance of customer retention cannot be overstated; as many people will also be looking to shop around and potentially switch gyms. Outsourcing your gym’s customer support provides the attention your current customers need to stay happy, while simultaneously satisfying the increased levels of new enquiries. Typically when companies see a huge increase in new enquiries for their services they focus all their attention of that and forget about their current customers, which can be extremely costly in the long run.
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4. Enhance Customer Loyalty

Another significant part of customer retention is finding ways to connect with your customers. More than just paying for the use of gym facilities and your associated services, customers need to feel connected to the culture of your brand. The creation of strategic loyalty programs that reward customers for their loyalty will enable you to reinforce to your customers that they are valued. These programmes will result in even more customer enquiries and this is yet another reason why outsourcing your customer support services can be hugely beneficial, allowing you to focus on more business critical tasks.
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5. Integrated Seasonal Gym Promotions

During the holiday season it is likely that your gym will have some form of seasonal promotions planned, which your customers need to be made aware of. Outsourced support services will take the time to promote these seasonal offers through integrated campaigns that are aimed towards your target audience and that effectively deal with all incoming enquiries on the back end of the campaign.
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As you can see there are many benefits to outsourcing your gym’s contact centre services during peak activity times; however, it is essential that you choose the right company to suit your needs and maximise your benefits. At GFM ClearComms we have been delivering flexible, end-to-end contact centre services and marketing solutions on behalf of for some of the largest and well known gym and fitness brands in the UK for over 26 years; including David Lloyd who we have made calls on behalf of their 80+ clubs and helped them generate over £2.4 million in additional memebership sales in 2016 alone. To find out how you could benefit from outsourcing your gym’s contact centre services to us please call 01206 226444 or alternatively email us at hello@gfm.co.uk.

David Lloyd Case Study >