Clarity Leisure
SMS key to Reebok member retention drive: Reebok Sports Club, London
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Reebok Sports Club is already the subject of an introductory Clarity customer case study - click here to view. This update focuses on Clarity's recently installed SMS solution.
Background
London's Reebok Sports Club offers state-of-the-art leisure opportunities to a highly demanding clientele. The current management team purchased the club in 2003, subsequently selecting Clarity as its IT partner. The club employs around 65 full-time staff to service over 6,500 members.
Already benefiting from the improved understanding and reporting of club membership trends delivered by Clarity's Baron Resort Manager software, Reebok Sports Club's management team has always focused on member retention and secondary spend. To this end, it has sought ways to leverage IT to better connect the club with its membership, and implemented Clarity SMS functionality in the spring of 2007.
Implementing the SMS solution
Clarity's software had already enabled the club to better track and understand usage and membership patterns. Reebok Sports Club London's Managing director Ian Mahoney believed that integrated SMS messaging could deliver value in a number of ways, communicating in a convenient format for customers and tackling issues with direct revenue impacts. Clarity SMS functionality was added and used initially for the club's spa operation, where immediate gains have resulted.
Ian Mahoney comments,
Our spa operation has achieved exceptional performance improvements, which we're attributing to the use of Clarity's SMS technology.
The club is using SMS messages to confirm spa booking appointments immediately they are made, eliminating the risk of diary errors or misunderstandings either by the club or its members. Then, 36 hours before the actual appointment, an SMS reminder is sent. The net result has been a sharp decline in missed appointments, maximising usage rates and revenue.
The SMS approach not only boosts revenue, but also contributes to customer satisfaction. Members making late cancellations or missing appointments know that they are liable for the cost of the booked session, however the reality is that enforcement can be counter-productive. By reducing the incidence of these events, SMS simultaneously protects club revenue and customer goodwill.
Ian Mahoney says,
We've had really good feedback from our members - they perceive the SMS reminder service as a positive benefit. It's working well and we're very pleased with it.
Rolling it out
The value of SMS at the club's spa has been immediate, and the management team is now looking at rolling it out for other services. Booked fitness inductions and member fitness assessments are a prime area where similar gains are anticipated - by reducing no-shows, staff productivity can be increased. Many other areas of the club could benefit, including a multi-purpose sports hall where court and other facilities can be booked.
SMS has made a very positive impact at Reebok Sports Club. The club's management team has applied the messaging capabilities highly selectively, and believes that they are of value when they deliver a direct customer benefit. Inundating prospective members with intrusive sales messages is strictly off the menu.
As Ian Mahoney says,
For us, SMS provides a friendly and customer-centric way of reminding members about services that they have booked and will directly benefit from. It reduces dissatisfaction resulting from no-show charges, maximises our income and facility usage, and contributes to the club's excellent member retention rates.
