Busy leisure facilities will understand the importance of an exceptional customer relationship management (CRM) system. Adopting a joined-up approach for all operational functions is the key to a streamlined business, and this is often the catalyst that encourages fitness organisations like Oldham Community Leisure (OCL) to partner with leading Direct Debit collection bureau DFC.

Sleeker administration
OCL is responsible for the operation and development of seven leisure facilities across Oldham. Its team continuously works hard to improve the health, wellbeing and activity levels of the town’s population.

OCL partnered with DFC almost three years ago – a decision based on DFC’s cohesive integration solutions that dovetailed nicely with OCL’s CRM operation. Managing information, such as membership signups, changes and cancellations, from one central hub has made their administration process much more efficient and has reduced the number of different avenues from which information is received.

Beyond this, having DFC manage its entire direct debit collection process has taken a weight off OCL’s shoulders and given its busy internal team the time to work on the parts of the business that truly matter to the organisation.

Peter Howson, head of CRM at OCL, says: “It’s so helpful having everything automated. DFC collects our money and everything is automatically updated to our current system. It’s allowed for a really unified approach and has saved a lot of time front of house.”

Working sustainably
Howson continues: “If you don’t have online joining for members in this day and age, you’re missing out.” Indeed, access to this service was the final encouragement OCL needed to join forces with DFC.

Howson describes DFC’s online joining portal FastDD as the most effective OCL has encountered. He says: “It has allowed us to provide joining opportunities 24/7. We can also promote this channel, which encourages more people to sign up. We offer different monthly promotions and can add these to the portal really easily.”

FastDD has been fully integrated into OCL’s current website, allowing members to easily access it, and to be able to do so at their convenience. This organised, paperless approach to onboarding members has proved highly beneficial to OCL’s administration team.

Member retention and credit control have also seen significant improvements. Since working with DFC, they’ve noticed a considerably positive upward trend in their collection rate and debt recovery.

Howson says: “DFC also does all the chasing for us, so there’s no need for our staff to spend time on this. They are really efficient and very quick. The biggest change we’ve noticed in terms of targets is that our collection rate and debt recovery efficacy has improved. As far as the bottom line goes, they’ve made a massive difference.”

With 70 per cent of all online direct debits coming through DFC’s online joining portal, OCL’s next move is to allow DFC full management of all their incoming memberships. They are currently working with DFC to transfer all processes across and look forward to DFC’s continued support.

With more than 30 first-class venues and 15 fully equipped gyms in its portfolio, Edinburgh Leisure is the biggest physical activity provider in Edinburgh. And for more than 10 years, the not-for-profit organisation has partnered with Life Fitness to help Edinburgh become a more active and healthy city.

July 2017 brought the two organisations together again for the refurbishment of the gym at Edinburgh Leisure’s historic Leith Victoria Swim Centre – a unique property combining 19th century features with cutting-edge fitness facilities.

Key aims of the project, which is part of a five-year programme across 15 sites, included the implementation of a clear digital strategy designed to drive marketplace differentiation and significantly enhance customers’ workout experience with a compelling offering.

The investment at Leith Victoria has seen the addition of 25 pieces of Life Fitness CV and strength equipment.

CONNECTED FITNESS
David McLean, Group Fitness Manager at Edinburgh Leisure, explains: “We believe in providing customers with the choice they need to create their own tailored fitness solutions. The partnership with Life Fitness has always been hugely collaborative and the LFconnect open platform reflects the true meaning of ‘connected fitness’. Expert advice from Life Fitness has allowed us to keep abreast of the latest digital innovations and develop a strategy for responding to emerging trends and meeting customer demand.

“LFconnect delivers the most open and versatile technology available. It empowers customers with wearables to take control of their own data. The seamless digital solution also provides an exceptional user experience and through the Discover SE Consoles, customers can explore everything from entertainment apps and courses to progress tracking.”

In addition to advising on digital strategy, Life Fitness provided valuable insight and attention to detail to ensure Edinburgh Leisure maximised gym floor space. McLean says: “During the planning stages Life Fitness demonstrated they could respond to our customers’ needs as well as enhance their overall gym experience. We deliver our services and products to a wide and diverse customer base and our equipment provision has to reflect this as well as help grow retention rates and drive new membership sales.”

PREMIUM EQUIPMENT
The result has been a gym that offers an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere, thanks to its thoughtful design, layout and selection of equipment. Leith Victoria boasts a comprehensive range of premium equipment from the Life Fitness Elevation Series including Treadmills, Recumbent Lifecycle Bikes, Upright Lifecycle Bikes, Elliptical Cross-Trainers and PowerMill Climbers. Customers can also enjoy an extensive range of strength equipment from the Life Fitness Insignia Series, including the Chest Press and Leg Extension, and the Linear Leg Press and Chin/Dip/Leg Raise from the Life Fitness Signature Series.

McLean concludes: “Making a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the people of Edinburgh is at the heart of everything we do. Life Fitness has been instrumental to the success of Leith Victoria and their support has been invaluable in making our vision become a reality. It feels like a true partnership which is helping us get the best results for our customers.”

In May 2017 the University of Birmingham opened its new Sport and Fitness Club, featuring a 50m swimming pool, multipurpose arena and sports hall, climbing wall, six squash courts, high performance centre and comprehensive gym – housing over 200 Technogym stations.

Bolstered by a £55m investment, the facility underlines the university’s commitment to encouraging sports participation at all levels by catering for a wide variety of users, including students, staff, local community and the university’s elite athletes and sport teams.

“We chose Technogym’s ARTIS equipment and SKILLMILL performance training solutions because we wanted the very best equipment on the market for our members,” explains Lee Costin, health and fitness manager, University of Birmingham Sport & Fitness Club.

STAYING ENGAGED
With interactive digital screens boasting the latest UNITY 3.0 software, the ARTIS cardio equipment provides members with a full range of entertainment options to keep them motivated during their workout. Engaging features such as the RACES mode on treadmills also allow more competitive members to challenge friends in the facility to a race over their preferred distance and location.

The University of Birmingham consistently finishes in the top 10 of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league, so providing athletic performance-focused training solutions for their teams was important. With this in mind the Sport and Fitness Club team invested in eight SKILLMILL Connect products to offer power, speed, stamina and agility training options in one solution. Costin explains: “SKILLMILL offers more than a different running experience; it is a versatile conditioning tool for our athletes.”

The comprehensive range of Technogym equipment is fully integrated with Technogym’s open cloud platform, mywellness, giving the gym team the opportunity to engage with members on a deeper level and allowing members to easily track all their health and fitness data. With over 3,800 mywellness accounts created so far, the team has had great feedback from members.

NEW ATMOSPHERE
“mywellness has been taken up quickly by our members,” explains Costin. “They use it to track their gym activity, but also love that it syncs with other apps, such as Runkeeper and Strava, so they’re able to manage all their activity in one place.”

The Sport and Fitness Club also has a dedicated Group Cycle Connect studio that houses 28 bikes and offers 39 classes per week. “The Group Cycle classes have been very popular with our members as the screen visuals are excellent and help to create a fantastic, energising atmosphere,” says Costin.

“Five months since opening and the facility is already well-loved with an excellent atmosphere.”

Nev Jones, Technogym sales director for health, corporate and performance concludes: “Technogym is delighted to be a partner of one of the top sporting universities. Our latest product innovations are focused on sports performance, making them the ideal choice for helping students and athletes perform at their best.”