Case Study Fitness Plus

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During a visit to Sydney the director of the Perth Centre spoke with a marketing consultant who helped an architect design the Fitness Plus building in California. The consultant pointed out that health and fitness centres are termed ‘high contact’ service organisations. The consultant said this was because a health and fitness centres are in the service system a very long time, when compared, for example to customers of banks and fast-food restaurants. The length of time in the service system makes the process a very important controllable variable for fitness centres like the North Perth Health and Fitness Centre. The consultant advised the director that eliminating bottlenecks and providing a smooth, co-ordinated flow of customers through their various activities at the new centre would make it much easier for their staff to offer a consistent, top-quality service.

The consultant also explained the advantages of using ‘physical evidence’ in a site-based facility to the director and the importance of planning the physical evidence before the new building was constructed. The consultant also pointed out that while the building layout and the customer flows were very important to Fitness Plus’s service, it was the people part of its mix that made the entire service concept work. To illustrate this point for the director, the consultant used an example of another fitness centre with good equipment and physical surroundings but that also employed poorly trained and motivated staff. This centre was not trading nearly as well as Fitness Plus. The visit was valuable as the discussion convinced the director that there was no reason why the proposed North Perth Health and Fitness Centre could not apply the latest service marketing strategies available to provide a complete health and fitness service that would be, at least, on a par with the one provided by Fitness Plus

Questions

As a marketing consultant:

- Detail an appropriate flow of activities (termed mapping or blueprinting) for customers through the new North Perth Health and Fitness Centre that will identify critical areas, help eliminate bottlenecks, and help provide a quality service.

- Provide the director with an analysis of how the North Perth Health and Fitness Centre should train and manage the ‘people’ part of the service marketing mix to maintain customer satisfaction and keep the service of the new centre on a par with Fitness Plus

Additional information for getting started

Fitness – Clayton

- Two levels

- Air conditioned

- Massive Cardio Theatre

- 35 Spinning Bikes

- Comprehensive Range of Pin-Loaded and Free-Weights

- Olympic Lifting Bars and Platforms

- Open up to 15 Hours Each Day

- Tertiary Qualified/Experienced Staff

- Club Atmosphere

- https://www.monash.edu.au/sport/health-fitness/clayton.html