There is nothing more important to your members than the experience they have in your locker rooms. You might have the most advanced fitness equipment in the world but if you have less than average locker rooms you are more likely to lose a lot of members since this is where they go either before or after their workout at your fitness facility. For this reason, you need to invest your resources into redesigning your locker rooms to improve client satisfaction.
Let's take a look at a few ways you can improve your locker room facilities so that you can be ahead of your competition and retain and attract more members.
Locker room facilities should be spotlessly clean. You can forget about all the other ways to enhance your members' locker room experience because if the locker rooms are not clean then you are actually wasting a whole lot of time. Hire management or train your staff to ensure the locker rooms are washed periodically, at least three times a day, with the proper cleaning detergents. Adding proper ventilation and air fresheners would also help to ensure that the washrooms smell fresh and clean.
You should also make sure that your locker room meets your members' needs. You should consider where your fitness facility is situated and then try to envision the types of members you are likely to get. If your gym is located in an area where most of your members are busy business people or women, then your locker rooms should be bigger and vertically longer to ensure that they have enough space to hang their attire when they change into their workout clothes.
Members that live in residential areas, however, may not need a lot of space because they may come to the gym already in their workout clothes. They, therefore, only need some space to store their valuables. Installing small sizable lockers will, most likely, suit their needs. A growing trend are smaller lockers equipped with charging ports for cell phones and tablets. These cell phone lockers are compact enough to offer several units in a small space, making them cost efficient and functional for certain gyms and studios.
Your lockers should also have enough space, if your gym is situated near colleges, to accommodate student needs. They should have the capacity to hold their personal property and even equipment. Look into different locker tier configurations that offer a variety of sized units—even if most of your members are stuffing a full sized locker, some will only need half that size to fit their clothes and personal items.
You should also incorporate technology into your locker rooms to make them more modern, safe and secure. Use card reader locks or thumbprint scanners for your lockers to ensure maximum safety standards. These devices will make your lockers modernized and sleek adding convenience and safety to your locker rooms. You can also install automated showers and shower cleaners to minimize infection, expenses and time spent cleaning the showers.
Locker ventilation systems will minimize moldy odors and keep the client’s property clean. Locker rooms are often very humid places and thus need a lot of ventilation to keep the equipment clean and rust free.
You should also install internet ports or Wi-Fi hotspots for easy access to the internet and television screens to your locker rooms to make it a place where people can congregate. All these enhancements will help make clients feel more comfortable and at home and will go a long way into ensuring that you retain and possibly attract more clients to your facility.
Employ artistic designs for a great locker room experience. Depending on the vibe of your gym, you can paint your walls with bright colors that can help elevate the mood and make the locker rooms more comfortable. Painting your walls blue, white or a mixture of bright colored patterns will increase member satisfaction and a make them want to stay longer.
You can also paint your lockers in distinctive patterns or apply creative custom wallpaper designs instead of solid colors to make them look more personalized.
You could also go a step further and install creative customized floor designs instead of the standard tiled floors.
You should use an approach that incorporates versatility when designing or even renovating your locker room area because it has a huge impact on member retention. If you have already built a locker room you can even ask your members for ideas on how to improve the space. Listen to them and try to work on their ideas because as you already know, the client is always right!
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