Discuss About The Guide To Excellent Customer Care Gym Floor?
From the PESTLE analysis given above, several deductions can be made for Les Mills. Firstly, the government of New Zealand is playing an active role in promoting health and fitness in the country. It is spreading awareness through school-based campaigns, public education programs, youth training interventions and marae-based programs. When fitness and sports are one of the main governmental priorities, people are likely to take it seriously. As far as the economic scenario is concerned, New Zealand is still grappling with recession. However, the gym and fitness industry has been recession proof. Gym memberships in the country are growing yearly. Interest rates are at an all-time low of .5% (NZIF, 2017). This implies that fewer people are focused on saving and hence they gym members are spending an average of 500NZD per annum on gym memberships.
Coming to the social factors, fewer people in New Zealand are cancelling their gym memberships, implying there is high demand for gyms. This is also because New Zealand has an ever-increasing rate of obesity, in fact, its obese population is same as Australia. Due to such high rate of obesity, Kiwis are keen on losing weight, thereby growing the demand for gyms. In addition to this, physical leisure and sports form a crucial component of Kiwis’ cultural identity (Mann & Truswell, 2017). Technological factors are also shaping the country’s fitness industry. Advancements in gym equipment are now allowing gyms to provide customers with machines on which they can watch TV, stream music, surf the web, monitor their heart rate and even feed their personal data to customize their workout. With such amenities customer satisfaction is increasing and so is the demand for gyms (Ryan, 2017).
The laws and regulations established by the government, fitness sector and insurance companies plus health & safety norms have to be complied with. This could entail maintaining equipment and machines to a certain standard, plus all staff must be qualified and trained fitness professionals. As far as the environment is concerned, customers’ awareness about environment protection is growing. The machines and equipment have high energy consumption, and resultantly, they require more electricity to operate. This could be mitigated by setting up energy efficient equipment (MacFarlane, Phelps & Schulenkorf, 2016).
Les Mills is the biggest player in the New Zealand fitness market giving it considerable size advantages. Its gyms have a weekly attendance of members nearly twice the industry average. Members are loyal to the company and hence rather than targeting all consumer segments, Les Mills only has to target potential consumers to grow its business. A strong brand name helps here. The company has the option of investing in better innovation which will help it offer unique services and products to meet the ever-increasing demand of customers. The competition in the fitness industry is very high, and companies are constantly trying to snatch market share from their rivals. Another major threat is that of ageing Kiwi population (Crossley, 2012). A large part of the younger generation does not have sufficient finances to pay for membership, while those who can afford comprise the ageing population.
Les Mills faces tough competition from Just Workout, Jetts Fitness and City Fitness, all of which have become huge chains and operated all across New Zealand. All these brands are using the most recent technology to keep pace with their rivals. The threat of substitutes is between moderate to high. DIY exercises like Yoga, working out at home, running and walking are some options, people may consider than joining a gym. Calorie counting meal brands are also proving to be substituted (Jason et al., 2017). New brands are continuously entering the market, implying a moderate threat from this force. Not more than 5 years ago, there were very few 24/7 operators, but now the number has grown to 150. However, as Les Mills is the biggest player, new operators will take considerable time to reach its level. Buyers have high bargaining power as they have the power to demand products and services they want at negotiated prices because of broad choices. Suppliers have low power because gym product suppliers are many (Fahy & Jobber, 2012).
The business objective of Les Mills is to provide customers with life-altering fitness experiences all time, everywhere. To manifest this objective, the company pays special attention to its human resource planning and performance management. As identified in the SWOT analysis, Les Mills avoids an oppressive hierarchy and looks for innovators and risk takers. Hence, the goal of its HR planning is also to find people who are proactive and tall poppies which are enthusiastic to change the world consistent with its mission (Tynan, 2010). Once the required staff is hired, they are continuously trained to update their professional skills plus also in customer service domain to strengthen a loyal customer base with the objective to improve overall performance. All fitness instructors are provided with advanced training so that they are certified to advanced coach programs. KPIs are part of every employee’s performance evaluation. These KPIs ensure employees’ objectives are consistent with company’s vision and are being achieved (Sassatelli, 2010).
The Leadership development intervention at Les Mills intends to help develop leaders from every level and area of the company by providing them support, resources and tools they require. For this purpose effective planning for performance management is done. Succession planning is a major employee recruitment and retention strategy used by the company. It develops its people so that they are capable enough to assume higher responsibilities in the future, thereby minimizing the need to invest in external recruitment. It also ensure that company is having skilled and capable staff to cope up with the demand and expectations of market. The company demands a robust compliance with its brand values and the entire staff is expected to comply with it (Lyon, 2016). The company’s package is designed to be the first rate, and hence it commissions sales representative and employees to exemplify this world-class brand.
As identified through SWOT, the competitive advantage of Les Mills lies in its innovation culture and a highly efficient and trained staff. The company has designed and developed choreographed fitness programs coupled with music which is adapted to the different interests, goals and needs of member groups. These classes are accompanied with high-tech fitness machines and equipment to cater those members who like resistance training as compared to aerobic workouts (Andreasson & Johansson, 2014). As mentioned in the PESTLE analysis, technological advancements are providing companies with a competitive edge, and clearly, Les Mills is leveraging on this aspect. Less Mills was a finalist in the International Business Awards New Zealand for the best business. Not only this, but the company is also capitalizing on the consumers’ concern for the environment. It is finding an effective system based on sound technology which will bring more credibility to its sustainability goals. It has also added a globally credited carbon footprint certification to its portfolio. Evidently, its membership is increasing because it is catering to people’s environmental expectations (Crossley, 2012).
Another factor that brings competitive advantage to Les Mills is its ability to merge physical and digital. The company recognizes that the future of the industry is blending digital with physical. The fitness organization has pioneered concepts such as Immersive Fitness, that mixes a cycling workout with digital projection on the big screen to develop a new type of exercise regime. The company also recently launched its app (Walter, 2014).
Conclusion
From the above discussion, plenty of things have become known about Les Mills. With proper attention to social, environmental, legal and technological variables in play, the company is expanding at a great speed. It realized that the company and its people could not be complacent about their position in the future. The fitness industry is undoubtedly speeding, and if the company does not do something, it will be left behind its competitors. This is the reason, Les Mills aims at enhancing the experience via its facilities which are practical, attractive and environmentally sustainable.
As the growing ageing population presents a threat to fitness industry business, Les Mills focuses its products and services on 18-35-year-olds. These people are well educated, ambitious and earn above-average disposable incomes and are therefore able to afford gym memberships. Employees also form the backbone of the company. The staff is recruited with a very strict screening process so that only those people who have similar goals and visions as Les Mills and a drive to succeed are hired. The existing staff has an evangelical fervour about it. The company has built its brand as an employer and becoming an employee of Les Mills is viewed as the life-altering moment. The organization provides “life-changing employee training” using techniques such as personal development, cultural rituals, team building, and motivational psychology to ignite staff enthusiasm, commitment and passion. This is then converted into excellent customer service which acts as a competitive advantage for Les Mills. It also has sound health and safety norms and complies with all applicable laws.
The company is recommended to include programs on a diet in addition to its fitness programs. It is also recommended to launch fitness programs aimed at children. It can also advertise “Fit n’ Well” following themes by the government to increase impact on target segments.
References
Andreasson, J. & Johansson, T. (2014) The Fitness Revolution. Historical Transformations in the Global Gym and Fitness Culture. The Journal of National Institute of Sport Research, 23(3-4).
Crossley, J. (2012). Les Mills an international success. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/6327563/Les-Mills-an-international-success>. [Accessed on 24th September 2017].
Fahy, J. & Jobber, D. (2012) Foundations of Marketing. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Jason, A., Wiesner, G., Uffelen, J., Harvey, J., Craike, M. & Biddle, S. (2017) Assessment and monitoring practices of Australian fitness professionals. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.
Lyon, A. (2016) The Role of Fitness Professionals in Public Health: A Review of the Literature. Taylor & Francis.
MacFarlane, J., Phelps, S. & Schulenkorf, N. (2016) Discovering Network Legitimacy in the Human Resources Planning At Les MillsFitness Industry: A Case Study of REPs NZ. International Journal of Sport Management, 17(1), pp.129-153.
Mann, J. & Truswell, S. (2017) Essential of Human Nutrition. OUP.
NZIF. (2017) The New Zealand Fitness Industry – An Overview. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.nzihf.co.nz/the-new-zealand-fitness-industry-an-overview>. [Accessed on 24 September 2017].
Ryan, H. (2017) Workout industry bulks up: Gym business worth $494 million. NZ Herald. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11783716 >. [Accessed on 24th September 2017].
Sassatelli, R. (2010) Fitness Culture: Gyms and the Commercialisation of Discipline and Fun. Springer.
Tynan, K. (2010) The Interactive Instructor: The definitive guide to excellent customer care on the gym floor. BookBaby.
Walter, T. (2014) WORLDWIDE SURVEY OF FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2015: What’s Driving the Market. Health & Fitness Journal, 18(6), pp.8-17.
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