Xn Insight is revolutionising the physical activity sector by helping operators unlock the power of their activity data to benchmark their performance and take instant decisions based on customer intelligence, as Xn Leisure’s managing director, David Harris, explains

How would you describe Xn Insight?
It’s an easy-to-use product that gives operators access to their information on the performance of their business. There’s so much data available to operators now, but often this can be complicated and laborious to make sense of. Xn Insight is a time-saving tool which provides a clear dashboard view of business performance and KPIs, enabling them to make smarter decisions and focus on the metrics that really matter. For example, operators can understand which exercise classes and services are underperforming and then use this insight to set up targeted and automated marketing campaigns through the product to get performance back on track.

How does this system link up with the DataHub?
As readers of the article in HCM June (p72-75) will know, the DataHub is a cross-sector initiative which Xn Leisure has played a leading role in driving forward to help activity providers identify which programmes and initiatives are proving most popular and what’s working to attract and keep members. Access to core DataHub modules are free to all members, however Xn Insight is a bolt-on subscription module which enables operators to capture deeper data levels, giving them greater levels of insight and an edge on their rivals when it comes to taking key business decisions.

What are the biggest benefits that operators can gain from Xn Insight?
The added functionality gives operators access to unique data to help them make smarter decisions that will improve their proposition and increase their sales, making them more competitive.

With Xn Insight our customers can see trends, analyse secondary spend, use factual data, map the customer journey, easily create digital marketing campaigns and track their impact. It’s the type of insight that rival sectors like retail have had access to for years.

However Xn Insight is helping to close that gap and empower operators to harness their own data to increase commercial returns, demonstrate value and get communities more active.

What’s been the sector's response to Xn Insight so far?
Initial feedback from the Xn Executive user group (comprising LiveWire Warrington, Link4Life, Fife SPORTS and Leisure Trust, Surrey Sports Park, Tees Active, Lisburn and Castlereagh) has helped to greatly shape the product.

We soft-launched at the start of 2017 and operators have said they found the dashboard far more user-friendly than alternative solutions.

The data is fed into the Xn platform daily and then seamlessly converts into easy-to-understand reports. Traditionally our sector has made decisions purely around cost, but with Xn Insight there seems to be a greater appreciation from operators around the wider value that such a service can provide them. It’s a no-brainer really, why wouldn’t you want to make better use of your data?

What opportunities can Xn Insight unlock for the future of the leisure sector?
Our sector has been slow to capitalise on the mass of data collected from things like leisure management software, fitness equipment and online platforms, so the DataHub has been a vital development in standardising this data into a universal language from which we can all derive insight. Now that we’ve cracked this, products like Xn Insight can build from these blocks to offer sharper business tools that help operators make better operational and investment decisions, perform better in tenders and boost bottom line.