We report on the impact MYZONE is having on member motivation and retention at Velocity Aberdeen

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT
Client: Village Urban Resorts
Supplier: MYZONE

MYZONE plays a starring role at Village Urban Resorts’ flagship Velocity health & fitness club, which opened in Aberdeen last month.

In addition to a 20m swimming pool, steamroom, sauna and whirlpool spa, the premium club features the latest equipment and technology to provide members with an unrivalled fitness experience. Velocity Aberdeen is one of the first clubs in the UK to be entirely equipped with Technogym’s ARTIS range. It also features the latest MyRide indoor cycling video experiences, interactive flooring from Pavigym, and Les Mills Virtual studio classes.

“MYZONE is the key link – it brings all of these elements together,” says Chris Southall, director of leisure and spa at Village Urban Resorts. Included in the cost of membership, each new member receives a MYZONE belt and can use the technology throughout the club – as well as outside the facility – with screens in the studios and across the gym floor.

It’s all part of the group’s strategy to cement MYZONE in the DNA of each of its clubs: it rolled the technology out in all 25 Velocity sites in January 2014. Already, 22 per cent of its approximately 80,000 members are users of MYZONE.

“MYZONE is completely embedded in our facilities, but it only works if we get staff completely behind it,” says Southall. For this reason, all staff receive a belt and are expected to do MEPs (MYZONE Effort Points); sales staff even wear a MYZONE belt while they conduct tours.

And staff have bought in to the concept, says Southall: “MYZONE is such a great engagement tool and has so many touchpoints that it makes it much easier for staff to interact with members. In fact, our PTs say it’s such an effective way of measuring workouts, giving direct feedback and motivating people, that they feel quite lost when not using it when they train people elsewhere.”

Each Velocity club runs regular MYZONE competitions in addition to the quarterly inter-club challenges that take place throughout the group.

“I’d say about 10 per cent of our members get involved with the challenges, and those who do absolutely love it,” says Southall. “But the beauty of MYZONE is that it’s a great personal motivator. We have a broad mix of members, with an average age of 41 to 45 years, and it’s actually been the Average Joes rather than the elite exercisers who have most taken to MYZONE and are feeling the benefits in their workouts.”

And this is having benefits for wider retention, he says: “We’re finding that the people who take up our flexible membership option and use MYZONE are staying for longer. So for us, as well as being a great USP, MYZONE is proving to be a key retention tool.”

For more information: www.myzone.org