How to ensure your health club locker rooms are hassle-free, and a hit with members

As a health and fitness club operator, we know you want to get every detail of your club exactly right for members – from a warm and welcoming reception to a beautifully-designed and lit interior, and an exciting range of equipment and training spaces on the gym floor.

There’s also another stage of the member experience – that lies between reception and the gym – that’s vitally important to get right, and that’s your locker and changing rooms.

There’s a wide-ranging belief that a new or prospective member often decides – either consciously or unconsciously – to join your club based on the overall atmosphere and cleanliness of your club. And locker rooms contribute a great part to this factor.

Aesthetics are certainly important - design, lighting, and above all, cleanliness. But how your changing rooms function on a day-to-day basis plays an even greater part in the success of your club.

From a management point of view, you need your locker system to be highly secure, easy to manage and maintain, and easy to expand and upgrade if needed.

From your members’ point of view, they must have confidence that their belongings are completely safe, and know that they never have to deal with the hassle of jammed locks, lost keys or endlessly searching for a vacant locker.

The locker questions to ask

Your changing and locker rooms see a large amount of activity and footfall at peak times, so they should provide your members with an easy and safe transition from their busy outside lives, right into the heart of your club, and back out again once they’re done.

As a club operator, some questions you should be asking:

• Can your time-pressed members always find a locker on arrival, and is it easy for them to relocate it should they forget or lose their key?
• Are you completely happy with the security of your lockers, especially if you run a very large health club, that might even be open 24/7?
• Do you find you’re spending too much time, attention, and money on fixing your lockers – all of which could be focused on other important areas of the business?
• Are you earning extra revenue from a percentage of your lockers by offering members a choice of paid VIP access?

Whether you're a fitness chain with a large number of sites across the country, or a smaller owner/operator of an independent brand, the ease, and quality of your changing room experience can make a lasting impression on your members.

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Go contactless

So, what should you be looking for when choosing a locking system for your club?

The most effective systems for both clubs and members use contactless RFID (radio frequency identification) and NFC (near field communication) locking systems. With contactless technology, you can completely eliminate the daily hassle of dealing with lost keys – which can be troublesome for members and costly for clubs.

Instead of a physical key, members can use an assigned member wristband, card, or even their own smartphone to swipe to open a locker. If they forget where their locker is, operators could opt to install a central terminal in the changing rooms where members can simply swipe their chosen credential to find it again.

Operators have the option to either install a centrally-powered system (for larger clubs) or battery-powered solutions that are a great option for small to medium size facilities or retrofit applications. When integrated with the club management software, operators have almost zero administrative effort in managing their changing rooms.

If the RFID credentials are lost, they have the advantage of being quickly and easily replaced, without the expense of needing to change physical locks. With a swipe-open function, operators can also say goodbye to the problem of keys getting jammed in locks, which take time and money to fix.

From a club operations point of view, you really want your lockers to be the last thing on your mind – as you spend more of your time focusing on customer care and employee management.

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All shapes and sizes

Today’s RFID technology can offer a solution for clubs of all sizes. If you operate a large chain of clubs, for example, security must always be front of mind – and your members need to feel that they can leave their belongings without worry. After all, most people carry “their lives” around with them in the form of their smartphones, laptops, and bank cards.

Installing a centrally-powered software system means you can always have eyes on overall locker occupancy while stepping up security with a highly secure lock system and built-in alarm. Any attempt to open a locker with force, can sound both an in-locker security alarm, and create an alert on the central control dashboard.

It’s also been shown that just being able to inform your members that a locker security system is in operation can be enough to deter any would-be thieves.

Consider a system that can be flexibly configured for your particular club needs – such as setting an end-of-day locker open function to facilitate cleaning and prevent any unauthorized overnight locker storage.

Choosing a complete locker management system will free up club management and maintenance time and reduce running costs – so any start-up costs can quickly be offset.

Smaller clubs with a limited budget may want to opt for a more cost-effective solution that can be easily retrofitted for minimum locker downtime and expense.

A battery-powered locker system can be fitted without the need for cabling, and is compatible with coin- or key-operated lockers, with the option of feedback to a central management software system. And choosing a locking system that also comes with a dedicated app will allow managers to create audit trails and manage lockers more efficiently.

Being able to monitor locker usage helps managers decide if they need to install more lockers for members, or actually reduce them, and so freeing up space for something else.

It’s also important that battery-operated solutions come with a long life. GANTNER’s battery-operated locks, for example, come with a 10-year life - so once installed you can set and forget.

Making club life easy

Around the country and around the world, health and fitness clubs are benefiting from the ease and high level of member service created by the installation of contactless locker locks and associated management software.

The Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, US is one such place. A large-scale 575,000sq ft wellness resort, it has multiple locker areas across its facilities, which include retail, spa, pools, and tennis courts, as well as a boutique hotel.

An award-winning NET.Lock system from GANTNER was installed, ensuring the club could enjoy easy administration, high flexibility, and robust security across all its different locker areas.

The club can also now assign different locker modes depending on whether the client is a regular member, day visitor, or hotel guest. For example, lockers can be pre-assigned to individuals, given free-choice access, or even rented out for an additional source of income.

With a flexible and highly secure contactless locking system, anything is possible.

Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation on how we can help your club deliver a premium changing room experience while giving your members the security and peace of mind they deserve.