How To Turn Customer Service into a Competitive Advantage-Hank Ebeling

I’ve been in the fitness space since college. I’ve worked for several prominent clubs along my journey, including Equinox. I knew one day I wanted to open a club of my own. Generally, you find most of the quality clubs in the city but I saw a need in the suburbs that was being underserved. In 2013 I took the plunge and opened my first location and then in 2017 we opened our second location. Our typical client is a woman in her 50s but we have clients as young as 15 and as old as 75. 

Our gyms are a different concept from the larger chain locations you typically find in the city. We have around 3,000 square feet of space and we offer personalized training to each of our clients. We don’t have large group classes You get personalized service in a clean, friendly, and inviting environment. Since the pandemic, the reason people are coming to us is more about overall health than simply getting lean or building muscle. 

During COVID we had to close our doors, like a lot of businesses, and shift our business model to online training. At the end of the day though our clients are paying a premium to get personalized service and attention. As soon as we were able to open back up, we saw most of our clients continue their training in person. 

I can attribute my focus and passion for customer service to one of the early managers I had that was obsessed with great service, from body language to how to talk to people. That stuck with me and I found it to be a competitive advantage as I advanced in my career. Even when I might not be as smart or as experienced as another trainer, I knew that if I could provide my clients with great service, it would give me an edge. No matter what business you are in, great customer service is often an underrated advantage you can use to stand out from the competition. 

If you are looking to build a strong culture around customer service, it first starts with leadership. You have to walk the walk and talk the talk so that you are displaying the traits you want your team to follow. The next area is to create a service vision. When customers think of your business, what do you want them to think about you. Lastly, great customer service lives or dies based on who you hire and how you onboard new employees. Too often businesses just focus on training people on their technical skills. I believe customer service should be the cornerstone to any new hire training.   

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