For today’s blog, we will be drawing our focus into one very specific piece of equipment. The sometimes humble (and sometimes imposing) turnstile.
While the turnstile isn’t a new concept by any stretch of the imagination (now over a century old! How times flies), this old staple has undergone something of a renaissance due to new developments in technology.
The core concept of the turnstile hasn’t changed much, the methods of access, whether via biometrics, keyfobs or smartphones have meant that their popularity and use has since a significant increase over the last decade.
And it shouldn’t be much of a surprise, over any given week an independent gym will incur a significant amount of footfall. Footfall that now, more than ever, it is possible for independent gyms to automate at a significantly lower cost than in the past.
Access controls are one of the topics that always comes up when we talk to recently established independent gym owners about areas they overlooked.
And when access controls are overlooked, inefficiencies and issues will inevitability occur. Problems will arise with membership management that will ultimately effect morale, security and eventually profits.
If it is difficult to track who is entering and exiting a facility, it not only effects the ability of a gym to gain feedback and data, but more pressingly, it becomes difficult to guarantee the safety and security of your gym to your members.
So it is little surprise that the turnstile has become synonymous with the rise of automation. Installing a turnstile system has shown time and time again to be an effective and affordable way to address problems regarding security and feedback, with attractive features such as low maintenance costs and installation fees.
So with all that out of the way, here are the four key strengths of turnstile systems that we mention whenever we talk to independent gym owners, whether they be relative new-comers or veterans.
1. Membership Management, Security and Data / Feedback
It was a big part of our opening pitch,so it shouldn’t surprise you that it is top of the list.
Membership Management is one of the most important aspects of BAU (Business-As-Usual) for an independent gym.
Making sure you know who isn’t paying and who is can be extremely difficult if you haven’t got a turnstile installed. And that is to say nothing of tracking customer behaviour, knowing the busy times and the quiet times. Without a turnstile or similar access system, an independent gym risks condemning their important data to the void.
We understand why, especially during the first year independent gyms often require their staff to attend to a number of different tasks throughout the day. Sometimes optimisation membership management feels like something that can wait.
But it needn’t stay on the backburner for long, because a turnstile is a simple, quick and effective solution.
Instead of requiring a member of staff and a computer system to check membership and register a customer’s time of arrival, a turnstile will automatically do this via its access control system. Providing a customer’s membership is valid, up-to-date and approved, the gate will then open.
Furthermore, any quality access control solution will be able to seamlessly link with membership management software, allowing your gym to gain valuable insights into member usage and behaviour at the click of a button. Compared to the alternative, this will give any new or established gym a powerful tool/advantage when it comes to improving retention and delivering the best possible customer value to your members.
2. Profit
Perhaps the single biggest reason to invest in a turnstile at your independent gym, profit.
While membership management and security are invaluable parts of a gym operation, we know that the bottom line is what matters to many gym owners.
By installing a turnstile into your gym, you’ll no longer need someone on reception throughout the day.
This won’t only save money on wages (as we will cover in our next section), but it will also help to eliminate any non-members from getting past the entrance/reception area even while it is unmanned.
3. Freeing up Gym Staff
Not only does it help guarantee security, it also helps free up a significant amount of staff capacity. If you take the average week at your gym and consider the percentage of time staff spend manning the entrance, it can soon add up.
This is time that can be spent elsewhere, attending to the needs of the membership, cleaning, training or inventory.
By removing the need for a member of staff at the entrance with a turnstile, you or your management will be free to utilise them elsewhere within the gym’s operations.
4. Turnstiles can play a vital role in allowing 24/7 access to your Gym.
While we don’t believe that 24/7 independent gyms are as ubiquitous and popular as they were pre-Pandemic/Energy Crisis, they are still a fantastic way of boosting membership, profitability and customer satisfaction in the right context.
The effect that granting your members 24/7 access to your club can’t be overstated, many gyms reported that it changed the nature of their operation for the better. Allowing them to access a whole swathe of prospective members who don’t want to use gyms at ‘conventional hours’.
A 24/7 service can be a highly attractive feature, not only for your current members but new prospects as well. In the right area it can be a distinct and powerful selling point to drive up new membership.
The 24/7 access allowed by turnstiles can also help independent gyms maximise capacity and reduce overcrowding at peak times. This can be a key consideration for gyms that are frequently finding themselves at peak times already. Offering an incentive for ‘off-peak membership’ can allow for some pressure to be relieved on those busy after-work periods.
Conclusion
This flexibility, combined with the aforementioned security and ease of a turnstile means that we are hard pressed not to recommend it to nearly any independent gym. We can’t think of a time where we have recommended one to a gym owner and it hasn’t paid dividends quickly.
If you are an independent gym and interested in exploring whether a turnstile access control system would be a good fit for your gym, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will see which providers we can recommend.
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