The main challenges receptionists face and how to help them overcome them

Of all the fitness club staff, we usually communicate the most with people working at the front desk, more than the trainers. As we have a large customer care department, we have the opportunity to talk to all the club receptionists who work with us, and thus, we can see how they work.

After so many years, we have identified challenges that almost all reception teams face in their daily work. And all these problems can be solved very easily with employee onboarding.

After all, just like the new member needs an onboarding process when buying a gym membership, the new employee needs time to learn about their job.

From my perspective, I have identified five issues that the front desk teams of the clubs we work with often face:

1. They don't know who to turn to when they have a problem

Whether it's the software they're working on or an issue with a vendor, many receptionists don't know the right person to help them.

Depending on how the club is organized, this could be the club manager or a person responsible for all front desk staff.

On the other hand, in the case of our customers, when they have a problem with our management software, many times the receptionists do not know that they can contact us for help.

2. They are not familiar with the online services that the club offers

If they know what the class schedule is or what kind of memberships they sell, when it comes to online services, I've found that many receptionists either don't know they exist or don't know how to use them.

This is not exactly beneficial for your club because when members have a problem with these services, they will surely call the front desk for help.

In addition, receptionists must know exactly how all online services work: the mobile app, online class bookings or online sales of memberships and services. Only then will they be able to promote them among members and encourage them to use them.

3. There are no training sessions for new employees

This phenomenon is most common when using gym management software. This means that new employees must learn how to perform specific tasks independently or are quickly taught by other colleagues at the front desk.

The problem with this system is that because there is no consistent way of training, the information given by colleagues at the front desk may not be correct, and usability problems may be passed from one employee to another.

4. I don't know what resources are available to them

I often noticed that the people at the front desk didn't even know about the existence of Help Center articles, video tutorials or software user manuals. And often, this phenomenon does not only apply to our software.

Because they don't know they can easily access many useful resources, the receptionist's job is twice as difficult and takes just as long. And all of this can seriously impact your team's work.

5. They are not familiar with operations that can make their work easier

Whether it's day closing or inventory, I've often encountered receptionists who didn't know they could save hours with just one button.

These deficiencies often result from the lack of a consistent training process and the truncated information they receive from peers.

How do we solve these problems

Now that we've reviewed the problems I often encounter with front desk teams let's see how we can solve them.

In my experience, new employee onboarding and regular training sessions with the front desk team solve most of these problems. This means sessions of a maximum of one hour, once a month, during which the receptionists' operations are reviewed and any changes that have occurred since the last meeting are reviewed.

Also, a concrete set of rules and procedures explicitly created for the front desk is beneficial when something unexpected happens.

In this way, the people at the reception will no longer call the Internet provider when the printer does not work, for example. It is also very useful for new hires.