Service Marketing in Fitness Center

Introduction

The aim of this report is based on discussion of theory to critical evaluation of the Westside Health & Fitness Club (WH&FC). Having emphasis on the role service encounters in customer satisfaction and quality, outline a detailed approach to manage moments of truth of service recovery. Keeping good relationship with customer can be seen an important retention strategy of customer. Loyal customers can be especially useful in service businesses where most people use word of mouth recommendations to decide which business or person to use. The report is surrounding several issues, which include customer retention, management of moments of truth, service recovery and so on.

Methodology

First of all, I have visited the WH&FC after I was made an appointment, I asked for a staff member to show me around to have a first impression of what a realistic gym does like. Secondary, I have been collecting promotional or relevant materials that are trying to understand the positioning of the WH&FC. Thirdly, I have been searching websites and secondary resources for information about the WH&FC market, In addition, the primary research also including talked to current customer and first line employee. Paul, a member staff of Fitness First, he said that the Fitness First not only provides high service quality to satisfy our customer, but also to enable our employees works in a friendly atmosphere, this indicates or implies a key factor of why Fitness First has been successfully growing fast in years. Some of detailed examples will be used to combine with definition to make an in-depth analysis. Finally, a well-prepared methodology should towards to achieve the research findings that are based on Literature Review.

Literature review

1.1 Definition of service

Fisk, Grove and John (2000) believe that “A service is deed, a performance, an effort (Rathmell 1966). Note that services are not things, yet services often rely on things for their performance.”

1.2 The service marketing mix

Fisk, Grove and John (2000) describes the service marketing mix in their study “The most common version of the marketing mix, known as the four Ps of marketing, emphasizes the key role of product, price, promotion, and place……Booms and Bitner (1981) suggested that service organizations need to augment these with three additional elements. The service marketing mix adds three new Ps---participants, physical evidence, and process of service assembly……”

Fisk, Grove and John (2000) agreed that “According to Booms and Bitner(1981), participants refer to all people, whether customers or workers, who are involved in the service production. Physical evidence means the service environment and other tangible aspects of the service that facilitate or communicate the nature of the service. The process of service assembly refers to the procedures and flow of activities that contribute to the delivery of the service.”

1.3 Customer retention

Customer retention has been argued by Murphy (2001) who states its purpose “It takes time and money to attract every new customer. For the first year or two after acquisition, the money that new customers spend with the organization is offset against acquisition costs. After this, there is a gradually increasing profit to be made from them. In time, if they stay with the organization and develop an emotional bond with it, they will encourage others to become customers. Murphy (2001) goes on: “These newcomers will not require an expenditure of marketing resources to attract them. They will already conform to the specification of the best and most appropriate type of customer for the organization to service. If they, too, develop an emotional attachment to the organization, they will also refer others. They could be expected to bring a lifetime spending habit to the organization. Fisk, Grove and John (2000) also agreed that “Losing a customer is expensive.”

1.4 Moments of truth

Fisk, Grove and John (2000) believe that “A moment of truth is any contact point with a service organization that the customer uses to evaluate the service delivery. Some moments of truth are more important than others and are called critical incidents.”

1.5 Service encounter

Fisk, Grove and John (2000) defined that “The service encounter is the activity during which the customer directly interacts with some aspect of the service organization, usually in a marketer-controlled environment.”

Increasing