How Outsourcing Linens for Sports Clubs and Gyms Can Improve Your Customer Satisfaction

Customer service has a perception of being one-dimensional. More than just being courteous, professional and knowledgeable, it should also be flexible and responsive. Gyms have a customer service obligation to provide comfort and luxury, convenience and flexibility, hygiene, and quality. A company can create a lasting impression on potential customers by pushing the boundaries of customer service standards and expectations. For sports clubs and gyms alike, that lasting impression often lies in the details. One key element that enhances the total guest experience that may surprise you is actually, your linens. 

However, let’s face it, this can be a huge challenge with so many aspects of management to focus on (from juggling multiple operations to dealing with staff issues). You’ve done everything in your means to give them the best facility, equipment and classes possible, but maintaining top-quality linen may not have been your top priority. 

We’re here to tell you it should be. 

If you're not careful, dirty, poor-quality or missing fresh towels can definitely ruin your consumer’s gym experience. That's where outsourcing comes in. Hiring a sanitisation and rental service company to launder your club's linens can dramatically improve the face value of your business, making it much more attractive to both current and future members.

Outsourcing Provides Customers with Comfort and Luxury

Having a towel service for your gym makes your customers feel valued and like they are part of an exclusive club - which is exactly what you want them to think!

The gym and sports club industry is a multibillion-dollar market that's expected to grow over the next decade. As fitness continues to grow in popularity, it's important that business owners make sure all aspects of the operation are running smoothly. You have to stand out among the crowd to draw customers in. The number of gym members you have directly determines your revenue so it quite literally pays to make them happy. Improved satisfaction means more word-of-mouth advertising among their family and friends, which then leads to (you guessed it) more member sign-ups! So…why do customers see a linen service as such a great benefit? It shows that you value both comfort and luxury and therefore, the ultimate guest experience.

Elevated Branding

It’s true that the smallest details often make the largest impact and quality linens do just that. The right towel, for example, can mean the difference between your everyday basic gym and that luxurious sports club you’ve always wanted to be a part of (come on, who doesn't find comfort in being treated like royalty?). Outsourcing your towel service elevates your brand image, as a business owner, and the overall customer experience, as a guest. You can opt to make your gym stand out from the competition by having branded linens with your company logo embossed in the corners or plush, thick towels that remind members of their favourite five-star hotel. Both options are a sure-fire way to make your customers feel special and leave a memorable impression. Hiring a laundering service for your linens could have members boasting to everyone who will listen about the amenities at their favourite sports club that keep them looking and feeling their best. 

It’s Convenient and Offers Flexibility

Towels are more than just a nice touch — they're an essential part of the gym experience. Gym-goers require towels to wipe sweat from their body, dry off after showers and wipe away equipment sweat before moving on to their next set (and that’s not even all of it). A good towel service means you have the ability to get more than just rental towels. You can knock out your entire club's shopping list (think his and hers robes, slippers, bath mats and curtains just to name a few). This means not having to worry about multiple deliveries from different companies. Outsourcing your linens can provide both your company and your customers with all these benefits in one convenient package.

Saves Everyone The Time and The Headache 

For consumers, having a towel service available at their gym reduces the amount of time spent getting ready before working out. Members can leave the house without a second glance back, not having to worry about bringing their own towel or making sure they did their laundry the night before and have enough clean ones on hand.

A towel service also saves time for customers post-workout. For those of us that enjoy a morning workout before heading into work, a shower immediately after is a must. Having a clean towel to dry off with after is also non-negotiable. Having a proper linen service available to members means not forcing them to rush back home and risk being late to the office. 

No one wants to carry around a wet towel all day long.

Providing clean towels for showers, pool facilities, spa amenities and for plain sweat means your customers do not have to travel, lugging around damp towels on their person, in their gym bag or in their car — a smelly surprise when they forget about it later, no doubt. Outsourcing a linen service ensures dry, clean and odourless towels are readily available at all times and can be tossed into a laundry bin once they’ve been made use of. You want your club’s members to feel welcome, comfortable and excited about coming in — not stressing about the small stuff. When your club feels like a home away from home for your customers, they’re sure to keep coming back. 

As a business owner, you no longer have to worry about replacing torn, thinning or stained towels by purchasing new ones (a laundering service does that for you), nor do you have to track inventory while increasing and decreasing inventory levels to meet seasonal needs. As a bonus, your staff can now focus on more profit-driven tasks like personal training services or leading fitness classes. 

Increased Hygiene

Most prospective gym goers will make their final decision about a potential gym based on the cleanliness of the club itself. A clean gym is one that not only appears clean at first glance, but it is also one that is ultimately free from any major health and safety concerns. This all boils down to proper hygiene. Unfortunately, as the business owner of a sports club, there is no one way to really ensure that each member washes their hands after using the toilet, after a trip to the change rooms or in-between multiple sweaty (and even if they did, how would you know if they were doing it properly?). However, hygiene should be a top priority when owning a sports club, and outsourcing linen services can assist with this.

Towels are one of the most important and frequently used items at gyms, so it's crucial that you offer your members good quality ones. Having your linens laundered ensures that the towels customers are using not only look and smell clean but are also professionally sanitised and meet very specific cleaning criteria. This limits the build-up of bacteria and germs that can spread around the gym among members. Not only will it give you — as a business owner — a piece of mind, but it can help you manage and control the overall sanitation levels of your club. Your customers will also appreciate the level of care you’ve put into their health and well-being, ensuring they don't get sick.

Purchasing a linen service promises your members quality control (towels need to be replaced more regularly than you might think). It's important to take advantage of a professional cleaning and sanitation cycle to ensure your club's linens are pristine and your customers feel satisfied with a healthy exercise environment. Your sports club is a business, and you would do well to treat it like one. That means making sure everything you do is geared towards making your customers happy and keeping them coming back for more, not with a visit to the doctor for an unsightly rash. The former will help you build a reputation in your community that you'll be proud of and future members enticed by. 

It’s Green!

Towel services are a great way to reduce the amount of waste produced and are ultimately the safer option for the environment. If you're a gym owner and not offering outsourced linen services for your customers, you're missing out.

This sustainable service has more and more customers shopping around and paying premium prices for clubs that are going green. Offering your members an environmentally friendly way to dry off after their workout by providing them with clean, reusable towels will increase customer retention more than you may realize, and here's why:

• Purchasing a linen package for your club's towels means less water and energy usage. That's because these commercial towel services hold a large capacity and are able to wash loads in bulk. Smaller in-house washers can't compete and require multiple machines, extended periods of time and more electricity. 

• Many gyms offer paper towels (and a spray bottle) and/or sanitizing wipes to clean equipment, which creates bags full of chemically treated, landfill-filling waste. This sort of waste piles up and racks up costs in waste management. Replacing the use of paper here with towels not only sets you apart from other, less sustainable clubs, but it makes potential customers feel good about their decision to stand by a gym that is considering the well-being of our earth.

• Paper towels dry out and rip easily, meaning members may use 2-3 towels on average to clean just one machine! Alternatively, one single reusable towel can be used for your members’ entire workout. The right quality linen is sustainable and indicates to your customers what’s important to you and them.
  

SWS Group

One of the most common issues with sports clubs is keeping up with towel service. If your gym is consistently busy with steady traffic, it can be increasingly difficult and overwhelming to manage all linens in-house. Outsourcing this task is a great way to save on labour costs and allows your employees more time to focus on their assigned tasks at hand instead of stressing over the washing. It also lessens the pressure of inadequately sanitised linens, which could result in potentially sick customers. 

A good cleaning company can take care of everything from supplying the necessary linens (his and hers robes, slippers, face cloths, bath mats, etc) to professionally washing each piece and delivering them at the end of each day or week, depending on your budget and venue traffic. 

Outsourcing your linen services for your sports club or gym can greatly increase customer satisfaction and retention. With over 20 years of experience in providing cleaning and sanitisation services to the fitness industry, the SWS Group in Perth, Australia offers affordable laundering packages you can count on. Recognized as experts in the field of sanitisation and trained in the professional cleaning and maintenance of linens, the SWS Group will grow your customer base with quality linens that leave a remarkable impression. Our Cleantex Team members deliver clean towels when you need it most so that you never have to second guess the cleanliness, quality or availability of your linens and neither do your guests. 

Call us at +61 8 9336 6944 or visit our website for more information on Cleantex and how we can help you build a reputation in the fitness community that you’d be proud of!