Fitness First: Services and Marketing Strategies

This report highlights the services offered by Fitness First fitness center and analyzes its marketing strategies. The report includes a personal experience, RATER model analysis, 7 Ps of service marketing, and recommendations for improvement.

Marketing service and experience
Fitness First

Executive Summary
Services are intangible and perishable offerings by organizations. Services are crucial for the
growth of an economy. This report highlights the services offered by Fitness first fitness
centered. I have experienced the services of Fitness First and have shared my experience
regarding the same. Attempts have been made to measure the quality of service offered by the
brand as well as a few recommendations have been made ensure the high quality and improved
service offered by the brand. The 7 Ps of service marketing have also been discussed. Service
industry is creative in nature and hence it is governed by a different set of rules as compared to
products. This report aims to help in understanding that difference and analyzing a gymnasium
service in detail.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................1
Dairy experience........................................................................................................................................4
Fitness first indeed – delivering fine fitness experiences........................................................................5
Rater model................................................................................................................................................6
Reliability...............................................................................................................................................6
Assurance:..............................................................................................................................................7
Tangible:................................................................................................................................................7
Empathy:................................................................................................................................................8
Responsiveness:.....................................................................................................................................8
7 P’s of service marketing.........................................................................................................................9
Product / Service:..................................................................................................................................9
Price:.......................................................................................................................................................9
Place:....................................................................................................................................................10
Promotion:...........................................................................................................................................10
People:..................................................................................................................................................10
Process:.................................................................................................................................................10
Physical evidence:................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations...................................................................................................................................11
Referral bonus.....................................................................................................................................11

SERVQUAL framework.....................................................................................................................11
Increase the number of shower rooms...............................................................................................11
Swimming pool:...................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................................13

Dairy experience
I am a 25 year old Australian resident. I have been studying in Australia and I have a rather
hectic schedule. With this schedule, I realized that I was finding it difficult to pay attention to an
effective health care routine. The tight schedule often demanded ready to eat foods and many
cups of coffee. The binge eating indulgence made it difficult for me to stay healthy. Over the last
few months, I realized that I was falling ill too frequently. I felt sad and frustrated about leading
such an unhealthy lifestyle. It was then that I realized that I must focus on improving my health.
Initially I decided I would start going for an early morning run. However, after many failed
attempts at waking up in the morning, I decided to join the gym. I asked my friends and enquired
in the neighborhood. A lot of friends had the ‘fitness first’ gym membership. I tried to read
online reviews about the place a lot of them were positive. Somehow the reviews confused me
even further so I decided to pick up the phone and call the facility.
The lady who answered the phone was polite and soft spoken. She attentively listened to my
plight and offered me to visit the gym and take a tour. I quickly took up the offer and booked
myself an appointment for the weekend. This was the first time in my life that I visited the gym
and the moment I entered, it was precisely like how I had imagined. It was a large gym located in
the center of the city. The gym was spread over two floors and there were over 60 members
when I entered.
I reached the reception where the same lady was there. She offered me juice and tried to
understand my reason behind joining the gym. I felt happy after going there. I explained her my
plight and hectic schedule. She empathized with me and suggested me to find one hour, four
times in a week to devote to the gym. She even called a trainer who then gave me a tour of the
gym and helped me understand the efforts that I need to put in order to lose the extra pounds.
I loved the ambience of the place. When I saw so many people working so hard, I felt motivated
and promised myself to follow a strict work out regime. After the tour, I enquired about the fees.
They shared all the details with me and offered me to first experience the service for a couple of
days before paying the fees.

In my experience, I would recommend the gym to my friends. My experience so far has been
fairly positive and I can see the effects of it on my physical as well as mental health. I felt happy
and motivated after going there. I was determined to take a membership and get fit after joining
that gym.
Fitness first indeed – delivering fine fitness experiences
Source 1: Group deals
There are few elements which are significant to the service industry. These aspects can be
applied on different services in the form of a RATER model (Gummesson, 2014). Services are
intangible and therefore it is important organizations focus on delivering effective services by
differentiating themselves from their competitors.

Rater model
Source 2: Slideshare
This model is an effective way to measure customer expectations with regards to the service
received by them. The service is measured or rated in terms of 5 different aspects. For fitness
first, my experience on the rater model is elaborated below:
Reliability: Reliability is an important parameter for judging the service offered by a particular
organization. It is the ability of the firm to deliver the service as promised. Reliability of a
service offered by a brand also highlights upon the availability of the brand consistently deliver
quality service (Oh & Kim, 2017).
Fitness first is a reliable gymnasium. The client reviews have been great which reflects upon the
gym’s ability to deliver services as per customer expectations. Even upon interaction with
various customers, I understood that fitness first team provides its customers with a complete
solution to their health needs. The trainers are always available and ready to help. Over the gym
is very reliable and will surely help customers in achieving their fitness goals.

Assurance: This aspect of the service helps in understanding if the employees of the
organization are able to give assurance to customer and gain their trust. Also it is important that
the knowledge shared by employees to the customers is helpful and reliable (Song & Lim, 2015).
Fitness first employees are all very well aware about various facets of the human body. They can
provide perfect information regarding the right kind of exercise and diet that must be followed
by people. Despite the large number of customers, the trainers are well aware about the specific
needs of customers and train them accordingly on a daily basis.
Tangible: A service is rarely tangible in nature. However, every service has certain tangible
aspects to it (Wilson et. al., 2012). This parameter helps customers understand the attractiveness
of the physical aspects of the service. These physical attributes also help in establishing a right
expectation in the minds of customers.
Fitness first is highly maintained gym. The ambience is fantastic. The machinery used in the gym
is services on a regular basis. Basic hygiene is maintained in the gym. Machines were properly
organized. Shoulder press, bench press, seated row and LAT pull overs are located close by.
Similarly, leg curls, leg extension, leg press and squatting space is close by. This management
helps customers in remembering the exercises they need to cover.
Source 3: Health club management

Besides this, various posters are placed on the gym which are highly motivating. There are
mirrors everywhere for people to maintain the right posture during their exercise. Water coolers
serve hot, cold and normal water depending upon customer needs. There is a mini-shop that sells
proteins, supplements and green coffee. Overall, the tangible elements of Fitness first are highly
attractive.
Empathy: This parameter helps in understanding if the employees are able to empathize with
customers, give them individual attention and establish a positive working relationship with them
(Choy et. al., 2012).
Fitness first has two kinds of trainers; general trainers as well as personal trainers. Customers can
opt for getting personally trained by a particular trainer and pay an extra fees for that. However,
there are various general trainers. These trainers assist all the customers. At Fitness first even the
general trainers pay a lot of attention and guide customers properly regarding the exercise that
they are supposed to be doing. There is a general dietician who caters to the needs of every
customer and ensures that they follow a healthy diet.
Responsiveness: This particular parameter throws light upon the agility and willingness with
which an organization responds to customer queries (Kim, 2011). It reflects how quickly and
effectively would the organization offer its services and address customer grievances or issues.
Fitness first is extremely effective in this regard. When I called them first, they answered my call
in the first go. Initially, I also had a lot of queries regarding various exercises and the trainers
were quick enough to resolve them. When any customer complaints of body ache or muscle tear,
the trainers do their best in resolving the issue by providing effective stretching, physiotherapy or
medication. The gym is therefore highly responsive in its service.
Therefore, from the RATER model analysis, it is clear that Fitness first is delivering quality
service to its customers. The gymnasium is reliable, caters to customer needs, and works upon
establishing positive relationships with their customers and being responsive and empathetic.

7 P’s of service marketing
Identifying marketing mix of a product or a service is very critical to the success of the business.
The first four Ps of the service marketing are precisely the same as product marketing
(Armstrong et. al., 2015). The 7 Ps for fitness first can be elaborated as below:
Source 4: Businessfun
Product / Service: This element highlights the primary offering of the organization (Ahmed &
Rafiq, 2013). Services offered by Fitness first include Yoga classes, Pilates, Zumba, cross fit and
kick boxing. Besides this, the gym also provides health shakes, proteins and green coffee.
Personal trainers and general trainers provide training to customers. Fitness first is also open 24
hours 7 days a week. These primary services offered by the gym help in gaining a competitive
advantage.
Price: Pricing plays an important role in the success of any business (Kotler, 2015). Fitness first
charges its customers different for different services. The gym offers three trial days of service
free of cost for customers to experience the service firsthand before paying for it. They have
platinum and passport memberships which are priced at $27 per week and $22 per week.

Different services by the gym are charged differently. The gym is also open for negotiation and
offers group discounts. However, the pricing structure is still premium. Premium pricing refers to
pricing a product or service higher than industry standards (Nagle et. al., 2016). This is done to
set the right positioning in the minds of consumers.
Place: Fitness first is present in various locations across the globe. By the end of 2014, there
were over 370 fitness first clubs. The gymnasiums are located at commercial locations which are
easily accessible for customers.
Promotion: Promotion strategies are adopted by businesses to reach out to their customers
(Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014). Fitness first used to advertise itself through television and print
media ads. However, over a period of time, the brand has started adopting, social media
strategies in order to promote the service. Social media is highly effective in targeting a large
number of customer through interactive channels. Besides this, digital media marketing,
relationship marketing and offering discounts are also used by Fitness first as promotional
strategies
People: People related to the service play a critical role in establishing the quality of the service
(Lovelock & Patterson, 2015). The trainers and other staff members at fitness first are highly
cooperative and responsive to customer needs. All the customers are given due attention. The
entire team fulfills their roles effectively and works hard towards customer satisfaction.
Process: This is simply a blueprint of the service to ensure quality of service at every point.
Fitness first has a detailed process about targeting customers, registering them, training them and
addressing their issues.
Physical evidence: Physical evidence of the service highlights upon the tangible elements of the
service offering. Fitness first is well equipped with quality machines, posters, mirrors, and carpet
and food supplements.

Recommendations
Creating a feedback system: An effective feedback system must be created which allows
customers to provide feedback to the Fitness first team. They must be encouraged to provide
anonymous feedbacks so that there is no bias.
Referral bonus: Clients must be given a bonus amount in the form of discount at the time of
renewal if they bring their friends or acquaintances to the gym.
SERVQUAL framework. This must be used to identify methods to understand the service gap.
Once the gap has been identified, Fitness First must focus upon fulfilling that gap.
Source 5: Slideshare
Increase the number of shower rooms. Fitness first outlets are equipped with 4 shower rooms.
However, during peak hours, they do not suffice.
Swimming pool: The gym does not has a swimming pool. Therefore Fitness first can tie up with
close by facilities which may have a swimming pool for their members.

Conclusion
Service industry is highly creative, intangible and perishable in nature. It is difficult to measure
the extent to which a customer is happy with the service offered by a particular organization.
This report highlights upon my experience with fitness first fitness center where I took health
services. In order to measure the level of satisfaction, I have adopted a RATER model as well as
thrown light upon the 7 Ps of service marketing.
To conclude, Fitness first offers highly effective services to its customers and is responsive to
their needs. The center have a high brand value owing to their wide presence and effective use of
digital marketing strategies. The service offered is of top quality and I would most definitely
recommend it to my fellow companions.

References
Ahmed, P.K. and Rafiq, M., 2013. Internal marketing. Routledge. United Kingdom.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
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Choy, J.Y., Lam, S.Y. and Lee, T.C., 2012. SERVICE QUALITY, CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS: REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND
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Gummesson, E., 2014. Productivity, quality and relationship marketing in service operations: A
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Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
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Springer, New York, NY.
Kim, H.J., 2011. Service orientation, service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty:
Testing a structural model. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 20(6), pp.619-637.
Kotler, P., 2015. Framework for marketing management. Pearson Education India.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Nagle, T.T., Hogan, J. and Zale, J., 2016. The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: New
International Edition. Routledge. United Kingdom.
Oh, H. and Kim, K., 2017. Customer satisfaction, service quality, and customer value: years
2000-2015. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(1), pp.2-29.
Song, H.G. and Lim, S.U., 2015. Assessing pet industry in Korea using service quality
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Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. and Gremler, D.D., 2012. Services marketing:
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