INTERVIEW WITH DAMON LEE, PROGRAMS COORDINATOR AT ARMADALE FITNESS AND AQUATIC CENTRE
Having opened in March 2019, Armadale Fitness and Aquatic Centre (AFAC) in Armadale, Western Australia, is a modern health club featuring state-of-the-art equipment and technology. The timetable boasts over 80 group fitness classes a week, which caters for all fitness levels in an environment that’s designed to motivate and inspire. The centre also has a dedicated cycle studio and a range of aqua fitness classes. AFAC was originally an aquatics-only centre; the group fitness component was added later, along with health club and crèche facilities. This has transformed the centre into a destination for members to come to, for all their fitness needs. We caught up with Damon Lee, the Programs Coordinator at AFAC, who said, “Group fitness is now one of our major programs at the centre, with over 80 classes a week including Les Mills programs, freestyle classes and also Technogym group training sessions; it’s a very busy centre. We lost some of the 6,500 members we had prior to COVID, but we’re now marching back to that number, so we're very excited about that.”
LMAP: Congratulations on being named the People’s Choice Business of the Year in the recent AUSactive industry awards. Tell us why your members love Armadale Fitness & Aquatic Centre so much, and what makes you different from anywhere else?
DL: One of our biggest attractions is the people that work within the facility. We're all about making connections with people and we want to make sure that what we're doing is delivering a personable experience to our members, whether that be through the services that we offer or just the facilities that we provide. We've got multiple fitness spaces, aquatic spaces, but also just general leisure facilities, so people can come in and catch up for a simple coffee or to have a chat with a group fitness instructor before their class. Or they may drop their kids off in the crèche for a little bit of downtime or so they can smash out a BODYPUMP®, BODYATTACK® class, or just simple gym workout.
We want to make a positive impact within the community, which means putting into action whatever is required to achieve that across a whole range of member demographics, from pensioners all the way through to kids as young as six months of age!
LMAP: You also received the Industry Innovation Award, which recognises excellence in new initiatives and the methodology behind them. Tell us about the innovation that led you to win this category.
L: The Service as a Priority (SAP) initiative was developed by our Manager of Recreation Services – Coby Halpin and implemented by our Crèche Team Leader Sandra Worthington. It involves all major areas of our facility (group fitness, health club, crèche and aqua), as well as all of our front-facing staff in customer service, sales and membership, and our management staff.
How it works is that everyone is aware of specific questions for each area; and the goal is to make sure we're constantly asking and answering these questions. An example for the group fitness area would be asking: Was the Instructor present five to ten minutes before the class? Was there an introduction and if so, how was that introduction delivered? Were alternative moves offered during the class? Did the Instructor mingle with members?
It's kind of like a mystery shopper program but internally run. We have 10 surveys per month and they’re done across each area within the centre, and essentially they’re completed randomly by a staff member, or even a general officer who works within the council. So, that person will come down, complete a class and fill out that survey for us. They then provide us with a snapshot over the month, of how instructors are performing. We randomly select which classes to survey, so it’s always a mix.
When the information and data is collected, it’s shared with the whole team. The teams then get a breakdown of exactly how they perform and where there are areas for improvement. It gives our team leaders direct action to follow up on, which then means that they can have those positive coaching conversations with the staff members; it's never done in a negative light. We always do it as a coaching mechanism.
It's become a great tool to help all staff gain more education around what’s happening in the centre, and we've found that all staff members have really got on board with the initiative because it's not just one area that's being targeted; even our management staff get audited. For example, if members are attending a class, and let's say I'm walking down the passage, if I'm not greeting people as I'm walking then that's picked up as a ‘no’ for me, so it holds me accountable.
It works really well and we've definitely seen an increase in customer satisfaction. We have our NPS scores so we can see things like the impact of saying “hello”. We’re constantly building on that data so it really is very, very exciting.
LMAP: One of your Instructors, Sarah Ford, was named Group Exercise Leader of the Year in the same awards. Tell us about Sarah.
DL: Sarah is so personable and knowledgeable. Sarah has come such a long way in her own journey, but she’s also very humble about her achievements. When you think about what makes people come back to classes day in and day out, it's not only that they are doing something for themselves, but they're doing it to be a part of a culture that Instructors – like Sarah – create. It's not just “come in and get your sweat on” here; it’s “come in, have a chat to Sarah before the class and speak about what's going on in your life. And then have a great workout and then let’s chat some more over coffee.” It's all about nurturing community, which is our internal vision here at AFAC. Sarah is reliable and punctual and people really like her and her classes; Sarah really is a superstar employee.
LMAP: What do these official achievements mean for the centre?
DL: It’s been awesome to showcase what we're doing on this side of the country! Getting our name out there and promoting what we do, and also seeing the impact one centre in Western Australia can have on future innovations and practices has been really great. We’re all about creating community so this really does show that we're all doing it together.
We’ve made so many new connections and relationships because lots of people have reached out to us after hearing about what we’re doing. It's important for us all to step back and look at what the industry is doing at a national level, rather than just getting stuck in your own local bubble all the time; so I think us winning these awards has helped remind people and clubs of that.
LMAP: What Les Mills programs do you currently offer?
DL: BODYCOMBAT® and BODYPUMP® classes are our most popular and we have a lot of dedicated members who can't wait for the new Releases in terms of music and choreography every quarter. We also run RPM in our small 20-bike studio, and those classes are pretty popular. We're looking to actually update our RPM studio this financial year, so we're hoping that will make it even more successful in the future. We also offer BODYBALANCE® and BODYATTACK®.
LMAP: How do you typically promote your Les Mills programs?
DL: We have a variety of platforms. We're very fortunate to have a fairly large marketing budget so we can do anything from roadside banners, billboards, train-station adverts to shopping centre adverts. We've obviously got in-house promotions and being part of local government it means we have access to all the local residents and community newsletters. We do the usual Facebook and Instagram promotions as well. And because we are a new facility, we also have dedicated eScreens that are solely for group fitness promotions. These display instructor profiles, classes, what's coming up, new launches and changes to timetables. We try and keep that content as fresh as possible. And if a member is new and they want to learn more about group fitness they can go and stand in front of the group fitness eScreen for a few minutes and be fully enlightened about what’s happening in that space.
LMAP: What SMART TECH equipment do you use?
DL: We have SMARTBAR® and SMARTSTEPS® and everyone loves them; they’re so simple to use. We never have any questions or comments regarding how to use the weight plates. It also helps that our Instructors are actually really good at explaining how they work. For most of our members, because they’ve had the SMART TECH equipment right from the start, using it is second nature to them.
We have a lot of first-time exercisers and they’re kind of just launched into the SMARTBAR world. With the SMARTSTEPS, we have never had one person fall off them. We even use them with our seniors and we’re even taking them out of our group room and putting some on the gym floor because people love to use them that much.
LMAP: What do you enjoy about your partnership with Les Mills Asia Pacific?
DL: We do regular team bonding with our group fitness instructors. This includes running ‘Toolboxes’, which are meetings where we all sit down as a whole group to talk and learn new things. From what I understand, hosting all instructors on a regular basis is quite rare in the industry but it reflects our brand’s strong sense of community. We’re lucky to have Lee Smith as our Business Partnership Manager from Les Mills Asia Pacific, who has a lot of industry experience and knowledge; so he’s actually come and attended those sessions quite a few times; and the instructors’ faces light up when we tell them we have a special guest coming along! What Les Mills has created is so spectacular – exercising with community and creating a brilliant culture through music and, choreography – we simply can't thank you enough!
To find out how Les Mills programs can help your centre or club achieve new levels of success contact your local Business Partnership Manager in Southeast Asia or Australia.
