What is great service? How do you know when you’ve experienced legendary service? How do you define exceptional service without a specific example?

Customer service is something we all have heard of and expect but it is hard to define. To put it in as simple of terms as possible it is when expectations are exceeded.

At our Valentine’s dinner, my husband and I had an amazing customer experience. The last time we had “eaten” at this restaurant, we had ordered to go (there’s not a lot of eating out with two little kids). When my husband got there to pick it up, they had made a mistake on the order so he had to wait while it was corrected. The manager offered him a glass of wine at the bar and told him that the next time we were in to just ask for him. This was over six months ago. On Valentine’s, we told the server that we didn’t know if it meant anything but that the manager had said to ask for him next time we were in. Within two minutes of probably the busiest night of the year, the manager was at our table. He recognized my husband and remembered which wine he had recommended for him. On our way out, a server from the other side of the restaurant knew our names and both he and the manager thanked us for our business.  It was an amazing experience.

Having your expectations met is nothing special or memorable; it doesn’t make you feel appreciated as a client or make you returning customer. If you go to a restaurant, you expect to have your drink filled before it empties, your order to come out correctly and hot, and your silverware to be clean. If you stay at a hotel, you expect clean sheets, an easy check in and check out process, and hot water and cable. Same thing at the gym…you expect equipment to work, the doors open on time, and courteous & knowledgeable staff.

We believe that you are the most important person at our gym. We want you to experience legendary service every time you come to the club.

Our core beliefs are:

• Guests first. Every guest & member should feel that coming to the club is like coming home.
• Show a caring attitude. Take time to show sincere interest. Be involved. Be genuine.
• Be knowledgeable. Love what you do and share that passion with all who trust you to provide leadership.
• Bring it all. At the end of the day, can you say this was your best work?
• Have pride. Show pride in who you are and the company you work for each day.
• Show respect. Respect and support those you work with, your community, and yourself.
• Change lives. Every member and guest represents a chance to change a life.

It is my sincere hope that this has been your experience with Foxy’s. Our passion is to make this a place where you get results while feeling like part of the family. We strive to be like Cheers where everyone knows your name. And we want to help you enjoy your fitness journey.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to serve you.

See you soon,

Jen

Goals are a very common thought this time of year…goals set, goals met, goals failed, etc. Setting goals can be bittersweet since it often seems that we do not succeed. What I find interesting is that most people have goals but the goals are vague such as I want to be successful, financially stable, in shape, a better significant other, a better parent, etc. What does this mean? Does making $100 more next year mean that you’re financially stable? Does losing 5 pounds mean you’re in shape? How will you know when you have reached your goals?

Not only that but most of these people do not know where they want to be in 20 years, 10 years, or even in 5 years. If you don’t have a clear picture of where you want to end up or who you want to be, how can you know if the goals you are setting today are in line with where you want to go? The steps you take today may be taking you off the path you should be following.

So many people I see seem to float through life wishing for the “I made it” moment. But without a concrete picture of what that is, they may actually experience it and not even realize what they have. More often they go through the motions of life without a passion, plan, or purpose.

Now that Christmas is over and 2012 is almost here, many people are beginning to make New Year’s Resolutions. I have never been a big fan of Resolutions, because for me they are just too easy to break. According to some studies over half of those who make a New Year’s Resolution will break it within 6 months, but a person is up to 10 times more likely to achieve their goals if some sort of goal is set. I prefer to set more exact goals instead of vague resolutions, so I thought it would be good to give some pretty common and effective guidelines for setting achievable goals using the S.M.A.R.T. Method.

SPECIFIC- Don’t just set a goal to “lose weight,” “get in shape,” or “be healthy.” What does that mean anyway? All of those things mean different things to different people and general statements can be amended too easily to fit your current state of fitness. Decide exactly how many pounds you want to lose, what you want your body fat % to be, or how fast and far you want to run.

MEASURABLE- Make your goals something that can be measured so you can know how much progress you have made or how much further you have to go. An example could be making it to the gym 3 times this week or having to lose 1 pound a week to hit your overall goal of 50 for the year.

ATTAINABLE- If goals are not realistic and attainable a person is much more likely to give up and quit short of reaching the goal. You only set yourself up for failure if you set an unrealistic goal, such as wanting to lose 15 pounds in a week. Be aggressive, but allow yourself to be setup to have success from the beginning.

RELEVANT- Make sure that your goals tie-in to what you are ultimately trying to achieve. If your goal is to run a marathon, your training program probably should not be geared to achieve a 400 lb bench press!

TIME-BOUND- Every good goal needs a time frame. Set a date that you would like to achieve your goal by and work backwards from there, setting smaller goals in shorter periods of time. This helps to give you something more definitive to work towards and will help keep you focused.

Also, for me, if its not written down its not real! Write your goals down and have a plan for exactly how you are going to achieve them. If you feel comfortable sharing them, let someone else know what your goals are and allow them to hold you accountable. So good luck and try setting SMART Goals this year that you are more likely to stick with, instead of vague Resolutions you will most likely quit in a few months, and make 2012 your best year yet.

TB