Feedback4Sports x Piazza Sports
Nikki van Hees – Piazza Sports
She grew up almost inside the gym. Now, Nikki van Hees is co-owner of Piazza Sports in Houten, and she runs the club the way she knows it: personally, engaged, and always listening.
Feedback at Piazza Sports is not an item on the agenda. It is a way of working.
The feedback journey started via the VES. Through that route, they were able to use a free basic package from Feedback4Sports at the time. Nikki dove into it. “We found it very interesting, but at the beginning we did not do much with it.” That changed quickly. Because anyone who really starts looking at what comes in does not want to be without it anymore.
By now, as Nikki herself says, they are “a bit deeper into it.” A full Feedback4Sports package, with more feedback moments and extensive analyses. And every month, they change something within the club based on what members share.
At Piazza Sports, everyone gets an answer. Always. Four fixed employees focus on it every Thursday. They read carefully and respond to everyone. This is never done with a standard email. “We always read the reviews ourselves and always respond personally.”
If something stands out in the improvement points, a phone call follows. Even at a 6 or lower, a call is made. Every quarter a large overview is put on the table: a top 3 of improvement points and a top 3 of what is going well. Based on that, decisions are made. And what changes? That is shared in the newsletter, so members know as well.
Nikki is everywhere, but not everywhere at the same time. And she knows that. “You do not know everything that is going on, and most members do not just walk up to you.”
Once, through feedback, she was told that an employee showed behaviour that was not appropriate. “Our members did not feel comfortable telling us directly, but they did share it via feedback. Without this, we would never have found out.” She took appropriate measures and solved the issue.
The same applied to a woman who did not feel comfortable in certain situations. Never said out loud, but still filled in. “People do not say that to your face like that. With feedback, we pick up these signals and receive valuable information you can really work with.”
Feedback also gives Piazza Sports something you do not see in a graph: members who almost cancelled and did not.
“I think people sometimes just want to get something off their chest. Regardless of whether the problem is solved. Sometimes people simply like to be heard. At that moment, we just listen to our members. Do you know what happens after that? Often they walk around satisfied afterwards and become ambassadors!”
Houten is a village, and in villages, you rely on word of mouth. Nikki knows that and finds it important that people speak positively about the club. If someone had a bad experience during registration? Then she calls them herself, offers appropriate compensation, and solves it. “That is why people sometimes stay instead of leaving.”
Nikki sees a clear pattern. “At the beginning, the feedback was a bit more negative. Now it is becoming more positive.” Not because the members have changed, but because Piazza Sports responds to everything that comes in.
“If you address everything, little negativity remains.” There is one thing that comes back more often in feedback and is difficult to solve. That is phone use on the gym floor. Everything solvable? We see that disappear from the feedback.
Piazza Sports opened Calma, a Reformer Pilates studio with its own name, in a separate building. Here too, clear feedback is collected via a survey with its own QR code, directly linked to the system. Everything in one place, but always clear what the feedback is about.
“People do not fill it in quickly when they are completely satisfied.” Nikki knows that. But the responses that do come in are gold: an extra class, a slightly larger room. “They are often small things, but it is nice to know what is going on in their minds.”
Because that is what it is all about for Nikki. She does not wait until a member decides to leave, but wants to know what is going on, take action, and make sure people want to stay.
