All health club operators want to conserve money wherever possible, yet equipment maintenance often remains an underrated area of potential cost-savings.
Club operators should preliminary budget at least 20 percent of the list price of any piece of equipment for its future maintenance, according to Kristina Cox, business development representative at Precor, one of three presenters in Club Industry's latest free webinar. Depending on the equipment, some operators may want to budget 30 percent or more of the list price.
Being proactive with your maintenance budget decreases the likelihood that you'll eventually pay even more money for full-fledged repairs, Cox said. Down the road, it also ensures a better trade-in value for your equipment.
"I was on the phone with a very large facility the other day, and they spent several hundred dollars on cardio equipment one year when they did their capital campaign budget," Cox said. "What they didn't account for over the next four years, when they were budgeting out their line items, was the service and maintenance. So for four years, they were footloose and fancy free with their service and maintenance, and they paid a price for it. At the end of four years, their units were not maintained, they had not been repaired in a timely manner and when it came time to refresh their equipment, they were not given much for their equipment at all, if anything."
In "At Your Service: Why You Need to Invest in a Maintenance or Repair Plan," Cox was joined by Allen Gillet, senior business manager at Precor, and Tony Mungo, senior technical trainer, to discuss strategies and incentives surrounding maintenance repair plans. The 45-minute webinar is now available for on-demand viewing.
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