Fitness First hires Experian for marketing push
- Added:
- Aug 28, 2008
Health and fitness group Fitness First has selected information services firm Experian, to help it increase its 1.5m membership base across Europe, Asia and Australia.
Experian’s software will be used to validate international addresses and international bank account details so that Fitness First membership applications are processed quickly and new customers can start using the club’s facilities straightaway.
To ensure that customer contact information is inputted correctly into its ‘Members First’ application, Fitness First will use QAS Pro, an address validation tool from Experian QAS.
By entering minimal details, such as a house number and postcode, QAS Pro will return the member’s full and accurate postal address.
Bank Wizard from Experian Payments will then validate the bank account information to ensure that Direct Debit mandates are set up correctly.
Before using Bank Wizard, mandates were likely to contain errors, which would have resulted in rejected payments. Experian’s software will ensure that Fitness First now has the right information for both entrance and billing purposes.
QAS Pro and Bank Wizard have been deployed in Fitness First Clubs throughout France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium. In 2009, they will be rolled out in Australia, Germany, UK and Asia as Fitness First delivers a programme to standardise its membership management and billing platform across all the countries in which it operates.
Steve Homan, Chief Information Officer at Fitness First, commented: “We are passionate about our customers having a positive membership experience and that means getting their vital information right first time. Experian was an obvious choice because of its global presence and the fact that its products are first class and easy to integrate and maintain.’
Jonathan Hulford-Funnell, Group Operating Officer of Experian QAS, added: “Over the past few years, we have seen increased investment in data quality initiatives from the leisure industry. We will be working closely with Fitness First and using its international commitment to data quality to deliver great customer service to further increase its market share.”