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On a scale of 1 to 10 — 10 being the most — how effective do you think membership surveys are regarding facilities and programming? And how often do you suggest conducting them? What are key questions to ask?

It’s a 10. We survey the members annually; we also send a survey each spring to all members who let their memberships expire. This has helped us address a number of issues. This year, we are going to add focus groups to drill down on a number of concerns we have. Every program is evaluated, and we include programming questions in our member survey.

It’s a 7. This is very important and should be done annually. However, this should not be the only form of gathering information, and input should not be limited strictly to members. (What about people who are not members? It would be good to know why they are not and what might bring them into the facility.) Important questions to ask should be about what they use, when they use it, marketing efforts, maintenance, programs and services. You will also need to ask the basic demographic questions of the respondents.

Surveys are effective, but a way to get even better feedback is by walking around the facility and asking people for their opinions. Managers need to make this a priority to find out what customers really think. Feedback forms need to be available at the front desk at all times. And follow-up calls need to be made in a timely fashion, so patrons can see that they are being taken seriously. Some important questions: What keeps you here? Where do we need to improve? What are our strengths? Secret shoppers can be a great tool, as well.

I'd give surveys an 8 out of 10. I think they can be very helpful, but you have to choose the right questions. I'd ask questions around existing trends, rather than future.