At the end of 2018, L’Appart multiplied its number of clubs from 40 to 120, maintaining a balance of subsidiaries and franchisees, and venturing beyond the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region for the first time. The company’s fourfold expansion followed the acquisition of French clubs Amazonia, Wide Club, and Gigagym, thanks to two successful waves of private funding.

“Following the big acquisition, we knew we’d need some kind of mobility and collaboration tools that we could implement really quickly to maintain a good level of communication with all our employees and customers,” says David. “We chose Google Workspace because it enabled us to continue working as a close-knit team even as we started to spread across the country, and for the most cost-effective price we found on the market.”

Achieving consistency to stay in good (business) shape

Having established seamless communication with employees all over France, L’Appart is now leveraging Google Workspace to ensure that its clubs can maintain consistent practices when dealing with customers.

“Before Google Workspace, some employees in our franchisees didn’t have a professional email address to communicate with clients,” says David. “We’ve adopted corporate Gmail accounts and now share directives with subsidiaries and franchisees through Google Drive. Google Workspace helps us stay close to all our employees so we can remain a cohesive group.”

Reacting to customers’ specific needs in real time

The company’s geographic expansion attracted new L’Appart members with different needs and preferences from its traditional clientele within Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. “A customer who lives in Paris has very different habits from another who lives in the suburbs of Lyon or Marseille, and it’s not easy to tailor to the needs of every one of them,” says David. So regional directors were assigned to each part of the country where the gym chain is now established, to ensure the specific demands of their diverse clientele are being addressed.

To better understand their new and growing community of members, L’Appart is leveraging its professional sport coaches on the ground, who observe and manually record performance-related information about their clients in Google Sheets. Regional directors can access this information in real time, to make decisions that tailor to their clients’ preferences. If a yoga class is popular at a specific time, they’ll take note and double the session, for example. If another class isn’t so popular, they’ll assess why and tweak the schedule to bring more value to customers visiting the gym at that specific time.

Meanwhile, regional managers maintain constant communication with headquarters, using Google Meet and Google Chat, to align strategies and ensure the company is moving as a unified group, even as the particular needs of each region are being addressed.

As a result, members of L’Appart Fitness are noticing more reactivity from their clubs, which are developing schedules and services that adjust to customers’ availability and preferences, not the other way around.

Staying ahead of the game with effective communication

With more effective internal processes, happier customers, and more collaborative employees, L’Appart is in excellent shape to continue multiplying its clubs throughout France and beyond. “We really believe we have a universal product that addresses the needs of customers today. Now, with more effective processes and tools for communication, our product continues to evolve to address their needs tomorrow,” says David.

“Our plan for the future is to continue multiplying our subsidiaries and franchisees, first in France, then in Europe. Google Workspace is supporting us in this mission by helping us stay close to both our customers and employees even as we continue to expand.”