Urheiluhallit Oy is a limited liability company belonging to the Helsinki City Group, whose organization includes eight halls offering a variety of aquatic and indoor sports. The halls have almost three million customer visits per year. The services of the halls include swimming and aquatic sports, gyms, group sports and ball sports, as well as complementary swimming schools, courses, events and additional services.
Sports halls offer their customers relaxed and refreshing everyday moments. Their NPS has been at a high level for a long time, and HR Division Director Tarja Toivanen wanted to ensure that the good development continued. So he began to identify a partner for customer service training, which would focus on experiential and emotional elements of customer encounters.
More Than Training Company trainers were selected as partners Tarja Salmi and Janne Kolehmainen. "MTTC was the right choice for us. After a joint briefing, we received a functional overall package that was easy to proceed with," Tarja from the sports halls thanks you.
MTTC trained the Sports Halls' swimming pool staff in the spring and autumn, with MTTC's part in the mornings spent working on different frameworks and discussions related to customer experience and creating an atmosphere, as well as small group and role-playing exercises. In the afternoon, the Sports Halls' own management continued working with the groups, focusing on how to put the day's topics and activities into practice.
“The goal of the program was to keep the customer experience at the center and have an inclusive, interactive discussion with our staff. I liked how inclusive MTTC’s approach was right from the start, right from the quote preparation stage – it was a good example of how MTTC works through dialogue, and not just brings ready-made solutions to the table”, Tarja opens up about the selection criteria and goals for the collaboration.
“The collaboration left a good feeling. The staff felt that the atmosphere was good and open. The training sessions were an interactive experience. It was really nice that our staff were able to discuss topics with each other across different halls, with their own professional group. We would especially like to thank Tarja and Janne for being genuinely present – greeting, learning and remembering the names of the participants, eating with us, being considerate, encouraging discussion and making good observations. In addition, they had visited our hall in advance to get to know it and brought examples from there to support their theories. They showed genuine interest in us.”
MTTC's Tarja and Janne are also in good spirits. "There was a good atmosphere during the training sessions, and all participants seemed to have a genuine desire to offer customers the best service and help with everyday exercise options", said Tarja, and Janne continues: “It was great to see how sports professionals threw themselves into the world of customer experience and thought of ways to add both emotion and atmosphere to their own customer work.”
The coaching also had positive results, says Tarja from Urheiluhallien. "NPS increased after the coaching. It was already at a high level, and other things also affect it, but I want to believe that this coaching supported the increase. In addition, I feel that discussing emotions, empathy, and listening skills made people think about their everyday work in a new way."
What would you say to someone considering MTTC as a partner for customer service training, Tarja Toivanen?
"I would personally like to see a continuation of the training. I would see MTTC as a long-term partner for us. I like your approach, where my needs as a customer and the company's needs have been taken into account right from the start. Throughout the entire collaboration, I felt that I was listened to, and that led to a rewarding and thought-provoking discussion and new perspectives."
“I would say that if someone wants coaching that understands the client’s business and its coaching needs, MTTC is a good choice. They get to know the business, the team, the locations, and the business context in advance, and only then do they build the coaching and program content.”
