Abstract

Analyzing the arising higher requirements for the management of sports clubs, innovative thinking and creativity are required from managers and professionals. However, there is no situation without solution. This, difficult for many companies, period can be successfully overcome, but it is important to know how. Thus in today’s market only sports clubs can survive that are able to respond flexibly to the needs of the service user. In order to fully accomplish the expectations of service users, staff of the sports club must have sufficient knowledge of customer service skills improvement, service culture, to identify consumers. Consumer expectations foster to take interest about the improvement of customer service skills. With the growing needs of the users, service personnel is expected to provide more professional, better quality service. At the same time sports clubs should be interested in the process of customer service skills for an increasing competition. Therefore, the selected theme – an assessment of service skills in sports clubs – is quite relevant, because in the world mostly prevalent studies are that exactly analyze issues of customer service. Sport and physical activity take a very important place in a modern human life. Long time ago it was proved that people who live active life are healthier, more employable, more beautiful and are in better mood, therefore sports clubs services are marketable for any age, gender and social status people. In White book on sport (2007) it is stated that sports educate various values, such as a team spirit, a solidarity, a tolerance and a honesty, contribute to personal development and self-expression. Authors state that sport is not just a lifestyle, but also a daily life style, a process and a purpose of life, which is an inevitable phenomenon in healthy human life. There’s is a lack of surveys of service skills in sports clubs in Lithuania, so the topic is relevant to cases of both national and particular firms, because invoking an empirical study seeks to identify what exactly benefits sports clubs can get. The problem of this article is formulated by these questions: How a consumer behavior and service skills are understood in sports clubs from theoretical point of view? What kind of problems are encountered in assessing service skills in sports clubs? What benefits seeks and receives user of sports clubs, if there is a good service? Lithuanian sports clubs were renamed as a condition to get agreement to take a survey of services users. The selected object of the article for the analysis: assessment of service skills from sports clubs user‘s viewpoint. The aim of article: with reference to theoretical knowledge about sports clubs consumer‘s behaviour and service skills to identify problems with which are faced in sports clubs and introduce suggestions for improving the situation. The research methods: comparative analysis of nonfictions, questionnaire, content analysis, systematic analysis. Verf.-Referat