We still talk about “out-of-hours enquiries” in leisure. I’m beginning to think the phrase itself is outdated.

A prospective member researching gyms at 10.30pm isn’t enquiring at the wrong time. They’re enquiring at exactly the right time for them. The problem is that many leisure sales processes were built around when our teams are available, while customers make decisions whenever they find the time, motivation or opportunity.

Someone sees an Instagram post after dinner. A parent finally gets five minutes to research swimming lessons once the children are in bed. Someone finishes a difficult day and decides it is time to do something about their fitness.

These moments matter because interest has become action. The person has moved beyond vaguely thinking about exercise and started exploring how to make it happen. Your marketing has attracted their attention, your facilities have appealed to them, and now they want help deciding what comes next.

Too often, they complete a form and receive an automated acknowledgement promising that somebody will be in touch tomorrow. By then, they may be busy, less motivated or already speaking to another operator.

We have become very good at making our businesses visible around the clock. The next opportunity is to make them useful around the clock, too.

A centre might open at six in the morning and close at ten at night, while its dedicated sales, membership administration and customer-support teams operate much closer to nine-to-five. Reception colleagues may still be on site, but they are also welcoming arrivals, answering phones and dealing with the practical demands of a busy building.

‍

Opening the doors for 16 hours does not automatically provide 16 hours of meaningful sales support. And even that leaves another eight hours when somebody might want to ask a question, explore their options or take the first step.

Agentic AI changes what operators can do about that gap. The business can remain available for a conversation without requiring its people to remain at work.

‍

One of our clients, Abbeycroft Leisure, reports that, across June, July and August 2026, 40% of recorded conversations took place outside 9am to 5pm. That’s two in every five conversations that happened beyond the conventional working day.

That activity is already happening. Customers are choosing their own times to engage, and AI gives operators a way to respond while the conversation is relevant to them.

The opportunity extends beyond capturing a name and phone number. A capable AI sales agent, or ‘AI employee’ as we call them, can answer questions, understand requirements, address straightforward objections and help somebody move towards a useful outcome, whether that means joining online, arranging a visit or preparing for a conversation with a colleague.

Consider the person who asks whether swimming is included in a membership. A price list might answer the immediate question, but a conversation can establish that they want to swim before work, use the gym occasionally and attend a weekend class. That gives the operator an opportunity to explain how its service fits their routine, rather than simply directing them towards a collection of membership options.

Another person may be worried about walking into a gym for the first time. Their question about beginner classes could be an attempt to establish whether they will feel comfortable, whether they will know what to do and whether somebody will help them get started.

For that person, a useful answer can remove a barrier that another promotional offer would leave untouched.

This is why I think the distinction between sales and service can be less helpful than we assume. Customers ask practical questions as part of making commercial decisions. They want to understand parking, pool access, class times, changing facilities and what their first visit will involve.

A conversation we label “service” may contain the answer that helps someone decide to join.

AI coverage therefore needs to do more than repeat prices and share a joining link. It should help people understand the experience they are considering and, where the necessary systems are connected, make taking the next step straightforward.

‍

‍

Another client of ours, LED Community Leisure, describes the difference that immediate, personalised responses have made across their website, app, email and WhatsApp. Their response times have moved from hours or days to seconds, allowing customers to continue the conversation when they are ready. Stephanie Bund, Membership & Customer Experience Manager, told us that this “has completely elevated our sales and service levels.”

‍

‍

That is the commercial value of availability. A customer can ask a follow-up question while the original answer is still in front of them, explore an option they had not considered and make progress without waiting for another working day.

It also closes a gap in the way we use our marketing budgets.

Advertising, social content and websites continue generating attention throughout the evening. If we encourage people to enquire at those times but cannot help them when they do, we interrupt the journey at precisely the point where they have shown interest.

An online joining process works well for someone who has already made up their mind. The prospect with an unanswered question needs something more.

How much of our marketing budgets are spent generating more enquiries versus optimising the processes that convert the existing ones? Improving the connection between interest and response can make the demand we already attract more productive.

‍

‍

There is a benefit for staff here as well. Continuous AI support creates space for colleagues to focus on conversations where their experience, reassurance and personal attention make the greatest difference.

‍

At LED, fewer reception calls and less manual follow-up have helped release staff time for more involved customer interactions. That matters because the person standing at reception and the person asking a question online both deserve attention, and neither should have to compete for the same colleague’s time over a routine query.

For operators, that opens up a different way to think about growth. More conversations do not have to translate directly into more routine work for the team. AI can support the initial interaction and ongoing questions, while colleagues spend more of their time welcoming visitors, delivering tours and helping people feel confident about becoming members.

Where human involvement is needed, the conversation should arrive with its context intact.

Imagine a prospective member has explained that they can only visit after six, are interested in swimming and feel nervous about joining. A colleague picking up that opportunity should already know those things. They can suggest a suitable visit and provide reassurance, rather than asking the person to repeat information they supplied the night before.

The customer experiences continuity, and the salesperson begins further forward.

The same thinking applies to existing members. Customer decisions continue after the sales team has gone home, including decisions about whether a membership still works for them.

Abbeycroft’s reporting shows that cancellation-related conversations account for approximately 23% of activity before work and during the evening, compared with 16% during the 9-5 window.

A member reviewing their finances at home may be willing to explain what has changed and explore an appropriate alternative at that moment. An immediate conversation creates the opportunity to understand the problem, offer relevant help or guide them through the next step.

‍

‍

‍

The changing mix of conversations is a useful reminder that round-the-clock availability should encompass sales, service and retention. Customers bring different needs at different times, and AI can provide continuity across those needs without an operator having to build a separate night shift for each one.

‍

‍

For leisure leaders, there is a simple exercise worth doing: analyse when your enquiries arrive, then look at the response they receive and the outcomes that follow.

How quickly does someone get a useful answer? Can they take the next step immediately? If a colleague needs to become involved, is the handover clear and timely? Are evening conversations leading to visits and memberships later in the week?

The purpose is to understand how effectively the business helps people progress. An enquiry that begins at 10.30pm and leads to a membership three days later is part of one customer journey, even if several people and systems contribute along the way.

That is where I believe the bigger opportunity lies. AI allows operators to reconsider a constraint we have treated as inevitable: that commercial availability must end when human availability does.

Our buildings will still need opening hours, and our colleagues will still need sensible working hours. But customers can receive answers, explore their options and move towards a decision beyond those boundaries.

You may discover that your biggest sales opportunity is being available when the people you have already attracted are ready to talk.

How much demand are we currently losing simply because our customers don’t shop to our rota?

‍

‍

‍