Can a Health Club Fire It’s Members?

The thought of actually asking a member or client to leave your business spits right in the face of retention. However, a happy, productive membership base is more valuable than the problem members you face everyday.

Every business has one, the dreaded problem member. They spend more time complaining about the facility then they do working out and are constantly taking you and your staff’s time away from providing service to your core clients. This type of member represents somewhere around 2 percent of your membership base, and assuming you have done everything reasonably possible to satisfy these members needs inherently — there are always a few that just cannot be satisfied. Word of mouth marketing is the leading driver of small business growth and in the case of your membership base; one bad apple can really spoil the bunch.

Did you know that a patron who feels they are under serviced will tell eight times more people than someone who feels they are well serviced? Now, just think of all the times these “bad apples” in your club have felt under serviced and how many different people they would have told. When you identify a member whose demands cannot be reasonably satisfied by your service, then your service is not for that member. In most cases, you will be able to transfer that member to another facility close by to make sure their fitness goals are still met, but taking a stand and protecting your business and staff from these “bad apples” will benefit you in the long run.

Can a Health Club Fire It’s Members?

The thought of actually asking a member or client to leave your business spits right in the face of retention. However, a happy, productive membership base is more valuable than the problem members you face everyday.

Every business has one, the dreaded problem member. They spend more time complaining about the facility then they do working out and are constantly taking you and your staff’s time away from providing service to your core clients. This type of member represents somewhere around 2 percent of your membership base, and assuming you have done everything reasonably possible to satisfy these members needs inherently — there are always a few that just cannot be satisfied. Word of mouth marketing is the leading driver of small business growth and in the case of your membership base; one bad apple can really spoil the bunch.

Did you know that a patron who feels they are under serviced will tell eight times more people than someone who feels they are well serviced? Now, just think of all the times these “bad apples” in your club have felt under serviced and how many different people they would have told. When you identify a member whose demands cannot be reasonably satisfied by your service, then your service is not for that member. In most cases, you will be able to transfer that member to another facility close by to make sure their fitness goals are still met, but taking a stand and protecting your business and staff from these “bad apples” will benefit you in the long run.

Health Clubs Join Forces to Celebrate Memorial Day!

In the most general sense, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. citizens who died at war—the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may maintain the quality of life we have today. Let’s take the time to remember them this weekend and celebrate their lives and what they’ve contributed to ours.

But let’s also remember our servicemen and women every day. Those who return from war have needs that extend beyond the comforts of home and family. They need a place to belong. For some returning from war, their health is all they have. Now, club owners have a chance to make a difference in the lives of active military and their families through the IHRSA Joining Forces Network.

As part of the national initiative, Joining Forces—which mobilizes all sectors of society to aid military men, women, and families—IHRSA has issued a nationwide call to action to health club operators. By joining the IHRSA Joining Forces Network, your health club will aid military families by opening the door to a healthy lifestyle.

CALL TO ACTION:

On June 1st, the program will be available to military personnel and their families through www.healthclubs.com, where they can search for participating clubs in their area. IHRSA members in the IHRSA Joining Forces Network will offer free memberships to immediate family members (ages 13 and older, where applicable) of actively deployed reservists and National Guard members.

If you’re looking to give back to your community in a way that makes a difference in the lives of military families, what better way than to give them the gift of health?

Will these families be able to find your club on the list?

Health Clubs Join Forces to Celebrate Memorial Day!

In the most general sense, Memorial Day commemorates U.S. citizens who died at war—the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we may maintain the quality of life we have today. Let’s take the time to remember them this weekend and celebrate their lives and what they’ve contributed to ours.

But let’s also remember our servicemen and women every day. Those who return from war have needs that extend beyond the comforts of home and family. They need a place to belong. For some returning from war, their health is all they have. Now, club owners have a chance to make a difference in the lives of active military and their families through the IHRSA Joining Forces Network.

As part of the national initiative, Joining Forces—which mobilizes all sectors of society to aid military men, women, and families—IHRSA has issued a nationwide call to action to health club operators. By joining the IHRSA Joining Forces Network, your health club will aid military families by opening the door to a healthy lifestyle.

CALL TO ACTION:

On June 1st, the program will be available to military personnel and their families through www.healthclubs.com, where they can search for participating clubs in their area. IHRSA members in the IHRSA Joining Forces Network will offer free memberships to immediate family members (ages 13 and older, where applicable) of actively deployed reservists and National Guard members.

If you’re looking to give back to your community in a way that makes a difference in the lives of military families, what better way than to give them the gift of health?

Will these families be able to find your club on the list?

Millions of Americans Are Too Lazy To Go To Their Local Health Club!

Close to 65 million people in the United States are inactive, according to a recent survey by the Physical Activity Council (PAC). Of this group, 34 percent are between the ages of 6 and 34. The study also shows that in the past three years, the number of inactive kids, ages 6-12, has doubled.

The PAC’s study analyzed overall participation in sports, fitness and recreational activities.

This year’s study also asked respondents to state which activities they would like to participate in but currently do not. These ranged from fishing and bird watching to ice hockey and kickboxing.

“The whole concept of measuring people’s aspirations when it comes to sports participation has previously not been done in this sort of research environment,” said Keith Storey, vice president of Sports Marketing Surveys USA, which coordinated the survey. “The answers to these questions show there is a clear desire by Americans to participate in a number of fitness, sports and outdoor activities, but they just don’t know where to start. It is this pent-up demand that presents both an opportunity and a challenge to our seven organizations. The survey results prove that people want to ‘get off the sidelines’ and participate but might need a bit of a push to get going.”

The member organizations of PAC are the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the National Golf Foundation, Snowsports Industries America, The Outdoor Foundation, the Tennis Industry Association, the United States Tennis Association and the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association.

The survey found that innovative equipment designs in elliptical, treadmills and stationary bikes have all increased in sales in the last year. So, too, have aerobics classes and participants in free weights.

The popularity of running also has increased. This is perhaps due to its low cost and the flexibility in time and location it offers participants. Other inexpensive sports also have increased in popularity. In the past 11 years, tennis participation has increased 42 percent, while golf participation has decreased. With its membership fees and cost of equipment, golf remains the No. 1 solitary physical activity but is decreasing, partly due to the older age of participants. Traditional team sports are becoming less popular due to families cutting back on budgets.

Children often receive training in a variety of sports at school, but when schools cut back on physical activity time and requirements, children become more inactive. Inactive youths are three times more likely to live sedentary lifestyles as adults, according to the PAC.

“Everyone knows that daily physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, yet a dangerously large portion of our society is totally sedentary,” said Tom Cove, president and CEO of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. “It’s obvious our country cannot sustain these trends of inactivity, especially for people under 35. The good news is the data shows many people want to be more active. This is a clarion call for our society–industry, communities, government and the non-profit sector–to be more committed and creative in providing sports, fitness and recreation opportunities for every American.”

Millions of Americans Are Too Lazy To Go To Their Local Health Club!

Close to 65 million people in the United States are inactive, according to a recent survey by the Physical Activity Council (PAC). Of this group, 34 percent are between the ages of 6 and 34. The study also shows that in the past three years, the number of inactive kids, ages 6-12, has doubled.

The PAC’s study analyzed overall participation in sports, fitness and recreational activities.

This year’s study also asked respondents to state which activities they would like to participate in but currently do not. These ranged from fishing and bird watching to ice hockey and kickboxing.

“The whole concept of measuring people’s aspirations when it comes to sports participation has previously not been done in this sort of research environment,” said Keith Storey, vice president of Sports Marketing Surveys USA, which coordinated the survey. “The answers to these questions show there is a clear desire by Americans to participate in a number of fitness, sports and outdoor activities, but they just don’t know where to start. It is this pent-up demand that presents both an opportunity and a challenge to our seven organizations. The survey results prove that people want to ‘get off the sidelines’ and participate but might need a bit of a push to get going.”

The member organizations of PAC are the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the National Golf Foundation, Snowsports Industries America, The Outdoor Foundation, the Tennis Industry Association, the United States Tennis Association and the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association.

The survey found that innovative equipment designs in elliptical, treadmills and stationary bikes have all increased in sales in the last year. So, too, have aerobics classes and participants in free weights.

The popularity of running also has increased. This is perhaps due to its low cost and the flexibility in time and location it offers participants. Other inexpensive sports also have increased in popularity. In the past 11 years, tennis participation has increased 42 percent, while golf participation has decreased. With its membership fees and cost of equipment, golf remains the No. 1 solitary physical activity but is decreasing, partly due to the older age of participants. Traditional team sports are becoming less popular due to families cutting back on budgets.

Children often receive training in a variety of sports at school, but when schools cut back on physical activity time and requirements, children become more inactive. Inactive youths are three times more likely to live sedentary lifestyles as adults, according to the PAC.

“Everyone knows that daily physical activity is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle, yet a dangerously large portion of our society is totally sedentary,” said Tom Cove, president and CEO of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. “It’s obvious our country cannot sustain these trends of inactivity, especially for people under 35. The good news is the data shows many people want to be more active. This is a clarion call for our society–industry, communities, government and the non-profit sector–to be more committed and creative in providing sports, fitness and recreation opportunities for every American.”

Insurance Fraud Lands Health Club Owners in Prison

Insurance fraud occurs in many industries, and although it’s rare in the health club industry, insurance fraud was at the heart of three recent cases involving health club operators in the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Joseph Lerner, a chiropractor and owner of Horsham (PA) Fitness, was sentenced in January to 36 months in prison for defrauding eight insurance companies, including Independence Blue Cross, in a $3 million scheme. The office of U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, said that Lerner billed the insurance companies for chiropractic treatments that Lerner did not provide or supervise between 2007 and March 2010. The owner of Horsham Fitness, Horsham, PA, is serving a 36-month prison sentence for insurance fraud. Photo by Robin Leven.“Lerner lied to people who came to join his gym,” according to the sentencing memo, “telling them that they could obtain massages and personal training for the very low price of only a co-payment, usually $10, by having their health insurance company pay for those massages and personal training sessions, when he knew that such sessions were not reimbursable under the gym members’ health insurance policies.”

Memeger, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Crawley and Laurie Magid, also submitted in the sentencing memo that Lerner, knowing that no treatments had been provided, prepared the fraudulent bills, including fictitious procedure codes and false representations of patient symptoms and clinical findings. The payments from the eight insurance companies totaled about $1.9 million. In his plea agreement, Lerner agreed to forfeit $432,834.12.

“Insurers saw that there were unusual patterns of billing by Dr. Lerner, so they brought it to our attention, and then we investigated further,” Magid says.

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania office also handled a case involving another chiropractor, Raymond Brozek, and Michael Karp and Mark Levin, owners of Hatfield (PA) Athletic Club and Rehab One, a chiropractic and rehabilitation facility located inside the club.

Levin and Karp hired Brozek to work from 2004 to 2006 and directed members to Brozek, who then created fraudulent bills that were submitted for treatments that Brozek did not perform or were not medically necessary.

In addition to Rehab One, which no longer is in operation at Hatfield Athletic Club, Brozek also saw patients in the basement of Levin’s home at a gym known as Rehab Two and at the homes of Levin’s friends, according to court documents. The fraudulent bills to Independence Blue Cross totaled $1.9 million, resulting in payments from the insurance company totaling almost $400,000.

Last year, Levin, Karp and Brozek each pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud. Levin received a 12-month prison sentence, and Karp received a six-month prison sentence. Brozek avoided prison time and received a sentence that includes three years’ probation after a motion of leniency was filed based on “substantial” assistance from Brozek that led to charges against Levin and Karp. “It didn’t do as well as I thought … and I guess I lost my mental control and tried to make up for it, and I did that by cheating,” Levin said at sentencing, according to Philadelphia newspapers. Levin added that he did not take the money for himself and instead put it back into the club. The state of Pennsylvania was once again hit with an insurance fraud probe in late January. Investigators from the Northeast Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Task Force raided the Giacalone Chiropractic and Fitness Center’s two locations in Pocono Summit, PA, and Canadensis, PA. A team of 20 officers in each location carried out computers, records and other items that could be used as evidence, according to local media outlets. Myles Walsh, the task force’s director, said that the father-daughter business operated by Joseph and Maria Giacalone has been under investigation for the past five years, and the case could involve fraudulent insurance bills of more than several million dollars. “This investigation began after an individual contacted us about inconsistencies in Giacalone’s insurance billing statements,” Walsh told media outlets in January. “We’ve found too many billing inconsistencies for all this to be accidental and not intentional. They’ve billed insurance companies 30, 36-hour days. Obviously, there’s only 24 hours in a day.” A representative from the task force said last month that the case is still under active investigation. As of press time, no charges had been filed against the Giacalones, who did not respond to e-mailed requests for comments from Club Industry. Ken Reinig, senior vice president of Association Insurance Group (AIG), Lakewood, CO, says cases such as these are rare in the health club industry. AIG insures more than 3,500 health clubs and has been specializing in the industry for more than 20 years, yet when asked about the three recent cases, Reinig says the Lerner case was the only one with which he was aware.“Although it certainly is horrific when it happens, I don’t think it is that big of a problem [in the industry],” says Reinig, who adds that criminal acts are not covered by insurance. “You are going to find insurance fraud in virtually every industry that involves medical billing. I’m surprised we don’t see more of this.”

Last June, Lerner pleaded guilty to one count of insurance and mail fraud. In an attempt to lessen his impending prison sentence, Lerner asked friends, colleagues and patients to attend a hearing to support him and to write letters to the presiding judge urging leniency.“I have cooperated with authorities at every instance, and am regretful and remorseful that I hurt those around me,” Lerner wrote in the letter to friends dated Sept. 2, 2010. “You may have to think deeply for a while [still have a sense of humor] but if you can recall and relate a good experience about me as a father, helper, healer, a good clinical outcome, value to the community, a reason the world is better off with me ‘out’ instead of ‘in,’ and ask for leniency in sentencing, I would be forever grateful.”Lerner provided his friends with guidelines for how to construct the letter to the judge. Those guidelines included checking for typos and writing the letter on letterhead stationery. Written in italics, all caps and boldface, he also added: “Better to not mention massage or insurance.”The U.S. attorneys said that Lerner submitted to the judge 54 letters from the community and from Lerner’s patients. That information was included in a supplemental sentencing memo filed last November.“It’s an understatement to say that it was inappropriate,” Magid says. “It was clearly inappropriate on his part to try and basically make these people part of his scheme by asking them to provide letters of support, but not the important information to the judge that they may have unwittingly been made part of his scheme by being told that they could get extremely low-cost personal training by billing it to insurance.”Lerner is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, NJ, and his projected release date is Oct. 2, 2013. Karp also is at Fort Dix, and his projected release date is May 28, 2011. Levin is serving his sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, MA, and his projected release date is Dec. 14, 2011.Magid says these cases, and Lerner’s case in particular, can provide a valuable lesson to club operators.“I think the lesson is that even if you are running a gym, if you are a health care provider, you hold a position of trust and are expected to properly bill and follow the law,” Magid says. “And the expectations of you are even a little bit higher than someone who does not hold that position of trust.”Lerner, Magid adds, violated that trust.

Insurance Fraud Lands Health Club Owners in Prison

Insurance fraud occurs in many industries, and although it’s rare in the health club industry, insurance fraud was at the heart of three recent cases involving health club operators in the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Joseph Lerner, a chiropractor and owner of Horsham (PA) Fitness, was sentenced in January to 36 months in prison for defrauding eight insurance companies, including Independence Blue Cross, in a $3 million scheme. The office of U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, said that Lerner billed the insurance companies for chiropractic treatments that Lerner did not provide or supervise between 2007 and March 2010. The owner of Horsham Fitness, Horsham, PA, is serving a 36-month prison sentence for insurance fraud. Photo by Robin Leven.“Lerner lied to people who came to join his gym,” according to the sentencing memo, “telling them that they could obtain massages and personal training for the very low price of only a co-payment, usually $10, by having their health insurance company pay for those massages and personal training sessions, when he knew that such sessions were not reimbursable under the gym members’ health insurance policies.”

Memeger, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mary Crawley and Laurie Magid, also submitted in the sentencing memo that Lerner, knowing that no treatments had been provided, prepared the fraudulent bills, including fictitious procedure codes and false representations of patient symptoms and clinical findings. The payments from the eight insurance companies totaled about $1.9 million. In his plea agreement, Lerner agreed to forfeit $432,834.12.

“Insurers saw that there were unusual patterns of billing by Dr. Lerner, so they brought it to our attention, and then we investigated further,” Magid says.

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania office also handled a case involving another chiropractor, Raymond Brozek, and Michael Karp and Mark Levin, owners of Hatfield (PA) Athletic Club and Rehab One, a chiropractic and rehabilitation facility located inside the club.

Levin and Karp hired Brozek to work from 2004 to 2006 and directed members to Brozek, who then created fraudulent bills that were submitted for treatments that Brozek did not perform or were not medically necessary.

In addition to Rehab One, which no longer is in operation at Hatfield Athletic Club, Brozek also saw patients in the basement of Levin’s home at a gym known as Rehab Two and at the homes of Levin’s friends, according to court documents. The fraudulent bills to Independence Blue Cross totaled $1.9 million, resulting in payments from the insurance company totaling almost $400,000.

Last year, Levin, Karp and Brozek each pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud. Levin received a 12-month prison sentence, and Karp received a six-month prison sentence. Brozek avoided prison time and received a sentence that includes three years’ probation after a motion of leniency was filed based on “substantial” assistance from Brozek that led to charges against Levin and Karp. “It didn’t do as well as I thought … and I guess I lost my mental control and tried to make up for it, and I did that by cheating,” Levin said at sentencing, according to Philadelphia newspapers. Levin added that he did not take the money for himself and instead put it back into the club. The state of Pennsylvania was once again hit with an insurance fraud probe in late January. Investigators from the Northeast Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Task Force raided the Giacalone Chiropractic and Fitness Center’s two locations in Pocono Summit, PA, and Canadensis, PA. A team of 20 officers in each location carried out computers, records and other items that could be used as evidence, according to local media outlets. Myles Walsh, the task force’s director, said that the father-daughter business operated by Joseph and Maria Giacalone has been under investigation for the past five years, and the case could involve fraudulent insurance bills of more than several million dollars. “This investigation began after an individual contacted us about inconsistencies in Giacalone’s insurance billing statements,” Walsh told media outlets in January. “We’ve found too many billing inconsistencies for all this to be accidental and not intentional. They’ve billed insurance companies 30, 36-hour days. Obviously, there’s only 24 hours in a day.” A representative from the task force said last month that the case is still under active investigation. As of press time, no charges had been filed against the Giacalones, who did not respond to e-mailed requests for comments from Club Industry. Ken Reinig, senior vice president of Association Insurance Group (AIG), Lakewood, CO, says cases such as these are rare in the health club industry. AIG insures more than 3,500 health clubs and has been specializing in the industry for more than 20 years, yet when asked about the three recent cases, Reinig says the Lerner case was the only one with which he was aware.“Although it certainly is horrific when it happens, I don’t think it is that big of a problem [in the industry],” says Reinig, who adds that criminal acts are not covered by insurance. “You are going to find insurance fraud in virtually every industry that involves medical billing. I’m surprised we don’t see more of this.”

Last June, Lerner pleaded guilty to one count of insurance and mail fraud. In an attempt to lessen his impending prison sentence, Lerner asked friends, colleagues and patients to attend a hearing to support him and to write letters to the presiding judge urging leniency.“I have cooperated with authorities at every instance, and am regretful and remorseful that I hurt those around me,” Lerner wrote in the letter to friends dated Sept. 2, 2010. “You may have to think deeply for a while [still have a sense of humor] but if you can recall and relate a good experience about me as a father, helper, healer, a good clinical outcome, value to the community, a reason the world is better off with me ‘out’ instead of ‘in,’ and ask for leniency in sentencing, I would be forever grateful.”Lerner provided his friends with guidelines for how to construct the letter to the judge. Those guidelines included checking for typos and writing the letter on letterhead stationery. Written in italics, all caps and boldface, he also added: “Better to not mention massage or insurance.”The U.S. attorneys said that Lerner submitted to the judge 54 letters from the community and from Lerner’s patients. That information was included in a supplemental sentencing memo filed last November.“It’s an understatement to say that it was inappropriate,” Magid says. “It was clearly inappropriate on his part to try and basically make these people part of his scheme by asking them to provide letters of support, but not the important information to the judge that they may have unwittingly been made part of his scheme by being told that they could get extremely low-cost personal training by billing it to insurance.”Lerner is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, NJ, and his projected release date is Oct. 2, 2013. Karp also is at Fort Dix, and his projected release date is May 28, 2011. Levin is serving his sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, MA, and his projected release date is Dec. 14, 2011.Magid says these cases, and Lerner’s case in particular, can provide a valuable lesson to club operators.“I think the lesson is that even if you are running a gym, if you are a health care provider, you hold a position of trust and are expected to properly bill and follow the law,” Magid says. “And the expectations of you are even a little bit higher than someone who does not hold that position of trust.”Lerner, Magid adds, violated that trust.

Tips to Selling Memberships during a Recession

Staff buy-in. The first people that need to be sold on investing in health is each of your membership advisors. They must believe in the value of exercise. Everyone knows the value of exercise and now everyone must believe that exercise helps one’s physical and mental well-being. Once your membership advisors embrace the fact that living a healthy lifestyle is a 24/7 attitude, they will make sales.
Sell with passion. Questions that membership advisors need to ask themselves are: Are they exercising? Do they believe in the product? Do they practice what they preach? The biggest component to selling anything is emotion. People buy based on emotion. They can sense whether the club representative is sincere or just trying to make a sale. Today’s consumer is savvy. Do not underestimate their ability to see right through false emotion and excitement. Membership advisors must have a burning passion for fitness and living a healthy lifestyle that must flow through their presentation.
Ignore the negativity. Membership advisors should not get caught up reading doomsayer headlines and watching stock market results. It is important to know what’s going on, but it should not consume their every thought, leading to desperation. Being distracted from a daily success cycle will only make matters worse. Membership advisors must keep a positive mental attitude every day and disregard what is going on around them or in their own personal lives. They must stay focused.
Value proposition. Consumers are evaluating where to spend their hard-earned money these days. Membership advisors must make a value proposition relatable to their goals and fitness needs. They must show prospects the value of starting an exercise program and how starting now makes more sense than ever. They should help prospects determine their daily spending habits and explain how spending less per day is a great value. Prospects can join the club for a low fixed cost and enjoy the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
Empathy vs. sympathy. Empathy is the capacity to recognize or understand another’s state of mind. It is often characterized as the ability to put yourself in their shoes. Sympathy is a social affinity in which one person stands with another person, closely understanding his or her feelings. Membership advisors should not sympathize but empathize with prospects. They must understand their situation but be careful not to get caught up in their story. Bring the conversation back to results and benefits of joining the club. Turn each negative into a positive. People on a tight budget usually don’t have much to do other than read, watch TV or surf the Internet. That gets boring quickly and encourages an unhealthy lifestyle. They could be at the gym, exercising, socializing, networking and making new friends all for a low monthly fixed cost. And they can read, watch TV or surf the Internet while doing it.

Tips to Selling Memberships during a Recession

Staff buy-in. The first people that need to be sold on investing in health is each of your membership advisors. They must believe in the value of exercise. Everyone knows the value of exercise and now everyone must believe that exercise helps one’s physical and mental well-being. Once your membership advisors embrace the fact that living a healthy lifestyle is a 24/7 attitude, they will make sales.
Sell with passion. Questions that membership advisors need to ask themselves are: Are they exercising? Do they believe in the product? Do they practice what they preach? The biggest component to selling anything is emotion. People buy based on emotion. They can sense whether the club representative is sincere or just trying to make a sale. Today’s consumer is savvy. Do not underestimate their ability to see right through false emotion and excitement. Membership advisors must have a burning passion for fitness and living a healthy lifestyle that must flow through their presentation.
Ignore the negativity. Membership advisors should not get caught up reading doomsayer headlines and watching stock market results. It is important to know what’s going on, but it should not consume their every thought, leading to desperation. Being distracted from a daily success cycle will only make matters worse. Membership advisors must keep a positive mental attitude every day and disregard what is going on around them or in their own personal lives. They must stay focused.
Value proposition. Consumers are evaluating where to spend their hard-earned money these days. Membership advisors must make a value proposition relatable to their goals and fitness needs. They must show prospects the value of starting an exercise program and how starting now makes more sense than ever. They should help prospects determine their daily spending habits and explain how spending less per day is a great value. Prospects can join the club for a low fixed cost and enjoy the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
Empathy vs. sympathy. Empathy is the capacity to recognize or understand another’s state of mind. It is often characterized as the ability to put yourself in their shoes. Sympathy is a social affinity in which one person stands with another person, closely understanding his or her feelings. Membership advisors should not sympathize but empathize with prospects. They must understand their situation but be careful not to get caught up in their story. Bring the conversation back to results and benefits of joining the club. Turn each negative into a positive. People on a tight budget usually don’t have much to do other than read, watch TV or surf the Internet. That gets boring quickly and encourages an unhealthy lifestyle. They could be at the gym, exercising, socializing, networking and making new friends all for a low monthly fixed cost. And they can read, watch TV or surf the Internet while doing it.

 Page 1 of 4  1  2  3  4 »