Gym rats known to carry all kinds of diseases!

Gym rats known to carry disease
Why is the Planet Fitness chain of health clubs trying to alienate people who love to work out?

Of all the people whose ire you might actively seek to provoke, you’d think the ones who can bench press 500 pounds would fall pretty far down the list. Not if you’re on the marketing team for Planet Fitness, the rapidly growing national health-club chain that has recently declared war on bodybuilders. In a ubiquitous series of television commercials that debuted last fall, the chain openly mocks those brutish gym rats who grunt and flex their way around the weight room, alienating everyone around them.Maybe you’ve seen the one where a greased up Schwarzenegger-type swaggers through the gym repeating the mantra, “I pick things up and put them down.” Or the one where another “lunk”—that’s what Planet Fitness calls these sorts of people—struggles to tie his shoes. A third shows a screaming gym buffoon as he fills out a membership application, flexing and making sound effects as if he’s maxing out on the squat rack. “Not his planet, yours,” reads the tag line.Pretty funny stuff, right? Not to the bodybuilders and serious weight lifters who find the way they’re portrayed in the commercials offensive and the way they’re treated in Planet Fitness clubs quite possibly discriminatory. I’ve felt that discrimination myself firsthand. I’m not what you would call a bodybuilder, mind you, or a regular Planet Fitness member, either. But I have been to number of different Planet Fitness locations in the past few years, mostly as an “emergency gym” when I’m traveling. (The fact that I even have an emergency gym should tell you something about my approach to working out.) In some respects, it’s not a bad place to lift weights—very clean and quiet, and set up in an unusual yellow and purple design scheme with painted signs reading, “Judgment-Free Zone.” No one will judge you, presumably, if you partake of the bowl of candy on the reception desk, or of the weekly Pizza Mondays promotion. (Yes, they serve pizza in the gym.)Then there’s the fact that certain bodybuilding exercises—like dead lifts and clean-and-jerks—are prohibited. CEO Mike Grondahl has further promised, “We’ll be the only fitness chain that can say we’ll never try to sell you personal training. A lot of people will say we are dead wrong with this historic move. But the world was flat once, and who the hell needs a friend for 50 bucks an hour?” The facility also comes equipped with a “lunk alarm”—a siren that is supposed to go off whenever someone grunts too loudly or drops a heavy weight on the floor. (The latter is a moot point at most Planet Fitness locations, where they don’t even have any large weights.) I’ve never set off the alarm, but on more than one occasion, in different locations around the country, I’ve been lectured by staffers for breathing too hard when lifting, and I’ve gotten dirty looks for excessive sweating in the weight room. Clearly it’s not my planet either.(Nor is it this guy’s, a Planet Fitness member who claimed last week that he had his membership revoked for making a video of himself flexing in the locker room. Sorry bro, they kind of have a point with that one.)I’m not the only one who’s noticed this assault on people who are actually trying to get a workout. Men’s Health called Planet Fitness “The Worst Gym In America,” and over the past few months, my comrades-in-(big)-arms have been speaking out against the chain on blogs, in bodybuilding forums, and at the websites of weightlifting and health-club magazines. In March, a group of lunk activists successfully banded together to have the Planet Fitness You Tube channel shut down by organizing a mass flagging of their commercials as offensive material. The chain was forced to start a new one, under a different name. And other gyms have started making their own commercials in response to Planet Fitness. “It was the revenge of the lunkheads,” says John Craig, a Planet Fitness spokesman. In cases like this you might expect a corporate brand would back down from a perceived slight to potential customers, but that’s not part of the PF business model. If anything, they’re redoubling their offensive, on the theory that any blowback from the musclehead community will only bolster the company’s image with its core customers. “The guys in the commercials are like caricatures of steroid-addled muscleheads,” Craig says. “We think if you’re using steroids, and prancing around the gym, that you’re fair game.”

The strategy is working. “It’s just a Curves that allows men,” wrote one critic on their Facebook page, referencing the hugely successful, if not quite competition-level, women’s gym that has some 10,000 locations around the world. Planet Fitness, for its part, has been one of the fastest growing players in the fitness industry over the past couple of years, with 422 clubs in operation and around $150 million in annual revenue, according to Craig. Those numbers put the chain in the company of other big industry players like 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym.

Although it seems paradoxical—like setting up an all-you-can-eat buffet with a “No Fatties Allowed” sign—there’s a lot of money in tailoring a fitness club to people who don’t actually want to work out. The percentage of Americans who belong to some sort of health club has been holding at 15 percent for years, according to Stuart Goldman, managing editor of Club Industry, a magazine for fitness-business professionals. That’s left companies looking for new ways to tap into the doughy majority and capitalize on casual exercisers. Planet Fitness isn’t the only chain that’s working this angle. Many others have lowered prices, scrapped long-term contracts, and ramped up their programs for children, who comprise one of the fastest-growing demographics in the business. Another industry trend: Cordoning off the weightlifting areas from the cardiovascular machines. If you’re not going to kick the lunks out altogether, you might as well hide them in the back. “Planet Fitness is run by smart businessmen,” says Meredith Poppler, vice president of industry growth at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. “There are thousands of average Jane’s and Joe’s for every big lifter. Many of those Janes and Joes are intimidated by grunting and 50-pound dumbbells. So, they decided to cater to the thousands at the expense of a smaller segment. It seems to be working quite nicely for them.”So it does, but should we take the success of special-interest gyms like Planet Fitness as a welcome shift in the culture of exercise? Or could it represent a sad departure from the one-size-fits-all health clubs of old?We’ve already seen how the echo chamber of Internet news helps us to ignore any opinions or facts that we don’t want to hear. What if something analogous were to happen in the fitness world? Imagine if every group had its own place to work out—a gym for muscleheads, a gym for fatsos, a gym for vegans, a gym for Slate readers. The pursuit of health might succumb to its own form of groupthink.Sure, no one likes it when a loud, aggressive dude is intimidating people in the weight room. But there may be something to learn from living (and lifting) in the sweaty melting pot of American exercise. Even the most odoriferous lunk might have something to teach us, after all—whether it’s a reminder of what we’re trying to avoid, or a reassurance that it’s possible to max out. Ultimately we all have to share the same planet. Sharing the gym might be a good place to start.
By Luke O’Neil

Gym rats known to carry all kinds of diseases!

Gym rats known to carry disease
Why is the Planet Fitness chain of health clubs trying to alienate people who love to work out?

Of all the people whose ire you might actively seek to provoke, you’d think the ones who can bench press 500 pounds would fall pretty far down the list. Not if you’re on the marketing team for Planet Fitness, the rapidly growing national health-club chain that has recently declared war on bodybuilders. In a ubiquitous series of television commercials that debuted last fall, the chain openly mocks those brutish gym rats who grunt and flex their way around the weight room, alienating everyone around them.Maybe you’ve seen the one where a greased up Schwarzenegger-type swaggers through the gym repeating the mantra, “I pick things up and put them down.” Or the one where another “lunk”—that’s what Planet Fitness calls these sorts of people—struggles to tie his shoes. A third shows a screaming gym buffoon as he fills out a membership application, flexing and making sound effects as if he’s maxing out on the squat rack. “Not his planet, yours,” reads the tag line.Pretty funny stuff, right? Not to the bodybuilders and serious weight lifters who find the way they’re portrayed in the commercials offensive and the way they’re treated in Planet Fitness clubs quite possibly discriminatory. I’ve felt that discrimination myself firsthand. I’m not what you would call a bodybuilder, mind you, or a regular Planet Fitness member, either. But I have been to number of different Planet Fitness locations in the past few years, mostly as an “emergency gym” when I’m traveling. (The fact that I even have an emergency gym should tell you something about my approach to working out.) In some respects, it’s not a bad place to lift weights—very clean and quiet, and set up in an unusual yellow and purple design scheme with painted signs reading, “Judgment-Free Zone.” No one will judge you, presumably, if you partake of the bowl of candy on the reception desk, or of the weekly Pizza Mondays promotion. (Yes, they serve pizza in the gym.)Then there’s the fact that certain bodybuilding exercises—like dead lifts and clean-and-jerks—are prohibited. CEO Mike Grondahl has further promised, “We’ll be the only fitness chain that can say we’ll never try to sell you personal training. A lot of people will say we are dead wrong with this historic move. But the world was flat once, and who the hell needs a friend for 50 bucks an hour?” The facility also comes equipped with a “lunk alarm”—a siren that is supposed to go off whenever someone grunts too loudly or drops a heavy weight on the floor. (The latter is a moot point at most Planet Fitness locations, where they don’t even have any large weights.) I’ve never set off the alarm, but on more than one occasion, in different locations around the country, I’ve been lectured by staffers for breathing too hard when lifting, and I’ve gotten dirty looks for excessive sweating in the weight room. Clearly it’s not my planet either.(Nor is it this guy’s, a Planet Fitness member who claimed last week that he had his membership revoked for making a video of himself flexing in the locker room. Sorry bro, they kind of have a point with that one.)I’m not the only one who’s noticed this assault on people who are actually trying to get a workout. Men’s Health called Planet Fitness “The Worst Gym In America,” and over the past few months, my comrades-in-(big)-arms have been speaking out against the chain on blogs, in bodybuilding forums, and at the websites of weightlifting and health-club magazines. In March, a group of lunk activists successfully banded together to have the Planet Fitness You Tube channel shut down by organizing a mass flagging of their commercials as offensive material. The chain was forced to start a new one, under a different name. And other gyms have started making their own commercials in response to Planet Fitness. “It was the revenge of the lunkheads,” says John Craig, a Planet Fitness spokesman. In cases like this you might expect a corporate brand would back down from a perceived slight to potential customers, but that’s not part of the PF business model. If anything, they’re redoubling their offensive, on the theory that any blowback from the musclehead community will only bolster the company’s image with its core customers. “The guys in the commercials are like caricatures of steroid-addled muscleheads,” Craig says. “We think if you’re using steroids, and prancing around the gym, that you’re fair game.”

The strategy is working. “It’s just a Curves that allows men,” wrote one critic on their Facebook page, referencing the hugely successful, if not quite competition-level, women’s gym that has some 10,000 locations around the world. Planet Fitness, for its part, has been one of the fastest growing players in the fitness industry over the past couple of years, with 422 clubs in operation and around $150 million in annual revenue, according to Craig. Those numbers put the chain in the company of other big industry players like 24 Hour Fitness and Gold’s Gym.

Although it seems paradoxical—like setting up an all-you-can-eat buffet with a “No Fatties Allowed” sign—there’s a lot of money in tailoring a fitness club to people who don’t actually want to work out. The percentage of Americans who belong to some sort of health club has been holding at 15 percent for years, according to Stuart Goldman, managing editor of Club Industry, a magazine for fitness-business professionals. That’s left companies looking for new ways to tap into the doughy majority and capitalize on casual exercisers. Planet Fitness isn’t the only chain that’s working this angle. Many others have lowered prices, scrapped long-term contracts, and ramped up their programs for children, who comprise one of the fastest-growing demographics in the business. Another industry trend: Cordoning off the weightlifting areas from the cardiovascular machines. If you’re not going to kick the lunks out altogether, you might as well hide them in the back. “Planet Fitness is run by smart businessmen,” says Meredith Poppler, vice president of industry growth at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. “There are thousands of average Jane’s and Joe’s for every big lifter. Many of those Janes and Joes are intimidated by grunting and 50-pound dumbbells. So, they decided to cater to the thousands at the expense of a smaller segment. It seems to be working quite nicely for them.”So it does, but should we take the success of special-interest gyms like Planet Fitness as a welcome shift in the culture of exercise? Or could it represent a sad departure from the one-size-fits-all health clubs of old?We’ve already seen how the echo chamber of Internet news helps us to ignore any opinions or facts that we don’t want to hear. What if something analogous were to happen in the fitness world? Imagine if every group had its own place to work out—a gym for muscleheads, a gym for fatsos, a gym for vegans, a gym for Slate readers. The pursuit of health might succumb to its own form of groupthink.Sure, no one likes it when a loud, aggressive dude is intimidating people in the weight room. But there may be something to learn from living (and lifting) in the sweaty melting pot of American exercise. Even the most odoriferous lunk might have something to teach us, after all—whether it’s a reminder of what we’re trying to avoid, or a reassurance that it’s possible to max out. Ultimately we all have to share the same planet. Sharing the gym might be a good place to start.
By Luke O’Neil

Health Club Marketing News: The Five-Finger Sales Close

The simplest and easiest to use sales tactics is the five-finger close. Whenever you are having trouble closing that pending sale you can use this method to isolate and overcome almost every objection a prospect can come up with. Some might classify this simple structure as “high pressure” but it’s not. It is a tool that you can use to help your sales staff close the tough sales.

Example:

I can understand you want to go home and think about this. After all, this is an important decision. Let me ask you this (This question is key to using the “five-finger close method).

1. Is our facility fairly convenient to you?
2. Does our facility have everything you would need to get into shape?
3. Is this something you want to do?
4.Is this something you need to do?
5. Is it affordable?

“So let’s look at this for a minute —We are convenient for you; have everything you need to get into shape; you need and want to do this, and it’s affordable! If you can say yes to these five things you’re ready to get started.”

Health Club Marketing News: The Five-Finger Sales Close

The simplest and easiest to use sales tactics is the five-finger close. Whenever you are having trouble closing that pending sale you can use this method to isolate and overcome almost every objection a prospect can come up with. Some might classify this simple structure as “high pressure” but it’s not. It is a tool that you can use to help your sales staff close the tough sales.

Example:

I can understand you want to go home and think about this. After all, this is an important decision. Let me ask you this (This question is key to using the “five-finger close method).

1. Is our facility fairly convenient to you?
2. Does our facility have everything you would need to get into shape?
3. Is this something you want to do?
4.Is this something you need to do?
5. Is it affordable?

“So let’s look at this for a minute —We are convenient for you; have everything you need to get into shape; you need and want to do this, and it’s affordable! If you can say yes to these five things you’re ready to get started.”

Is Your Health Club Heading For Trouble?

Has your health club started to take a turn for the worse? Are your cash flow worries keeping you awake at night?

” If your members’ satisfaction isn’t a priority for you already, it should be now. Paper trails for every transaction in your health club can be an extremely effective way to guard against disputes and to keep an eye on quality control. ”

The following can help you to determine if your health club is heading for trouble. .
1. Increase in Staff Turnover Of Key Health Club Staff
If you’ve had a number of your key employees quit your health club recently you should sit up and take notice. Health Club staff is arguably a club’s most valuable asset and if your key people are leaving, it’s often the first sign that something is going wrong. The problem is not just the associated cost of employee recruitment, but also training new hires and the additional burden on remaining health club staff while the new team members get up to speed, that add further strain on the health club operation. Instead of cutting membership fees if sales wane, try to find the reason membership sales have slowed. Potential Solution: One of the best ways to keep track of staff morale in your health club is to hold regular reviews and training sessions where club employees can air their views on both the health club and their specific concerns without fear of losing their job.
2. You Lose A Key Corporate Account Or Long Standing Member
Many people believe that enrolling a new health club member is seven times more expensive than keeping an existing member happy. Many times, health clubs are too reliant on a couple of key corporate accounts.There are a number of reasons key corporate accounts could defect: Your health club service is not of the standard promised or expected, or you could be beaten on price, quality or service by your competitor. The business could be going through budget cuts. Potential Solution: Take a long, hard look in the mirror and discover the underlying reasons for your corporate clients’ lost faith. This way, you’ll have a much better chance of either winning the client company back, or at least making sure you don’t lose others going forward. If your members’ satisfaction isn’t a priority for you already, it should be now. Paper trails for every transaction in your health club can be an extremely effective way to guard against disputes and to keep an eye on quality control.
3. Waiting Longer For Member Dues To Be Collected
If your current health club members are taking longer to pay their dues, you’re going to start having problems. And it may happen sooner than you think.Potential Solution: Too few health clubs employ someone to specifically collect past dues payments and chase late accounts. If you’re starting to notice members taking too long to pay, it’s worth sitting down with the member and discussing a solution. Be understanding when you’re asking for a member’s past dues but remember that you have rights, including being able to charge a late fee on past dues.Potential Solution: Health Club billing companies or collection companies can also help on your outstanding dues collections.
4. Cutting Membership Prices
While a popular tactic for promoting health club memberships or gaining short-term market share, reducing your membership prices without reducing your costs can seriously damage the business prospects of your health club. Potential Solution: Instead of cutting membership prices if sales start to fall, try to find the reason membership sales have slowed. In some markets, it’s possible that your market has reached the saturation point or it could be a problem with the quality or perceived value of your health club.There are a number of ways to differentiate your health club from the competition. There might be an alternative to cutting membership prices that will strengthen your health club and its prospects, rather than eating into your profit margins. It’s often worth spending a bit of money to market your health club more effectively, or by hiring a professional to evaluate your current circumstances to help reverse the downturn in sales.
5. You’re not honest with yourself
Are you still trying to convince yourself that everything with your health club will be alright? Do you find yourself hiding from bills and avoiding contact with your accountant, investors and staff? Covering up the truth about your health club’s financial situation will not only stop you from getting out of the mess you’re in, it may get you into deeper trouble. Investors aren’t going to penalize you for getting into problems — every business faces financial difficulties; however, if they don’t know what’s going on with your health club, they can’t help. Potential Solution: Investors will be far more likely to help if you are open and honest with them, so that potential problems can be caught earlier rather than later. Your investors will have put a significant amount of money into the health club and would undoubtedly prefer to invest more money than to lose it all because they were never told of the difficulties.

If you wake up in the morning and dread the thought of going to the club or you feel that the health club has evolved beyond your interest or control, then perhaps it’s time to consider getting out.
6. It’s Not Fun Anymore
Think back to the reason you first got into the health club business. It’s generally because of the excitement and the challenge of an industry you believe in, rather than the opportunity to make a quick buck. If you wake up in the morning and dread the thought of going to the club or you feel that the health club has evolved beyond your interest or control, then perhaps it’s time to consider getting out. Many entrepreneurs enjoy the challenge of getting a health club off the ground but once the club has become reasonably self-sufficient, they lose interest and need to move on to the next challenge.
Potential Solution: Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about how you can start delegating more authority to health club employees that you trust as part of your exit strategy. By giving some of your key health club employees the authority to make decisions, you can free up more of your time to concentrate on the parts of the health club business that still excite you, and potentially even get the passion back that made you start the club in the first place. The main thing to remember in all of these cases is that they do not necessarily mean that your health club is on its last legs. If you catch any of these signs early enough, they can all be turned around so the health club ends up stronger in the long run.

Now, let’s get back on track!

Is Your Health Club Heading For Trouble?

Has your health club started to take a turn for the worse? Are your cash flow worries keeping you awake at night?

” If your members’ satisfaction isn’t a priority for you already, it should be now. Paper trails for every transaction in your health club can be an extremely effective way to guard against disputes and to keep an eye on quality control. ”

The following can help you to determine if your health club is heading for trouble. .
1. Increase in Staff Turnover Of Key Health Club Staff
If you’ve had a number of your key employees quit your health club recently you should sit up and take notice. Health Club staff is arguably a club’s most valuable asset and if your key people are leaving, it’s often the first sign that something is going wrong. The problem is not just the associated cost of employee recruitment, but also training new hires and the additional burden on remaining health club staff while the new team members get up to speed, that add further strain on the health club operation. Instead of cutting membership fees if sales wane, try to find the reason membership sales have slowed. Potential Solution: One of the best ways to keep track of staff morale in your health club is to hold regular reviews and training sessions where club employees can air their views on both the health club and their specific concerns without fear of losing their job.
2. You Lose A Key Corporate Account Or Long Standing Member
Many people believe that enrolling a new health club member is seven times more expensive than keeping an existing member happy. Many times, health clubs are too reliant on a couple of key corporate accounts.There are a number of reasons key corporate accounts could defect: Your health club service is not of the standard promised or expected, or you could be beaten on price, quality or service by your competitor. The business could be going through budget cuts. Potential Solution: Take a long, hard look in the mirror and discover the underlying reasons for your corporate clients’ lost faith. This way, you’ll have a much better chance of either winning the client company back, or at least making sure you don’t lose others going forward. If your members’ satisfaction isn’t a priority for you already, it should be now. Paper trails for every transaction in your health club can be an extremely effective way to guard against disputes and to keep an eye on quality control.
3. Waiting Longer For Member Dues To Be Collected
If your current health club members are taking longer to pay their dues, you’re going to start having problems. And it may happen sooner than you think.Potential Solution: Too few health clubs employ someone to specifically collect past dues payments and chase late accounts. If you’re starting to notice members taking too long to pay, it’s worth sitting down with the member and discussing a solution. Be understanding when you’re asking for a member’s past dues but remember that you have rights, including being able to charge a late fee on past dues.Potential Solution: Health Club billing companies or collection companies can also help on your outstanding dues collections.
4. Cutting Membership Prices
While a popular tactic for promoting health club memberships or gaining short-term market share, reducing your membership prices without reducing your costs can seriously damage the business prospects of your health club. Potential Solution: Instead of cutting membership prices if sales start to fall, try to find the reason membership sales have slowed. In some markets, it’s possible that your market has reached the saturation point or it could be a problem with the quality or perceived value of your health club.There are a number of ways to differentiate your health club from the competition. There might be an alternative to cutting membership prices that will strengthen your health club and its prospects, rather than eating into your profit margins. It’s often worth spending a bit of money to market your health club more effectively, or by hiring a professional to evaluate your current circumstances to help reverse the downturn in sales.
5. You’re not honest with yourself
Are you still trying to convince yourself that everything with your health club will be alright? Do you find yourself hiding from bills and avoiding contact with your accountant, investors and staff? Covering up the truth about your health club’s financial situation will not only stop you from getting out of the mess you’re in, it may get you into deeper trouble. Investors aren’t going to penalize you for getting into problems — every business faces financial difficulties; however, if they don’t know what’s going on with your health club, they can’t help. Potential Solution: Investors will be far more likely to help if you are open and honest with them, so that potential problems can be caught earlier rather than later. Your investors will have put a significant amount of money into the health club and would undoubtedly prefer to invest more money than to lose it all because they were never told of the difficulties.

If you wake up in the morning and dread the thought of going to the club or you feel that the health club has evolved beyond your interest or control, then perhaps it’s time to consider getting out.
6. It’s Not Fun Anymore
Think back to the reason you first got into the health club business. It’s generally because of the excitement and the challenge of an industry you believe in, rather than the opportunity to make a quick buck. If you wake up in the morning and dread the thought of going to the club or you feel that the health club has evolved beyond your interest or control, then perhaps it’s time to consider getting out. Many entrepreneurs enjoy the challenge of getting a health club off the ground but once the club has become reasonably self-sufficient, they lose interest and need to move on to the next challenge.
Potential Solution: Perhaps it’s time to start thinking about how you can start delegating more authority to health club employees that you trust as part of your exit strategy. By giving some of your key health club employees the authority to make decisions, you can free up more of your time to concentrate on the parts of the health club business that still excite you, and potentially even get the passion back that made you start the club in the first place. The main thing to remember in all of these cases is that they do not necessarily mean that your health club is on its last legs. If you catch any of these signs early enough, they can all be turned around so the health club ends up stronger in the long run.

Now, let’s get back on track!

Three Ways to Save a Missed Health Club Guest

No one likes to lose a sale. You do everything right. You greet them, you pre-qualify them, your tour is flawless, you overcome objections, and they ultimately decide to think about it. Here are three ways to make sure that missed guest isn’t lost forever.

Guest Register

The more information you collect, the more sales you will make from previously missed guests. Do not overlook this powerful tool. By collecting information from your prospects that come in for a tour, each and every time without exception, your chance of signing them up after their first visit increases dramatically.

If your front desk staff is slacking by having guests fill this out every time, that’s where you need to spend your attention immediately. Every person, without exception, needs to be asked to completely fill out a guest register. If someone objects, just let them know that it’s the law. Signing that protects your business if they hurt themselves somehow on their tour before they have been shown how to be safe in the gym.

From a marketing perspective, collecting a prospect’s contact information allows you the ability to follow up with them in a variety of ways.

Trial Membership

If someone doesn’t make a buying decision on their first visit, be sure to provide them a trial membership. The length of the trial membership is up to you, but I recommend 14 days. That gives you plenty of time to follow up with them, and it allows you the ability to present a tiered incentive offer.

At the point of sale, I always like to offer a list of incentives that they can get for joining that day. But if they don’t join on their first visit, when you give them their trial membership pass, let them know that if they decide to join within the next three days, they can still get half of the things on that list. If they join within the week, they get two of the incentives, and if they wait until the end of the trial term, they’ll still get the pricing you offered them, but they won’t receive any bonuses.

Many times when presented this way, they’ll see that you are serious about the first-visit incentive only being offered today. That makes you look honest and credible. It also might even prompt them to decide to join on the spot so they can get all of the incentives.

Follow Up

Too many gyms feel that if someone doesn’t sign up the first day they visit, they’ll never sign up. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If you don’t follow up with them, of course they’ll never sign up. But if you have a strong follow up system, you can easily close half of your missed guests.

Since you did such a good job collecting all of their contact information with the guest register, you now have the ability to invite them back and let them know you’re thinking of them in a variety of ways. I recommend the moment they leave your facility that you fill out a thank you card and put it in the mail same day. Thank them for taking the time to visit your facility. You might even throw in a gift card they can use if they decide to join before the end of the week.

In addition to a thank you letter, the next day you need to call them to invite them in for a workout. If they don’t answer their phone, send a personalized text asking them if they’d like to come in for a workout today and that you’ll have a bottle of water waiting for them. Be sure to add them to your e-mail auto responder program. I recommend sending them a short “fitness tip of the day” for the next 21 days. This can all be pre-loaded and automated in your e-mail newsletter software.

If they haven’t taken advantage of their trial membership, you can always contact them and offer to extend it. Do whatever it takes to get them to come back and experience your services.

By implementing these three strategies every time without exception, you’ll soon find that a missed guest is not lost forever. Rather, it provides you an opportunity to contact them in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, encouraging them to make a buying decision

Three Ways to Save a Missed Health Club Guest

No one likes to lose a sale. You do everything right. You greet them, you pre-qualify them, your tour is flawless, you overcome objections, and they ultimately decide to think about it. Here are three ways to make sure that missed guest isn’t lost forever.

Guest Register

The more information you collect, the more sales you will make from previously missed guests. Do not overlook this powerful tool. By collecting information from your prospects that come in for a tour, each and every time without exception, your chance of signing them up after their first visit increases dramatically.

If your front desk staff is slacking by having guests fill this out every time, that’s where you need to spend your attention immediately. Every person, without exception, needs to be asked to completely fill out a guest register. If someone objects, just let them know that it’s the law. Signing that protects your business if they hurt themselves somehow on their tour before they have been shown how to be safe in the gym.

From a marketing perspective, collecting a prospect’s contact information allows you the ability to follow up with them in a variety of ways.

Trial Membership

If someone doesn’t make a buying decision on their first visit, be sure to provide them a trial membership. The length of the trial membership is up to you, but I recommend 14 days. That gives you plenty of time to follow up with them, and it allows you the ability to present a tiered incentive offer.

At the point of sale, I always like to offer a list of incentives that they can get for joining that day. But if they don’t join on their first visit, when you give them their trial membership pass, let them know that if they decide to join within the next three days, they can still get half of the things on that list. If they join within the week, they get two of the incentives, and if they wait until the end of the trial term, they’ll still get the pricing you offered them, but they won’t receive any bonuses.

Many times when presented this way, they’ll see that you are serious about the first-visit incentive only being offered today. That makes you look honest and credible. It also might even prompt them to decide to join on the spot so they can get all of the incentives.

Follow Up

Too many gyms feel that if someone doesn’t sign up the first day they visit, they’ll never sign up. This couldn’t be further from the truth. If you don’t follow up with them, of course they’ll never sign up. But if you have a strong follow up system, you can easily close half of your missed guests.

Since you did such a good job collecting all of their contact information with the guest register, you now have the ability to invite them back and let them know you’re thinking of them in a variety of ways. I recommend the moment they leave your facility that you fill out a thank you card and put it in the mail same day. Thank them for taking the time to visit your facility. You might even throw in a gift card they can use if they decide to join before the end of the week.

In addition to a thank you letter, the next day you need to call them to invite them in for a workout. If they don’t answer their phone, send a personalized text asking them if they’d like to come in for a workout today and that you’ll have a bottle of water waiting for them. Be sure to add them to your e-mail auto responder program. I recommend sending them a short “fitness tip of the day” for the next 21 days. This can all be pre-loaded and automated in your e-mail newsletter software.

If they haven’t taken advantage of their trial membership, you can always contact them and offer to extend it. Do whatever it takes to get them to come back and experience your services.

By implementing these three strategies every time without exception, you’ll soon find that a missed guest is not lost forever. Rather, it provides you an opportunity to contact them in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons, encouraging them to make a buying decision

These 10 characteristics define great health club managers

IN HIS BEST-SELLING book, Good to Great, Jim
Collins states, “Good is the enemy of great.” Collin’s
statement refers to the fact that organizations too
often settle for being good and, as a result, never take
the steps needed to achieve greatness. Furthermore,
Collins believes that most great companies produce amazing
financial results that far exceed the performance of companies
in the same line of business, which, by most measurable
criteria, are considered good. Interestingly enough, the first
component of organizational greatness Collins addresses in
his book is outstanding leadership, a component he refers to
as “level 5 leadership.”
Identifying the characteristics of great managers can help
fitness center professionals in a number of ways. First, just as
with other industries and organizations, great fitness centers
must have great managers; otherwise, they will never achieve
the level of excellence to which they aspire. Excellence, in any
field, does not occur by accident; rather, it is the byproduct
of effort, commitment and discipline. Second, knowing the
characteristics of great managers establishes a benchmark
that industry professionals can aspire to achieve.
Ten characteristics of great managers
The following 10 characteristics can be observed in great
managers. Each attribute is an integral element in a mosaic
of excellence.
1. They plan for success. Robert Dedman Sr., founder
and former chairman of ClubCorp, Dallas, Texas, often said,
“Plan your work and work your plan.”With this single sentence,
he summarized a characteristic that exists in all great
managers: the ability to create a realistic, yet challenging plan
for the organization, and then execute the plan with discipline.
Planning for success involves creating and executing
both a long-term strategic plan for the business, as well as an
annual short-term business plan.Great managers view planning
as an ongoing interactive process that sets clear expectations
for both the process and outcome. Just as important,
good managers require every department head in their facility
to have a plan. To these managers, planning is the foundation
for their organization’s success.
2. They know their numbers. Renowned financier J.
Paul Getty once opined that for business leaders to reach the
top, they must know all that is possible about their business.
This refers to leaders who pay attention to the details, who
understand the metrics of their business and how those
metrics are achieved.Ask a great manager for their membership
sales for the week or the percentage of new members
who have enrolled in personal training, and they will have
the answer. These managers go so far as to require each department
head to understand their numbers — not just
what they are, but how they are derived.At ClubCorp, for example,
managers who did not want to be embarrassed had to
know their numbers. Dedman Sr. walked into the facility already
knowing the numbers, and was prepared to find out if
his managers knew them, also.
3. They are coaches and educators. Henry Kissinger
once said, “The task of a leader is to get people from where
they are to where they have never been.
Facility Manager?
who want to foster change in others, both their attitude and
behavior,must be able to educate and coach. Coaches establish
and communicate expectations, and then provide an environment
that positively reinforces the achievement of
those expectations. Educators see themselves as providing
the resources and environment for personal and professional
development of their employees. Great managers are
leaders who are able to establish clear expectations of the individuals
for whom they are responsible, then make sure to
provide the necessary tools for those expectations to be
achieved. Great managers spend a considerable portion of
their day coaching and educating the individuals who work
for them, thus providing an environment that empowers
their teams to perform with a sense of ownership.
4. They get their hands dirty. Oliver Goldsmith stated,
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than you can
with your lips.”What he meant was that leaders and managers
who have the greatest effect on their team’s performance
are those who model the attitudes and behavior that is
desired. More often than not, these managers have performed
most of the jobs in the fitness center and, when required
or needed, are ready to step in and perform whatever
job has to be done. Great managers never walk by a towel
that is on the floor, never ask someone else to answer the
phone if they are nearby, and never refer a member issue to
another staff person when they can handle it themselves.No
one reasonably believes that great
managers spend a lot of their time in
task-oriented endeavors. On the other
hand, they are leaders who understand
that engaging in task-oriented
endeavors at certain times is one of
the most effective and appropriate
practices for establishing a framework
for excellence in their employees.
5. They have great relationships
with members. “Win hearts, and you
have hands and purses,” advises Lord
Burleigh. Great managers understand
that if they can form trusting relationships
with their members, they
will soon have their unconditional

support — and, eventually, their discretionary spending.We once
observed a manager who, upon entering the fitness center each
morning, went around and greeted each member. At the facility’s
busiest hours, he could be found talking with members on the fitness
floor. On occasion, he even took a class with the members.
This manager, like all great managers, understood it was critical
that he got to know each member and what made each person feel
special.
6. They keep an open door. One of our former managers was
always accessible when any staff member had a problem. At one
point he even took the door off his office — a symbol of his willingness
to be available. This reflects both a willingness to open
themselves to the needs of others and a desire to truly serve. Lao
Tzu, the renowned Chinese philosopher, was once quoted as saying,
“One who is a guardian of people and does nothing for his
own life knows how to value all lives well.”Keeping an open door
is about valuing your employees and members before yourself.
7. They are information sponges. Why do certain industry
leaders continue to attend conferences each year, even though they
have probably heard the various presentations numerous times?
When asked why she attended, one notable industry professional
responded simply,“Each year I attend, I learn something new that
can help my business; sometimes it’s from a presenter and sometimes
it’s the result of talking with my peers.” The moral of this
point is straightforward: Learning is a continuous process, and
when you fail to pursue learning, you fail to grow.Great managers
in this industry get involved in learning, whether it’s attending national
conventions, reading books and magazines, or benchmarking
competitors. Dedman Sr. was fond of saying, “The more you
learn, the more you earn.”
8. They are sales people first. Dedman Sr., in his book, King
of Clubs, wrote, “Selling is a noble profession … everything begins
with a sale.”He clearly understood that managers are salespeople.
Great managers are constantly selling themselves, their employees
and their fitness center. Stating that managers are salespeople
first does not mean that they are focused on making sales calls or
giving facility tours. As a salesperson, managers are selling themselves
and the fitness center to the community. These individuals
are establishing important relationships with members and staff,
and they are making sure that they are creating a positive impression
of the club in the eyes of the community, the employees and
members. A great manger is a storyteller who engages the minds
of audiences in such a way that everyone wants to get involved.
This individual is the ultimate salesperson.
9. They are passionate about their profession. Someone
once said, “No man is a success in business unless he loves his
work.” Such an observation reinforces the fact that one of the essential
ingredients to greatness is having a passion for what you do.
In the club industry, passion can show itself in many ways, including
being an advocate of health and wellness, taking joy in seeing
members achieve their fitness goals or taking substantial pride in
every aspect of the fitness center. The passion of great managers is
contagious; it tends to infect the entire staff and even the membership.
The industry is full of managers who, as a result of their passion,
are able to influence employees to levels of achievement that
they never thought were possible. In fact, many industry leaders
even claim that they would do this job even without pay. It is this
type of passion that allows them and their employees to achieve
extraordinary results.
10. They know the competition.Most facility managers tend

to avoid personally knowing the competition, other than the occasional
unannounced visit to another club. A manager once
wisely observed that the better your relationship with your
competitors, the more likely both of you are to be successful.We
took this lesson to heart, and have always made a concerted effort
to form a trusting and respected relationship with the leaders
of competitive organizations. Fortunately, we discovered
from attending numerous social and educational events in the
industry that our highest degree of learning came when we
openly shared what we did with competitors. They, in turn,
opened up about what they did. Great managers don’t avoid
competitors; they embrace and accept them with open arms. In
his book, The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “Keep your allies close
and your enemies closer.” It is an attribute that all great managers
tend to exhibit.
The first step of the journey to becoming a great manager is
developing a knowledge of and an appreciation for the traits
that are required to make such a journey.With this information
in hand, managers can set forth on the path to greatness, and
can expect to reach their ultimate goal.

These 10 characteristics define great health club managers

IN HIS BEST-SELLING book, Good to Great, Jim
Collins states, “Good is the enemy of great.” Collin’s
statement refers to the fact that organizations too
often settle for being good and, as a result, never take
the steps needed to achieve greatness. Furthermore,
Collins believes that most great companies produce amazing
financial results that far exceed the performance of companies
in the same line of business, which, by most measurable
criteria, are considered good. Interestingly enough, the first
component of organizational greatness Collins addresses in
his book is outstanding leadership, a component he refers to
as “level 5 leadership.”
Identifying the characteristics of great managers can help
fitness center professionals in a number of ways. First, just as
with other industries and organizations, great fitness centers
must have great managers; otherwise, they will never achieve
the level of excellence to which they aspire. Excellence, in any
field, does not occur by accident; rather, it is the byproduct
of effort, commitment and discipline. Second, knowing the
characteristics of great managers establishes a benchmark
that industry professionals can aspire to achieve.
Ten characteristics of great managers
The following 10 characteristics can be observed in great
managers. Each attribute is an integral element in a mosaic
of excellence.
1. They plan for success. Robert Dedman Sr., founder
and former chairman of ClubCorp, Dallas, Texas, often said,
“Plan your work and work your plan.”With this single sentence,
he summarized a characteristic that exists in all great
managers: the ability to create a realistic, yet challenging plan
for the organization, and then execute the plan with discipline.
Planning for success involves creating and executing
both a long-term strategic plan for the business, as well as an
annual short-term business plan.Great managers view planning
as an ongoing interactive process that sets clear expectations
for both the process and outcome. Just as important,
good managers require every department head in their facility
to have a plan. To these managers, planning is the foundation
for their organization’s success.
2. They know their numbers. Renowned financier J.
Paul Getty once opined that for business leaders to reach the
top, they must know all that is possible about their business.
This refers to leaders who pay attention to the details, who
understand the metrics of their business and how those
metrics are achieved.Ask a great manager for their membership
sales for the week or the percentage of new members
who have enrolled in personal training, and they will have
the answer. These managers go so far as to require each department
head to understand their numbers — not just
what they are, but how they are derived.At ClubCorp, for example,
managers who did not want to be embarrassed had to
know their numbers. Dedman Sr. walked into the facility already
knowing the numbers, and was prepared to find out if
his managers knew them, also.
3. They are coaches and educators. Henry Kissinger
once said, “The task of a leader is to get people from where
they are to where they have never been.
Facility Manager?
who want to foster change in others, both their attitude and
behavior,must be able to educate and coach. Coaches establish
and communicate expectations, and then provide an environment
that positively reinforces the achievement of
those expectations. Educators see themselves as providing
the resources and environment for personal and professional
development of their employees. Great managers are
leaders who are able to establish clear expectations of the individuals
for whom they are responsible, then make sure to
provide the necessary tools for those expectations to be
achieved. Great managers spend a considerable portion of
their day coaching and educating the individuals who work
for them, thus providing an environment that empowers
their teams to perform with a sense of ownership.
4. They get their hands dirty. Oliver Goldsmith stated,
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than you can
with your lips.”What he meant was that leaders and managers
who have the greatest effect on their team’s performance
are those who model the attitudes and behavior that is
desired. More often than not, these managers have performed
most of the jobs in the fitness center and, when required
or needed, are ready to step in and perform whatever
job has to be done. Great managers never walk by a towel
that is on the floor, never ask someone else to answer the
phone if they are nearby, and never refer a member issue to
another staff person when they can handle it themselves.No
one reasonably believes that great
managers spend a lot of their time in
task-oriented endeavors. On the other
hand, they are leaders who understand
that engaging in task-oriented
endeavors at certain times is one of
the most effective and appropriate
practices for establishing a framework
for excellence in their employees.
5. They have great relationships
with members. “Win hearts, and you
have hands and purses,” advises Lord
Burleigh. Great managers understand
that if they can form trusting relationships
with their members, they
will soon have their unconditional

support — and, eventually, their discretionary spending.We once
observed a manager who, upon entering the fitness center each
morning, went around and greeted each member. At the facility’s
busiest hours, he could be found talking with members on the fitness
floor. On occasion, he even took a class with the members.
This manager, like all great managers, understood it was critical
that he got to know each member and what made each person feel
special.
6. They keep an open door. One of our former managers was
always accessible when any staff member had a problem. At one
point he even took the door off his office — a symbol of his willingness
to be available. This reflects both a willingness to open
themselves to the needs of others and a desire to truly serve. Lao
Tzu, the renowned Chinese philosopher, was once quoted as saying,
“One who is a guardian of people and does nothing for his
own life knows how to value all lives well.”Keeping an open door
is about valuing your employees and members before yourself.
7. They are information sponges. Why do certain industry
leaders continue to attend conferences each year, even though they
have probably heard the various presentations numerous times?
When asked why she attended, one notable industry professional
responded simply,“Each year I attend, I learn something new that
can help my business; sometimes it’s from a presenter and sometimes
it’s the result of talking with my peers.” The moral of this
point is straightforward: Learning is a continuous process, and
when you fail to pursue learning, you fail to grow.Great managers
in this industry get involved in learning, whether it’s attending national
conventions, reading books and magazines, or benchmarking
competitors. Dedman Sr. was fond of saying, “The more you
learn, the more you earn.”
8. They are sales people first. Dedman Sr., in his book, King
of Clubs, wrote, “Selling is a noble profession … everything begins
with a sale.”He clearly understood that managers are salespeople.
Great managers are constantly selling themselves, their employees
and their fitness center. Stating that managers are salespeople
first does not mean that they are focused on making sales calls or
giving facility tours. As a salesperson, managers are selling themselves
and the fitness center to the community. These individuals
are establishing important relationships with members and staff,
and they are making sure that they are creating a positive impression
of the club in the eyes of the community, the employees and
members. A great manger is a storyteller who engages the minds
of audiences in such a way that everyone wants to get involved.
This individual is the ultimate salesperson.
9. They are passionate about their profession. Someone
once said, “No man is a success in business unless he loves his
work.” Such an observation reinforces the fact that one of the essential
ingredients to greatness is having a passion for what you do.
In the club industry, passion can show itself in many ways, including
being an advocate of health and wellness, taking joy in seeing
members achieve their fitness goals or taking substantial pride in
every aspect of the fitness center. The passion of great managers is
contagious; it tends to infect the entire staff and even the membership.
The industry is full of managers who, as a result of their passion,
are able to influence employees to levels of achievement that
they never thought were possible. In fact, many industry leaders
even claim that they would do this job even without pay. It is this
type of passion that allows them and their employees to achieve
extraordinary results.
10. They know the competition.Most facility managers tend

to avoid personally knowing the competition, other than the occasional
unannounced visit to another club. A manager once
wisely observed that the better your relationship with your
competitors, the more likely both of you are to be successful.We
took this lesson to heart, and have always made a concerted effort
to form a trusting and respected relationship with the leaders
of competitive organizations. Fortunately, we discovered
from attending numerous social and educational events in the
industry that our highest degree of learning came when we
openly shared what we did with competitors. They, in turn,
opened up about what they did. Great managers don’t avoid
competitors; they embrace and accept them with open arms. In
his book, The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “Keep your allies close
and your enemies closer.” It is an attribute that all great managers
tend to exhibit.
The first step of the journey to becoming a great manager is
developing a knowledge of and an appreciation for the traits
that are required to make such a journey.With this information
in hand, managers can set forth on the path to greatness, and
can expect to reach their ultimate goal.

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