Access FIT

Order of operations

Pop Quiz…

2 + 3 x (2^2 + (6 x 3 - 8)) x 2

Most people can do basic arithmetic and certainly the problems contained in this equation are not difficult to do on their own... but when you get a few to do the possibility for errors increases dramatically.

This is especially true when you don’t understand the rules… the order of operations. The order of operations states that parentheses are done first, exponents next, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction are then done in that order as they appear from left to right.

So here 6 x 3 is done first, - 8 is done next, 2^2 next… 4 + 10 next, 3 x 14 next, 42 x 2 next, and finally 84 + 2… giving us a final answer of 86.

Go to the top of the class if you were correct.

Here’s the point…

If you don’t understand the order of operations you could end up with any answer and not know why you were wrong… because you got all the individual computations right.

And if you make a single mistake at the start that mistake is carried all the way through… so once you begin wrong everything that comes after is wrong. Think about that… you get the wrong answer even though you got a lot right and you did just as much work as the person who got it right.

I think that this is where a lot of owners and managers (and even consultants) go wrong… individually they do a lot right but the final product is often woefully lacking.

For example, one industry marketing consultant made the claim that advertising doesn’t sell it merely begins the buying cycle… which is 90 days from need to purchase.

Here’s the problem I have with that… an advanced member with 20 years experience, who understands their needs, values, and expectations isn’t going to wait 3 months if their club closes down today.

They will have a new membership before their next scheduled workout tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. They have budgeted for it, they know what they want to spend, they know who is their next best option, and they will not miss their next session.

Remember that beginner, intermediate, and advanced health club members are completely different and not treating them differently is a huge mistake that owners and managers often make and is carried throughout the entire business.

I see it with marketing, I see it with sales, I see it with staffing, I see it with physical organisation and design, I see it everywhere and I see it everyday… a lot of good, hard, work amounting to nothing.

Imperfect information

We like to think that in our decision making we have access to, and fully understand, all the available information… it is rarely the case.

I recently heard a popular, and very competent, industry consultant make the claim that “Marketing and sales is what I know 100%...”

Now I know consultants, like owners and managers, are prone to hyperbole at times but… 100%?

Of course, being 100% certain ignores the fact that you don’t know what you don’t know and the problem with believing that you know something 100% is that you don’t have to investigate the issue any further… which simply perpetuates the status quo.

And defending the status quo encourages tweakers and faster horse thinking that can never move us forward.

Wanting to be certain about our decision making is perfectly natural but the best opportunities exist in the uncertainty.

Information is almost always imperfect and imperfect information can reduce uncertainty but never eliminate it.

If you are 100% certain about something… you are almost certainly wrong.

"Try anything and everything" is not a marketing strategy

I made the point a while back that we have no “go-to” marketing strategy (unless you count deep discounting which I don’t really consider a strategy) to generate leads and ultimately acquire, and retain, members.

Even many of the top industry consultants are advising that you employ multiple marketing tactics...

Here’s what Casey Conrad has to say…

Here’s what Eddie Tock has to say…

Here’s what Curtis Mock has to say…

While it seems like sensible advice the problem I have is that it seems completely ad hoc… try everything and see what works?

Of course, the problem with trying everything is that it takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and a lot of effort to “try” everything… juggling three balls is a whole lot easier than juggling six.

Trying everything also creates a vicious cycle because when you are over-extended it is difficult to execute at one hundred percent. Therefore, the more marketing tactics you have in play the less likely it is that any one of them is actually performing to its potential... resulting in a marketing mess.

If your marketing plan is based on trying everything… your marketing plan isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

This is exactly why we developed the iPOS Advertising System… be sure to read the Free Preview Chapter and participate in the iPOS Challenge.

How to market health clubs

I hate tomatoes… I always have from as long as I can remember.

If I try to eat one I will gag and have to spit it out.

As you might imagine I am not a big tomato consumer… I am not going to be influenced by tomato “marketing” too much. I’m not going to care about “the freshest”… “the juiciest”… “organic”… “the cheapest”… “the best value”…

If you are coming at me with this kind of marketing you are making it easy for me to ignore you… in fact, you are doing me a favour because I actually want to ignore you.

Here’s the interesting fact… I eat scores (maybe even hundreds) of tomatoes every year.

Huh?

I eat tomato sauce (ketchup) on everything, I like tomato soup, I eat tomato paste, I eat spaghetti sauces…

When I tell people that I hate tomatoes but I eat all of these tomato based products they seem more than a little bemused. Of course, they ask me why I don’t eat tomatoes but do eat all of these other tomato based products?

The answer is simple… they don’t taste like tomatoes.

All of the additional ingredients and various cooking processes apparently remove the tomato taste that seems to offend my palate.

You see I don’t have a tomato problem… I hate them… no problem. But I do have a tomato sauce, tomato soup, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce problem.

Here’s the point… most conventional industry marketing fails by trying to sell health clubs to people who hate (for a variety of reasons) the existing health club offerings because health club owners/managers are better at marketing to themselves then they are at marketing to the rest of the world.

The way to reach the people who hate health clubs is not to tell them about your health club (you are not going to change their mind with an ad) but rather to tell them about a health, fitness, or wellness problem they have… and let them decide that you can help them with it.

They don’t have a health club problem… so they are not looking for a health club solution.

They have a weigh loss (or self-esteem, self-image, fitness, energy, sporting, new dress, class reunion, suddenly single and dating again…) “problem” and once your message resonates with their actual problem you have earned the opportunity to pitch your solution.

Of course, your solution then has to meet, or exceed, their expectations… marketing is not magic.

Multiple entry points

Every business, in today’s competitive environment, must have multiple entry points.

No I’m not talking about physical entry points, access control is an important issue, but what I am talking about is even more important… your customer’s psychological entry points.

Remember that, today, the market is more diverse, more demanding, and less expert than at any other time in the history or our industry.

Recent competitors with new business models have, each in their own way, demonstrated a new entry points for members into the industry.

The micro-clubs such as Curves demonstrated how a very basic offering could attract the beginner market by reducing psychological risk (no men, no complicated equipment, no mirrors, and no very fit women).

The low-pricers such as Anytime Fitness demonstrated how a stripped down offering at a low price point could attract the beginner market by reducing financial risk (no contracts, no joining fee, and low monthly fees).

The training clubs such as CrossFit demonstrated how a supervised and controlled small group training environment could attract the beginner market by increasing self-efficacy (access to expert instructors, high supervision, results focused).

Traditional health clubs are struggling to compete because of their continued adherence to a “one-size-fits-all” approach that worked in the past but is under increasing pressure to stay relevant today.

The only way health clubs can stay relevant today is to provide multiple entry points into their business. Learn the lessons from the micro-clubs, the low-pricers, and the training clubs and provide an entry point for your markets based on price, expertise, and risk.

Just do it...

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Think different

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." – Albert Einstein

Listen to this guy…

Seth Godin recently wrote a Blog post that, I think, is really important for our industry… you can read it here. When you have read it, re-read it, and when you have re-read it print it out and stick it to your wall where you can read it every day.

What is important about this advice is that almost all industry advertising and marketing is designed to sell health, fitness, or wellness to people who aren’t really interested in health, fitness, or wellness (at least in the way that we offer it) with advertising/marketing tactics that appeals to people who are already interested in health, fitness, and wellness.

Here’s the point… showing images of “health, fitness, and wellness” people in the club or, even worse, endless rows of empty equipment (that you are so proud of), or even your totally buff staff members in your advertising/marketing is OK for your already committed “health, fitness, and wellness” prospective members (because it is consistent with their worldview) but it does little for the uncommitted masses.

In fact, these images (and the kind of copy that goes with them) are probably doing more harm than good when it comes to the uncommitted masses because it confirms their worldview that health clubs are only for fit people who are already in shape, that health clubs are cold and sterile, that health clubs are complicated and confusing, that health club staff members only care about other “health, fitness, and wellness” people...

And remember the uncommitted masses is where the growth for your business, and our industry, will ultimately come from.

Sure the “health, fitness, and wellness” people might appreciate that more aspirational/inspirational advertising/marketing but they are going to have more definite/defined needs, expectations, and values and so are far less likely to be influenced by your advertising/marketing anyway. For example, the fact that Planet Fitness is offering $10/month memberships with no contract and no joining fee will never persuade a powerlifter who needs 180 pound dumbbells to leave his current club.

Marketing is all about getting the right message, to the right people, at the right time (via the right channel)… if you can’t you are almost certainly wasting your marketing dollars trying to change someone’s worldview.

Don’t forget about the iPOS Challenge… you could win a Free Advanced Hard Copy version of my latest report The Lead Box is Dead… Long Live iPOS: The Humble Lead Box Concept Reinvented for the Twenty-First Century.

The iPOS Challenge

Having gotten some feedback on my iPOS Preview Chapter early indications are that I have owners and managers scratching their heads. No one that I have talked to has correctly identified the basic principles behind iPOS… which actually surprises me a little.

I’m not sure if it is that difficult to deduce or if people are simply waiting for the big reveal. Well I’m going to make it a bit more interesting… I will give the first three (3) people who read the Free Preview Chapter of The Lead Box is Dead… Long Live iPOS: The Humble Lead Box Concept Reinvented for the Twenty-First Century and correctly identifies the basic principle behind the iPOS Advertising System a Free advanced hard-copy version of the report.

Just e-mail me or post a comment... let’s see who’s really thinking out there.