Access FIT

In this corner…

Recently, I wrote about a new national, 24 hour, franchise that moved into my local market. It has only been open for less than a month but some of the regular members are starting to comment on how the numbers in my local club seem to be down already. 

It seems like all the paint and promotions couldn’t compete with a shiny new club with more equipment and a $10 a month lower price point.

I’ve said it before that every boxer has a plan…until he gets hit. So that any good plan has to include getting hit and not just hope not to get hit.

Well my local club just got hit… right now it feels like a standing eight count early in the first round. 

Whether they have got what it takes to go the distance… I’ll let you know.

When is a boot camp not a boot camp…

…when it’s a “class”.

I was in my local health club the other night and a friend of mine convinced me to hang around for a “boot camp class”. Having just finished a pretty gruelling session in the gym I didn’t really have the energy for a boot camp session but decided to check it out anyway.

It was an OK class but it wasn’t really a boot camp.

A boot camp “class” is as much a boot camp as a Pump class is a Mr Olympia workout.

Now the guy who was taking the class was an MMA expert but the class was a pretty nebulous mix of bodyweight exercises, resistance exercise, stability ball exercises, and martial arts (without the time to teach proper technique)… not a bad workout but not boot camp by any stretch of the imagination.

The problem, of course, is that classes have to be toned down, sanitized, and normalized to appeal to as many people as possible… and in doing so you lose the essence of what you wanted to do in the first place.

If it was my call I’d drop the boot camp tag and call the class “Fighting Fit” and base the workout primarily on MMA (in line with the instructor’s expertise) and give it some of its edge back… sure you might lose some of those less hardcore tire kickers but they were never going to commit anyway.

Calling it a boot camp doesn’t make it a boot camp.

Business as usual… is choosing the status quo

We have yet another national 24 hour health club franchise opening up in my home town… into what is quite a competitive market. They’ve got a pretty good offering… a relatively low price point, a shiny new fit out, a central location, and a good range of equipment. 

All of the things this relatively unsophisticated market looks for… with the novelty of 24 hour access.

I think that they’ll do OK and certainly take market share from the existing clubs.  Can’t blame the new guys for thinking that there’s an opportunity in this market because the competition is only average at best.

My question is what will the existing players do in response to this new competitor… my guess is not too much.

Not because they shouldn’t but because they don’t really have one… I’m seeing some new paint go on, some new promotions, and some false bravado (we’re not worried about them they not really in our market) but it’s pretty much business as usual.

Of course, business as usual perpetuates the status quo but the problem is the status quo changes whether we like it or not… so stop defending the status quo, might as well lead and not follow.

Lessons from the low pricers

The low pricers have gotten a lot of attention in recent years.  In fact, some prominent industry consultants have been predicting that the low pricers will dominate the market and change the industry as we know it.

I’m not so sure they are set for world domination and like the ladies only micro-club model that came before them cracks are starting to show in their growth in the last few years.

But like Curves there are valuable lessons that we can learn from the low price business model.

The first lesson is that people pay attention to low price claims…especially in the current economic climate.  Beginners especially, who don’t know the difference between a good club and a bad club, will focus on price as the key differentiator.

The second lesson is that low price mitigates risk.  “I’m not sure if I’ll like a health club or not but Planet Fitness is offering no joining fee, no contract, and only $9.95 a month… even if I don’t like it, for ten bucks I’m willing to try.”

The third lesson is that the low pricers simplify their message.  We don’t offer everything but we offer the things that you want… at the cheapest price in town.  Of course, simple messages cut through, again especially for beginners.

The forth lesson is that clubs like Planet Fitness with their “No Judgement Zone” and “Lunk Alarm” are an effort to appeal to “regular” people (i.e. beginners who are easily intimidate).  Although I believe that the true intention is to discourage more advanced users who attend the club more often and are therefore less profitable since the low price business model is predicated on having a lot of members who actually don’t attend the club frequently.

The final lesson is that the low pricers utilize technology such as online joining and kiosks in their clubs to drive down their customer acquisition costs. 

Of course, you can’t just copy the low pricers unless you commit to the business model 100%... otherwise you are just eroding your profit margins.  But you can have a lower priced offering as an entry point into your club that a least gets some of those prospective low price members considering your business.

Good or good enough?

Owners and managers are often surprised when they lose members to a competitor. 

You see owners and managers like to think of themselves as doing a good job…they work hard, they invest in their facilities, they invest in their staff, they invest in new equipment…

Why wouldn’t you think you are doing a good job?

The problem is that owners and managers don’t get to decide if they are doing a good job or not…the members do.

And members, as is their right, will vote with their feet.

So when your members leave to a competitor they are telling you that you weren’t good at all…just good enough until something better comes along.

Lessons from boot camp

There seems to be a boot camp everywhere you look these days.  In fact, profitable boot camps are even running in smaller rural towns that don’t have populations to support more traditional health club offerings.

So why has boot camp captured the imagination of so many?

First, boot camp has developed a reputation for delivering results… in the minds of the general population boot camp styled workouts (made popular in programs such as the Biggest Loser) have created a positive association with achieving one’s health, fitness, and wellness goals.

Second, boot camp (by virtue of its outdoor exercise format) has achieved a high level of visibility… literally.  Health clubs are out of sight and out of mind but it is difficult to ignore a bunch of boot campers slogging it out in the park on your drive to or from work.

Third, boot camp seems more communal… partner drills, sharing equipment, supervised sessions, working out in close proximity all make boot camp a more shared experience.  There are no headphones in boot camp.

Forth, even though people accept that boot camp is tough it’s not difficult to get started in.  There are no complicated looking machines to learn, no computerized screens to master, no need to wait… just basic movements that most of us have some experience with.

Fifth, boot camp seems more purpose driven.  The continuous circuit styled format keeps people distracted from the discomfort of exercise and focused on the task at hand… no time to read a magazine in boot camp.

Finally, boot camp is more motivational because of the group workout environment and the fact that the instructor is right there with you… in the trenches so to speak.

Boot camps can command twice (or even more… sometimes much more) your monthly dues without any of the overhead that you have. 

Think there isn’t a lesson in that for you?

Average clubs for average people

I’ve talked about the cognitive bias known as the “above average effect” before and I’ve talked about the need to “de-average” when thinking about our members, I’ve also encouraged you to dare to be different today because you can always be average later.

People are hardwired to think of themselves as above average… even when they’re not (by any objective standard).  Seth Godin said it best when he said, “Average is for marketers who don't have enough information to be accurate."

And yet… there are still so many average clubs catering to average members.

Why would I drive past a competitor to do business with you?

A lot of smart people (smarter than me, certainly) have proffered theories, strategies, and tactics on sustainable competitive advantage.  Here’s what it comes down to for me… why would I drive past a competitor to do business with you?

In fact, this is one of the first questions I ask owners and managers and guess what, not one has had a compelling answer… do you?

Here’s some typical responses, “Our customer service is the best in town… we just repainted and our members have been telling us how good everything looks… we just spent $50,000 on new equipment… we recently offered a 30% discount and our competitor could only do 20%... we clean the club every day, this place is spotless… we just added Zumba classes and the members just love it… we just added TV’s to all of our cardio gear… we are in a great location…”

Here’s the problem with these kinds of responses…

Customer service is the go-to point of difference in the minds of the majority of owners and managers… but when pressed on specifics (are your people better qualified… are your people better trained… are your people better organized…) none can really say how their customer service is better than their competitor’s.  Don’t get me wrong customer service can be a competitive advantage but if you can’t answer the specifics, yours probably isn’t.

Paint, new equipment, cleaning, and new classes are the cost of doing business in this industry, not a competitive advantage… and certainly not a sustainable one.  Sure they can make your members (and you) feel good for a while but eventually your competitors make these kinds of investments too.

Location again can be a competitive advantage, we all know about the 3-5 mile radius and you might have a great location but what is increasingly happening is that smaller players (with lower overheads) are eroding your customer base. A Curves moves in, a low-pricers moves in nearby, a training club opens up down the road, a CrossFit box opens up, a personal training studio pops up, a couple of boot camps start operating in a nearby park and all of a sudden your great (and expensive) location can be a liability and not an asset.

Price… when all else fails offer a discount.  Of course, price can be a competitive advantage but everyone does it at some point.  The low-pricers have even built it into their business model.  Have a quick read of what Seth Godin recently said about low prices. 

Now back to my original question… why would I drive past a competitor to do business with you?

Sometimes less is more

I wrote a little while ago that health clubs need multiple entry points into the club to remain competitive.

It’s interesting that the examples that I provide in that post all have less of what “traditional” health clubs offer. 

Curves has less equipment, less mirrors (none actually), less lycra, less men (again none), less psychological stress…

The low-pricers have less facilities, less staff, less obligations (no sign up fee, lower prices, month-to-month contracts), less risk…

CrossFit and training clubs have less fixed equipment, less of a physical footprint, less waiting around, less social isolation…

Boot camps have less equipment, less clients, less facilities (often none), less down time, less anonymity, less of a learning curve…

It seems counterintuitive to most of us over the age of 40 (from the bigger is better era) that offering less can be a competitive advantage… however, today less is the new more.

Are you looking after your expert members?

One of the strategies that I discuss in The Evolution of a Health Club Member: Survival of the Fittest Is NOT a Retention Strategy is to target members higher on the expertise curve. 

That means getting more advanced members into your club and keeping the expert members that you already have.

Why do you need expert members?

Expert members use less staff time, help less expert members on the floor, pay full price (i.e. don’t wait for discounts), and stay longer (better retention). 

In fact, if you had all expert members you would save considerably on pay roll because expert members don’t need assessments and programs, exercise instruction, or supervision on the floor.  They are essentially self-service members.

You just have to give them what they want and then get out of their way.

The problem is that as more and more businesses try to cater to the beginner market (because competition means we increasingly need the beginner market) our more advanced and expert members get forgotten about. 

And losing these members costs your business big time.  

So the question is… are you taking your expert members for granted?  When is the last time you bought some new equipment especially for them, made sure they have enough weights on the floor, maybe they need a lifting platform, are the CrossFit wannabe’s pissing them off, or could you upgrade them to a VIP membership for free?

Lose your expert members at your own peril.

Are you teaching or telling?

When I was an instructor writing exercise prescriptions for new members I always made sure that educated them on what they should be doing and not just showed them how to do their exercises.

Of course, demonstrating exercise technique is important but so is making sure they can do their workout effectively without you by their side.

For example, are you educating them on the order of their exercises? Larger muscle groups first and smaller muscle groups last.

Are you making sure that at the end of your demonstration they can remember the key teaching points… feet shoulder width apart, toes pointed out slightly, knees travel directly in line with feet, weight back on heels…

Are you making sure that they can remember where all the exercise are done?  At the end of the demonstration I always used to say…”Pop quiz, where do we do leg press… where are chest presses… how about dumbbell curls…

Are you making sure they understand why they are doing a particular exercise… “Now bench press is similar to chest presses that we were doing on the machine, the benefit of bench press is that we have to recruit more of those stabilizing muscles so you’ll be a bit shaky at first but you’ll get the hang of it within a few sessions.”

Are you making sure they know what to expect in the future…”Now even though we went through pretty easy today you will get some muscle soreness within the next 24 – 72 hours.  That’s completely normal and goes away within the first week or two as you body adapts to the new stresses on it.”

Are you making sure that they understand your rules and culture…”If someone is using a machine that you want to use ask if you can work in while they are resting, most members won’t have a problem because they might need to work in next time”.

I my experience most instructors don’t do these simple things and as a result beginners take a long time to figure it out for themselves and many never do and quit feeling like it is all too hard.

Looking after your new members means teaching… not just telling.

Distraction

We are all distracted today… too much to do and to little time to get it done.

But distraction isn’t always a bad thing. 

It’s long been established that music provides enough distraction that it allows exercisers to perform longer and report lower ratings of perceived exertion.

Sure music provides a distraction and now everyone uses music… but what other distractions can you use?

CrossFit uses timed workout sessions and beating the clock turns out to be a distraction from the typically gruelling sessions.

Boot camp uses partner and team exercises, timed bouts, and peer pressure (in a good way) to distract exercisers from their demanding sessions.

All too often many people in health clubs are just going through the motions… clocking in and clocking out without a sense of purpose to their workouts.

Purpose is a powerful distraction.

What can you do to give you members a sense of purpose and get your members distracted from their exercise sessions… organize a 5k run (to get people focused on improving their times rather than simply watching the timer on the treadmill count down)… organize a strength training clinic (to help people increase their lifts and improve their physiques)… organize a nutritionist to come and speak at your club (to get people focused on healthy eating and losing weight)…

There are a lot of things that you can do to give you members a greater sense of purpose and distract them from the tedium of their daily workouts.

Why are we still selling 1, 3, and 6 month memberships

I remember when I was a manager at a local health club about 10 years ago we sold the usual 1, 3, and 6 month memberships.  This was before the now popular month-to-month option was widely available. 

If my memory serves me 1 and 3 month memberships made up about 15% of total membership sales, and 6 month memberships made up about 25% of total membership sales.

So roughly 40% of total membership sales were less than 12 months.

Now who buys a 1, 3, or 6 month membership?

Someone who only wants to be fit and healthy for a few months… no.

Someone who is only in town for a few months… maybe some but generally, no.

Someone who only has a few months to live... no, that doesn't sound right either.

Someone who wants to try the club but doesn’t want to commit to a longer term/financial commitment… oh yeah.

Most people who aren’t willing to pay for a 12 month membership (EFT or upfront) are using a lesser term membership as a trial… now that shouldn’t be news to anyone.

Here’s my point… typical 1, 3, and 6 month memberships aren’t very good trial memberships.  They don’t overcome any of the prospective new member’s barriers and they don’t move them up the expertise curve. 

Incidentally, the month-to-month membership isn’t a very good trial membership either.

You need a dedicated low-cost, high-value, trial membership that gives the trial member the confidence to make a 12 month commitment at the end of the trial.

Your prospective new members and your bottom line will thank you for it.

A lesson from CrossFit

CrossFit is without a doubt a health, fitness, and wellness phenomenon.  CrossFitters love CrossFit almost with a kind of religious zeal.  In fact, the CrossFit movement has been likened to a cult such is the devotion of its followers. 

Starting in 2000 CrossFit now has more than 3400 affiliates world-wide. 

I have only had recent exposure to CrossFit when one opened up in my hometown in the last year or so.  I must admit I’m not sure it is a good fit for me personally as my workouts tend towards a more power lifting/body building style and I am happy with the results that I am getting.  That said I can see how perhaps a CrossFit session once or twice a week could definitely benefit me.

So why has CrossFit captured the imagination of so many?

Well the biggest buzzword in CrossFit is “community”… and I think that it’s fair to say that, at least in my experience, CrossFit does have a greater sense of community than most traditional gyms, fitness centers, and health clubs. 

I think that there’s a couple of reasons for this… first, there is a coach on the floor during workouts.  So people seem to feel less isolated and alone… there is at least one person they can connect with.

Contrast the traditional health club that, in response to rising costs and the introduction of the low-pricers, seem to have less and less (if any at all) instructors “on-the-floor”.

Second, CrossFitters all do the same workout so it requires a certain amount of collaboration and cooperation.  It’s difficult to hide in a CrossFit box.

Contrast the traditional health club where MP3 players and social isolation are all too common.  In fact, Seth Godin said at the IHRSA Conference in 2009, “….the industry has created an environment with a lot of strangers standing next to each other on machines…” 

Third, CrossFit has defined expectations for each workout…it is purpose oriented. And that purpose becomes a shared purpose.

Contrast the traditional health club where a lot of people seem to just go through the motions.

Finally, CrossFit workouts are conducted in a small box, at regular times, and in small numbers.  This means makes it difficult not to get to know people.

Contrast the traditional health club where even if you arrive 10 minutes later than your usual time you might never cross paths with other regulars.

So it should be no surprise that CrossFit is able to foster a greater sense of community than traditional health clubs because to a large extent community is engineered into the CrossFit experience.

It might help to explain why CrossFitters will pay $100, $200, or even more a month when health clubs struggle to sell memberships at $50 a month.

Target your advertising and promotions

A local CrossFit affiliate that I know is running a price promotion to get some new business into his box. 

He’s discounting his 12 month and 6 month memberships by $350 and $140 respectively (for about a month), advertising on his website, and encouraging his existing members to let their friends and family know. Here’s the problem that I have with his approach…

The first problem is that he is marketing to himself… he is making an offer that someone like him would respond to.  Of course, most of the people like him (who already know they want to commit to CrossFit long term) are already in his box.  The message will not resonate with those potential new members who aren’t like him.

The second problem is that he is trying for the wrong end of the market… if everyone who already knows that they committed to CrossFit are in his box that leaves only the people who aren’t sure about CrossFit and saving a couple of hundred bucks off a long-term membership is not a compelling offer to this market.  There’s just too much risk in his offer and it doesn’t overcome any of their barriers … what if I only come once or twice and don’t like it? What is I can’t do it properly?  What if I look stupid?  What if I’m the only out of shape person there?

The third problem is that by advertising through his website he is only reaching CrossFitters… sure they could refer their friends and family but chances are they already have.

These are precisely the problems that I discuss in my free report The New Rules of Health, Fitness, and Wellness Marketing: A Scientific Approach to New Member Acquisition, Retention, and Long-Term Loyalty (you can download it from the right sidebar or click here read more about it).

What would I recommend?

A low-price, high-value, trial offer (that mitigates their financial risk) with group coaching sessions (that allows them to move up the expertise curve and meet other beginners so they don’t feel out of place) and some other value added components (buy one personal training session get one free, free coconut water, free t-shirt… etc) that increase the perceived value of the offer.

And advertise in a way that gets the message to the biggest possible audience at the lowest possible price… through iPOS advertising.

The pros and cons of your marketing approach

There are a lot of marketing options available to you today… everything from the sublime to the ridiculous.

And if you listen to a lot of the advice out there you have to be doing almost everything to get a decent return on your marketing investment.  Here’s what some of the industry experts have to say.

The problem is, of course, that an expert who says that you have to do everything really isn’t an “expert” at all.

Imagine if you went to your doctor and he said that you could have anything from an allergic reaction to an aggressive cancer… and proceeded to give you a dozen different medications and said, “If you take all of these hopefully one will work?”

I think you’d want a second opinion… I know I would.

So respectfully, I’ll offer you a second opinion on your marketing.

Let me preface this by saying, what ever you are doing now is almost certainly wrong… at least to some degree.

Let’s start with traditional media (direct mail, radio, newspapers, television, billboards etc)…

The obvious down side to traditional media is the cost… it’s expensive.  And as response rates to traditional media decline (due in part to saturation… people aren’t taking as much notice, and in part to changing media consumption… people are consuming more of their media online) it’s only going to get more expensive, driving your acquisition costs higher and higher.

But the upside of traditional media is that it gets your message in front of people who aren’t specifically thinking about you… someone who wants to lose weight but was considering Jenny Craig… someone who wants more energy but was considering a nutritional supplement… someone who wants to tone up but was considering liposuction.  You get your message in front of them and if you have a compelling offer you might be able to convince them to try you.

What about lead boxes?

I’ve talked about the downside of lead boxes before… you can check it out here, here, here, and here.  Basically, lead boxes were a good idea in their day but most consumers don’t trust them, they are a lot of work, and they produce a lot of very low quality leads.

The upside of lead boxes is that they are inexpensive to implement, they target your local community, and they are always on.

What about new media?

The downside of new media is that it mostly targets people who are looking for you (or someone like you) anyway.  Unlike traditional media which provides you with the potential to reach a broader potential market new media is much narrower in its reach.

Of course, there is a lot of upside to new media, it’s cheap (if you don’t count the pretty steep learning curve and ongoing time invested), it’s targeted, it’s where media consumption patterns are headed, it provides immediate feedback on the success (or otherwise) of your offer, and it has a strong social component.

So which ever approach you use you are missing out on something… which is, I guess, why the experts are telling you that you have to be trying everything.

Let’s break it down… if we could take all the upside and eliminate the downside what would that look like?

It would be… cheap (like new media and lead boxes)… it would have to reach a wide audience (not just people who are looking for you anyway, like traditional media)… it would have to produce high quality leads … it would have to target your local community (like lead boxes)… it would be easily to implement (like lead boxes)… it would provide immediate feed back (like new media)… it would have to be always on (like new media and lead boxes)… it would have a strong social component (like new media)… it would have to use a compelling offer (like Groupon)…

Of course there is no single marketing approach that can offer all of this… until now. 

It’s called iPOS and you can learn more about it by clicking here.

The problem with Groupon (and other deal-of-the-day sites)

Despite the hype around deal-of-the-day sites such a Groupon they are far from ideal for our industry.  The big problem is that the Groupon business model relies on volume… that’s how they make their money.

Of course, the idea of getting lots of prospective new members in the club, not to mention getting paid for them into the bargain, can be extremely seductive. 

Unfortunately, too many prospective members all at once makes for terrible customer experiences (for both your prospects and existing members) and poor retention… and despite the excitement of all those prospective new members in the club if you can’t retain them it is all for nothing.

Lets look at some numbers…

Imagine you have a club with 1000 members (if you have a training club you can half these numbers, if you have a CrossFit box you can quarter them, and if you have a personal training business you can divide by 10) and you want to grow your membership by 30%.

So by the end of the year you want to have 1300 members.

But it is not just a matter of acquiring 300 new members because your club has a retention rate of 65% which means that you are going to need 350 new members just to stay at 1000 members.

Now lets consider that you have a closing rate of 50% which means that of every prospective new member that comes into your club you are able to close 1 out of 2 into a membership.

So for the year ahead (to get your 30% membership growth) you are going to need 350 new members x 0.5 (closing rate) = 700 leads just to stay at 1000 members + 300 new members x 0.5 (closing rate) = 600 leads for our 30% membership growth.

Therefore, you are going to need 1300 leads just to end up with 1300 members at the end of the year.

Now Groupon can get you 100, 200, 300, 400 or even more prospective new members in just a few weeks (depending on the deal). 

But the problem is the more Grouponers you get all at once the lower your closing rate will be because most Grouponers are perpetually looking for a deal and so even before they have finished at your club they will be looking for another Groupon deal at your competitors club.

So your closing rate will drop dramatically (even as low as 5-10%) and so too will your retention rate (as new members, and even worse, existing members flee to avoid the chaos)… it’s a vicious circle.

So that 1300 leads (under normal circumstances) will need to be many more if you are relying on Groupon.

Say your closing rate dropped to 25% and your retention rate dropped to 50%... that 1300 leads for 30% membership growth now becomes a massive 3200 leads. 

Rather than getting all of your prospective new members in three or four big tranches (as is the case with Groupon)  it’s much better for your closing rate and retention to get them consistently throughout the year.

If you could get 25 leads a week every week, guess what, you’ve got your 1300 by years end… and your closing rate and retention rate don’t suffer.

When it comes to new members a trickle is better than a flood.

Situational motivation

Motivation can be defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviours.  Motivation is affected by a number of factors both internal (values, beliefs, knowledge etc) and external to the individual (rewards, praise, recognition etc). 

However, situational factors can have a profound affect on motivation.  For example, otherwise rational, law-abiding, people can get swept up in herd mentality or peer pressure and engage in antisocial behaviours such a stealing, rioting, and even murders.   

Recognizing the importance of situational motivation is important for how you run your business.  I’ve spoken about the downside of the practice of incentivizing the sale with freebies and gifts (sometimes referred to as buying the sale).  Effectively what you are doing is providing situational motivation… as long as you can replicate the situation (freebie high) the behaviour will be maintained.

Obviously, you can’t give away free stuff forever… and in the absence of that situational motivation there is no motivation.

Of course, the freebies are just to motivate the sale…I guess you can always worry about retention later... right?

Want to improve your retention…

…then focus on your beginners.

Why?

Because it is your beginners who quit very early into their memberships… 30, 60, or 90 days. And it is these early dropouts that drag your retention figures down.

Why?

Because retention is calculated using average beginning monthly memberships and average’s are sensitive to outliers (an outlier is an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data). Outliers actually skew your data, often significantly.

For example, imagine you have a club with 10 members and their membership terms (in months) were 36, 42, 24, 18, 56, 36, 2, 1, 3, and 1. The average membership term is 21.9 months… not bad, but the average actually hides the fact that there are two cohorts of members, 6 who maintain reasonable membership terms and 4 who don’t.

The average membership term for our first group is 35.3 months and the average for our second group is only 1.75 months.

If we could bring the average of our second group up to even half of the average of our first group (17.65 months) our overall average membership term would be a much healthier 28.5 months.

That’s an additional average 6.6 months of membership dues… now if our members are paying $40 a month that’s $246 per member or $2460 for our 10 members.

Of course, if we had 1000 members that’s an additional $246000 of revenue.

All of those beginners who dropout very early into their memberships are actually pulling your retention figures, and your profits, down… so eliminate the outliers by improving your beginners experience in your club.

Buying the sale vs. earning the sale

You might have heard this advice from a number of sales consultants in our industry, “You buy the sale”.

Of course, the implication is that you have to incentivize the sale with various freebies (t-shirts, water bottles, workout towels, caps…) to convince the prospect to buy your membership.

Sure, buying the sale works on some people, at least for a while… but sooner or later the “freebie high” wears off and buyers remorse is never far away.

It is much better to earn the sale by focusing on negative reinforcement techniques, removing their barriers, and moving them up the expertise curve. These have a much more profound effect on the member/client experience and also have a much longer lasting effect on retention.

When you buy the sale you pay for it in terms of retention… but when you earn the sale you also earn their loyalty.