Gyms and Leisure Centres have an amazing opportunity to make a massive difference to the health of the nation but unfortunately the business models that we see throughout, still dominating the industry come from the 80’s and will only ever reach 12% of the nation.
The health demographics of consumers have moved on and the way we serve these people should move on too. Sadly I don’t think the gyms are ready to change (or want to) because the 12% of people that do come through our doors are fed into a well oiled machine.
That machine has been built, serviced, tuned and perfected over decades to make enough profit from the few that come through our doors… that they can ignore the rest and still pay a good dividend to the money men.
Being an eternal optimist I am going to take a massive positive from this dire situation.
Group exercise instructors and fitness professionals (whether working in a gym or as an independent), nutritionists and physiotherapists…in fact any health and wellness professional exchanging time for money should look at the typical gym’s business model and ask themselves what do the gyms do successfully that I can adopt in my business to boost profits and generate results for your clients?
If you have a business that predominantly exchanges time for money to get results for people (whatever those goals are) we have to ask… are we making the maximum amount of money from that client?
The emerging trend that is sweeping through the industry is offering memberships (as an aside I think this is the way to go for independent fit pros to future proof your career and cash flow) but this is not the “thing” that I want to point out to you… as this alone won’t help your clients get results and generate new business.
I am in fact talking about secondary spends or what we like to call “bundled income”. What fitness aides, consumables, tools or gadgets can we retail to each client to fast track them to their desired goal? Remembering that if they get to their result sooner the more business you will get.
[If you have time please post and tell me what you use to bundle your income and get results for your clients]We are in the results game… people buy our services to get a result… if you are not providing your clients with the opportunity to reach their goals quickly you are actually doing them a disservice and decreasing the chances they will stay with you (and refer their friends)
The main barrier I hear from people at this point is that they “don’t have time” to manage this process as well as running their results driven business. The best thing is… what I am suggesting is really easy nowadays with the advances in technology and the brilliant services that are now possible with suppliers.
Your website can “virtually” stock all the products that your audience would benefit from. You don’t have to physically stock the products from several suppliers and have a jammed out warehouse. You don’t have to handle the orders, the suppliers will do that for you. You just have to show your client to the products that are going to help them get results and the whole process is handled for you… and for your troubles you will get the commission from the sale.
You don’t have to be as big as a gym or have an army of staff to provide a three dimensional business. Take this one and only lesson from the gyms and leisure centres and put into your business straight away. This will boost your profits and deliver better results for your clients and in turn generate more business…FACT!
[Any “bundled” income suggestions welcome]
