Business Planning/Strategies Articles

Treadmills, ellipticals, indoor cycling classes—sometimes the same old thing becomes, well, old. To alleviate the boredom that can set in—and that ultimately reduces members' motivation to exercise—many facility owners and managers are shaking up their programming by taking their clients outdoors. newsletter_teaser: Treadmills, ellipticals, indoor cycling classes—sometimes the same old thing becomes, well, old. To alleviate boredom, take members outdoors.

If we had it to do all over again, there wouldn’t be much we would change, if anything. We, and IDEA, have come to this exact moment in time as a sum of all the parts, moments, people and happenings—both amazing and sometimes not so great—that have happened on our journey since we founded IDEA.

The National Business Group on Health estimates that the corporate wellness market will grow 18% over the next 5 years. This puts the fitness industry in a perfect-storm position to create or embrace the opportunity. The major factors catalyzing this storm are rising disease and disability among Americans and relentless annual increases in healthcare costs.newsletter_teaser: The National Business Group on Health estimates that the corporate wellness market will grow 18% over the next 5 years. This puts the fitness industry in a perfect-storm position to create or embrace the opportunity.

Facility managers and directors are in a strategic position to bring health-and-wellness solutions to members across all ages and stages of life. Where to begin? newsletter_teaser: Facility managers and directors are in a strategic position to bring health-and-wellness solutions to members across all ages and stages of life. Where to begin?

When your dream team is happy, their attitudes are positive and they are friendly, open and welcoming. The team members get along and they take time to engage with participants and members. newsletter_teaser: When your dream team is happy, their attitudes are positive and they are friendly, open and welcoming. The team members get along and they take time to engage with participants and members.

When employees feel uninspired, they don’t think about how to improve the systems at their facility. They aren’t interested in sharing their great ideas, and they don’t care about really engaging their clients. They show up, do their jobs and put in just enough effort to mitigate performance issues, but they don’t extend themselves any further. You have to remind them to smile when they’re greeting members and remind them to call clients by name. Their bodies show up for work, but their hearts and souls are missing. newsletter_teaser: When employees feel uninspired, they don’t think about how to improve the systems at their facility. They aren’t interested in sharing their great ideas, and they don’t care about really engaging their clients.

Customer testimonials can be fantastic tools for driving new business to your door. But boring, photo-free client comments buried deep inside your website are unlikely to do the trick. To quickly capture the imagination (and training dollars) of the masses, it is critical to breathe life into client success stories. So what makes some testimonials tedious and others terrific? Follow these four steps to avoid the mistakes of time-wasting customer snooze stories. Bring your facility’s testimonials back from the brink—and attract new-member dollars to your door.newsletter_teaser: Customer testimonials can be fantastic tools for driving new business to your door. But boring, photo-free client comments buried deep inside your website are unlikely to do the trick. To quickly capture the imagination (and training dollars) of the masses, it is critical to breathe life into client success stories.

Running a successful business is much like being an athlete. You’ve got to attack the task with dedication, commitment, passion, integrity and respect for the road ahead and the people who are part of it. Just as you keep clients by training them to run faster and jump higher, you’ll build a long-lasting boot camp by starting out great and just getting better.newsletter_teaser: Running a successful boot camp is much like being an athlete. You’ve got to attack the task with dedication, commitment, passion, integrity and respect for the road ahead and the people who are part of it.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Greatness is by design not by chance”? Think about the organizations and people you admire. Are their successes derived from chance, or did they spend time intricately creating what they believed greatness to be? Most likely, the latter is true.newsletter_teaser: Have you ever heard the saying, “Greatness is by design not by chance”? Think about the organizations and people you admire. Are their successes derived from chance, or did they spend time intricately creating what they believed greatness to be? Most likely, the latter is true.

The group exercise schedule is one of the most overlooked, undervalued tools at a fitness facility. Too often, it’s viewed as a simple grocery list of classes for members—and is not recognized as a powerful way to drive sales.newsletter_teaser: The group exercise schedule is one of the most overlooked, undervalued tools at a fitness facility. Too often, it’s viewed as a simple grocery list of classes for members—and is not recognized as a powerful way to drive sales