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About 6 years ago, San Diego–based personal trainer Kevin Root opted not to attend the IDEA World Convention. As a newly certified professional, he felt the event could overwhelm him with information. It’s a choice he regrets.
“Looking back, I robbed myself of valuable hands-on experience and knowledge,” he admits.
Root, who splits his time between boutique studio Bird Rock Fit and a big-box gym, the La Jolla Sports Club, eventually decided that IDEA World was a necessary investment to progress his career. He attended for the first time in 2015.
Has your business experienced faster staff turnover than you’d like? Are you about to hire new staff? Do you want your fitness pros to remain loyal to your facility? You can beat the high-turnover odds in the fitness industry. The key is to find qualified pros who fit your business and then set them up for success, giving them specific training for their positions and clearly communicating your expectations. Consider the hiring and onboarding system I’ve developed over the past 8 years of running my own business.
Do you have a 2020 vision?
Do you have a clear view of what you’re going to do in the new year to grow your business even more?
As 2019 closes, it’s important to take stock. What can you improve to ensure a higher-quality customer experience and more revenue in 2020?
Let’s take a look at four areas that impact your business going ahead so you set yourself up to succeed.
As the health and fitness industry continues to evolve and grow, staff diversity and inclusion efforts are becoming increasingly important. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mandates that job applicants and employees cannot be discriminated against “because of their race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information” (EEOC n.d.). However, making a conscious effort to diversify goes above and beyond following the law.
Discover what diversity means and what you should consider as you put together a diverse staff.
You know the work it takes to get a new customer in the door. You’re spending money on marketing, time making sure your website listings are right, and energy on promotions and intro offers to get the word out. It’s not easy. But remember—it costs less to keep an existing client than it does to acquire a new one. Getting them to return again and again will help you keep your lights on and your business bustling! With that in mind, let’s look at three actions you can take to retain your clients.
A number of tried-and-proven options to attract new members and clients can help you grow your business without reinventing the wheel. You can join a franchise system, license the rights to an established brand or invest in instructor training to build a specialty business. Each option has an opportunity cost (what you might lose if you don’t choose the particular option), as well as benefits that you might gain. Among these choices, franchise systems offer many advantages.
An experience: That’s what exercisers want in order to feel inspired and motivated. In the fitness industry, one of the key places where this experience occurs is within a group fitness community. It doesn’t take a big-box gym or a trendy fitness boutique to give participants an amazing experience. With some creativity, flexibility and determination, even the smallest fitness facility or studio can offer a dynamic group fitness program that will give members the experience they crave.
One day, while stretching my client Jim, I was taken aback when I realized he wasn’t wearing underwear. His shorts were swim trunks with interior netting. I quickly looked away and continued to stretch him. This happened with Jim on several other occasions, but I never mentioned it because I wasn’t sure how to broach the matter. I also didn’t feel as if he was doing this intentionally, nor did I believe he meant harm.
Are you thinking about selling your personal training studio or fitness business? Your business is probably your primary source of income, and selling it will mean you’ll lose that annual income but achieve a one-time capital gain. Are you prepared for that? IDEA member Toby Davis, senior adviser at Sun Acquisitions, Chicago, shares the following tips for anyone preparing to turn over the keys:
The success of your business relies solely on your ability to attract and keep clients. Use these tips to enhance the client-trainer relationship so that you can focus more on providing quality service to your current clients and less on finding new ones.
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IDEA Fitness Journal
Current Issue:
December 2019
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