Many of the health clubs that I have recently worked with are driven by finding a real solution to bridging the gap between group fitness, personal training and gym floor users. They know that having that “boutique experience” for their members is important, as there is huge potential in the untapped market within their health clubs. But so many clubs struggle to find success in establishing the true potential of the value they can create in this department. The common questions I hear are:
1. How can I convince members that team training (SGT) is different to personal training and group fitness, and worth investing in?
2. What kind of total revenue should I be expecting when running a team training department?
3. What percentage of my membership should I be directing toward this department?
4. Why shouldn’t I just create something on my own?
The simple answers to these questions is that our members are with us and our health clubs because we have established the trust, the brand and the offerings they want to be a part of (or they simply wouldn’t be there). Everyone wants to feel valued and feel the benefits of attending our club every time they come in.
None of this is new, but in my opinion club owners, general managers and department heads are under so much pressure to run the day-to-day operations of the business that they are finding it hard to create growth or change within their businesses to allow for success. Their job is to keep members’ trust, offer great services and keep their businesses profitable. They are the experts in this area.
Of course, the real answers you are looking for about the questions above are unique to your facility as market, membership offerings and human resources all play a role in determining your opportunity cost. I would say, however, that if you have 200 people buying one-on-one training for $60 per hour, then what is keeping you from having at least as many members buying STG for a fraction of the cost?
By outsourcing expertise, this allows club owners, coaches and members to benefit from a great product, giving each of them a measure of success in their own way:
- The member has world-class, affordable training, which ensures results and allows them to look and feel better. They continue to believe in you and your staff and club retention rates and secondary revenue continue to grow.
- Your coaches benefit from another qualification, and another revenue stream to boost their income. Coaches also have more time to care for members’ success or train more people.
- Club management increases their bottom line significantly compared to what they are earning today, all the while having valuable company alignment from the top down to members.
Measuring success in our clubs comes down to allowing your staff enough time to do what they do best: Care for members’ success.
JP Richard is the president of TRIBE Team Training USA. For more information email jp@tribeteamtraining.com.
