Immediately I wanted to be on the defensive. But, the more I pondered over the subheads, I started to think about the article’s point of view from a consumer standpoint. Gigi Douban, the author, touched on six points: 1) They’ll Fight to Keep You, 2) Monthly Contracts Can Be a Rip-off, 3) The Place Is Crawling with Germs, 4) They Hire Some Dud Trainers, 5) You Can’t Trust Them with Your Life, 6) They May Keep Charging You After You’ve Canceled.
The first tip concerning the club’s fight to keep you provides the reader with some insight into a good time to renew a membership. I’ve learned from some of our regular sources that clubs are moving away from the negotiation of prices. However, for those clubs out there that are still haggling for the $39.99 monthly EFT, you’re going to need to prepare for negotiators coming into your facilities.
For those negotiators, be prepared to discuss the difference between your club and the competition down the street. If your competitor has a cheaper rate, you should know why. Do they have less equipment? Are they a smaller club? Do you offer amenities that your competitor doesn’t?
The next tip encourages members to look into “drop-in rates.” I’m sure there are clubs out there that have drop-in rates — however, I know most of you will encourage members to sign up for the monthly EFT. This section quotes Stefano DellaVigna, Ph.D., an associate professor of economics at the University of California Berkeley. DellaVigna studied gym users for three years and found that the average gym goers would save more than $150 by using drop-in rates. Remember, if you want to go in the direction of drop-in rates, you need to make them competitive. However, if you are going to direct your potential members in the direction of paying monthly, you’re going to need a good reason. Why should they pay monthly over a drop-in rate? Do you get something different with a monthly payment over a drop-in rate?
Next, is your club really crawling with germs? If so, you need to invest in some cleaning products and get to scrubbing. There isn’t any excuse for having a dirty club. If you can’t afford to clean your club at its current size, then you probably have too much club. Ask yourself, is it more important to have a giant dirty facility, or a club that is at a manageable size?
Big clubs are impressive and can attract members strictly on size alone. However, if you launch a large club and you can’t keep it clean, you’re going to have a new situation on your hands — members wanting out of their contracts and some interesting posts on Yelp.com.
I have an issue with topic four on the Women’s Health list. Many of the clubs we’ve worked with in the past have discussed the importance of hiring personal trainers with accredited certifications — some even require a four year degree from a college or university. I simply have a hard time believing that the vast majority of club members out there are experiencing clubs with “dud trainers.”
Now, with that said, I’m assuming there may be a few of you out there that fit that bill. If that’s the case, it’s probably hurting your business. If you are telling your members you can train them with your 20-plus years of fitness experience, but you’re not certified, then you missed something in your 20-plus years. As a trainer, if you decide to train, you need to be certified. If you’re a club owner, you shouldn’t hire any trainer that doesn’t have a certification.
Think about your training program as your members’ go-to source for fitness. Do you think some of your trainers are duds? Do you have trainers that you wouldn’t trust with any type of fitness advice? Remember, if you don’t trust your trainers, how are your members supposed to?
I don’t really even want to touch on topic five. But, if I’ve done the others, I might as well briefly touch on this. However, my only question to you is, why don’t you have an AED? It’s 2012 — if we need to keep writing articles about why you should have an AED in your facility and train your employees to use it, something is seriously wrong. Yes, the chance of cardiac death during exercise is rare, but it happens, and has happened. Take this into consideration — would you rather be on the six o’clock news for saving someone’s life, or for being the place a person died at because your club wasn’t prepared?
Finally, “They May Keep Charging You After You’ve Canceled.” Is this really an ethical practice? If you do this, and you have a good reason for doing so, please leave me a comment and we can discuss. I’d love to say that clubs would never do such a thing, but it’s simply not true. I can count on two hands the friends that have asked me in the past year why their club charged them after they canceled. What should I tell my friends? On some issues I can throw in an excuse and defer fault, but I can’t with this issue. If you were myself, what would you tell your friends? What do you tell your former members when they call to complain? Do you really mean to charge them again, or is this a glitch in your software? If so, give a reputable software company a call and get the problem resolved.
The issue with this article isn’t that it bashes the fitness industry. Well, that’s sort of the issue, but it’s more an issue because many of the things they touch on, consumers deal with regularly. I know that it may be overwhelming to think about all the things in your club you need to fix, but here are six things that made a major consumer publication. When you see a list like this, it’s worth your time to take the points into consideration and make a change.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
