For many health clubs, personal training sales serve as the largest source of non-dues revenue. This includes Wisconsin Athletic Club, which boasts seven locations in Wisconsin.
According to Julie Crowley, the director of programming at Wisconsin Athletic Club, there are a number of strategies the brand utilizes to ensure they’re maximizing personal training profits. Following is an overview of three of these strategies.
Talent
According to Crowley, a profitable training department begins and ends with your talent. As a result, Wisconsin Athletic Club strives to hire the best personal trainers based on the needs and culture of each team — and then trains them to the best of the club’s ability.
“We have a very structured and robust onboarding, training and development program for our new trainers, which includes sales training,” explained Crowley.
During the onboarding and training process, a new trainer will meet with key team members and leadership, and be assigned a coach. They spend time shadowing experienced trainers, role-play new member interactions and practice closing the sale.
“The coach will check up on their team member and shadow their sales process and training sessions during the first 90 days, and anytime they might be struggling to reach their revenue goals,” said Crowley.
This process ensures a new trainer is being set-up for success from the get-go.
In addition, Wisconsin Athletic Club boasts a goal-oriented environment for its training department. “We set individual and team revenue goals and provide bonus incentives for reaching sales and hourly goals,” added Crowley.
Onboarding
Of course, the burden of landing new training clients shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of a new trainer. It’s also up to the club to ensure members are educated on the benefits of personal training and the particular training services offered.
At Wisconsin Athletic Club, each new member receives two complimentary hours with a personal trainer. Upon completing these two sessions, they receive club cash to be used for any programming service, including personal training.
“We find this process beneficial not only for the new member, but for increasing leads and sales for our trainers,” explained Crowley.
In addition, the new member integration program fulfills a goal of getting members connected to the club. “We know that if the new member uses the club and participates in programs, they will be more likely to stay, increasing our member retention,” added Crowley. “We strongly feel connecting new members to our staff is the best way to accomplish this goal.”
Retention
In addition to sales training and member onboarding, another key strategy for maximizing personal training profits is the retention of training clients.
“Retaining personal training clients not only increases the bottom line, it helps to retain our personal trainers, providing a steady income stream,” explained Crowley. “In addition, it gives more opportunities for new trainers to gain clients and build their business. As more new members join, new trainers have additional opportunities to sell and gain long-term clients.”
In addition, “As our membership levels grow each year, we increase personal training revenue team goals,” said Crowley. “And to help fulfill these goals, we must hire new trainers. It’s a cyclical, positive way to move our needle forward.”
Wisconsin Athletic Club strives to retain personal training clients through a variety of ways, including corporate initiatives and strategies at the individual level. Some examples are: gift card promotions with complimentary club cash incentives; and client appreciation parties and events including food, entertainment and prizes.
“We encourage our trainers to offer complimentary training sessions for birthdays, rebooking packages, and more,” said Crowley. “Our trainers teach complimentary classes and actively post on social media — offering more accountability and fitness tips at no cost to the client.”
Ultimately, these three strategies aid in Wisconsin Athletic Club’s efforts to maximize training profits, and remain the top driver of non-dues revenue.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
