It’s common business knowledge that the cost to acquire a customer (CAC) tends to be much higher than keeping the ones you already have. Frequent audits of the lifetime value per client (LVC) should be calculated against the CAC to determine how to behave as a business.
Having said that, the fitness industry has never been such a crowded space as it is today. Everyone is fighting for the same customers and the margins are getting tighter and tighter, especially with the $10-a-month models entering the marketplace at record speed. The last thing you want to do is raise the rates. How can you sell more “things” to the customers you already have, providing more value and increasing the LVC of each client?
The most obvious solution is to add a new profit center, meeting the needs of your current customers by adding value to their outcome. In doing so, not only will this positively affect the LVC, but also improve retention and decrease your churn rate.
There is no denying that 70% of today’s customers are joining a gym with a weight loss goal. And because most fitness professionals believe that at least 70% of reaching a weight loss goal is attributed to nutrition, it just seems obvious that the new profit center should be nutrition oriented — improving LVC, client retention, churn rates and helping the business stand out more in a crowded space.
Without addressing nutrition, does that mean you’re only willing to provide 30% of the solution for your customers striving to reach their health and fitness goals?
Imagine acquiring a new customer when you can confidentially guarantee your club offers the “100% solution.” Your advertising could be based off referrals alone when you’re changing and improving lives. Not everyone has to exercise — and most admit they don’t enjoy it — but everyone has to eat food.
Nutrition as a profit center has long been a difficult proposition, with clubs not knowing how to manage implementing it. While there are many variables, there are also now solutions in place to simplify what was once too difficult to conceptualize adding to the list of services in a reliable and consistent manner.
In all industries, today’s customer wants it all, they want it now and they want it all under one roof. It only makes sense to provide what your customers are seeking and improve every outcome in the process.
Carolyn Fetters is the founder and CEO of Balanced Habits, based in Southern California. She can be reached at carolyn@balancedhabits.com or 657.231.6779. For more information about how Balanced Habits can help you bring nutrition to life in your fitness club, download our free Nutrition Turn-Key Report at yuneedbh.com.
