Sean Turner shares how to power your progress through studio design and creating an experience that gets your members talking.
Finessing your studio space is a key play to secure continued success and remind members why their club is truly a place to fall in love with. Digital options are now a standard expectation and the in-club experience has a chance to shine in a new light. Providing irresistible fitness experiences is one part of the solution, but if the boutiques have taught us anything, it’s that style can live comfortably alongside substance. Prioritizing equipment over environment can often take precedent on lean budgets, but it’s important facilities remember to give members something to leave home for, and appearance and atmosphere are regularly rated as key drivers.
The group workout studio can set the tone for your overall member experience and how people feel when they think of your club. Whether it’s the calm zen of the yoga studio, or the stimulating environment of the HIIT zone, the ambiance of the room sets the tone for the workout and motivates people to keep coming back. When you’re mapping the design of your studio, consider how you’re choreographing someone’s experience. How do you want people to feel when they enter the studio? During the workout? And what about when they leave?
The member experience starts when they enter your facility and continues through every aspect of the club. Instead of leaving these experiences to chance, use the influence you have. Your member’s emotional response to their experience will be defined by paying attention to what they see, hear and feel in each area of the club.
Inspiration can come from anywhere. You’re looking to showcase the very best of your rockstar instructors, so channeling the element of performance is key. Give them a stage to project a sense of theater — supercharge your lighting and make sure you’re nailing the acoustics. It all adds up to an unmissable fitness experience your members will want to relive. When it comes to keeping members but retaining value for your facility, creating a hard-working space is the name of the game. When designing your studio for optimum usage, it’s key to remember every audience you’ll want to make use of it. From early morning HIIT classes, mid-afternoon virtual workouts or the early evening peak, your space needs to flex for each fitness user.
Once you’ve got the space looking how you want, you can hand over marketing to your most influential assets — your members. By adding social media friendly selfie-walls with your club’s name, you’ll capitalize on that post-workout high. When they’re exercising in a space that looks great and provides a great workout experience, members will be excited to share that with their online audience and word will spread. Next time you head into the club, stop, take a moment and look through the eyes of your members.
