Les Mills shares three tips to ensure your facility is extracting full value from its group training studio.
From the rockstar instructors you choose to deliver workouts, to the frequency and diversity of the programs offered, a thriving studio is all in the planning. Here are three simple tips to ensure your facility is extracting full value from its group training studio.
1. Benchmark your studio’s performance.
Legendary management consultant Peter Drucker famously said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” By assessing your studio’s current state of play, you can better map out your growth targets. Some of the world’s most successful facilities offer programming for 60 to 80% of opening hours. Instructor-led live classes should make up the lion’s share of the day, supported in off-peak with on-demand virtual programming. Your ideal weekly group training attendance should be around the size of your total membership. If you’re not currently benchmarking your group training attendance, you can estimate it by multiplying the average attendees per class, by the amount of classes held per week. From there, you should aim for total weekly facility visits that equal twice your membership, with 50% of visits generated by group training.
2. Schedule your timetable horizontally.
Analyzing your timetable day by day is important, but scheduling horizontally — not vertically — is where you win. Horizontal timetabling allows you to be flexible with your timeslots, and crucially, broadens the scope of who they attract. So offer each core program at least two or three times a week within a one to two-hour timeframe for maximum impact. If you’re scheduling strength workouts at the same time every evening, you’re missing out on a cluster of members who can make it an hour earlier, or those who can only make the morning slots. For example, timetabling the same class at the same time every day means there’s a chance to swap out one of those for something else. A lot of members might only be able to attend the 6 p.m. timeslot, so it’s important to offer them variety in their training to keep them coming back.
3. Offer a broad range of programming.
Modern members make purchasing decisions set against a backdrop of unprecedented choice and expect their fitness experiences to offer the same flex. Curating an irresistible studio that drives loyalty requires a diverse timetable spanning multiple genres. To reach a broad audience, core group training programs should include strength, cardio and mind/body, while also being mindful of emerging trends.
