For many health clubs, the top three priorities are sales, retention and member engagement. Recently, Gold’s Gym has discovered that Styku’s 3D body scanning technology can assist in all three areas.
Here, Aaron Cave, the vice president of fitness for Gold’s Gym, shares more about why they chose to implement Styku at all 150 Gold’s Gym corporate locations and how the partnership has added dollars to the bottom line.
CS: What made you decide to partner with Styku and invest in 3D body scanning?
AC: We wanted to be able to show members their starting points. We felt it was very important that all of our members had the ability to get a very realistic look at where they were at on their fitness journey, and 3D body scanning technology allows us to do that in a very non-invasive, cool way. Members can visualize that starting point versus a number from a tape measure or a number from a scale, which doesn’t really tap into your emotions. The visual image is such a better catalyst for transformation because it taps into both the logical and emotional side. That was kind of what started the process.
CS: What made you pick Styku over some of the other 3D body scanning options?
AC: What appealed to us about Styku was it had a small footprint, which is important for us in our assessment rooms, that it not take up a ton of space. It was very accurate — the readings we got, in comparing those to actual tape measurements, were very accurate. It’s significantly less invasive than using calipers or tape measures around, where a trainer has to get pretty close to a client. With the scanning technology, they can even scan themselves in the privacy of the room, which is really great for members. And it had incredible support when we had technical issues or questions.
CS: What ROI have you seen from this investment?
AC: We’ve seen more people buy training because of it, because people can see where they actually are on their fitness journey versus just where they think they are — this is very objective feedback. The trainer doesn’t even have to give the feedback, they can look at the image and see, “Wow, I’ve got a lot of work to do.” With Gold’s Gym, we want part of our commitment to these members to be, “We’re going to show you a starting point and then walk with you along the way and show you the ropes.” Styku has enabled us to do that and also track a member’s progress.
The follow-up scan is also incredibly important — after a member gets that first scan, we want to get them back here in 30 days and help them see whether or not what they’re doing is working. Are they getting the results they want? If so, great, and if not, let’s tweak the training plan a little bit.
CS: What other impact have you seen on personal training sales?
AC: We’ve found getting the members to show up to that first appointment to get the assessment is significantly easier when you have something like this 3D scanner as a reason to show up — it’s very intriguing for the members. A lot more people are showing up for these assessments than ever before.
CS: In what other ways has Styku impacted Gold’s Gym’s bottom line?
AC: Without going into specifics, we’ve definitely seen an uptick in our show rate. We’ve also seen an uptick in our close rate. There are more people showing up to get training because of the scanner. It’s just a much better offer for the member. We also make it part of our one-on-one personal training packages. All of our personal trainings get one free 3D scan per month, and that’s the same for all our studio clientele and boot camp clientele. They all get access to one scan a month.
CS: Do you see this as a great differentiator from other gyms in the area?
AC: We have not seen anybody do 3D body imaging on this scale, and many of our franchisees are beginning to adopt it in their clubs. It’s a great way to run challenges during the year where you can put members against other members, or clubs against other clubs, and Styku aggregates that data for us. It’s really helpful to be able to see on a club level how members’ fitness levels are changing.
CS: What other benefits have you seen from Styku? Why should other clubs consider offering 3D body scanning?
AC: It’s not invasive, members can actually track their progress —a number on a scale doesn’t tell the whole story. We have many clients who will gain muscle for the first time and see the scale actually go up, but because of 3D scanning, they can see their body composition has improved significantly. So that number on the scale that used to dominate their emotions, whether they’re doing better or worse, kind of becomes secondary because now they’re trying to improve their body composition. Too many times, that number on the scale is what we get fixated on and 3D technology gives us that view when you overlay the two images — the before and after — you can see where your body is improving, which is really encouraging to someone who’s training. It’s a sales tool, it’s a retention tool, it’s a member engagement tool, and we use it for all of those applications.
For more information on Styku, visit http://www.styku.com/.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
