SCENARIO #1
Member: “Would it be O.K. if my 13 year old son works out at the gym after school?
Club Owner: “Yeah, I guess so, but you’ll have to sign a waiver”
Club Member: “How much of a discount can I get?”
Club Owner: “We can give you a ‘second member of the family’ membership rate of $19 a month.”
SCENARIO #2
Member: “When are you guys going to get 120 pound dumbbells in this place. I can’t get a good workout.”
Club Owner: “I’ll have to check; but I think we should be getting them sometime in January.”
SCENARIO #3
Member: “I am a third degree black belt in Tae Won On. Would it be O.K. if I teach a class once a week in your aerobics room? I’ll give you $50 a class.”
Club Owner: “Uh, sure. But you’ll have to get your own insurance.”
SCENARIO #4
Member: “Instead of renewing my contract and paying $35 a month for another 12 months, can I give you $200 cash for the year?”
Club Owner (in July): “O.K.”
Just say “No”. Are you running your club or are your members running it for you? One of the biggest mistakes club owners make is that they have no “focus”. We all start out with a dream to open the perfect fitness club. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on designing, building, and equipping our facility to make it the best gym in the area. However, a lot of us don’t spend enough of time focusing on the “concept” of the club. Who is our target market? Are we a high-energy “rock and roll” gym or more of a family recreation center? Do we cater to gym rats or the de-conditioned market? Do we want kids in the gym? Even if club owners do a good job developing their concept, a lot of these same owners lose their focus as time goes on.
Members will always make suggestions on how to improve your club. They will also complain about the music, the lighting, and the condition of your bathrooms. Members will provide you with the perfect feedback on how your club is doing. However, negative comments and suggestions may actually enforce your club’s direction and let you know that you are doing a good job. Let’s take another look at Scenario #1 at the beginning of the article. If you have a lifestyle gym that caters to a “high energy” rock and roll type of crowd, why would you let a 13 year old kid come in and work out with his parent? Do you think your 25-30 year old female population will enjoy being stared at by a hormonal teenager? Do you think that your 40 year old, out-of-shape, business executive will like “working in” with a teenager on his favorite piece of equipment? You have not only increased your liability issues, but you have also destroyed the fitness experience for the rest of your members.
Allowing teenagers the opportunity to work out at your club is a dangerous path to choose. Unless you have specific fitness programming designed to cater to this population, you could be opening a Pandora’s Box of problems. I think that you will agree that the age of an individual is directly proportionate to one’s mental capacity. In other words, these kids don’t have a clue. There’s nothing worse than watching 3 or 4 male teenage workout partners engaging in their quest to become “huge”. Left to workout on their own, with no supervision, is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Improper technique mixed with the hormonal urge to lift maximum weight to impress their buddies (or the women in your club) will inevitably result in someone getting hurt. If you don’t think that kid’s parents won’t sue you when he blows out a knee after failure on your hack squat, think again. By the way, how many of these teenagers do you think will support your profit centers? In summary; they wreck your equipment, upset your members, and don’t pay you enough to support the soap they use in your showers. Just say “No”.
Scenario #2 involving the members who request 120lb dumbbells is somewhat related to the last example. You need to review the concept of your gym and focus on the population that you want in your club. If you cater to a more traditional retro-type gym or if you want a hard core fitness population, then by all means, get the 120lb dumbbells. But if your concept does not include young males in combat boots with their hats turned around backwards grunting and screaming during their “routine” then again the answer is simple. Just say “No”. By the way, how does your staff like re-racking the 75lb+ dumbbells when the members leave them on the floor?
Scenario #3 addresses an increasingly difficult question that many club owners face; independent contractors. In order to cut payroll costs or in order to offer services that enhance the original concept of the gym, many club owners utilize independent contractors. Some independent contractor relationships are set up to avoid the liability issues associated with the respective service. In the example of the martial artist who wants to conduct classes at the gym, I see nothing conceptually wrong with offering this to your members. However, you need to get the relationship in writing. Too often, club owners get involved in “hand shake” deals that can come back to haunt them. It is not enough to tell the independent contractor that they have to carry their own insurance. It is imperative that you obtain a copy of the certificate of insurance naming your facility as an Additional Insured. Make certain, again in writing, that the contractor knows that they are not covered under your liability or workers compensation policy. So if you want to sublease a room to a chiropractor, hire independent personal trainers, or start offering martial arts to your members, that’s great. Just get it on paper and keep those certificates of insurance on file.
The last scenario depicts an ugly practice that goes on all too often in our industry. It is what gives us the “car salesman” image and can kill a club. Making “deals” with members or running cash specials is a dangerous practice. Nothing ticks off a member more than knowing that when they signed up at your club and promised to pay you for one year for $89 down and $35 a month that another person they bumped into in the locker room just received the same exact membership for $200. As hard as it is to pass up cash, it is much harder to rebuild your credibility. To steal a line from Thom Plummer, “Credibility is like virginity. You only lose it once.” I’m not saying not to take cash, but don’t discount. You can always “throw in” other services or products if they pay up front. Free tanning session, two free personal training sessions, or even and extension of two months on their membership agreement are all rewards you can offer without having to sacrifice your credibility.
If there is any underlying theme to this article and the various scenarios I have addressed, I suppose it would be “You can’t be all things to all people”. The key to business success for most industries since the early 1990s has been specialization. Why should the fitness industry be any different? You can’t please everybody so why do we knock ourselves out? You may have heard the statement, “plan your work and work your plan”. By working your plan, or following your business objectives, your direction becomes very clear. You can no longer be distracted by member requests or spur of the moment ideas unless they will support your overall concept.
Think about your favorite restaurant and why you go there. You go there because you like the food and the service but you also go there because it is consistent. It has the atmosphere that you like. You will also notice, the clientele are all very similar to your age group and income level. Does your restaurant offer 50% off your spouse’s meal? This favorite restaurant does not cater to everyone; they are very “specialized”. Why would you run your club any differently?
Specialization is achieved by learning to say “No”. By specializing, you will not only limit your liabilities, but you will invariably improve your bottom line. You will also find that everything you have, from your staff to your equipment, will end up supporting your concept. Life is good when everything and everyone “fits” into the type of club you dreamed about. Keep focused and just say “No”.
Note: One way to achieve specialization in your club by saying “No” is to post your Club Policy and Guidelines. For a free sample of a form that we recommend, give us a call at 1-800-985-2021 Ext 3812.
