Customer Service
How to Make First-Time Gym Clients Feel Welcome
Your gym should be a welcoming space.
First-timers should feel comfortable—and wanted—walking in and working out or taking classes.
Not only is being welcoming an important part of the human contract, but it’s doubly important for your business. First-time customers, of course, can become repeat customers and even members. Making sure their first experience at your gym or studio is positive is important for your bottom line.
Sexual Harassment and the Fitness Industry
One day, while stretching my client Jim, I was taken aback when I realized he wasn’t wearing underwear. His shorts were swim trunks with interior netting. I quickly looked away and continued to stretch him. This happened with Jim on several other occasions, but I never mentioned it because I wasn’t sure how to broach the matter. I also didn’t feel as if he was doing this intentionally, nor did I believe he meant harm.
Question of the Month
Summer is a fun time to exercise outside, and the benefits of green exercise are getting attention. Are you or your facility offering any outdoor summer programs that use nature as a backdrop? If so, please describe the programs you’re promoting, your target demographics, and how you’re using nature as a key element.
Corporate Fitness Evolves
Employers are looking for partners to provide experiences and solutions in social, emotional, financial, family and career growth and well-being,” says Grace DeSimone, national group fitness director with Plus One Health Management, an Optum company, in New York City. Companies are also embracing mindfulness, meditation and virtual solutions for telecommuting employees, according to DeSimone. All these changes represent an evolution from programs aimed primarily at improving physical health and controlling healthcare costs.
9 Simple Ways to Keep Your Clients
The success of your business relies solely on your ability to attract and keep clients. Use these tips to enhance the client-trainer relationship so that you can focus more on providing quality service to your current clients and less on finding new ones.
How to Compete Against Discount Clubs
You’ve worked long and hard to get your fitness facility off the ground, and while you’re doing okay in your community, you’ve noticed some of your membership base trickling away. Upon further investigation, you realize that while you’ve had your nose to the grindstone, managing your facility and planning for growth, a discount club has opened up not far from you. Not only that, but a handful of specialty boutique studios have carved out some market share. Where do you fit in, and what can you do to keep your place?
7 Keys to Creating an Unforgettable Onboarding Experience
Do you want to strategically and consistently educate and motivate your new clients so they feel like they’re getting incredible results—and so you’re getting a steady flow of referrals and earning positive social proof? Are you ready to not just deliver but over-deliver? If your answer is yes, then one of your most important next moves is to create a step-by-step onboarding process.
Learn, Connect and Thrive at the IDEA® World Convention
Education is the foundation of the IDEA World Convention, but this fitness event offers plenty more than stellar instruction. For Jonathan Bernath, publicist-turned-personal-trainer, it’s where he discovered the “fitness family” that would guide him in his new career.
How to Find Your Epic
The fitness industry is a rewarding and inspiring place to be. However, it’s not without its challenges, and getting ahead with passion alone can be difficult. The most successful fit pros know that to build an epic life and career, they must invest in education and learn from those who’ve been there and done it.
Most Popular Club Activities
The three types of workout equipment used most often in health clubs in 2016 were treadmills, resistance machines and free weights, according to the IHRSA 2017 Health Club Consumer Report. Among group exercise and training programs, yoga topped the list, with 36% of members reporting participation. Stretching (24%) and calisthenics (23%) ranked second and third.
Do Rewards Encourage Gym Visits?
Researchers from Case Western University in Cleveland wanted to determine if providing gifts to new gym members would incite them to visit the gym on a regular basis. The scientists specifically chose new members, theorizing that this group’s motivation to go to the gym was high.
Physical Literacy Is a Journey, Not a Destination
Steve Boyle is the CEO of the National Association of Physical Literacy (NAPL) and principal/founder of 2-4-1 Sports, a national organization that teaches children physical literacy using sports sampling through camps, clinics and school-based programming. Recently recognized by the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program as one of eight model programs in the United States in the original Project Play report, 2-4-1 Sports embodies its motto, Life’s 2 Short 4 Just 1 Sport
Do You Need a Better Technology Policy?
If you've spent any time at all inside a gym, you've likely experienced this scenario: You're humming along on your treadmill when Joe Talksalot hops onto the machine next to you and proceeds to speak loudly into his smartphone. To distract yourself from Talksalot's not–so–private conversation, you scan the gym floor—and over in the corner you see a woman doing backbends while contorting her neck to maintain a visual on her tablet.
How to Market Exercise Classes for Older Adults
The image of the cookie-baking, rocking chair–bound, bespectacled grandma is about as outdated as, well, leg warmers. It’s no secret that today’s older adult is “not your grandpa’s retiree.” Among people retiring now, many are socially, mentally and physically active. And that’s why fitness facilities that want to attract this cohort need to be particularly careful about marketing language and schedules.
“How do you handle the situation when a client comes in sick or with an obvious medical condition such as open sores?”
I ask the client to obtain a medical clearance from a doctor before we can train. I explain that this is precautionary for his or her own health. Why do I ask for medical clearance? When clients are ill, exercise is most likely not going to benefit them. When a client seeks medical clearance, the doctor usually reinforces my original concerns.
Bill Ross
Owner, Bill Ross Fit and
Holistic Life Forever
Denver
How to Deal With an Obsessed Member
“Linda,” a longtime member at your fitness facility, is a group exercise fanatic and has become a regular in your classes. Your friendship starts with a little chitchat. She loves your teaching style and engages you in small talk after class. As time goes on, your relationship grows. She shares stories about her family, brings in baked goods and is always nice enough to give you a small holiday gift.
A Best HIIT Protocol?
High-intensity interval training seems all the rage these days, as both anecdotal information and scientific evidence support its claims to be an efficient and effective form of exercise. However, many experts are concerned that deconditioned clients may think the programming is too tough. Is there a way to facilitate HIIT sessions that doesn’t leave novice exercisers feeling overwhelmed?
A new study says yes.
Are You Creating a Supportive Customer Experience?
Whether you run a large personal training facility or a one-person business, treating your customers well should be at the heart of everything you do.
To Motivate or Terminate?
Your employees directly affect the success of your business. They work with your clients, sell your products and engage in frontline, day-to-day operations. Some employees are a pleasure to manage, and others—well, not so much. Working with an exemplary employee who is productive, independent, motivated and delightful is every manager’s dream. On the flip side, some employees are just bad hires and the decision to let them go is straightforward. Unfortunately, staff management isn’t that black and white.
Building a Teaching Kitchen in a Studio
ave your clients ever asked:
“What should I cook for dinner?”
“How should I prepare it?”
“What if I have to cook a healthy
meal for my family?”