Consider Your Business Decisions

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | October 10th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

If you own a health club or sports facility, you know that about 98 percent of the job consists of making decisions. In any aspect of life, decision-making can be challenging, but in the context of running a business, it can be especially nerve-wracking. The success of the business, your livelihood, the livelihood of others—all of these things depend on you making sound decisions (and, when we’re talking health clubs and sports facilities, the health and happiness of a lot of people also can depend on those decisions).
IHRSA’s blog recently ran an interesting piece featuring three health club owners and the business decisions they’re most proud of. Luke Carlson, CEO of Discover Strength in Plymouth, Minnesota, said that he’s proudest of his club’s decision to make the development and treatment of staff its highest priority. “Our increases in revenue always seem to be linked to our investment in our employees,” he says. “We started with only part-time employees. As soon as we created full-time, career track, salaried positions, our revenue dramatically increased…. When we gave our staff budgets for travel and continuing education, our revenue increased even more. Every time we make an effort to improve our staff and demonstrate that we care about them, they seem to be increasingly effective with our clients.”
Floriane Chatron, Founder of Aquaflorès in Paris, France, says she is proudest of launching an aqua-wellness facility in a difficult market with many low-cost competitors. “I am proud to have taken up this challenge, which, to most observers, seemed doomed to fail,” she says. And Jason Cerniglia, owner of Hoover Fitness in Hoover, Alabama, said he’s proudest of his decision to write an exercise and diet book. “First,” he noted, “I can help people anywhere and anytime, regardless of whether they are members or not. Second, instead of paying for a one-hour diet consult, people can buy the book and get the information they need. Third, it’s a great retention tool for my club because it helps members get results. Fourth, it can be a retention tool for other clubs. Most of all, the book can help deconditioned people, because it teaches how to get results and still enjoy life.”
While each of these decisions offers good ideas to other business owners (definitely prioritize your employees’ well being, don’t hesitate to launch something you believe in even if no one else seems to—and maybe it’s time to start thinking about writing a book!), the lesson here really is that, as a health club or sports facility owner, you can benefit from taking a moment to reflect on business decisions you have made. Which one are you most proud of? Why? Which one has been the least effective? Why? Jot down answers to these questions, and then take some time to analyze the processes you used while making your best decision and your worst one. Were other people involved or was it a solo choice? How did you conduct research before making the decision—or did you? Do your colleagues agree with your assessment of your best and worst decisions? Do they have ideas for how to continually make good ones? What have you learned from the decisions you’ve made?
The thing is, decision-making is tricky—enough that it’s its own field of study within cognitive science research. No one really understands how it works. The more familiar you are with your own decision-making processes, the more likely you are to have an immediate answer (or so many immediate answers that you might have trouble deciding which one to give) the next time someone asks you what business decision you’re most proud of.

Keeping Up Appearances

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | September 04th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

Recently, here in New York City, I was helping a friend research options for a swimming facility. We visited Yelp.com, which, as everybody knows, is the place to go for the inside scoop on any and every business imaginable. A search on Yelp for “gym swimming pools” pulled up a long list of gyms, health clubs, and fitness centres that have pools. At first we were overwhelmed. Then we realized how easy Yelp makes it to weed choices out. Does it have less than four stars? Forget it.
That’s for starters. Once you begin reading the reviews, it becomes crystal clear which places are worth trying and which ones are better off ignored. For one club that received two stars, for example, we found the following reviews: “Limited availability for lap swimming and the club does not adhere to its weekly pool schedule,” “There have been lots of problems ranging from overcrowded, stinky locker rooms with broken lockers to lack of morning classes for people who work,” and, simply, “Horrible!”
The same gym had one highly positive review—but the negative voices drowned it out. This is all well and good for consumers. But what if you’re a gym owner, where your facility has a low rating, and comments are negative, even though you know you deserve better? The fact is, online customer reviews can make or break you. In order to ensure a healthy digital profile, one that won’t damage your chances of drawing in prospective clients and winning new members, you’ve got to take action.
The first step is to know what’s out there about you. Take a look at Yelp and other similar customer review sites (such as Angie’s List, the Better Business Bureau, Epinions, and Google+ Local). Are there reviews for your business? Keep in mind that having reviews is a good thing—just as negative reviews can have a negative impact, positive reviews can have a positive one. You want people to be able to find you on Yelp (if they can’t, they’ll wonder why you’re not there); you just want to control the impressions they form when they do. So take a look, hope you’re there, and read carefully through the reviews you find.
Now, here’s the thing: On Yelp and many other sites, you can respond publicly to comments that are posted. That’s right—you have a chance to set the record straight, and if you handle things graciously enough, you might be able to turn a negative review into an opportunity, a chance for the marketplace to see how reasonable, generous, and responsive your facility is. When my friend an I found a response to a negative review of a local gym, we were impressed: The response included an apology, an explanation, an assertion that the customer was right, and an offer to make up for the bad experience. We kept that one on the list of places to check out.
If a mere response feels inadequate to you, or if you’re overwhelmed by the number of customer review sites out there or the daunting task of keeping track of everything said about your facility online, keep in mind that there are companies that help you clean up your online presence. Reputation.com, Reputation Changer, Big Blue Robot, Metal Rabbit Media—these are just a few outfits that find ways to push potentially damaging online content further down in search result lists and pull positive materials to the top. Some of them are pricey, but when it comes to presenting your best face to potential customers, the cost may be worth it.

Become an Active Participant in Preventative Health Care

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | August 28th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

Pomerene Hospital in Millersburg, Ohio, recently kicked off a deal to take over a local fitness center. The owner of the center approached the hospital, expressing an interest in a community collaborator. Seeing this idea as an opportunity to extend health care beyond its own walls, the hospital embraced it. Doing so, said Pomerene’s chief financial officer in a statement, is a first step towards aligning the hospital’s services with reform in the health industry—with the expanded focus to include a greater emphasis on wellness and preventative care.
I love this. It seems to me that all hospitals should run fitness centres, or at least partner with fitness centres to provide a more holistic set of health-related services. I feel this way about doctors’ offices too. I hate going to them partly because I resent the fact that I’m there in the first place. If I hadn’t gotten sick, or overstretched a muscle, or ignored the numbers creeping higher on the scale, then I wouldn’t have to be there. Sometimes, I am all too well aware of how prevention would have served me better than care.
Not all hospitals have the means or the resources to manage a fitness facility, and certainly not most doctors working independently. But they could at least actively take different approaches to encourage patients to focus on their own preventative care. They could give discounts on co-pays for patients who bring in a letter from a personal trainer, exercise instructor, or gym manager showing that they’ve worked out x number of times in the past month. Or, along with prescriptions, they could hand out certificates good for one free class at a local spin studio or for one free session at a gym. Hospitals, when they discharge patients who have the capacity to exercise, could give out vouchers for a free month’s membership at a health club. There are so many possibilities.
None of these can be realized, of course, if gyms, health clubs, fitness centres, exercise studios, and sports centres are not willing partners. The good news is that forming such partnerships could only be beneficial for businesses in our industry. Each certificate a doctor hands out or voucher a hospital gives away represents a potential new client. And new clients who find your facility through a health care professional or institution are ones that are likely to stay—a voice of authority is telling them loudly and clearly that there’s a link between how much they exercise and how healthy they stay. If nothing else, they’ll come to you to avoid having to go to their doctor or the hospital again.
If you haven’t already done so, maybe it’s time to start cultivating relationships with doctors and hospitals. Approach local ones with suggestions and offers; make it clear that you’re as interested in the health of the community as they are. That’s what the fitness center giving its management over to Pomerene Hospital has done. Honestly, I wouldn’t even need any incentives to join that fitness center; just knowing it’s managed by the same experts who understand my medical needs would be incentive enough.

Use Your Club Size To Your Advantage

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | April 11th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

Over on the IHRSA blog, there’s an interesting post about how small gyms in rural towns tackle the unique challenges they face. It’s true that for any health club or sports facility with a small pool of members and clients to draw from, there are difficulties that clubs in more populous places don’t experience. You might compete with larger clubs nearby, vying hard for attention against brand-name franchises. Or you might struggle to fill up your classes or operate programs or leagues that are tricky to manage without a certain bulk enrollment.

The best strategy? Use your club size to your advantage. Sisters Athletic Club, in Sisters, Oregon, makes a point of creating a homelike atmosphere in its facility. First of all, the gym provides no membership cards. Instead, even though the club boasts 1,600 members, employees are required to know every member and greet them by name when they enter. Here’s where small-town advantages come into play: The town has only 2,000 residents. Chances are, the member entering is your neighbor anyway. Also, the club strives to create an anti-gym feel. Outside, the 19,000-square-foot facility looks like a lodge. Inside, a rock formation fills the lobby, classical music infuses the air, and an art gallery spreads out near the front desk. You can’t see the cardio court from the entrance, and you don’t smell anything that even vaguely suggests you’re in a gym. The hominess is complemented by fastidiousness; everything is spotless.

Playing up the sense that the facility is an extension of their members’ homes is crucial for Sisters Athletic, in part because the club’s biggest competitor is nature. There’s so much skiing, biking, and hiking nearby that the facility has to give members the sense that they’re getting something they can’t possibly get outdoors. It’s precisely its small, comfortable feel that allows it to do so.

The situation for B-Fit 24/7 Fitness in Adrian, Michigan, is different: The local population consists of 24,000 and there are big-name competitors not too far away. So, B-Fit has a bigger pool to draw from than Sisters Athletic Club, but there are more options for the folks who make up that pool. B-Fit has to really stand apart from the crowd in order to create a loyal clientele and attract new members.

Their solution? The club has made itself the only one in the area that’s open 24 hours, and it pitches itself as the “ungym” — unlike the traditional gym model, B-Fit does not require members to sign a contract, and it refunds members who don’t reach their goals. Also, the club works hard to forge relationship with the 80 percent of the population that isn’t naturally exercise-oriented.

For sports facilities in similar positions — either with only a tiny pool to draw from or with big-fish competitors nearby and a relatively small pool of potential clients — smart marketing, along with lots of event hosting, might be the key. Looking to fill up your baseball league? Try putting up flyers in towns one to two hours away; parents will go surprisingly far to keep their kids interested in an activity, and adult players who are committed enough to join a league probably won’t mind the travel. As far as events go, don’t limit yourself to birthday parties. Put the idea in the minds of potential customers that you are there for all occasions, from celebrations for specific events and holidays to celebrations for no reason at all.

The overriding lesson is this: What you think are weaknesses might be turned to advantages. Exaggerate the very qualities that seem limiting — your small size, the restricted pool you’re in — and figure out what about those things might appeal to those around you.

Outdoor Workouts

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | April 08th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

I don’t know about you, but now that the long winter finally (finally!) seems to be drawing to a close, all I want is to be outdoors. I want that so badly that I almost, for a very brief second — full disclosure — considered letting my gym membership expire. I’ll just start a new one in September, I thought. It was only a fleeting idea; happily, I know that I get too much from my gym to ever really let go of my membership so easily. But a lot of people don’t know that. A lot of people do exactly what I thought of doing: let their membership slide in the warm months and rejoin (or, worse, join somewhere else) when the cold sets in again.
One way for a gym, or any type of fitness or sports center, to combat this phenomenon is to take things outdoors. In recent years, it’s become more of a trend for health clubs to institute outdoor programs. Large cities hold yoga-in-the-sun classes. Gyms offer boot camp in the park. So-called “street workouts” are becoming more popular, with exercisers using poles, park structures, even swing-sets to build up core muscles and practice other forms of strength training.
If you haven’t yet cashed in on the trend, it’s time to do so. Your audience is hungry for it (google “outdoor workouts” and you’ll see what I mean). The question is, how do you make it work? How do you move operations outside?
Start with an existing class — it’s probably your most portable commodity. Go for a low-key class first, one that doesn’t rely on music or heavy equipment. (Once you get things up and running and you understand how to coordinate outdoor sessions smoothly, it’ll be simple enough to fiddle with sound systems and free weights; til then, keep things easy for yourself.) Think of props that naturally work well outside: balls, jump ropes. Get your instructors to incorporate these items and, if necessary, to modify their routines to suit the outdoors. Of course, promote heavily. Your social media channels should be screaming, “New outdoor class!” The walls of your facility should be littered with posters and flyers. Make sure the logistics are clearly communicated: Will the class meet in the gym lobby and then follow the instructor out? Will there be a meeting point in the park? Spell it out.
Once you’ve seen how it works — and what the potential pitfalls are — think of creating classes specifically for nature. Call upon the expertise of your trainers and instructors; find out their favorite outdoor workouts and ask them to develop these into teachable sessions. Scout out potential locations carefully and make use of what’s out there: trees, old jungle gym sets, park benches. Anything fixed to the ground is fair game.
After you’ve built up an outdoor clientele, think about investing in equipment. Life Fitness recently developed a “jungle gym” series for outside; other companies are following suit. If you’re in a location that doesn’t easily allow for outdoor access, consider doing what my gym in New York City does: use the rooftop. You might have to partner with a school, community center, or other organization that already has outdoor space. (If you’re using parks, keep in mind that many municipalities require permits for the use of public spaces, and often there are restrictions about how existing structures, including trees, can be used. Do your homework.)
Follow these steps, and you’ll be well on your way. The only thing left to figure out will be how you can sneak into one of your own facility’s outdoor sessions — because once you have the option, there’s no way you’re going to want to stay inside.

The Benefit Is Clear

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | March 05th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

With one of the fitness industry’s central players — IHRSA — priming for its annual convention and trade show in a couple weeks, it’s worth taking a moment to consider the general benefits of attending such events. For companies selling machinery, equipment, gear, software, and other products, the benefit is clear: Easy access to many potential customers at one time.

What about for health club or sports facility owners and managers? What’s in it for you? Is it worth the investment of time and participation fees?

In a word, yes. Attending a convention and/or trade show is beneficial to facility owners first and foremost because of the opportunity to connect with others in the industry. Sure, they may be competitors, but the old saying holds true: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Your competitors, other clubs in your industry, are the ones from whom you have something to learn. Happily, participants who choose to attend events like conventions generally do so with an open attitude: They’re there to share. Through casual conversation, over meals and beverages, by chance meetings and introductions, ideas are transferred and transformed. Want to know how the gym down the street handles retention issues? Want to understand why that other baseball center is so successful at attracting new customers? Here’s your chance to find out.

Also, those guys out on the floor trying to sell you stuff? They’re not just looking to fill their pockets. Most of them attend with ideals of relationship-building in mind. They really want the opportunity to meet you, get to know you, understand your needs and desires as a customer. From their point of view, the better they know you the better they can serve you — and the better they can serve you, the better off you are. And it’s a lot easier for a salesperson to cut a deal for someone with whom he or she has a personal connection than for a stranger.

Finally, there’s the whole pay-it-forward idea. As a business owner or manager, and specifically as the business owner or manager of a fitness or sports facility, you’re part of a community. Even if it’s easy to forget for most of the year, conventions and trade shows can serve to remind you that the difficult work you do is the same as the difficult work others do. And just as you can gain ideas and tips from other facility folk you meet at such events, other facility folk can gain ideas and tips from you. You might even seek to take part in a panel or give a talk — because business, as you no doubt know, is as much about giving as it is about receiving. There is no better opportunity for giving than to share what you know, what your best practices are, and how you meet day-to-day demands than at a large gathering where so many industry-mates are all at once. You might not see immediate returns, but eventually your paying it forward will pay off. In tangible and intangible ways, you’ll feel the benefits of having been part of it all.

Got an App?

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | February 04th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

It’s time we talked about apps. The fact is, if your facility doesn’t have one, you might soon find your business going the way of the 8-track cassette player and the fax machine. Websites alone don’t cut it anymore; customers expect your business to be accessible to them at any time of day, from wherever they are. That means if they’re at their kids’ soccer practice and they want to check your class schedule, or they’re walking down the street and they want to know your exact address, you better have an app for that. You need a quick, easy, smartphone-accessible solution to all of your customers’ needs.

Your customers aren’t the only ones who benefit. If you can provide them with palm-of-the-hand services, you’ll reap rewards yourself. A mobile app that gives you the ability to immediately update members with “Push Notifications” allows you to communicate quickly and effectively with your entire community about club changes, news, class availability, and the like. An app also can present you with an easy way to distribute information about specials, promotions, and coupons, drawing members in by keeping them on the look-out for deals from you. There’s another big bonus too: An app can be a selling point for new members (and it’s a must-have if the gym across the street has one).

But no matter how much easier an app makes things for you, what it comes down to is greater customer satisfaction. If you’ve got an app that complements your sports or fitness business — again, engaging members and clients when it’s convenient for them — then you’ll have customer satisfaction, which means improved retention. In addition to keeping clients informed, hooking them on promotions, and providing an easy way to book classes, you can offer an app that allows you to post motivational photos and videos, showcase members’ stories, offer fitness tips, and highlight new workouts. Your customers get what they need, and you get what you need. That’s what apps are all about.

Making a Difference and Boosting Business

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | January 18th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

Recently, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released troubling data: Only about a quarter of kids ages 12 to 15 are getting the amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity recommended by federal guidelines: 60 minutes each day. This follows a report the organization issued last year, revealing that childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past thirty years. We all know where childhood obesity, or simply too little activity in childhood, can lead: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, poor self-esteem, stroke, cancer, osteoarthritis — nothing good.
Continue reading “Making a Difference and Boosting Business” →

Keep Your Clients Motivated

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | January 16th, 2014 | (0) Comments |

Around this time of year, there’s a lot of motivation in the air. Even people who avoid making resolutions find themselves catching the New Year’s bug, and they and the resolution-makers alike launch fresh exercise schedules, re-dedicate themselves to weight-loss plans, research new fitness programs to try, and put their workout-related holiday gifts to use. All well and good, but by the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, a lot of that motivation fades away like a bouquet of old roses.
Continue reading “Keep Your Clients Motivated” →

Be Indispensable To Wearable Technology Users

« Blog | Written by ezfacility | January 03rd, 2014 | (0) Comments |

This fall, my gym buddy acquired wearable technology. You know the drill: a sleek-looking wristband; an endless stream of personal fitness data collected, analyzed, advertised on social media; a self-regulated, continuously fine-tuned fitness plan based on the constant feedback. All well and good, but suddenly I found myself going to the gym on my own a lot more. With a sort of built-in trainer and a shift in fitness goals (now, instead of running for thirty minutes on the treadmill, she aimed to take 10,000 steps per day) my friend seemed not to need the gym so much any more — at first.
Continue reading “Be Indispensable To Wearable Technology Users” →

EZFacility

Choose Your Industry

View All Features

Hardware Store

Tag: Business Strategies