CHALLENGE ROOM

How to compete with gyms with cheaper memberships.

There are many ways to keep members or attract new members even if there are cheaper gyms around you. You need to analyze your customer loyalty and see what works and what does not. The member is usually not just looking at the price, they are looking for what suits them the best, price and more included. Member loyalty can depend on many things and a big thing is to differentiate your offer from your competitors. What can you do that hey cannot? Do you need more group training classes, better gym introductions, cleaner dressing rooms, additional services such as massage, rehab or other, coffee to go after the work out or personnel who is always ready to help? Everything ties together in building a community or fellowship.

5 WAYS TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF FROM COMPETITORS WHEN PRICE COMPETITION IS OUT OF THE QUESTION

  • One way is to offer group classes with good instructors who invites to more than just the class, who gets people talking, who stays a while after class discussing the next workout, they promote the other offers of the club and create a feeling of togetherness.
  • Standard of the gym, interior, cleanliness and service.
  • Many gyms have forgotten the need for personal connections and are relaying on apps or youtube to educate and help member, which can be great if you actually get the members to use the apps and platforms. But we need to get the personal touch back. One thing could be to have your staff walk around the gym a couple of times a day to connect with the members, talk to them, teach them how to use a new machine and maybe get them to try something new like a group class or your smoothie of the week.
  • Bring in other talents, do you have room for rehab, a massage studio or other related businesses?
  • Offer something your competitors can’t. Either equipment, community or for example a boutique-inspired class. A boutique-inspired class will create exclusivity, community, a hype, it will get people talking and it creates a value. Apirosport has the perfect solution to this. Our own boutique-inspired HIIT n RUN concept. A combination of cardio, strength and box in one fast paced class, with great music, high heart rate and a lot of fun! We deliver the full concept, everything from our world class equipment, programs and tutoring of your trainers.
    Read more about HIIT n RUN and boutique classes here!

HOW DO I GET MY MEMBERS TO USE OUR FULL OFFER?

Many times the members don’t even know about the full offer of the gym they go to. It is important to educate and communicate through medias the members are already on. Like social media, the gym app, push notices etc or through direct communication through the group trainers, instructors and other employees. Try to create a hype around some of your offers and then build a concept and community around it.

The cardio from Star Trac (exclusively at Apirosport) have the option to have the OpenHub 20′ display system with great high-res screen, tons of programs, tracking and entertainment. On the screens you can also upload your own communication – a perfect place to add your offers, current discounts or other information you want your members to know about.

Read more about the OpenHub display

HOW DO I GET MEMBERS TO SPEND MORE MONEY IN THE GYM AND IN OUR BUSINESS?

There are many ways. One way is to work with Personal Training. You should try to get your PT-business to be about 10% of the total turnover. This also allows for better communication with your members through the personal trainers and it creates a higher loyalty as well. That together with HIIT n RUN, group classes with specific focus areas such as weightloss and lectures about fitness and health are good building stones.

Another way is to add other services that your members might be looking for. For example a smoothie bar, a small store with workout clothes or maybe selling protein powders. We interviewed Paul Bedford, the Retention Guru, on this subject. This is what he had to say:

HOW DO WE MEET THE DEMANDS FROM OUR OLDER TARGET GROUP WHO HAS TIME AND MONEY TO SPEND ON THEIR OVERALL HEALTH?

We circle back to creating a community. For a premium gym the boutique concept HIIT n RUN from Apirosport would be a perfect addition, the class can be adapted for different skill levels, ages and goals. When there is a class, the room is perfectly equipped for this and otherwise the room can be perfect for smaller group training or working out with a PT while focusing on either strength, cardio or boxing.

But this is the perfect target group for spending more time and money at your facility. What do they need? Do they want a coffee or even maybe a glass of wine in the sauna after their workout? How do you get them to stay and spend more at your gym?

Two trends that are getting bigger and bigger are biohacking and longevity. That together with different types of inner and outer body health checks, personal training and meal plans are great building stones for creating additional sales.

HOW DO WE ACTIVATE SLEEPING MEMBERS? OR DO WE WANT TO ACTIVATE THEM?

Yes you want to activate them. It is important to activate them to get them to stay as members. You need to make them feel like a membership at your gym is benefitting them to get them to stay and pay for a long time. A good guide is that you want every member to visit your gym at least once a week to be sure they see the value and stay on for a long time.

During the pandemic a lot of gyms lost a lot of their sleeper members. Paul Bedford talks about this in the video below (a couple of minutes in) “you lost them before, they just happened to keep paying”.

5 TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER JOURNEY

CONTACT US

MARKO RANTAMÄKI
MYYNTI
marko.rantamaki@apirosport.fi
+358 50 462 4909