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“How was the wolf to blame, if the sheep were roaming free?” – Rachel Hartman, Tess of the Road

With some studies showing up to 59% of health club/studio members will not return to gyms post pandemic, the uphill battle they face to keep membership from dwindling and doors open may indeed feel insurmountable. Whether you are a fitness instructor, group exercise director, personal trainer, or club owner, the future of the industry certainly feels differently than it did just one year ago. 

In many markets of affluence, members outfitted their homes with a gym all their own. With Peloton still filling backorders, SoulCycle bikes shipping like crazy, and strength equipment sold out for months on end, it seems like the basements and garages are the new local gym, with a membership base of ‘one’. The barrage of virtual workouts both LIVE and Video On-Demand (VoD) group workouts that are affordable and effective is astonishing. Let’s be clear, fitness instructors, trainers and clubs/studios were, in many cases, the first to pivot and bring workouts directly to home users. Shoot, maybe we did this almost too well. The attrition of members during shelter-in-place was inevitable. But what about now that, slowly but surely, restrictions are lifting and there is some capacity for in-person, on-site training?

Add to this the incredible fitness applications available at affordable pricing, and we have an industry evolving faster than most of us can keep up with. Apple Fitness + launched with huge media engagement and incredible reviews, a superb customer interface and workouts for everyBODY. SoulCycle jumped right in with their at-home bike and signature “party on a bike” workouts, partnering with all the fitness experiences that the celebrious brand, Equinox, offers. Specialty apps like Physique 57 for Barre enthusiasts, along with tried and true on-demand programming like Daily Burn, are all bringing incredible quality for a low price to consumers, no matter where they are.

So, what should you do now? Have we lost these members or clients forever as they wandered off and stumbled into varying virtual training platforms and apps? How can we appeal to them and bring them back into the fold?

There are two old adages we’re all too familiar with that are almost too easy to apply here.

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” and “Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer”

In this case, I want to steer you away from seeing an app or service as the “enemy” of a traditional health club; rather, let’s start to think of them as partners. Instead of fearing the technology stealing your business find ways to integrate it into yours. This may seem counterintuitive, but there are a myriad of ways health clubs can interface with technology and remain a pillar in the domain of “work, life, home, community”. 

Back in the 90’s I owned a health club, and as yoga studios began to open up in my locale with the same prolific speed as Starbucks, I feared the adversarial effect they would have on my business. However, rather than letting fear dictate how I chose to operate, I introduced myself and struck up partnerships with these studios, dovetailing significant discounts offered to my members, and, more importantly, creating a collaborative approach within the local fitness community. They were able to grow and I was able to retain- that is how I’ve approached competition in all facets of my fitness initiatives.

Now, present day: post-pandemic and technology-overloaded. These are different times…So how can that independent and large gym alike serve their members? Good question! You are all likely overworking and overwhelmed right now just bringing business back “in person”- adhering to government regulations, dealing with customer optics as they return and just trying to retain the members you once had. Remember when we could just focus on growth? We’ll get there, but let’s first round up the home-gym, virtual-users and get them back to working out with YOU.

A few big ideas!

1. Hey y’all- Group VoD at our place, not yours. Imagine four or five friends utilizing your space when the club’s group exercise (GX) room isn’t in use as a place to gather and workout together. Create a space in your facility where friends, co-workers, old group fitness participants can take a VoD workout together. What about mounting a screen with an HDMI adaptor for phones and ipad to connectivity? Right now, offering a full GX schedule may not be possible (from a capacity and cost of experience perspective), so allowing small groups to workout using any of the apps right in your space brings them together…and back to you.
2. Offer the “experience” on your turf. What about purchasing a couple of Peloton, Soul Cycle or Schwinn bikes (maybe one of each) for your cardio area and allowing members to ride there in your facility with their favorite app? Regardless of how many stationary bikes have been sold in the last year, we must consider the following: there are a lot of people that still don’t have one; and those that do have one would be grateful for the change of scenery: a different type of bike that’s not stuffed into the corner of their basement.
3. Let your fave in-house trainers and instructors star’s shine! Even as a smaller facility, creating your own VoD content for members to access anytime can be affordable and incredibly effective. Grab your superstars and let them shine on camera. Many members have grown comfortable with your zoom classes and experiences, so even if a full virtual 2-way class line-up isn’t fiscally plausible, maybe VoD with their favorite instructors will keep those members happy. Companies like Intelivideo can literally create an interface, fully branded for your members that looks and feels just like you! 
4. Partnership + Collaboration = Winning. What about partnering with some of these apps? Lifetime Fitness just announced a partnership where members receive Fitness + by Apple with their membership here. Ok, maybe you aren’t Lifetime, maybe you are a small mom and pop, so what can you do? Well, there are smaller apps and services that might be able to provide your members with a significant discount on their services when providing direct connection to your members. At Homeroom Fit, I offered subscription pricing to gyms where they receive our LIVE 2-Way stream classes for a nominal price. Why? I need consumer eyes and the instructors on my platform wanted to grow their following globally. Don’t forget: brands small and large are competing for the “consumer eyes” so you never know- and it never hurts to ask.
5. App features for you and yours. Have you checked out some of the unique features some of these apps are offering? Apple Fitness + created a walking app that is meditation, movement and learning all at once. Could you create a “book club” of sorts where members would walk, then talk later about what they heard and experienced either virtually or right there in your facility? Maybe you meet at the facility and walk together? These types of initiatives are easier than you think. Create a sign-up sheet for those who want to participate, provide a space or meeting room (virtual or in-person) for the follow-up. With new releases coming out weekly you can literally count on weeks of connection through these experiences.

I am hoping these ideas maybe inspire you, help you think-tank and above all bring your herd back to your facility as soon as possible. Happy Herding!

What should you name your fitness class, studio, live streaming program or product?

Building a Brand 101

In fitness we are always faced with the decision of which brand to attach ourselves to versus creating our own. There’s also the option to simply work with an established commoditized idea without any branding at all.  Examples of all three look like this; “I teach Barre Above”, “I teach Tricia’s Barre” or “I teach Barre” – All three of these describe something similar but will all have a different effect on  your business model. Understanding your “why” when deciding which brand direction to choose is very important for building your following and future business. All three can work but there are certainly upsides and downsides to all of them. Let’s look at all three.

Because barre is my  wheelhouse, I will use it as the example as we analyze the different pros and cons.  This process of evaluation works for almost any fitness concept from a HIIT class to website design.

First: Personalized Brand – Tricia’s Barre Workout

Let’s say you began teaching a few years back and you immediately realized that your personal connection with your members or students was one of your true gifts. Your students are drawn to you, they love what you offer, and they are willing to trust you personally. Your brand has now become YOU, the person as well as the services your offer. You have created a circumstance where you decide you can tie your name to the business brand.

Upsides!

• People who love you and who are your biggest fans, will love this. There’s an incredible podcast by Tim Ferris called 1000 True Fans which really helps you see the value of serving and inspiring them to be your early adopters and voices for the growth of your business.    https://tim.blog/tag/1000-true-fans/
• This brand will be exclusive to you and your students will feel as though your workouts can only be found through you so they may be willing to pay a premium.

Downsides!

• It’s hard to expand your business if your name is attached to it. What if you need subs or want to add more classes or build more studios/clubs?
• For the same reason your name could bring them in, it can also keep them away. Let’s be honest I’m not everyone’s cup of tea so anyone who doesn’t like me, likely won’t walk into Tricia’s Barre Studio. 
• It’s extraordinarily hard to franchise or scale a business with an individual’s name attached.

Second: Commoditized Idea – I teach Barre Classes

Years ago, when barre first moved into major markets other than New York and LA, the high-end franchises were dominating the scene. Our group fitness director, Danielle Sharp, at the time wisely decided to simply offer “Barre” classes and for a lower price than all of the high-end brands and the commodity shopper came in by the hundreds. She understood how important it is to recognize how valuable the commodity shopper is. Many luxury brands sell high end products but make their money in their commoditized sales pathways. The club, Community Fitness – Seattle WA had immediate success and packed classes. Many billion- dollar product and sales companies have made their margin in awesome generic products.

Upsides!

• Inexpensive because there are zero branding expenses associated.
• You can reach a larger audience and make fitness more affordable for larger markets of people.
• Your investment costs are minimal.

Downsides!

You have to create a great experience and hire the best staff; you have to create an experience consumers will brag about being a part of.  Think about how often you might brag about hitting “Target”.  This is no easy feat but it’s possible especially if there are tons of high-end brands in your area.

Third: Brand Connected – “I teach Barre Above”

Upsides!

• Perceived status and social signaling occurs naturally when we associate ourselves with a high-end brand. When you have a well-known brand on your schedule or even a highly recognized certification like ACE next to your name there is a perceived social status from your customers. Think about when you see a house with a Tesla in the driveway, you immediately perceive them as a home of means even if that’s not the case.
• Members of any facility feel comfort with well- known brands. The familiarity can often times drive them into your facility or even specifically into classes.
• There’s also higher perceived value with high end brands. If I spend more I am getting more. Not necessarily the facts but perception can often be a person’s reality.

Downsides!

• If you have a high-end brand and you make a mistake, it goes viral.  A herculean effort to protect your brand. If one person doesn’t like your brand, they can really make their mark with this new technology age.
• Collateral is very expensive to produce between logo, website, marketing, trademark, etc.

It’s more important than ever to process the decisions we make when it comes to deciding how to brand our classes and services or even facilities.  Try to look at the positives and negative and think through your long-term plans.

Tricia Madden, Co-Creator of Barre Above, Founder of Homeroom Fit and Award winning industry speaker.

 

The problem with old home workouts, was even if you ignored the terrible music and often watered down movements, you quickly ended up debating a load of laundry, making dinner or just sitting down to watch. For the last 30 years these videos were short fixes, never considered better than the real thing. Part of the so-called “Pain that came with the gain” was the struggle to get to the gym in the first place (traffic, parking, baby-sitters, gym-bags). Home workouts were like Mrs. Watts, the high school substitute teacher of fitness. They helped you through the day, but you ended up making fun of it, rather than learning anything.

Even the big stars had a hard time making in-home fitness productions pencil out and the only way to create truly awesome in-home experience was invest largely. You had to be a Tami Lee Webb, Jane Fonda or Kari Anderson to know you could invest in the quality necessary to see a return.

As a gym fitness professional, you were never concerned about your members simply choosing home-videos over a live class if proximity and affordability were no issue. Having filmed many such DVD’s, I never once lost a customer to a “home version” of myself.

Over the past 10 years, many groups have made huge leaps in improving home workout experiences. Until recently I wasn’t concerned, because while those experiences were getting better, I could still provide my members a better energy and motivation along with the community of their fellow classmates. As Instructors we are now entertainers, DJ’s, and have loyal fan clubs that follow us around coined #fittribes. The change in what all we offer has helped grow our role in members lives.

Then, about two years ago, the word “Peloton” started springing up everywhere. For the first time, my clients were bragging in the locker room about their new bikes and the incredible home workout experience. This was new. The number of clients I know who talk about riding at home, showing off rankings on their smartphones, is growing daily.

Is this a problem? Should we, the group fitness instructor be worried?

I think so, because we have seen this story before.

It used to be that popping in a VHS of “Pretty Woman” was a subpar experience to seeing it on the big screen – it took 10 minutes to rewind the tape for goodness sake. Now, with an “on-demand lifestyle”, your 72 inch plasma TV, fancy home audio system, and food delivery through your phone make your home movie experience quite enjoyable – plus you can hit pause any time to use the bathroom. It is no wonder movie theatres have to woo you in with blankets, recliners, and drinks delivered to your seats to keep you coming back.  

Netflix went around the retail video chains and went straight into your TV. Amazon went around retailers and directly to your front door step. We now see Peleton copying the same model. Flanking big retail gyms, and going directly into living rooms. The sleek engineered new bikes could be the next fitness fad that comes and goes.  We all know there have been large fitness tools that went from Hit to Hanger (literally hanging clothes). In this case, we have a new product coupled with a highly disruptive process that feels like another Airbnb, Amazon, Uber, Netflix. The product is popular, but the process of on-demand teaching and content, much like an Amazon, is a true disruptor. This time it feels different. Much like amazon didn’t stop with books and movies, I have a feeling the bike is just first chapter towards cementing the process for staying in your home for good. Once Amazon got good at delivering books and CD’s to your door in two days, moving to other product lines was an easier step. Peleton will likely follow a similar path, before even accounting for all the other competition in this genre of in-home exercise. 

Of course just copying another process won’t suffice in keeping Peleton in your house, unless the product delivers. And here’s the scary part … it does!

Peloton instructors are beyond entertainers and motivators. They are both inspirational and aspirational, young, but not too young. Attractive but edgy. Peleton mastered the art of hiring in a few short years.

They also created a community many thought wasn’t possible, with an on-line interface that has clients sending photos when they miss my class and instead jump on their Peleton.  

Skipping class and working at home use to be drag, now it’s a chance to BRAG, with verified accomplishments.

What’s wrong with your clients having incredible home workouts? Absolutely nothing, we want them to workout wherever they are. Our motto as an industry is to “inspire the world to move.” So any exercise is good in theory.

Is there a way to get the consumer to both workout at home with these incredible hybrid brands but still remain our members and clients? Only if we get our act together.

Of course, in the health club environment we can provide the truly personal experience with everything from great front desk staffing, and personal relationships. In effect we create the 3^rd place, much like the Starbucks model offers. There’s something to be said for walking in a room and having your Norm moment where “everyone knows your name.” Or when we notice a member hasn’t shown up to class in a while and reach out to assure their return. This is the basis for how we’ve continued to grow as an industry for so many years. Personalization could very well save us.

The issue you face is that Peleton also figured out this puzzle. They come straight into your home, provide an incredible workout, and remember to wish you a happy birthday when their done. Additionally, they have created a deep bench of viral stars that can feel like your local barista that knows your order and your name after a few sessions.

Maybe you are right, and those Peloton’s will be collecting dust in a year much like so many big hits of the past. But when I see these texts from my Fittribe members excited to miss the gym, I sense a storm is coming. If you are like me and want to surf the coming wave, I have the playbook to work through this trend and even grow as they do. There are numerous companies moving into this category so let’s not be the Blockbuster Video in a story that hasn’t fully been told.

 

  For a few tips, drop me your email and we can talk solutions. You can also follow me on Insta @murphmadden or twitter #murphmadden