I moved to Orange County, California from Vermont in 1978.

My very first job in my new state was working for Jack LaLanne’s European Health Spa as a young 24-year old aspiring fitness manager.

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“I loved the job.  I loved helping people
learn how to get healthy.”

But another big part of the job was getting new members.  In fact, the higher I rose in the ranks the more getting “new members” became my job.

I was fascinated by all the psychology in getting people to say “YES” to a membership.  Some of it was clearly “bait and switch” and some of it was downright deceitful.  And some of it was nasty.

One time a district manager
provided this tactic:

“If it’s a woman, let her know that the “husband sequence” goes like this:
1.)  “Honey, perhaps you ought to think about losing a few pounds…”
2.)  “Honey, you really need to consider going on a diet…”
3.)  “Honey, when are you going to get going and lose some weight…”
4.  “———————……”

“If it gets to number four and your husband is no longer saying anything, he is probably having an affair!”

Unbelievable… but true.   Talk about horrible sales tactics… but that’s how it was done back then.  And, you’d be surprised how many people signed-up out of fear or guilt.

I never took part in any of it.  And, I finally left the industry for a while as it just seemed to be getting more and more disingenuous and almost sleazy… at least at the big box club level.

But, that’s not really my point.

What is striking today is how the basic business model for fitness has not changed.  It’s the same now as it was in 1978… and earlier.  It is still all about “chasing new members.”   Period.

Are You Old Enough to Remember..?

Let me give you some perspective.  In 1978, Jimmy Carter was president.  Ashton Kutcher and Kobe Bryant were born.  Radio Shack released its first computer (TRS 80), gas was $.63 a gallon and the Sony Walkman was still a year away.  Popular TV shows were Happy Days and Little House on the Prairie.  The top movies were “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever” and the Bee Gees practically owned the airwaves with “Shadow Dancing,” “Night Fever” and “Stayin Alive.”

During this same time the fitness industry was selling “Life Time Memberships” (some of you will remember those and the mess it caused in California).

Fast Forward 34 Years

So, here we are almost 34 years later, and like me, you probably receive a dozen or more emails each day from all the popular fitness marketing gurus with the same common theme: “How to get more clients/members.”  Oh sure, they may specialize in personal training studios, boot camps or clubs… but the message is always the same…. HOW TO GET MORE CUSTOMERS!!

Trouble Breeds Trouble

The trouble with this “mind set” is that the fitness industry is an extremely competitive industry.  So, if you embrace the “get more clients/members” strategy you will inevitably become engaged in price-wars with all your competitors… who also embrace that same strategy.

As a result, today we now have the $10 per month / no contracts / key card clubs.  What next…?  Five dollars a month…?

Let me share with you, two ideas:

LEVERAGE YOUR EXISTING MEMBERS/CLIENTS

Later in my marketing career, I learned one of the most important issues was “cost of customer acquisition.”  Regardless of the industry or type of business, there is always a cost that is associated with getting a new customer.  “Customer Acquisition Analysis” is conducted by all the major retailers including Walmart, Target, Nordstrom as well as online retailers like Amazon, eBay and Apple (iTunes).

What you learn very quickly is that the cost to acquire a NEW CUSTOMER is almost ten times (10x) the cost of leveraging an EXISTING CUSTOMER.

This is exactly why there are so many “Loyalty” programs available. From airlines to rental cars to grocery stores… they all know that customer loyalty is crucial to their business.  It is better money spent.

In fitness, this means having a pro shop or even a vending machine. It also means providing new services (like weight-management…hint, hint!) and services like sport-specific training, outdoor hikes, fitness cruises, fitness contests, corporate outreach programs, value-added premium memberships, charity drives, etc. 

My friend Joe Palmieri has a value-added “drive-by” 30-minute lunch time workout he markets to local office workers and others on a tight schedule.

I know one club that offered car valet and $25 dollar dry cleaning coupons as part of a premium membership (tradeout).  Seems silly… but it works!

Listen, I don’t care what your consultants tell you… it’s expensive to chase new clients/members.  If you spend 100% of your time chasing them, you will be out of business in almost no time.

MARKET & SELL PROGRAMS,
NOT MEMBERSHIPS OR SESSIONS

I could go on for hours about this…  Here’s what the smartest marketers in business are now doing right now.

They market and sell PROGRAMS…. and they throw the MEMBERSHIP in for FREE throughout the duration of the program.  Then they convert to full membership.

Here’s a solid example.   Jenny Tettinary is a club owner in Ft. Lauderdale.   She sells a 12-Week Weight-Management Program (using all of our materials, of course) for $499 per person and it is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.  

She allows free use of her club during those 12 weeks.  I won’t go into detail, but Jenny does a lot of cool things to make her non-member participants feel like they are part of her family and part of the club.  Her conversion rate is over 90%

The take-away here is to think about selling a PROGRAM instead of a MEMBERSHIP.

This fundamental shift of selling programs instead of memberships could be the biggest and most significant change in the fitness model since 1978!