FIBO Innovation Tour London 29th Jan

An impassioned David Stalker drove home the inactivity issue again last week at the FIBO Innovation Tour in London. We have to do all we can to #turnthetide, and the ukactive's “Steps to solving inactivity” report is a very interesting read.

29% of people in England are classed as physically inactive. 

Inactivity is responsible for one in six deaths in the UK, making it as dangerous as smoking.

MyWellness Challenge - Feb - Wow us with your Workouts!

Encourage all your members to make as many visits as possible this February with a "Who can log the most workouts" challenge…

Wow us with your Workouts this February! Fame, kudos, and a pat on the back will be awarded to all the highest achievers.

Type:  Workout
Won by:  Whoever completes most workouts
Start Date:  9 February
Duration:  14 days
Prizes:  Without

I’m going to be a personal trainer

Many gym instructors have high ambitions, and plan to be personal trainers in the near future. This can sometimes lead to arrogance, and a disinterest in inductions, programme reviews and generally interacting with members.

However, to be a successful PT, you need a lot of skills and qualities. Some of these can be learnt at PT school, but the most important ones need to be practiced on the gym floor…

Make gym inductions happen!

The induction is one of the most important appointments you make; if it goes wrong, it can ruin all of the hard work that's gone into signing up a new member. We've covered the member who doesn't want an induction, but it's important to handle instructor's objections around inductions too.

Some instructors will let the member take the easy route, rather than deliver the perfect induction.

MyWellness Challenge – January – Calorie Burners

Get your new and existing members pumped up this January with a calorie burning challenge…

Who can burn the most calories? Prizes of t-shirts/1 month’s membership/PT sessions will be given to the highest achievers.

Type:  Calorie
Won by:  The member who burns the most calories
Start Date:  1 January
Duration:  20 days
Prizes:  With (to be confirmed in club)

I've said hello 5 times, what next?

I've said hello lots of times now to a bunch of members, and it's all good, but I don't know what to say next? I need to step it up, what do I say other than hello?

"Hello" is a great place to start, but you do need to move on after you've said it a few times to the same members. This is why programme reviews are a good excuse to interact.

They don't want an induction

Part of the GGFaqs series, handling objections from new members who've just signed up...

A new member says they've been going to the gym for ever, and don't want to do an induction. We can't make them, but we know people stay longer if they've had an induction...

Yes, in general members who have a getting started session stay longer, and if you want to be very honest with the new member, you could start by telling them that (after all, they don't want to leave yet, they just joined!)

How can I speak to them when they're all wearing headphones?

We're switching the GGFaqs section into an objection handling series through December and January. Not sales objections... there's lots and lots of people handling those already. We want to help instructors to overcome the objections (often their own) with talking to members. We already do this in our retention workshops, but want to spread the ideas wider afield, and get your thoughts too!

Let's kick off with a classic - "Everyone's wearing headphones, which means they don't want to be disturbed, right?"

The answer - "Maybe, but how can you be sure?"

You’ve sent a welcome message – what next?

So you've sent the welcome message, said thank you and congratulations to your new member for making such an excellent decision to join your club. Now it's time to get them engaged. 

Different clubs use different approaches… some do nothing! Here are some examples of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to tell if your members are engaged during month one of their membership. Each engagement measure can trigger different messages to be sent.

How successful is your induction process?

And could it be improved??

Here’s a simple measure: - how many members joined last month, and how many of them attended a gym induction? Say 100 joined, and 60 of them had an induction… well done, you have a 60% or 6:10 induction rate.