Health Club Marketing Needs An Overhaul

All too often in the health club industry owners look for the quick fix. True, a $99 membership for a year will get a lot of people to sign up. But as any owner who has done this will attest, there is more headache than happiness in this venture.

Fair Haven, NJ (PRWEB) May 5, 2005 -- All too often in the health club industry owners look for the quick fix. True, a $99 membership for a year will get a lot of people to sign up. But as any owner who has done this will attest, there is more headache than happiness in this venture.

Owners always ask for the magic marketing pill and as you know, there is no "magic pill". However, there is a system, and in order for the system to take flight, owners will need to make changes in the way they do business. This can all be done without compromising prices or making ridiculous offers to potential clients.

Tear It Down and Build It Up
Successful business owners understand that their business is in a continual state of growth and evolution, shedding old ideas and habits and developing new ones. These new ones take time to develop and more importantly, the old habits take time to break. But through practice and repetition, the old habits become weak and the new habits take form.

Here is an example of breaking habits and taking time to build up better habits. Health club owners realize their front desk sales procedure is not cutting it, so they get rid of their old system and install a new one. The change is met with resistance by the front desk staff. In fact, many owners report a drop in conversion ratios and are confused by this. What they need to remember is that they are breaking old sales habits and their people are uncomfortable. Once they get past being uncomfortable and master new skills, the closing ratios will increase to higher levels than before.

Get Back To The Basics
Tiger Woods had just won more tournaments than any golfer within a one year period, and he was doing it by large margins. Then he realized that his swing was not good for long term success and this could shorten his career. So he got a new coach and developed a new swing. For the second time in his career, Woods revamped his swing, believing he needed to take his driving and iron play to an even higher level. With his new coach, Hank Haney, particular attention was paid to distance and direction. "I really like his approach to teaching. It's certainly different than I've ever had before," Woods says. "When it's all said and done, you're back to the same fundamentals," Haney says. "It just changes the order you work on them."

The new swing was very conventional, but Tiger could not control it. He found fewer fairways and even fewer greens than he had since he was just a kid. But he kept at it despite the critics and a long slump. He lost his number one world ranking, he continued to lose and his accuracy was not looking much better. Then at the end of the 2004 season, there were glimpses of the old Tiger. He was hitting it long and he was lowering his scores. Now he has regained his number one world ranking and recently won The Masters.

Do you see what happened here? He knew what he was doing would make him better, but the period of time where he was breaking his old habits and perfecting new ones overlapped. It was a step back for him. But as soon as the new habits became dominant, his success came back and better than before.

Business mentor Brian Tracey's book, "Million Dollar Habits" talks about taking a loss in order to make a big leap in your business and it is a good read for anyone looking to break through to the next level. Another good read that explains this business practice is "Re-imagine" by Tom Peters. His theory is this, "When it comes to getting past a barrier or a plateau that seems impossible…. Control, Alt, Delete." What he is saying is, with new knowledge and more experience, why improve on what you are doing? Just start over and do it right. Too many people try to build off of what they have, when what they need to do is apply all of their new knowledge and new habits…. Control, Alt, Delete… Start over.

These examples relate directly to health club marketing success. The good news - marketing is scientific, not creative. Successful owners know the secret: test, track, tweak, then succeed. If you really want a system that can make a gym better, secure more members and retain more clients, then you need to break old habits and practice new ones.

Most marketing and advertising companies focus on one aspect of your gym. One will do your post cards, another websites, the next might help with closing techniques and still another will write newspaper ads. Each one of these companies is working with their own system and using the angle of their own message. Successful owners in the top 10% of the health and fitness field understand the need for a team to be working together and knowing what the message is. Done properly, the down time becomes less and the focus on new habits becomes greater. Using a company that works with your sales team, front desk, website marketing, advertising, internal marketing and community programs is an advantage to any owner who really is hands on with his club.

Just remember, in order to move forward in a big way in any aspect of life or business, you need to break old habits. "Give it time" says Brian Long, President of Profit Partners LLC. "Too often we see owners quit on their plan a few months into it. Change is uncomfortable, but worth it." This involves taking a step back, regrouping and forming a stronger base of new habits. That takes guts. Most people remain stuck because they're afraid to take a step backward. It is the only way to go from good to great.

About Profit Partners LLC
Profit Partners LLC is headquartered at 492 River Road in Fair Haven, NJ 07704. They are a Marketing and Consulting firm which was founded in 2001.    Since 2003, they have worked exclusively with health clubs and the fitness industry; becoming an industry leader. Their successful programs were launched nationally in 2004.

For more information on their services or the other benefits they provide, visit www.myprofitpartner.org or call 732-419-9001.

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