"New Year, New You"!

It's a generalization, I realize this, but for the most part our industry puts a lot of concentrated effort into planning an impressive fresh faced appeal to new potential health club members every January. 

So given that they join, goals fresh in mind, how do we best support them along their journey?

Usually it looks something like this: Sixty days goes by, their attendance starts to drop, they are not receiving those results they set out to a accomplish... They may or may not have a routine in place, but really what happens to the new member after a few months of trying to get results on their own?!

If we are lucky, they get connected and plugged into a class or community within the facility to help ensure their retention.  Unfortunately, by in large we see as an industry memberships drop significantly by March if the member that joins in January, does not get connected within the club.  

There's got to be a better way, right?  there really is not a reason to have to rinse and repeat this cycle... Spikes in membership every January, followed by March drops, and then a plan and re commit to bring in more membership in the fall and then hunker down and plan for January. 

I know every club operator has given this considerable thought, but what's literally being done out there to stimulate membership on a quarterly basis vs. the react and respond role that is oh so prevalent in our industry? 

I want to share with you a tip: how to effectively stimulate membership all year long through existing program excitement and sending a serge through the existing community in your fitness center through the power of group fitness. 

I work with a lot of health club's on bringing on Les Mills group fitness programs, one of the critical things we talk a lot about is on going program launches in tandem with stimulating new membership growth.  We have seen that in keeping the programs fresh every 90-120 days you can use that as a tool to invite in new members and also re engage existing members for this happy hybrid of connectivity.  Ultimately resulting in maximizing attendance and retention and spiking membership dollars. 

Do you see the link? Stimulate an already existing community once every 3 months, encouraging members to bring their friends, and getting your existing members involved.  The goal is to get those friends to join and organically expand your membership! 

Let me know, Lindsey Rainwater, I would love to know what is it that works best for you in regards to maximizing retention in the new year and how to continue to engage existing members throughout the year.

Les Mills South Central Studio

Group Fitness rooms have an interesting look and feel in my opinion based on what we use them for.

Think about it, hard wood floors, mirrors, equipment stacked in the corners, florescent lighting, slightly sterile I might say and not exactly warm and welcoming, especially for our first time exercisers. 

That may sound harsh, but really, they do not really create a warm, welcoming environment.  Not to say that all group exercise rooms have this feeling to them, actually in the past few years I have seen a shift in the appearance look and feel of the group exercise studio's and the environments as a whole are really warming up!  Club managers and owners are getting more creative and taking risks to bring more of an environment to studios and members are responding well.

At Les Mills South Central we put effort into building a studio for this very reason. We wanted to provide an example of the potential of a powerful and fun environment to encourage creating a powerful group fitness experience for members and instructors.  

I have included a picture above of the Fitmarc/Les Mills South Central Studio to aid in a visual to show you how fun you can really make your group fitness space!

I would encourage you if you have not evaluated this footprint in your club to check it out and see if there are any enhancements to be made. Something as easy as adding colored lighting and dimming the lights can make a world of difference!

If you have a studio you are proud of and would like to share, please send it to me! I would love to add it to this collection to share!

 

I have been thinking about this idea of being an observer vs. absorber, and the power of the ability to flow through circumstances vs. getting stuck.  

Allow me to first provide a description of what I am thinking in this space of observer vs. absorber.

The Observer: Able to flow through circumstances not attaching to any one particular idea. Additionally, not attaching to outcomes or interactions results more so, stays focused on their own truths amidst day to day encounters. Considering all, attaching to little.

The Absorber: Finds identity and fulfillment in learning about others and then taking ownership of fixing or owning those things as their own.  Often sees areas of opportunity and places a tremendous amount of value in correcting those things via others ideas and input instead of their own individual ideas.

I was thinking about this application of thought in regards to a health club operator, when you operate a health club there is a LOT to think about, juggle, and consider.  You are often times in charge of a huge scope and are expected to log long hours, deliver on measurables and have very happy members and staff.  

So which of these two ways of being resonates?  

Do you find yourself walking around with a big backpack on, hearing each request, need and desire from staff and members, putting each one in the backpack and then sitting down in your office to slowly unpack your luggage hoping to figure out how to serve each demand while staying afloat?  This can get very dramatic, by attaching importance to each item in the backpack, you end up spending a considerable amount of time, off the scope of focus and in the drama of trying to  please everyone.

In my opinion, drama is fear dressed up as a story.  A lot of the drama I see happen is wrapped up in unknown outcomes, what if's, and fear of failures- all things we do not have the ability to predict.  Drama, Fear can be side stepped in the position of the observer.  

The observer flows through the day, attentively notices each circumstance around them, without attaching an idea or specific significance to any one item.  Seeing the big picture and plugging critical noticing into the equation they see as the operational plan.  The observer has a lot of time on their hands because they do not engage in the drama or fear of un measurable outcomes, instead they stay focused on the present, keeping the large scope idea of 'where they are going' in mind.  If something does not lend itself to the big picture, it probably shouldn't absorb time in the present.

So I ask, do you find yourself engaging as an absorber or an observer? Let me know, if you find it helpful to consider a new way of looking at your day to day operations. 

Lindsey, Les Mills South Central Last week I spent 3 days in the great state of New Mexico, specifically spending in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

I wanted to share my experience with you, I am very fortunate that I get to spend a lot of time in many different facility's all over the country. New Mexico has a handful of health club chains with multiple locations that make up the majority of the market with a sprinkling of low budget facility's and niche locations. 

I wanted to highlight two facility's that had my full attention!  

The Santa Fe spa right in the heart of Santa Fe, is a beautiful location offering full amenities and a friendly welcoming staff! I spent time meeting with Randy, who has looked over the facility for for over 25 years.  He puts a lot of love into what he does there and it shows on the smiles of his members faces as I toured the facility.  If you are in Santa Fe and looking for a wonderful community to stop in and workout with while in town, this club is a must. 

Santa Fe Spa

Defined Fitness  has multiple locations throughout the Albuquerque area.  I visited two of their locations while I was in town, Lawrence and Phil who look over the group fitness both regionally, and were very accommodating and friendly.  Defined uses Les Mills  as their primary group exercise offerings.  I took Bodypump class from Ms. Hannah while I was in town, what an energetic and great class she taught, not to mention physically challenging!  I will absolutely going back to spend time with the Defined Family the next time I am in New Mexico!  

Defined Fitness

As I travel and visit different health clubs, I look forward to sharing more experiences and best practices with you! 

Lindsey's travel schedule The past few months have been filled with abundant travel and meeting many folks in the Fitness industry!  

I have had the privilege of spending time with health club owners and operators in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado this past month.  In the coming weeks I will be in New Mexico and Colorado. 

I would really enjoy getting to know your fitness business, and meet with you in person.

If you live in the area, and are a club operator looking to impact your members experience, let's connect!

Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Cheers,

Lindsey