Need a Mentor to help me grow my 24/7 fitness facility

[Max2014]

I would like to first say that this is an awesome forum and that i wished I had found you earlier.
I need some help and advice /mentoring about my 24/7 fitness facility, we just set up about 6 months ago. the first few months we got great membership signups, but now we have slowly noticed a decline in signups. we just started covering our running expenses( rent, cleaners, supplies, electricity etc.) but nothing going into our pockets.

Our location is prime retail spot ,our size is 4000sqft, we have all the machines from cardio equipment to selectorized weight machines and free weights.
our facility clean and roomy, we offer classes and personal trainers. what sticks us out is that we don't have any contracts, our facility is fully automated without any staff, members can signup and cancel online at their own convenience. facility operates 24/7, members can use their smartphone to access the gym, or they can use a keyfob that get mailed out to them.

we have created this automation technology. (nobody else has this type of system). its a brand new concept. We know this system has huge potential as most of the members that sign up show their amazement to this technology.

We are looking for help from a mentor that has been in the fitness industry /or related industry and knows how to grow gyms. We want to grow the number of locations of our facilities, we need guidance as we want to grow as fast as possible with fewer mistakes and pitfalls.

i am grateful for any advice, thanks

 

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[AndrewNC]

Find somebody in another city who did exactly what you do. Go on google, phone book, etc. and call them and ask.

...but the REAL question is what can you offer them in return?

 

[ZCP]

Shark tank....

 

[jockinbox]

Let me introduce you to your new favorite word: testing

some people on this forum charge thousands of dollars to tell you want to hear, but you probably already know the answer. you need to test. If LA Fitness make a killing hiring commission only sales reps & you try that model you may fail. If Ballys got big off radio/tv ad and you try that, you can still fail.

Here's what you need to do

Brainstorm a few marketing methods
Get a budget, divide it by 5
Pick 5 marketing methods
Test, record everything
Next month, cash flow the one with the best results
Use the remaining 80% to keep testing until you're out of ideas

This is the basic premises and I recommend that once you find a method that is ROI + that you put 80% of the budget into that, and only 20% into testing new ones

Good luck

 

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[Max2014]

Let me introduce you to your new favorite word: testing

some people on this forum charge thousands of dollars to tell you want to hear, but you probably already know the answer. you need to test. If LA Fitness make a killing hiring commission only sales reps & you try that model you may fail. If Ballys got big off radio/tv ad and you try that, you can still fail.

Here's what you need to do

Brainstorm a few marketing methods
Get a budget, divide it by 5
Pick 5 marketing methods
Test, record everything
Next month, cash flow the one with the best results
Use the remaining 80% to keep testing until you're out of ideas

This is the basic premises and I recommend that once you find a method that is ROI + that you put 80% of the budget into that, and only 20% into testing new ones

Good luck

thank you for the quick response, you are absolutely right,
we have incorporated a required field in our membership signup, which ask about where the heard about us. the list goes something like this . I will put it in ranking order, 1. being the largest number of membership signup through that route

1.plaza location
2.family /friends
3.google ads
4.kijiji
5 facebook
6.twitter
7.fliers
8.new paper ads

No, 5,6,7,8 are very miniscule compared to the first 4.
perhaps I have missed out another platform of marketing?

 

[jockinbox]

thank you for the quick response, you are absolutely right,
we have incorporated a required field in our membership signup, which ask about where the heard about us. the list goes something like this . I will put it in ranking order, 1. being the largest number of membership signup through that route

1.plaza location
2.family /friends
3.google ads
4.kijiji
5 facebook
6.twitter
7.fliers
8.new paper ads

No, 5,6,7,8 are very miniscule compared to the first 4.
perhaps I have missed out another platform of marketing?

Hey!

Good job keeping track so far, that looks about right.

Are any of those ROI + ?

Yes there are a TON of more options
Direct mail
Referral program
SEO
Competitions (hosting weight lifting meets or lift marathons)
Etc

Also, look at the Crossfit biz model
They give their members a lot of attention thereby creating a cult.

Also look at your competitions.
What are the other gyms in your area doing?

there's a ton of things to do while still in the beginning stages. Make this gym profitable and then use those secrets that you picked up along the way to scale

Good luck man wish you guys the best

 

[Max2014]

Hey!

Good job keeping track so far, that looks about right.

Are any of those ROI + ?

Yes there are a TON of more options
Direct mail
Referral program
SEO
Competitions (hosting weight lifting meets or lift marathons)
Etc

Also, look at the Crossfit biz model
They give their members a lot of attention thereby creating a cult.

Also look at your competitions.
What are the other gyms in your area doing?

there's a ton of things to do while still in the beginning stages. Make this gym profitable and then use those secrets that you picked up along the way to scale

Good luck man wish you guys the best

thanks again!

The ROI+ I will have to calculate these, I will make a new list soon
but the worst of all was fliers for sure.

we have done a few of these ideas

Direct mail - due to anti spam laws in Canada, we cannot really mail anyone outside of our subscription/memberslist. but we keep them engaged every 2 weeks with surverys, quizzes, did you knows, prizes and other offers.

Referral program - we set this up already, we give members power to give other members 10% off by using a unique code , plus every set number of memberships sold , the member gets a free month or year etc.

SEO - done this

Competitions (hosting weight lifting meets or lift marathons) - we have done this for 2 days, competition to see who can rep out with dumbells, we gave away about 4 x 1month memeberships free , but the resulting event got us about 3 new members sign up


Also, look at the Crossfit biz model,They give their members a lot of attention thereby creating a cult - this is a very interesting idea. I am going to research more into this. thanks for the headup on this.

 

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[jockinbox]

thanks again!

The ROI+ I will have to calculate these, I will make a new list soon
but the worst of all was fliers for sure.

we have done a few of these ideas

Direct mail - due to anti spam laws in Canada, we cannot really mail anyone outside of our subscription/memberslist. but we keep them engaged every 2 weeks with surverys, quizzes, did you knows, prizes and other offers.

Referral program - we set this up already, we give members power to give other members 10% off by using a unique code , plus every set number of memberships sold , the member gets a free month or year etc.

SEO - done this

Competitions (hosting weight lifting meets or lift marathons) - we have done this for 2 days, competition to see who can rep out with dumbells, we gave away about 4 x 1month memeberships free , but the resulting event got us about 3 new members sign up


Also, look at the Crossfit biz model,They give their members a lot of attention thereby creating a cult - this is a very interesting idea. I am going to research more into this. thanks for the headup on this.

Very important: who is your target demographic?
The more specific your target demographic the more you will know what to do
Its not enough to say "I want everyone"

Are you targeting professionals? Offer one on one coaching with a trainer
Are you targeting females? Offer spinning classes
Are you targeting powerlifters? Host meets (think West Side)
Are you targeting bodybuilders? Sponsor competitions or bodybuilders

I dont like that referral program

Makes it seem like they are selling to their friends

Try making it so its a team effort so to speak for example

$300 a year for one person
$269 for two people (each)

That way they START together rather than someone working out and "referring"

The best way to get referrals is to make the person think they arent referring LOL

 

[Max2014]

Very important: who is your target demographic?
The more specific your target demographic the more you will know what to do
Its not enough to say "I want everyone"

Are you targeting professionals? Offer one on one coaching with a trainer
Are you targeting females? Offer spinning classes
Are you targeting powerlifters? Host meets (think West Side)
Are you targeting bodybuilders? Sponsor competitions or bodybuilders

I dont like that referral program

Makes it seem like they are selling to their friends

Try making it so its a team effort so to speak for example

$300 a year for one person
$269 for two people (each)

That way they START together rather than someone working out and "referring"

The best way to get referrals is to make the person think they arent referring LOL

you are absolutely right, I will change that referral program. It only got us about 10 signup in 3 months, so ineffective.
we should offer something like a bulk signup program, and only for the yearly package right?

the packages right now we offer are as follows
1 year- 365$
6 month - 195$
month to month - $35
day pass - $7

there is no contract, initiation or any such hidden fees, all our prices are upfront and transparent


we are targeting the average joe, and females. we cannot target the powerlifters/bodybuilders as we don't have enough weight for these guys. (our dumbells only goto 100lbs each). also I fear they may intimidate other gym members.

 

[co-heir]

Does your gym offer better service than the others?
Customers prefer something that is tried and tested but are open to something new if they are convinced that its in their best interest.
here is a strategy for you:
Cut down the 24/7 hours.it gives customers the impression that they can always make up for missed gym sessions.
So if you create lesser hours than you create a sense of urgency.
create an application or a website that shows performance results,affiliates FAQ.
Offer family bonus.if a family affiliate with the gym one of the parents
get free one month subscription.(Youll never lose with this method as the ratio of parent to child is likely to be higher based on your geographical location).
After two months your business should be growing and thats when you give me a call to come work because ill be done with my sports degree..

 

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[co-heir]

To add on what i wrote above.
Scarcity is one of the principles of persuasion.
"people want more of those things there are less of "
when british airways announced that they would no longer be running the twice daily route from London to New York concord flight because it had become uneconomical,Sales the next day took off.

 

[HumbleBeginnings]

Maybe the b2b route could help? Go to insurance companies, banks, even the local government...offer group rates. Some of these groups might pay for them to go especially the insurance companies.
I think there is a way to use the fact that you don't require a contract, but off the top of my head I don't know. There might be a market there travelers maybe I don't know.
You say sign ups have slowed, but I think it would also be important to know are existing customers staying since there's no contract?

 

[MitchC]

For the scarcity model a lot of gyms have s limited amount of members to make sure they aren't over full.

For refer a friend, to make it a team effort offer 1 month free to both people, that way one can already be a member or not.

Keep it 24 hours. Saunas are a big selling point for me.

One gym here offered free iPods for you to sign up, another offered armbands and headphones. I think the armband and headphones was more effective as an iPod makes you think they will rip you off. Armband and headphone gym had no contracts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

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