It occurred to me on vacation that certain things just don’t make sense.

The airline industry is continually having trouble staying profitable, yet rumor says that Southwest Airlines doesn’t have that issue.

I truly believe that my EVER theory hold water in many instances, including this one.
It breaks down the pathway to heathly and successful businesses as 4 points of culture. It takes creating a positive Experience every time, giving Value on every visit, giving some form of Education to help them grow, and giving them positive desired Results.

Flying today with most airlines is really an experience on how it shouldn’t be done. In fact I cannot imagine the genius who thought that grossly overcharging for things that are customary and expected would help solve the problem. How creative for Southwest to leverage that advantage. Amazing that the other airlines haven’t corrected their error. Paying for such things as bringing a bag and for blankets is horrible. It surprises me that they haven’t put coin slots on the restrooms on board. Hope they don’t read this blog!

My favorite story of a trip was when a lady near me said she was very cold and would the flight attendant have a blanket. His answer was surely, all for only ten dollars, of course a pillow was included . Could you imagine going to a restaurant and asking to borrow a pen to sign your receipt and being charged three dollars for the use. It is insane!

The question becomes how close do you become in your business to doing the same things.

Do we promise results and then allow our members to struggle and eventually fail? When they come for help, do we suggest a paid for program. Do we push PT as soon as they join?

We need to allow the member to succeed in their initial goals through the use of our facilities and allow them to get guidance when they need it.

Can you start to look at your systems for your new member and insure you are not charging them for things that should be available to them to succeed? Can you make the basics part of the program and create a system that brings customer service back into their world.

Don’t be an airline, be a provider of wonderful service and create and experience that will rock their world.

Good Luck in 2011!!

- Posted using BlogPress

Log in to www.clubindustry.com and check out the awesome lineup of speakers and seminars

Fitness Club Consultants is always encouraging further education and learning opportunities.

Sign up today!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Today’s business climate has been creating a lot of opportunities for our company to connect to other companies and help them build a customized system to improve their business.

Taking a positive attitude is easy in this market. It is a time to get leaner and more efficient, then when things get better we are positioned to rock then house.

-posted using Blogpress

A few times in the last couple of days I have been asked exactly what is it that I wish to change in the fitness industry…. What is it that gets me fired up! I think that my main agenda is to cause club owners in the fitness business to challenge the way they are doing business. It is a necessity for us to become part of the community to cause a change in the overall population. The fact is obesity is an epidemic and the overall well-being of the people in our community are continuing to be affected in greater and greater numbers.

This is a monstrosity of a challenge due to the fact that most people in our community want to feel better, but many of our centers are geared for fit people. The people in the community want to be better; want to weigh less; have more energy; and in general, live a better life. For the most part, we have done a poor job of reaching out to these people. We need to change OUR view from these people being unfit to not yet fit. We need to help them from being a potential or current drain on our healthcare system, to being a positive example of how through better lifestyle choices they change and will be able to help inspire others to feel and be better. We can change the tide of the millions of dollars better spent on diseases that are avoidable. In fact, it’s probably closer to billions of dollars that are caused by lifestyle related diseases. We live in a world of complexity and are inundated every day with tons of choices that do not include movement. The fact of the matter is that the secret to better health in many times could be boiled down to: move more and eat less.

Often, I’m reminded of my own personal challenge to stay fit and healthy. It is so easy to get sidetracked, so easy to find other things to do. Many times, I’m not even sure that it’s by conscious choice that we choose not to move throughout our days. Many times our lives seem to be run by jobs that involve us remaining in a seated position for hours, rather than a standing or walking position. Computers, both at work and home, seem to consume our time. We use TV for relaxation, entertainment, and even educational purposes. We spend time with their family, watching movies, relaxing with our feet up because we are so tired, so drained, so stressed. When is the last time, you can remember, an unfit person telling you that they totally enjoyed an evening walk with their family or even playing in the yard. We’re encouraged and even driven to purchase items that do not encourage or even require movement.

I have to share a little informal study that I did, which involves nothing more than a pedometer, a pencil and paper. I was traveling to an industry conference and decided to measure my steps each day. Knowing that I had a lot on my plate, but having no idea of what I was about to find out, I started my mission. Rising every morning, heading off to shows, conferences, and the trade floor, running back and forth to hear wonderful speakers, my day was full. At the end of the day, my calculated total of steps was over 21,000. I was thrilled based on the national agenda of 10,000 steps a day. I had over doubled the desired amount and it amazed me. Fact of the matter is I didn’t necessarily eat great while I was at this conference. Every night we made sure to visit the cocktail hour and of course I had also indulged in a few libations. The amazing thing was when I returned home I did my post trip weigh in and realized I was actually down 3 pounds over when I left. I continued my study. I returned to my normal work life running a large fitness center and continued to wear the pedometer. At the end of the day my results were shocking! Subtracting out my 60 minutes of planned exercise, I had only walked 5200 steps. The true shock was realizing that I have the reputation of being a high-energy guy. The fact is with a normal American diet, and only 5200 steps a day, I was exhausted at the end of the day! Realization set in and I came to the conclusion that my mental state had affected my psychological state, and tricked my body into feeling that I was exhausted and spent. I came to understand that many Americans experienced less steps a day than this, and most likely consume much more than I did that day. What a recipe for disaster!

So how do we change this? How do we become part of the solution? We need to come to the realization that we need to be a center for the NOT YET FIT, the FIT and everyone in between. In fact, we need to be the place that attracts people that need what we have medically, mentally, physically and emotionally. There’s no way for us to do that with centers full of fit people trying to get fitter. We need to realize that somebody 50 or more pounds overweight is not going to feel comfortable around somebody complaining about the 5 pounds they put on there already lean body. Having a staff of totally fit, energetic and passionate trainers may seem like a great solution except if they are unable to relate to the people we need to attract. We need to reach out and find those places where the unfit people feel that they belong and find ways to make them feel comfortable in our centers. We need to ensure that they feel they can succeed. We need to define that it is a process of small victories, and the joy is experiencing the journey. This can be successfully accomplished by creating groups and even areas of our club that will attract these people and let them know that they fit in. I truly believe that the bottom-line is people want to be around people like themselves. They want to feel understood, and need to feel cared for. They need to feel that we have a genuine interest in changing their lives.

We need to make sure that we involve all areas of our club and take a role in developing a wider focus, that we don’t exclude any size or shape in any class session, seminar or program. We need to make sure that were making our budget plans and our goals in each department that were able to accommodate all three groups.

If we can start to get these people more involved they will help us to attract more of the not yet fit to our centers. Actually I believe that they will come in waves, because we have what they want and need. Once they come together, they will bring others and they will stay longer, because we have the ingredients to make them feel the way they’ve always desired to feel.

Start to change your focus today.

Good Luck,

Tom

May 7, 2010 1:41 PM

Latest From Twitter

Thomas Kulp is CMO of Universal Athletic Club, a large multipurpose facility in Lancaster, PA. Kulp’s club has a member retention rate of 84 percent. He was runner-up in the 2006 John McCarthy Scholarship for IHRSA University. Kulp also is CEO of Fitness Club Consultants, the creator of the Members4ever club management system that brings clubs the ability to manage, involve and keep members at your club. Kulp has spoken in four countries—England, Brazil, Canada and Russia—bringing his experience in management and retention-improving skills to health clubs worldwide. He is a member of REX Roundtables for Executives and is the president of Mid-Atlantic Club Management Association. Kulp can be reached at 717-799-5155 or tom@fitnessclubconsultants.com.

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2010 Penton Media Inc.

Getting to be good can take work. Getting to be GREAT can take forever, but to start the process we need to do just that, START!

Many good intentions never get the chance to live because we are afraid to allow it birth. The enemy of many improvements is unfortunately ourselves.

Can we move a mountain by thinking about the mission? Better to pick up a shovel and start to move one load at a time. On the demonstration of the mission, others will be attracted and the work becomes the work of a team, a group, and many will bring with them better tools and more know-how. It all needs to start with one person not afraid to pick up that shovel.

Bold and daring is part of what it will take to start the change to challenge the dynamics in any industry, organization, or life. It was easy to build a place, add equipment, copy the successful paths of others, but the need of change is upon us.

The customer needs to be valued and shown value, but by their definition not ours. People are crying out for change, for help, for guidance in their pursuit to feel better and get better products/services.

People don’t know what they don’t know. We are called to bring them the process that will make them successful.

It needs to start with creating an experience that the client will desire to return to; to show them value everyday whether in or out of your business; to give them education and have them learn to improve and sustain the habits we help them build; and finally to get them the results that will lead to making them feel successful in all that they do.

Let’s take deeper look into this process.

Experience- All our new clients need to experience the culture and the environment of our businesses. We need to ensure that our front end staff is the originators. The warmth of their smile, the tone of their voice will be judged by the customer and the stage is set for the introduction to our sales and follow-up teams. We need to ensure that all staff is capable and geared to further that interaction. We need to insure connection and a feeling of belonging throughout every minute spent with our business.

Value- no one seeks to overspend money. At some level our minds will demand a return. When we forget to appreciate their patronage, finding the things that will adhere the customer to our businesses are hard to find. We will risk them slipping away and onto our competition. On many levels it will be a slow fade, and our responsibility will be to grab hold of them before they slip away. On another level, without depth in the relationship, they may leave and never return as quickly as the wind through the trees.

We are required to care, to engage, to make all feel welcome in our business.

We need to take a stand in our community and become the experts and the resource for individuals, businesses, and professionals to reach out and partner to make a difference.

The time for complaining is over and the time to take a stand is upon us.

We need to start today.

Many years ago you started a business and the time you put into it, added up faster than you care to admit.  The clients came and enjoyed your business.  They purchased items, they even may have joined your organization and all seems to be going great. Then suddenly something happens:  A CHANGE.

Thinking about the vision of a turtle on a fencepost, this appears to be an issue with many businesses today. They have closed their eyes to the environment around them and have additionally decided to not get involved with a decision or a pathway of a certain direction, hence the sitting on the fencepost.


Do you invest time daily to look around, start each day with a look forward for new ideas, and an analysis of yesterday activities to access the good and the bad that occurred in the past.

Looking at three things consistently will ensure that we are moving in the right direction:

1. Culture/Vision do you know the vision and the culture of your business. Do you access your movements every day to assure that your decisions are vision sound?
2. History: look to the past often.  If you visit the past daily then you are keeping track on a daily basis and that time is spent wisely and effectively.  When we wait too long to access the past, it becomes an overwhelming task and one that we will resist doing.
3. Future:  do you daily take time to look ahead and see if the pathway ahead is leading you in the direction that you want to take.  Is your map out and are you accessing the plan to allow you to move your business in the direction that you are wishing to go

The turtle may have been raised to the top of the fencepost, but to stay there it will require a constant vigilance of the surroundings to stay on top of that post and hence stay on top of your world.

As we enter into 2010, we need to take time to set our written goals.

We have all read the story of the Harvard Study in 1979, whereas they accessed who had written goals and who did not.

Please read thru the article below to review:

So, Why Do 3% of Harvard MBAs Make Ten Times as Much as the Other 97% Combined ?

The answer is a simple question: “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” In 1979, interviewers asked new graduates from the Harvard’s MBA Program and found that :

• 84% had no specific goals at all
  
• 13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
  
• 3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them
  

In 1989, the interviewers again interviewed the graduates of that class.  You can guess the results:

• The 13% of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all.
  
• Even more staggering – the three percent who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.
  

(Source:  from the book What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School, by Mark McCormack)

When you review your marketing plans and the allocation of the funds needed to run it, where is the majority spent. 

Most clubs will have a substantial amount in what could be classified as new member acquisition. Most of the marketing seminars or discussion that I get involved in are all about ways to acquire new members.  Where is the money to drive our existing members to the programs that already exist at our club, where is the money spend on keeping the members we have active in the club.

The challenge that should be put forth is the amount of money that needs to be spent in our member induction and member retention programs.  For a small fraction of our advertising budget we can spend money on retaining the member we have.

To keep this all in monetary prospective,  you can spend half of one mail campaign and have a full year worth of a system that will improve your retention, therefore building your membership and your EFT every month. While it is important to keep our EFT healthy, it is just as important to make sure that we keep every member that we have as long as possible. We need to ensure that we are allocating money to keeping the member involved. Much of the issue becomes having the relationship with the member that ensures we know that the member will communicate with us and let us know when their program needs a tweak. This takes a few dollars to be spent with your employees and training them to have the eyes and ears to identify issues before they become cancellations.

Involved members spend money at your club.

We all know that many times it takes us months to recoup the new member acquisition expenses.  The money we get monthly from an existing member is cleaner and the work involved with them becomes less and less as they mature as a member. As our club becomes more and more successful we are able to afford to invest in more programs. It is important fact that we need to have a diverse offering that encompasses many levels of challenges to provide the member with reasons to stay.

We need to learn to keep the members we have and make sure that our business plans are not directed to much in a forward direction and that we are being attentive to the backdoor of our club.

So as we look at our plans for 2010. Let’s take some time to look at what we can do to get our members involved and to make sure that their success in their interest level stays as high as possible.

Congrats to the staff at the conference! The show was very well organized and a class act through out.

The seminars were informative and entertaining and well worth the time and money invested.

Fitness Club Consultants delivered two seminars on non dues revenue and the importance of focusing on retention of our current members.

Our PowerPoint presentation will be available for download from our website later this week and a podcast will be available on line in about ten days.

Keep your eyes and ears ready for these valuable tools to help you improve your club.

Tom