Do You Have the Right Platforms?

What goes around comes around, right?  Who would have thought that in the second decade of the 2000's, we'd be loving our platforms again the way we did in the 70's? 

While platforms may be a part of the fashion scene again, we have another type platform that is more important in terms of our social media marketing - a "platform" is "a type of software or technology that enables users to build, integrate or facilitate community, interaction and user-generated content." (according to www.wikianswers.com)  While each of us has our favorites, choosing the platforms that will best reach your consumer should be your ultimate goal.  Remember creating your social media plan?  Refer to it to guide you through your decisions.

Based on data and personal experience, the following platforms are must haves: 

1. LinkedIn - Used primarily for professional interaction.  Connect and communicate with people in your industry, and share ideas.  This is also a great platform for finding new talent when you need to add to your existing team.  On Jan 5, 2013, LinkedIn announced that is has reached the 200 million member mark.   This study by Lab42 gives an interesting infographic on how those members are interacting with the site. 
2. Twitter - Twitter is misunderstood by many who think it is simply 140 characters worth of "what's going o right now."  Twitter gives business the ability to send information out to followers that takes little time, but can produce great results.  It's also a way for your customers to connect with you - more than 175 million tweets are sent daily, and 56% of customers tweets to companies are being ignored.  
3. Facebook - If you are trying to get your business's name in front of consumers, Facebook is the place to be!  80% of consumers prefer to connect with brands through Facebook over other social networking sites.
4. YouTube - Think people like videos?  With one hour of video uploaded to YouTube every second, you'd better believe it!  Check out this website, www.onehourpersecond.com, for perspective (just make sure your volume is not up to high!), grab your video camera and start filming!  Create your own channel where you can posts videos of events going on at your facility, classes that you may be running, and tips to share with your customers.  This allows engagement with your customers both inside and outside your walls, strengthening their loyalty and trust in your brand.

There are other platforms, too, that can be used based on your goals.  Some of the most widely used are:

1. Blogging (WordPress, Tumblr)
2. Pinterest
3. Google+

While these sites have gained popularity and are very well-known, there are new site being created all the time.  To keep up to date with the newest social media news, visit www.mashable.com.  

What platforms is your business currently using, and how effective have your efforts been?  Please let me, Kelli Hatton, know your thoughts and experiences!

Kelli Hatton is an active fitness professional, consultant and speaker with expertise in employee development,  business development, marketing and management.  As a business development professional and consultant, she provides management, sales, marketing and customer service training to organizations looking to increase their productivity.  She also leads the Business Development team for Fitmarc, the South Central US Distributor for Les Mills Group Fitness systems.  To learn more, contact Kelli today.

Has your fitness facility's marketing become social yet?

Last week, I visited Denver and presented a workshop to fitness facility owners and managers on "Learning to be Social" as part of the Fitmarc Educational Series.  Our focus - setting up a social media marketing plan that not only increased market presence, but also increased membership sales and retention.  While many fitness facility owners have realized the marketing power of social media, many others have not, or have not taken the time to do anything about it.  For those folks who are waiting, take a look at this video, "The Social Media Revolution 2012,"  recently updated with current stats on social media usage.

While there are many astounding stats in this video, there are a few that really stood out:

• Over 50% of the world's population is under 30 years old
• 96% of these Millenials have joined a social network
• 78% of consumers trust peer reviews of products and services
• Only 14% of comsumers trust advertising
• 34% of bloggers post about brands and their opinions of them. 

Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing ways to help plan and execute your social marketing.  We will also look at how you can move through several stages of engagement to truly connect with those consumers that are interested in your brand.

Is there anything specific that you would like to see explored during these next few posts?  Please let me know - let me know your challenges, your concerns and your success stories!  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, with your thoughts.

Kelli Hatton is an active fitness professional, consultant and speaker with expertise in employee development,  business development, marketing and management.  As a business development professional and consultant, she provides management, sales, marketing and customer service training to organizations looking to increase their productivity.  She also leads the Business Development team for Fitmarc, the South Central US Distributor for Les Mills Group Fitness systems.  To learn more, contact Kelli today.

C'mon - be a better boss in 2012!

2012 is underway, and most of us are now focused on reaching goals that we set during the last quarter of 2011. For most of my career, I've planned goals for myself and my teams based on results from the current year, and projected our performance into the next year...all based around sales and revenue targets.  While focusing on our sales and revenue goals for each new year is essential, we tend to gloss over or even ignore an equally as important plan - how to build our workplace through the recruiting, hiring, training and retention of great staff.

Last week, I read an article in Entrepreneur Magazine titled Seven Tips for Becoming a Better Boss, written by Marcus Erb.  He clarifies the reason why it is so crucial to create greater leadership by becoming a better boss.  Your business needs someone that can create the vision and focus necessary to move a company forward.  

Erb provides seven tips that are taken from leaders of companies recognized this year on this year's Best Small Workplaces list.  Those tips include: 

• Begin with yourself.
• Flip the traditional management dynamic.
• Hire the best.
• See employees as whole people.
• Use positive, constructive motivation.
• Practice accountability to your values.
• Start now.

Is one of your 2012 goals to be a better boss?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know your plans and goals for this year!

 About the author: 

Kelli Hatton is an active fitness professional, consultant and speaker with expertise in employee development,  business development, marketing and management.  As a business development professional and consultant, she provides management, sales, marketing and customer service training to organizations looking to increase their productivity.  She also leads the Business Development team for Fitmarc, the South Central US Distributor for Les Mills Group Fitness systems.  To learn more, contact Kelli today.

The Science Behind Social Fitness Environments

Recently, there was an article in Athletic Business by Paul Steinbach entitled, "Social Environments Help Clubs with Member Retention."  In the article, he cited several well-known fitness industry experts, including Rick Caro, Casey Conrad, Rudy Fabiano and Sandy Coffman.  He also included information from a 1995 study at the University of Southern California, in which researchers found that, "socializing outside the club with people met at the club was the best predictor of exercise frequency, having friends at the club was the best predictor of the infrequency of skipped workouts, and exercising with a friend was the best predictor of exercise satisfaction."  With group fitness classes now packed, and more consistent programming being introduced to the industry, Conrad states that, "Clubs that have a strong group exercise component have a much higher retention rate than those that don't."

So why is exercise in a group better than working out alone for most people?  Alex Hutchinson offers two theories:  First, the similarities between modern day exercise classes and an ancient religious rite, with "a wise leader guiding the group through a series of ritualized movements in perfect synchronization."  For those who have a hard time sticking with their "faith" in their fitness goals, groups offer one solution.

Secondly, in an issue of Biology Letters, researchers from Oxford's Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology reported on a study conducted on the famed Oxford rowing team.  The crew was divided into teams, and the only variable in their workouts was whether they rowed alone or in teams.  Indirect methods were used to monitor endorphins released in the brain.  These endorphins produce a mild opiate high and a sense of well-being, as well as blocking pain.  Reserchers found that a rower's pain threshold was consistently twice as high after exercising with teammates than when exercising alone, even though the workouts were identical.  Shared goals are also expected to be part of the trigger for endorphin release.

Based on this research, not only do people enjoy working out in a group more because they are socializing with their friends - they also enjoy a higher pain threshold and are filled with a greater sense of well-being. Why wouldn't they want to stay at your facility longer if it makes them feel so good?

What are your thoughts on the group dynamic at your facility?  Do you see greater usage and retention from participants that work out in small groups or attend group fitness classes?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and give me your comments and questions.

Empower your Employees through Development

Empowering staff through development

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Are We Afraid of Change?

Last week, when I wrote about Pat Lencioni's presentation at IHRSA, I mentioned that I would soon write about Dan Pink's presentation as well.  In Dan's book Drive, he presents study results that go against traditional beliefs on how people are motivated.  I wanted write about the reactions of fitness industry colleagues to his presentation, and whether or not they thought our industry could shift from our carrot-and-stick model of "motivation."

The morning after the presentation, I talked with colleague Ervin Zubic from Lifestyle Family Fitness.  As a VP in that organization, Ervin has been involved in many decision about how to best compensate, incentivize and motivate staff in their 50+ clubs.  His view?  Until one brave fitness organization makes the shift away from the current business model, none will be willing to change - they will see it as too risky. 

What about other reactions?  I have reached out to my network of fitness professionals - from CEO's of corporations to single owners, managers and fitness instructors.  I've not found anyone else who has offered their view on how they think our model can change.  Why is that?

Take a look at Dan's explanation and scientific evidence about the human motivation:

Yes, we motivate sales people based on the number of sales that they close, and personal trainers for the number of people that they train...and they are constantly wearing blinders that keep them driving towards that number, with no regard for doing it the best way for the business.  No wonder our industry has such a bad reputation for customer service - our teams are motivated the wrong way and for the wrong outcomes.  What if we removed that need for tunnel vision, and empowered our teams to take care of customers?  I believe we would see a revolution in our industry.

What do you think?  Is there a need for change in the fitness industry around motivators?  If not, then why not?  If so, are you brave enough?  Please contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know your thoughts.

You call that leadership??

I'm a sucker for good quotes.  All my life I've been uplifted by words that help bolster my thinking, remind me that things are better than they seem, or change my perspective on a given situation.  This morning, I found the following video that gives quotes about one of my favorite topics, leadership:

One of the reasons that I'm talking about this video is not all the great quotes that are included, although there are some really good ones.  The comments listed after the video on YouTube are what got me today.  The first few comments are positive, mentioning how true the comments are and how an entire class watched this for a leadership class they were taking.  Next, however, we hear from the person who is NOT a leader - the comment being, "evaluate is misspelled {evalutate}...at 2:26 in the video."  Ok, so maybe evaluate is mis-spelled - but don't you think there are so many more good points in the video that you mention that later, not right out of the gate? 

This person's comment mirrors what we see happen with managers, not leaders.  A leader is someone who will help those he or she leads to focus on the their strengths and help them to grow.  Does that mean that a leader ignores mistakes?  Of course not!  The difference, though, is how and when those mistakes are handled. 

In the fitness industry, do you see more managers, or true leaders?  Send me, Kelli Hatton, examples of the leaders you know - I'd love to learn more about them and the teams that they lead.

Focus, focus, focus

During a visit to Louisiana last week, I had the chance to talk with several fitness facility owners - a few that have had their facilities for a long time, and some that are in the planning stages and will be opening soon.  These visits are the most rewarding part of my job with Fitmarc - allowing me to learn more about challenges in our markets and how I can help.  Many of the challenges deal with focus - if a facility is focused on creating a great customer service experience, then  membership sales and retention numbers are easier to grow. 

One of my best visits was with Troy Archer of Spectrum Fitness in Baton Rouge.  Troy has several facilities that have been Fitmarc customers for years, and we met at his Southdowns facility that will be a customer soon.  We spent 45 minutes focused on how Fitmarc could help Southdowns connect with his members and prospects in a more meaningful way - the type of conversation that let me know his focus is in the right place.  From walking through his group fitness room to plan a more member-friendly workout environment, to discussing different ways he could reward members for promoting Spectrum in social media, the focus was all about the members.  I was able to share resources with Troy that will streamline the way Spectrum communicates with and services their members, which will be a key to his facility's growth over the coming years.

So why should a fitness facility's focus be on members?  If they aren't, then your business won't succeed.  Industry consultant Thomas Plummer said in his latest blog post, 

"Why do so many people that hate working with people open clubs? This is the worst part of our business; we are service intensive and no matter what you do as an owner you are wrong to many of your clients. But that, on the other hand, is the nature of being in small business and is no different than being in a restaurant, bank or any other service business. Making people happy, getting results and making money from that combination is what we do for a living whether you like it or not. Miserable members don’t pay. Happy members refer and pay. Pissed off members will get even. Members who just lost five pounds will tell everyone in their office. You being miserable and hate being in your own club will lead to miserable members who will suddenly find themselves happier at a club down the street."

So, where is your focus?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know your thoughts! 

Why attend IHRSA30?

In just a few short weeks, fitness professionals will descend upon the Moscone Center in San Francisco for IHRSA's 30th Anniversary International Convention and Trade Show.  Having personally taken a hiatus from attending the event for the last two years, I am looking forward to re-connecting with customers, colleagues and friends attending.  Also exciting to me this year is the lineup of keynote speakers - one, Daniel Pink, was featured in my blog a few months ago when I commented on his book Drive. 

Will you be attending IHRSA this year?  If so, what are your reasons for attending?  I'd love to hear from you about what you plan to see, do and learn at IHRSA30 next month - contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know your thoughts!

Overcoming Challenges of Recruiting Group Fitness Instructors

Overcoming challenges of recruiting fitness instructors

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