Why These Health Club Owners Became Believers

Last year, I posted my thoughts on an article written by Barry Klein and Rob Bishop, owners of Elevations Health Club in Scotrun, PA, as they contemplated the pros and cons of pre-packaged group fitness.  In that post, I shared my experience with the Les Mills Group Fitness System from my point of view, both as an instructor and as a multi-site group fitness manager.  My thoughts focused around the development of instructors, and how pre-packaged group fitness offers unparallelled training and educational opportunities, both of which are crucial to an instructor's success. 

A couple of weeks ago, I was reading through Athletic Business again and saw a follow up article by Barry and Rob - this one titled, "Health Club Owners New Believers in Pre-Packaged Group Fitness."  Since their article just about a year ago, these gentlemen have experienced the value that a well planned and executed program can bring to a fitness facility.  Here are the reasons, according to Rob and Barry, that pre-packaged group fitness is a good value:

• "You cannot afford to recreate the marketing materials that they put at your disposal."
• "You can't train your instructors as well as they can."
• "Your young instructors will love it."
• "They have systems that you don't."
• "You are part of the community."

Are there any other facilities out there that have experience with pre-packaged group fitness?  What are your thoughts on this area of your business?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know!

Fitness intructors - looking for a fitness career?

As many others in the fitness industry, I got my start as a group fitness instructor (back when we were known as aerobics instructors and wore really awful leotards and leg warmers)!  Remember?

Fortunately, those days of thong leotards, leg warmers and terry head bands have (mostly) disappeared.  Not only have our clothes changed, but so have the opportunities that we have in the fitness industry.  Starting out as a part-time instructor while working in another industry was enough to help me realize that I wanted to be a part of the industry full-time, but how?

The answer came with several starts and stops along the way - giving up my sales director's position in real estate marketing when my daughter was born, and then diving head first into group fitness management and personal training.  And while I enjoyed the part-time management position and teaching lots of classes....it wasn't enough.  Currently, I am still teaching a few classes, but my full-time focus has become helping others in the industry to find solutions to help them grow their fitness businesses with Fitmarc.

So to all you fellow Group Fitness folks out there - what is it that you want to do within our industry?  Is the life of a part-time instructor for you, allowing time for what you love, but flexibility for other things?  Or are you looking for more?  Maybe working for yourself and owning your own fitness business?  I have a favorite quote, "If you don't have butterflies, you aren't dreaming big enough."  What gives you butterflies?  Contact me, Kelli Hatton, and let me know!

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! 

Overcoming Challenges of Recruiting Group Fitness Instructors

Overcoming challenges of recruiting fitness instructors

View more presentations from Kelli Hatton.

Using pre-packaged group fitness to help educate your staff

When I picked up my August edition of Athletic Business magazine from my mailbox yesterday, I was immediately drawn to the cover photo and headline, "Group Fitness:  The Prepackage Deal."   As a group fitness instructor myself for the last 19 years, I have taughts every format and program imaginable, both freestyle and pre-packaged, and I wanted to hear what the authors, both owners of Elevations Health Club in Scotrun, PA, had to say about the subject.

Mr. Bishop and Mr. Klein wrote about their investigation into using a pre-packaged group fitness system for their club, saying that they were "intrigued by these pre-packaged programs because "traditional" group fitness instructors seem to be becoming an endangered species."  How can pre-packaged group fitness programs help increase the number of available instructors and have more flexibility with scheduling?  It's all about staff development - both for the instructor and the group fitness management staff.

When I attended BODYPUMP training back in 2003, it was not of my own choosing - I had been teaching my own formats for 12 years, but needed to attend this training to be employed by a new gym in my area.  I felt that my classes were just fine - why did I need another certification?  The answer became clear as the weekend developed -

• Instructors are taught around 5 Key Elements of a great class - immediately, the instructor trainees were given objectives to strive for each time they put on a mic.  Not only did we talk about physical execution, which is quite common in group fitness workshops, but we also talked about how we could guide the members to be successful - to connect with members and coach them through the class, whether a newbie or a front-row groupie.
• Practical application and practice, practice, practice -with each key element, we would have a lecture session with our trainer, then we practiced each element immediately, to cement the concepts.  Broken into small groups, you worked with your fellow trainees to figure it all out, then help each other as you presented in these small groups.  Seasoned instructors and newbie instructors were often paired together and learned from each other.
• Feedback and action plans - after presenting in their small groups, the trainer showed videos of each presentation and gave feedback to each trainee.  The other trainees were also asked to give their feedback, and the feeling of team grew as trainees supported and helped one another to improved.  At the end of the weekend, each trainee was given a written action plan with items to work on to improve their use of the 5 Key Elements.
• Continued quality control - a last step - perhaps most valuable for owners of facilities - is the video assessment.  Each trainee took their action plan, went home and practiced for up to 90 days, and then had to submit a video to Les Mills.  If the trainee taught a safe and effective class, then that trainee achieved status of a certified BODYPUMP instructor.

That one weekend changed my career - both as an instructor, and as a management professional.  Using the key elements I learned in BODYPUMP training, I was able to improve the quality of all my classes - freestyle or pre-packaged - and saw the numbers in my classes continue to grow.  I then became a regional group fitness manager, using my management skills from my prior career along with the management system provided to owners with a pre-packaged group fitness program.  Numbers in our overall group fitness classes grew from about 400 weekly visits to over 750 a week, and by providing continued development for our instructors and instructor trainees, we went from always needing instructors to having reserves, ready to teach when called upon.

If you are looking for ways to improve your group fitnes attendance, membership and retention, take a look at pre-packaged group fitness....you might be surprised at what you find.