Questions

A year ago I opened a 30 minute personal training studio and business is booming. We were cash flow positive the first week we opened our doors. And in less than a year we needed to expand the space. So we added a second floor to the studio, but now the challenge is how to double our existing clientele base of 200 members to 400 members. I know this will take some new techniques and I would love some expert advice on this area. Thanks - Jesse

Jesse, congratulations on your tremendous success in the first year!

Before you start designing your growth strategy, I recommend that you analyze first your current situation and figure out what is the reason for your tremendous success. Then, survey your current clients, figure out the attrition rate, their satisfaction levels, needs, why they like to be in your fitness studio, etc. For example, industry average attrition rate is 3.25%/month or 39%/year! That's a lot. What's your attrition rate? I hope it's lower. On the other hand, with an expansion and membership growth, you have to ask yourself will you be able to have enough high quality trainers in the studio to keep the clients happy and offer them personalized training and attention.

I am currently working on a project that deals with this exact topic and I have a number of valuable data points that are relevant for your industry. Healthy living trend is definitely your friend, but desire to be make healthier choices in life didn't translate into more physical activity or increase in fitness club membership. In fact, fitness club membership has peaked in 2012, so the challenge is how to attract a mainstream person to get off the couch and come to your studio because that's the demographic segment that can provide the highest growth. On the other hand, if you are targeting elite fitness enthusiasts, ask yourself if there are 400 of them in your area.

Here's another valuable data point: people that talk about fitness clubs and classes on social media use one specific channel 70% of the time. So, knowing which channel to use, you can have your staff focus only on that social media channel and ignore the rest.

it's really hard to give a specific advise without knowing your specific situation and location. Feel free to call any time if you need specific advise and I can tell you where to focus your social media activity that gets the most chatter -- 70%.


Answered 9 years ago

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