Hope for Sale

As much as industry suppliers and health clubs claim they have the secret weapon to losing weight and increasing strength and stamina, the truth is there is no secret weapon. New research proves this point. It doesn’t matter how few carbs a person eats or how much protein they scarf down. Surprise! Losing weight is a whole lot simpler than that: It’s all about calories consumed vs. calories burned.

This is good and bad for fitness professionals. Drama is good. Secret weapons are sexy and clients pay more if they think you have the inside scoop on what will get them quickly and easily to their goal.

The bad news? There is no “quickly and easily” in fitness. Quick and easy are illusions. Fitness takes time, effort and dedication. But are those things sexy? Not even close.

Santa Claus and the secret fitness weapon are myths. But like kids at Christmas, fitness center members want to believe. Forget the research. Forget the facts. Maybe it’s time to accept that you’re not selling a healthy lifestyle at all. Maybe all you’re really selling is hope.

No Need for Separation of Church and Fitness

When it comes to encouraging people to exercise, the fitness industry can use all the help it can get – maybe even from a higher power. A 2003 Harris Interactive survey found that 90 percent of adults in the U.S. believe in God. That’s A LOT of people! By comparison, only 10 percent of people in the U.S. belong to fitness centers. Maybe the fitness industry could get a boost from religion.

According to an article in the Montgomery Advertiser, many fitness pros and enthusiasts are taking the Biblical principle, “your body is a temple,” to heart. In addition to church-hosted group exercise classes and diet support groups, community fitness centers that offer faith-based fitness programs are beginning to pop up.

One example is Holy Spirit Gym in Costa Mesa, Calif. The fitness center is open to everyone, but features Bible scripture on the wall, and Christian music over the sound system.

Another facility, Fit 4 Christ, in Montgomery, Ala., plays Christian and gospel music, and offers weekend spiritual programs, prayer partners, and daily devotionals and Bible study. “People are finally identifying the connection between being physically fit and being spiritually in tune, and they’re inspired to do something,” says owner Antonio King.

While these examples are Christian-based, there are also facilities that cater to Muslim women, the JCC caters to the Jewish community, and many yoga and mind/body studios have a new-age/spiritual approach.

Of course, most fitness centers wouldn’t succeed with a religious-based theme, but some could and do. With so many believers out there, and so many untapped potential members, maybe this is one approach that could get more people into fitness centers. For those who haven’t responded to other types of motivation, maybe God is the answer. For fitness centers looking to fill a niche in their community, maybe God is also the answer.

Woman Power

Women rule! Don’t take offense, guys. It’s just that, since the new millennium, this truth has been emerging, and it just can’t be ignored any longer — especially by business owners.

I remember not too many years ago when we reported in the pages of FM that the number of female members in fitness facilities had finally caught up with that of men. In fact, the latest statistics published by IHRSA show that women make up 57 percent of U.S. health club members. Women are just a lot more serious than men about fitness. The National Sporting Goods Association’s 2007 sports participation survey shows that women constitute a majority of participants in four of six fitness activities: yoga, 85 percent; aerobic exercising, 71 percent; exercise walking, 63 percent; working out at a club, 55 percent; and exercising with equipment, 51 percent.

But, I’m not giving you these numbers to brag about my gender. Really. I’m doing it because, as a facility operator/professional, this knowledge can and will improve your business. If you put it to use.

At the IHRSA trade show and convention in 2001, Tom Peters, an influential guru of management, spoke about the importance of this emerging trend in the fitness business industry. And, he pointed out that while more than half of fitness center members are women, a lot less than that are on fitness center management teams. The problem with that, he said, is that men and women are completely different: They have different exercise regimen needs, and they purchase services differently. As such, it’s not possible for men to create the “perfect” fitness facility experience for women.

That’s a problem, because while Business Week, in an article titled I Am Woman, Hear Me Shop, reported that while “women earn less money than their counterparts, … they make more than 80 percent of buying decisions in all homes.” It’s critical, says the article, that business owners understand women’s needs and dissatisfactions and, in turn, change the way they design, position and sell their products.

With that said, ask yourself, “How have I responded to an increase in the number of women members in my facility?” If you’re drawing a blank, that means you’ve obviously not given it much thought. As such, you haven’t done anything, and you’re losing business.

Even if you have made some changes, it will still help to understand some fundamental differences between the sexes, as pointed out on the Entrepreneurial Connection website’s SuccessSkills Archives article collection titled
How to Market to Women.

• First, women are social beings. They see their membership not just as a quest to become healthy, but as a way to connect with others.

• Second, a woman’s decision-making style, especially when purchasing, is to thoroughly investigate, especially on the web. And, she doesn’t respond well to pressure to close the sale. Therefore, answer questions, but don’t push.

• Third, the details matter. Women notice things that men tend to merely disregard, such as poor attention by the staff at the front desk, unpleasant odors in the locker room, weights not placed in their proper place, etc.

• Fourth, women are stressed. Between their roles as workers, wives and mothers, they juggle more in life than their male counterparts. The fitness facility should be a place where the products work well and are easy to operate, and customer service should come with a human touch. Research shows that, to reduce their stress, women are willing to “pay more for delivery of groceries, meals and dry cleaning, and for service providers such as financial counselors, personal trainers and dog groomers.”

I love statistics. They let us know where things really stand. But, you actually have to use these statistics to your benefit. If you do, you’ll likely be at the receiving end of one of women’s greatest qualities: They’re the most loyal of customers, and they will spread the positive word about your business to all of their friends. If not, expect the opposite. Tom Peters made a point of saying that he’d spoken with a member of a New York stock brokering firm who shared that their average male customer recommended him as a broker to 2.6 people, while the average woman customer recommended him to 21!