Where's the Customer Service

It seems more and more health clubs , and for that matter many businesses have forgotten about the importance of customer service. Owners, managers and staff members are resenting the fact that the actually have to be nice to people...imagine that. There is a strange sense of entitlement and an "I'm better than you" attitude in almost every service based business i have visited and our industry has become infamous for it.

On a recent trip to my favorite burger joint here in Jacksonville i came across a small sign on a soda fountain that read as follows:

"Thank You Customer,

You the customer are the most important visitor on the premises. You are not dependant on us, we are dependant on you. You are not an outsider in our business--you are part of it. We are not doing you a favor by serving you...you are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so."

Think about that statement and apply it to your business. It has had a profound effect on ours...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

The "RENT RACE"

Have lower than expected revenues put a stress on your relationship with your landlord? For some of you the hard truth is that your monthly overhead is getting harder and harder to clear. No matter what size of type of health club you operate RENT is by far your highest expense. Unfortunately covering your rent payment is most likely taking away from your fitness business operating at 100%. The logic is simple; if you’re struggling to make your rent payment then there is less money to spend on marketing methods that keep your revenue at a place that is profitable for your club. This is the fitness industry’s equivalent to “The Rat Race” we’ll call it the “RENT RACE”. You have found yourself in a constant, reoccurring pattern of scraping by. Worst of all it is clubs that are in the predicament that economic changes and slightly slumping numbers will cause the ultimate failure of the business. That is of course if you do nothing about it!

Did you know that it is a FACT that fitness center are among the top 3 business most likely to default on a lease? And your landlord knows that! And they gave you a lease anyway! Use that FACT to your advantage. Everyone is hearing about bailouts, mortgage re-negotiation, and bad lending practices. Guess what…the same economic principal that apply to over 40 million home owners apply to your business too. You can’t afford the rate you are paying, at least not right now.

I bet you hear “you need to spend money to make money” all the time. Let me propose a radical idea: “SAVE MONEY TO MAKE MONEY”, allowing you to spend the same amount or less that you are spending right now. But rather than spending money of overhead you will be spending it on marketing to bring sales into your club.

until next time...


Chris
www.GymMarketing.com

A NEW BLOGGER

A lot has been going on here at Vitality Marketing Group. We have tons of new products and FREE resources located at www.gymmarketing.com so CHECK THEM OUT!

Additionally i wanted to give everyone a quick introduction to me. My name is Chris Batchelor. If you have had contact with Vitality over the past year no doubt that you have spoken or traded emails with me. I am Curtis Mock's partner and am also the newest contributor to this blog, so look for some changes and more frequent updates.

My primary goal will be to give you a personal view on the state of the health club industry as it exists today... the good, the bad and the ugly. I will also do my best to keep you up to date with some of the most successful marketing and operation trends.

In addition to my personal views you also see semi regular posts from other contributors and clients of VMG. Curtis might even take some time away from his new blog www.curtismock.com to give us his in site on some important issues.

Also, if you have any questions or issues that you're interested in please email requests to me at cbatchelor@gymmarketing.com and I'll do my best to post a relevant article

Until next time...

Chris
www.GymMarketing.com