Relaxed Approach To Retention – Steven Renata, Les Mills
Fitness professionals are duty-bound to impart their passion for exercise and get the results the clients are paying good money for - even if that client has a natural aversion to exercise or a totally sedentary lifestyle before walking into your premise. But sometimes gym staff are a little too great at firing clients up with visions of running marathons or rocking a hot bod. They don't ensure newbies understand that they need to take it slowly, build fitness gradually, and experience a wide range of options to better understand their own tolerances. Consequently, what often happens is that clients leap into a couple of advanced classes without proper guidance and end up, at best, not being able to walk again for a week - or at worst, injuring themselves badly.
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The Big Boxes are being eaten alive, or at least nibbled at in a significant manner by the small, low cost of entry, specialized studios. Can they recover and compete or will they lose market share? Everywhere I go, I hear the same thing – the small boutique studios are “nibbling” away at our market share. There is yoga, cycle, barre, pilates, functional training, Curves, Cross Fit, Orange Theory, Boot Camps, Kosama, etc... Research I’ve seen shows that at least 25% of the small studio offerings have members that are keeping membership to their regular “traditional club.”
Social media has created a lot of talk, hype and buzz in every industry, but what does it mean for the fitness industry? Despite initially not “getting” social media, I now understand the power today’s social media technology holds for enhancing the fitness industry. Here are some interesting statistics about social media and the Internet that might help you “get it,” too...
There is a common belief that leadership positions carry lower levels of stress than non-leadership positions based on measured lower Cortisol Hormone levels as well as self-reported anxiety levels. This premise was confirmed by an article titled, Leadership is Associated With Lower Levels of Stress, written by Gary D. Shermana, Jooa J. Leea, Amy J. C. Cuddyb, Jonathan Renshonc, Christopher Oveisd, James J. Grosse and Jennifer S. Lerner - Harvard. The concept seemed to rest partially in the fact that, even in primates, higher status lowers stress with the findings being that the more sense of control an individual or primate has, the lower their stress level will be. While this is proven and makes complete sense, my question is what happens to the leader when they are struggling with their sense of control or lack of control? What effect does a stressful event or prolonged stress beyond normal levels cause in judgment, emotional IQ (EQI) and overall ability to prioritize actions and decisions?
I’ve had the distinct honor and privilege of serving as the chairperson of IHRSA’s board of directors for the past year. It’s been a remarkably rewarding period for me, one during which IHRSA and our industry have clearly made a great deal of progress.
Bill McBride is a health club industry veteran. He has worked in all aspects of sales, marketing, leadership, management, member experience and operations. He currently serves as the Co-Founder, President & CEO of Active Sports Clubs/Active Wellness. He also is the Founder, President & CEO of BMC3. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for IHRSA and MACMA (Mid-Atlantic Club Management Association), been a Board Member on ACE’s Industry Advisory Panel, Club Business Pro’s Advisory Panel, The Wellness Health Education Advisory Board and was a contributing faculty member of Club Success Magazine.
Bill is an outstanding corporate executive in the health club industry. He is etremely talented, passionate about the industry and a real leader. He is now serving on the IHRSA (trade association) Board of Directors, one of the many ways he gives back to the industry. Employees love to work for him and CEOs love to mentor him. He is a true star in this industry.