Group Training: Getting It Right in 2010 by Bob & Jolyn Esquerre

During Q4, 2009, we had received quite a few comments, both solicited and unsolicited, about problems implementing successful  fee-based Group Training Programs. The feedback came from the following vested interest groups: Club Owners, Club Executives,  Club General Managers, Fitness Managers/Directors, Personal Trainers, Group Exercise Instructors and Club members. The most  common complaint…..”why can’t we succeed in our Group Training Programs?” What did these vested interest groups do wrong  [except for the Club Members]?

COMMENTS/OBSERVATIONS
1. The members are not willing to pay for the fee-based Group Training Programs;
…the clubs were not able to create a value-added point of difference between Group Exercise Classes (which are included in the  membership fees) and fee-based Group Training Sessions!
…a comprehensive pre-launch marketing campaign that quantified the differences between Group Exercise Classes and Group  Training Programs was not successfully done!
…the price was too high in relationship to the perceived value in the eyes of the educated consumer!
…the price was so low that it created the perception of……”how could the Program be valuable if it’s so cheap!”
2. The members reported that they did not “feel” anything different or unique from the particular Group Training sample classes;
…the fitness Professionals were not evaluated to determine whether or not they were ready to deliver the fee-based Group  Training Programs!
…the Group Training Coaches were not adequately prepared/trained to deliver the physiological outcomes that the members were  supposed to obtain [i.e. feel] after each Group Training Session!
3. The Clubs are not making enough money from the program;
…the price was too low & the payout was too high;
…the price was right but the payout was too high;
4. The Clubs selected their “best” Personal Trainers to be in their Group Training Programs, but the members did not come back  after the first Group Training Sessions;
…the “best” Personal Trainers did not have the “right” Group Training skill-sets even though they had the “right” technical  knowledge to Coach the Group Training Program. The biggest missing skill-set was the ability to build relationships with the  Group Training Clients!
5. The Clubs selected their “best” Group Exercise Instructors to be in their Group Training Programs, but the members did not  consistently “show up” &/or return after the first Group Training Sessions;
…the “best” Group Exercise Instructors were accustomed to “waiting-around-for-the-students-to-show-up-for-the-class” as  opposed to recruiting “clients” and getting “referrals” from these satisfied “clients” for the Group Training Program. Group  Training is more than “just listing a class and hoping that they will show up”! These “best” Group Exercise Instructors were  also unaccustomed to asking students to pay for Group Classes & also did not see themselves as offering any incremental value to  the members’ experience outside a Group Exercise Class!
6. The Clubs had a budget of 10 Clients per Group Training Program in order to make a profit; however, the Clubs could not get  more than 4 or 5 members to participate on a regular basis;
…the Fitness Professionals were not incentivized to recruit members to not only consistently attend & pay for Group Training  but also did not proactively manage the referral process so that they would could get more members into the Group Training  Program!
…the various club departments did not have a “sense-of-urgency” in supporting the Group Training Program by either advocating  the Program &/or attending the Group Training Sessions!
7. After the Club launched the Group Training Program, the most experienced Personal Trainers did not want to participate in the  Program because they were not being paid enough;
…the Club’s Pricing & Compensation Strategy did not have an incentive option that motivated the Personal Trainers to either  recruit members to attend & pay for Group Training or to incentivize them to proactively manage a referral process that would  get more members into the Group Training Program!
8. After the Group Training Program was launched with a common programming theme, each Fitness Professional did “their-own- thing”. The result..the members had an inconsistent experience & the value-proposition of the Program was sub-optimized;
…Club Management did not provide operational management direction & support with clearly defined expectations and outcomes  from either a club perspective or a member perspective! We call this…”The Inmates Running The Asylum Syndrome!”]
9. After the Club launched the Group Training Program, the most experienced Personal Trainers did not want to participate in the  Program because they didn’t believe that the Program would be successful;
…over the years, Club management had demonstrated that they could not successfully launch & manage fee-based Group Training  Programs. Fitness Professionals had no confidence in club management!
What Went Wrong? Poor Strategic & Operational Planning!
The Club Managers & Service Providers had either a poor understanding or had a lack of appreciation for one or more of the  following 10 points:
1. They did not know how to manage the member experience;
2. They did not know how to continually optimize [i.e. reinvent] the member experience;
3. They did not know how to create programming value;
4. They did not know how to manage programming value;
5. The Club Managers & Service Providers [i.e. Fitness Professionals] did not believe that they could add value to the member experience with fee-based Programs;
6. The Club managers & Service Providers did not know how to stimulate consumer “demand”;
7. The Club managers & Service Providers did not understand the correlation between value and price;
8. The Club managers did not know how to coach their employees on “how-to” manage the member experience;
9. The Club managers & Service Providers failed to appreciate the fact that club members are really educated consumers who will respond in a positive, receptive manner, if and only if “value” is truly embedded in a new fee based program; and
10. The Club managers did not appreciate the need to incentivize their Fitness Professionals so that they would be compelled to recruit members for the fee-based Programs.
Bottom Line, the value-propositions for either (1) launching a fee-based Group Training Program from the Club’s perspective  [i.e. the financial & branding reinforcement upsides] or (2) the value proposition as to why club members should pay for fee- based Group Training Programs [i.e. the physiological benefits] were never developed and managed.

Our question to each reader…….Does this sound familiar? If so, do you want to make sure it doesn’t happen to you? Request a  copy of the EMAX Comprehensive Group Training Action Plan, in the “Comment Box”, as a benefit for being a member of the EMAX Business Solutions Community.

Meet Your Authors: Bob & Jolyn Esquerre
Bob & Jolyn are Business Solutions Consultants and Co-Owners of the Esquerre Fitness Group [EFG]. EFG, Known for Training  Trainers, Training Group Exercise Instructors and Training Managers, has consistently pushed the envelope-of-excellence in  challenging our industry to provide exceptional service to our members. Recognized as subject-matter-experts in personal  training, program development, club branding, management development, customer relationship management and membership retention,  Bob & Jolyn’s total focus is to create customized business solutions for their customers.


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