The YEAR AHEAD
Get Engaged T
BY ROD MACDONALD
he year 2017 will be a year of engagement. More than ever before, engaging both members and staff will be critical to the
success of every business from small personal training studios to huge multi-location chains. If you aren’t en- gaging these two groups you will soon be out of business. The latest com- petitors are just getting started, and they are hungrier than most current operators. First, get your staff involved in your
vision by incorporating their input and letting them contribute to the success of your business. Once you have them engaged, they will do 50 percent of the engagement with your members. The other 50 percent will come from you as the owner or from the brand expe- rience itself. Your members will stay members if they feel they are being validated or made better by being part of your community. People crave a sense of belonging,
and they will gravitate to where they feel it most. This is why Curves was so popular by 2006 and why CrossFit is so popular a decade later. They each figured out how to make people feel a sense of belonging to something dif- ferent and special. If you aren’t engag- ing them, your members will leave to become members where someone else is doing a better job.
How can you engage them? • Connect with your members and
staff. Know who they are and what they care about. Find out about their long term goals and the charitable causes that inspire them. Find out what they do when they’re not in your facility. When you engage deeply with people, they have the rare experience of knowing that someone cares.
• Recognize them for their accom-
plishments. Notice that they’ve gotten fitter? Let them know. Notice they’ve gained some weight? Show your con- cern, and find out how you can help.
• Results are what drive people into
the gym. When you engage them and get them results, they’ll be loyal for- ever and will be walking spokespeople for your brand.
• Repeat what works until it doesn’t.
Eliminate what isn’t working and what is distracting people from getting results.
Your members are let down ev-
ery day by other companies when they shop, eat and spend their money. When businesses give people a reason to leave (including ignoring them), they do. Don’t worry about engaging every person every single day, just do your best. You will start to see and feel the results within a few weeks, once they understand you’re going to keep going with it.
“Get your staff involved in your vision by incorporating their input and letting them contribute to the success of your business.”
24 Fitness Business Canada January/February 2017
What big plans does your organization have for 2017? This year is a transition year for us as we look toward 2018 and beyond. We have lots of plans focussed on supporting club operators and their staff members. The culmination of this, as always, will be the world fitness expo in August 2017 where everyone with a passion for fitness has a place to congregate.
Rod Macdonald vice-president operations canfitpro
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