Does Your Fitness Center Have a Bored Room?

By Aaron Eisberg

Exciting-x-Boring-creative-sign.jpg

Yes, you are reading correctly. While your gym may have a board room, the last thing you want is for your gym to have a "bored" room. Take a look around. Are your members happy, excited, and engaged when they come to the gym? Or are they practically asleep as they trudge to the same old machines to do the same old routines?

Here are some tips to get the energy level in your gym pumped up and your members fully engaged:

1) Provide Exceptional Service

While there may be some die-hard gym members who will stick with your gym no matter what, for the most part, your members need to feel welcomed, appreciated, and even pampered. Excellent customer service may start at sign-up, but it must continue throughout the entire member experience.

That means that you must invest in hiring high-energy staff members who are willing and ready to engage with your members on a personal level. Keep staff enthusiasm high by paying your people appropriately, offering opportunities for advancement, and providing a great work environment for them.

Regular, consistent emphasis must be placed on continuing staff training in the art of excellent customer service. This high-octane atmosphere will filter from your staff to your members and help keep your members happy and engaged.

2) Provide a Personalized Experience

Engage your members early and often. It takes very little time to notice what areas of your gym draw each member. Use the things you observe about each member to engage him or her more personally.

If you have noticed that a member seems a bit hesitant to use a particular machine, take a moment to show them how to operate it correctly. If you notice that a member lingers around the weight area but never picks up a dumbbell, offer a complimentary session with one of your trainers to help that member learn the ins and outs of weight training.

3) Encourage Social Interaction

For new members, consider offering a free one-week Buddy Pass so the member can bring along a friend for moral support until he or she is comfortable in your gym.

For members who have been a part of your gym for some time, you might consider ramping up some of your class offerings.

Some gyms have found success sponsoring a variety of internal clubs within the gym. For instance, members of a certain age group, members with a specific health issue, or members with kids of a similar age may enjoy meeting with other members in the same situation.

4) Provide Education and Information

You know your area and your gym members. Provide information that is relevant to them in the form of seminars, workshops, and in your monthly newsletter.

Many of your members may be interested in losing weight. Offering a series of classes on healthy cooking (including hands-on instruction) may be an exciting opportunity. Offering classes about strength training or how to exercise with joint issues may appeal to some of your members.

You might consider partnering with a local clinic to provide health assessments, or with a local massage therapy center to provide chair massages. Partnering with other businesses in the community keeps your brand front and center in the minds of your members and can broaden your member base as well.

Make classes and informational sessions fun, interesting, and informative.
Beautiful-Female-Athlete-Running.jpg
5) Create a Challenging Atmosphere

A little friendly competition is often just the thing to keep members excited and engaged. Arrange team fitness challenges to encourage members to reach their fitness goals, and reward members publicly for their achievements.
 

Take your wellness challenges to the next level by leveraging the power of the AccuroFit system. With Accurofit, you can track, rank, display, and reward your members with real-time results. Even better, the Accuro Health App keeps your members engaged even when they are not in the gym. Request a demo of the AccuroFit system today and keep your members engaged and the "bored" room nothing more than a distant memory.