PFP NEWS
Issue No. 5 May 2021
To say that this last year has been a difficult one is an understatement. Like most other industries, the fitness industry was not prepared for Covid. It has been both stressful and a challenge and for those of you who were able to stick it out through creativity and perseverance, you can now attack the future knowing that you can meet seemingly insurmountable obstacles. One thing this pandemic has reinforced for us all is the importance of personal training to the success of our businesses. We did see that those fitness clubs that had successful personal training programs in place were able to rely on their personal training sessions to continue to put some money in the bank. While we all experienced a drop in membership due to member reluctance to train in club or members' loss of income, many of our PFP clubs were kept afloat by their PT revenue. Fitness and health have never been more top of mind for everyone. The fitness industry is poised for a huge rebound and now is the time to prepare to take optimal advantage of it.
Be Prepared for a Rebound
We've all heard how important it is to make the right hiring decisions. Phrases like 'you hire your problems,' 'hire smart from the start,' and 'the right people are your most important asset' almost seem self evident. In practice, however, the recruiting, hiring and training process is a challenging one if you plan to do it well. Ensuring you have the right people requires you to always be in hiring mode. You should have a career button on your website and continually run ads on sites like Indeed to acquire resumes throughout the year. You may feel comfortable because you currently have all your positions filled, but we all know that people leave jobs, even if they appear to be happy or have been with your organization for a long time. You have a responsibility to your business to manage your numbers and bottom line. This requires not only that you fill the required positions but recruit the best possible candidates for every position in your organization. Successful recruiting requires that you begin by understanding the needs and requirements of each specific job. For example, a Fitness Consultant is first and foremost required to have a sales background. Your employment ad needs to be precise and require previous sales experience aside from retail, where the candidate earned a part or majority of their income through commission and bonuses. You should have a detailed interview questionnaire with several of the questions focusing on sales objections and role play. If the candidate does not naturally fall into a role play during the interview, you most likely have the wrong individual. Forget how many degrees or certifications this person may have. They are not going to be training the client and their number one responsibility is selling personal training. As long as the individual has a passion for fitness, trains themself and is fit, they can easily pick up a certification like the level 1 FMS course in no time. You should be working with your PFP Business Consultant to place ads and to have them conduct the first interview virtually. From there, your PFP Consultant will send your Fitness Director only the best candidates for 2nd and 3rd interviews at the club. PFP also now has an extensive 5 week virtual training course to get your new FCs up to speed. In combination with the videos and training materials in the Client Portal and on PFP Track, we are more confident than ever that we can find, hire and train the very best Fitness Consultants. If you do not already have access to our Client Portal, see the section on the Client Portal in this newsletter & / or register for the portal HERE. It's important not to stand in the way of your company's success. If you are settling for sales people, either in your membership department or your consultation office, that are closing below PFP standards (ie. 30% on new consultations), then you are the biggest obstacle to your club's success.
"Forget about how many degrees or certifications this person may have."
Your PFP Business Consultant Will Help You
President's Message
Successful Recruiting
Attention: Owners, Club Managers & Fitness Directors
Always Be in Hiring Mode
The Right People Are Your Most Important Asset
| Jeff Russo
Increase your member engagement within their 1st 8 weeks and experience greater PT revenue, member satisfaction and retention .
Over the years, many of our PFP clubs have struggled with getting members to attend their follow up appointments during their first year after their Initial Consultation - whether it be a Personal Training Demo, a Member Assistance Session or a 2nd, 3rd or 4th Consultation, history has shown that the success wasn't always there. Over the last year, we have launched and tested the new client 8 Week Member Experience in 4 of our PFP client clubs. We can now report to you that it has been a resounding success. I would also highly advise that you speak with your PFP Business Consultant to make the change to your consultation program and implement the 8 Week Member Experience. The major difference between the 8 Week Member Experience and the Annual Consultation program is that members can now invest in 4 appointments with our Personal Training Department over their first 8 weeks of membership. As we all know, this is the most crucial time to provide support and education to a new member. With the right onboarding experience, tracking and follow up, customer satisfaction will increase resulting in excellent member retention and referrals in addition to PT sales. As you can see in the flow diagram above, we now have 4 opportunities to sell personal training. These 4 appointments consist of 2 Consultation appointments booked 8 weeks apart and 2 Personal Training Demos approximately 2 and 4 weeks from the Initial Consultation. Show ratios for appointments are far greater than they have been in past because the member has paid for the full program, the appointments are pre-booked and the member is experiencing the excitement of a new membership. Depending on the market, our clubs are charging between $99 - $149 and many have replaced their Initiation fee with this onboarding service. Members are also incentivized to attend all of their scheduled appointments because many of our clubs have chosen to provide those members who do complete the full program with a credit in the full amount to be used towards one of their personal training products. There is huge value for the new member and they are further incentivized to get started on a personal training package. We know that those members who participate in training are amongst our most satisfied members and are likely to both stay with the club long term and continue to participate in training. In addition, this incredible onboarding process is a great introduction to your club for those members who choose not to purchase training. It provides multiple touchpoints which staff and leads to increased member satisfaction, retention and refferals. In addition, they are more likely to purchase personal training services in future than if they had not had this introduction. We have created an automated 8 Week Member Experience Survey that is emailed to members after the initial 8 weeks of their membership . This holds us accountable and gives us the opportunity to provide referrals if they have had a positive experience. Pro Fitness Program provides full training for our Consultants, Trainers and Managers to administer and track the full 8 Week Member Experience. By the end of the summer, PFP Track will have a new upgrade that will prompt Consultants and Trainers to do their part in the process and to audit whether or not the new member has completed all appointments. Contact your PFP Business Consultant for more information.
How does it work?
Increasing Attendance at Appointments
the 8 week member experience
| PT Sales & Onboarding
An 8 Week Member Experience Survey completed and submitted by a member at Western Racquet & Fitness.
Tracking the 8 Week Member Experience
PFP Track now has the ability to process your ACH / EFT and credit cards payments for all of your Personal Training Department purchases. Not only will this save your administrator countless hours of reconciling 2 systems, but you will also reduce costs related to the following: incorrect commissions ; paid sessions to Trainers for clients who have missed payments or are in bad standing ; and incorrect department and individual sales & financial totals. ProFitness Program has partnered with Bambora, a leading international payment processing company. Bambora sends real time payment processing information to the PFP Track software platform so that you only have to utilize PFP Track for all of your billing and reporting needs. In addition, we are confident their processing fees will beat those of your existing payment processor. To process your payments through PFP Track or for more detailed information, contact your PFP Business Consultant. The set up process is simple and quick. Once approved, you can be up and running within 3 - 5 business days.
payment processing
| Bambora
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Social media Marketing for fcs & Trainers
Establish yourself as THE fitness professional in your community and self-generate consultation and training appointments instead of relying on membership to feed them to you.
|Marketing
Although Pro Fitness Program is a successful program in providing you with consultation / personal training clients, it is dependent on marketing outside of and within the club. The most successful Fitness Consultants and Trainers don't wait for membership to feed them appointments. Instead, while they are in the process of building their client base, they self-generate appointments. Social media promotion is an excellent tool to establish you as THE fitness expert in your community and help you build your consulting / training business within the club. Even when you are at the point at which your are fully booked, you will want to continue to promote yourself to replace clients as they drop off. Social media is an ideal way to market yourself: practically everyone has a phone and access to it, your reach is virtually limitless and it is free. Think about your ideal consulting / training client and which forms of social media are best suited to reach those clients. Likely you will want to use multiple platforms. For Facebook and Instagram, create a professional business page / account and include the following: your bio / introduction a professional headshot a list of or link to your degrees, credentials and accomplishments Regular content including: photos of you working with clients testimonials from clients (with approval) videos educational posts events at your club invitations; promotional posts such as the ones to the left cross promotions with other businesses / individuals in your community In addition, if you are adept at creating videos, think about using TikTok. Be creative and entrepreneurial. Always make sure, however, that your content is appropriate and does not reflect poorly on your club in any way. * Random images have been used for these pieces. Always include a headshot of yourself smiling as well as photos of you working with your clients. Make sure to obtain permission from your clients before you photograph them and use them in any marketing / media.
Above: Harry with his Kingdom Fit group & gear at Gold's Gym. Below: Harry with his family.
Harry King, Personal Trainer at Gold’s Gym in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, completed 2260 training sessions in 2020 despite Covid-19 lockdowns and client reluctance during the pandemic. That is more sessions trained than completed in 2019 by our 2019 Trainer of the Year! Harry was spotlighted on the news show Proudly PA and was named Harrisburg Mazazine Simply The Best Trainer of the Year for 2020. He is also kept extremely busy with his family which includes 1 year old twin girls.
Q & A with Harry King
Harry King Gold's Gym, PA
Harry king
Harry is the epitome of a successful Personal Trainer. While the Covid pandemic has been devastating to our entire industry, we have seen that one of the very few if not only departments in clubs that was able generate income during much of 2020 was personal training. Going into 2020, Harry had curated an extensive client base that he continued to train in a year that crippled his colleagues. This was a result of the strong relationships he built with his clients and the commitment he was able to obtain from them. Despite the lockdown and the reluctance of people to join a fitness club during a pandemic which resulted in considerably fewer consultations, Harry was able to complete 2260 training sessions. He acknowledges that it required creativity and entrepreneurial ingenuity but is happy that he was able to train his clients at a time when it was more important than ever that they take care of their physical and mental health. Harry has built his personal training client base over the past 4 years. He began working with Gold’s Gym Camp Hill as the GGX Director and Personal Trainer. He began teaching Silver Sneakers, Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga and a class he created called Cardio Express. Although his focus recently has been on training and he is no longer the Group Ex director, he continues to instruct studio cycling, yoga and Cardio Express as well as a small group cross training program he created called Forged. In March, Harry was promoted to Master Trainer for the Gold's Gym Camp Hill location. In addition, he began and runs a non-profit program out of Camp Hill called RAM (Responsibility and Morals) for kids 12 – 21. You can check out the program at kingdomempowerment717.com. Q. How did Covid affect your personal training in 2020? A. Covid challenged me to reimagine the way I train my clients and take my training to another level. Early on, I got creative; I worked with Gold’s management to get my clients 3 pieces of equipment to use at home and began doing Zoom training sessions. I began using Google docs to keep track of client workouts instead of the composition books I had been using. It’s been a mix of emotions during the pandemic for me and my clients. Some clients didn’t want to do Zoom sessions when that was the only option we had and some did not want to come back to the gym when it reopened. Fortunately, Gold’s Camp Hill has a private training studio. I was the only trainer who had clients training at the gym when it reopened. Many of my clients felt comfortable training in our private studio with our stringent Covid and sanitation protocols. I decided to work from before the sun came up until after the sun went down to overcome this challenging situation and be as successful as possible. I also realized early on that it was important to stay connected to our members. Our marketing director, Jordan Coulson, really helped me out a lot. When the gym closed, he gave me access to his garage. He filmed my yoga and cardio classes in his garage via Zoom and then put links to the classes on the Gold’s Gym Camp Hill Facebook page. Q. Obviously, you did an outstanding job as a Trainer in 2020 despite the global pandemic, but is there any area of your position in which you feel you could still improve? A. I am so driven, it gets me in trouble with my family at times. I have to find the balance of providing for my family and giving them quality time. That is what I need the most improvement on ……. other than my squat. LOL. Q. What advice do you have for other Trainers (or any fitness professionals for that matter) who have difficulty with the 'idea' of sales? A. My advice to Trainers who are having trouble growing their training business is to give it your ALL. It’s more about effort than knowledge. I got my approach from one of my favorite TV shows, Cheers. You want the gym to be a place where everyone knows your name. Q. How do you approach PT renewals? A. When it comes time to renew, I usually just ask my client if they want to continue doing the same thing LOL. I’m always setting goals with my clients so I would be very confused if they committed to a goal and did not renew to continue to pursue it. Q. Can you tell us a bit about your approach to training? A. My training focus is all about accountability. I constantly check in on my clients with a series of questions: Do you want to be held accountable? Or do you want to stay in your comfort zone? Are you satisfied with the quality of life you have currently or do you want more? Then I create the perfect storm…. Q. You have recently been promoted to the position of Master Trainer which entails greater responsibilities including the overseeing of your team of Personal Trainers. What new challenges do you anticipate in this position? A. The biggest challenge of being Master Trainer will be the balancing act of challenging Trainers to be better without coming off as domineering. I remember an instance when I coached basketball when I was younger. A long time referee pulled me aside and told me I was yelling at my players too much. He said there’s nothing wrong with giving them a kick in the butt sometimes but you have to balance it out with a pat on the back. I’ll do my best to inspire and encourage my team of Trainers to achieve great things in 2021. Harry holds ISSA certifications in Personal Training, Fitness Nutrition and Exercise Therapy as well as certifications in Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga, Schwinn Cycling, HipBox and Silver Sneakers. He graduated from Villanova University in 2017 with a BA in Liberal Studies.
goldsgym.com/camphillpa/
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Total Sessions Trained: 2260 Total Hours Trained: 1583 # of PT Demos: 20 # of MAS: 31 Total New PT Gross: $ 67,500 Total Renewal PT Gross: $ 102,443
Harry's appearance on Proudly PA.
What his 2020 Looked Like:
Personal trainer of the year
| Gold's Gym, Camp Hill, PA.
What her 2019 Looked Like
Congratulations to Sarah Rekowski for retaining her title of FC of the Year in 2020. Certainly, her number of consultations and sales were drastically impacted by Covid-19 this past year – her Total New PT Gross was less than half of that in 2019. However, her achievements during the pandemic testify to both her persistence and the importance of having a standard business operating system in place in the Fitness / PT Department. In addition to recognizing Sarah for this achievement, Pro Fitness Program also wants to take this opportunity to congratulate Sarah on her marriage during the lockdown. First, you are probably wanting to know her numbers. In 2019, Sarah accomplished the following: Q. How has Covid affected your work as a Fitness Consultant and your ability to perform consultations? A. The pandemic scared many people from coming into the club and even shut us down for a bit so our membership was reduced quite drastically as a result of membership cancellations. Besides putting a mask on, I haven’t changed a single thing in my consultations. Q. Obviously, you did a good job as a Fitness Consultant despite fitness clubs having a difficult time bringing in new members, but is there any area of your position in which you feel you could have done better in 2020? A. I could have done a better job of staying in contact with and consoling my clients who fell off the grid because of their fear of the virus. Q. How do you approach consultations and what advice do you have for other FCs who have difficulty with the 'idea' of sales? A. Find your flow. Be mindful of our training as FCs but do what works for you. We all have our own flavor so trust your gut and go for it. Here are a few things I like to do: Look my clients in the eyes and talk to them like they are my friend, mom, grandma, little sister, etc.; Be a person to them and truly and intently listen to their answers; Engage in the conversation and share some insight into my life, my failures and obstacles; Humble myself and embrace the vulnerability. People crave connection. We have become so distant to each other, so transactional …. Even before the pandemic. People need people – it comes down to that. I’ve learned to put aside the pressure of making a sale and just be the person my client needs in that moment. Q. How has the Covid pandemic affected you personally? A. I have tried to use this difficult time to make improvements in my lifestyle and recognize my blessings. It has forced me to allow myself permission to slow down in the chaos of this life. Our culture pressures us to always drive for more, better, best, but as we know, it is easy to burn out in this industry. In the last year I’ve realized how significant it is to put the health of my mind ahead of the busyness of my to-do lists, my goal lists, my schedule. Prior to the pandemic, my stresses and anxieties had finally caught up with me. Slowing down and mindfully breathing, praying and reflecting cleared away the chaos, nurtured my mind, and made room for the true priorities of my life. It takes time and is forever ongoing, but it is mightily worth it. Whatever your role in the industry and whatever season of life you are in. I challenge you to sit in stillness … in the quiet … and truly reflect on the status of your mental and emotional health. And if not for you, do it for the people around you because believe it or not, they can see and are affected by what kind of headspace you are in. Sarah has a Bachelor of Science degree from UW - La Crosse with a Major in Community Health Education & Health Promotion and a Minor in Nutrition.
westernracquet.com
Fitness Consultant of the year
"Find your flow. Be mindful of our training as FCs but do what works for you. We all have our own flavor so trust your gut and go for it.
Sarah Rekowski, Fitness Consultant at Western Racquet & Fitness in Green Bay, Wisconsin, led all PFP clubs in PT sales for the 2nd year in a row!
Q & A with Sarah Rekowski
| Western Racquet & Fitness, Green Bay, WI.
Sarah Rekowski, Western Fitness & Fitness
Sara's 2020 : Total New PT Gross: $ 102 172 Avg Gross per New PT Sale $ 3 523
Sarah and her new husband, Drake Rekowski.
Sarah rekowski
Nostrud iuvaret cu quo, tale probo libris mea ex. Usu an possim democritum.
The initial launch of Pro Fitness Program took place just 6 weeks before the forced March closure but the immediate financial impact left owners Dave Chichelo and Bobby Clark excited about the long-term revenue potential going forward. Since reopened clubs from across the country reported lower than anticipated new enrollments, they knew that PT revenue would compensate for the decreased membership revenue and then some. They spent much of the nearly 6 months of mandated closure focused on expanding their team of fitness professionals and since reopening the results have been inspiring as reflected by sales.
Retro Fitness Fort Lee, NJ Locked In to Pro Fitness Program
| Al Tassel, PFP Consultant
Al's snapshot
Every month, Al writes a blog to highlight outstanding achievements from clubs that utilize the Pro Fitness Program for their new member on-boarding process and 1 to 1 PT program. We include one of Al's blogs in each issue of the PFP News.
“We are thrilled with this start because prior to PFP we struggled to generate a fraction of our current PT revenue and that was with group and team training included. We are still fine tuning our execution but this program is exactly what we needed. Al & Sharon (Tassel) are passionate about what they do and their in-club training has proven invaluable. As club owners they understand our challenges and have been with us every step of the way!” - Dave Chichelo, Co-owner, Retro Fitness Fort Lee
Access to our PFP Client Portal is restricted to PFP clubs and their employees. For this reason, you will need to register and be approved by PFP to gain an All Access Pass to the Client Portal. To register, click on the Client Portal and click register. Complete all information to help us identify you as an employee of a client club (Please include your club name in the Notes section). Upon receipt of your registration, we will approve your access within 24 hours but more likely within hours. Once you have been approved, you will have access going forward. To avoid this initial lag time when you wish to initially access the Portal, complete the registration process now.
Take advantage of our Client Portal to access valuable PFP resource material that will help you improve your performance!
all access pass
How to Find What You Are Looking For
What Will I Find In The Client Portal?
| Client Portal
The Client Portal on profitnessprogram.com is an invaluable resource. While many of you have accessed and begun to take advantage of the wealth of resources found there, many of you have not. The resources in the Client Portal should be consulted regularly and if you have any questions or would like further clarification on any of the content, contact your PFP Business Consultant. Your Consultant is always more than happy to discuss these materials with you - they are committed to helping you succeed! What is the PFP Client Portal? It is your one stop portal for all PFP resources. Whether you are looking for sales training, leadership seminars, HR materials, PFP forms or back issues of The PFP News, you will find it here! We have uploaded countless valuable audio and video resources in addition to all PFP support materials. You will find: Training materials - We have included all of our training material to ensure your success whether you are a Fitness Director, Fitness Consultant, Trainer, Membership Coordinator, Owner or any other position within the facility. Our library includes numerous videos, audio files and documents and we are constantly adding to it. HR materials - Whether your are interviewing and hiring a new employee or are reviewing existing team members, you will find valuable HR resources here. These resources include interview forms, materials that help you hire the best candidate, KPIs and resources to help Fitness Consultants, Fitness Directors and Trainers become more successful. PFP Forms - You will find the most recent versions of all PFP forms in this portal and be able to download them immediately. No longer will you need to contact your PFP Consultant to find a form. Forms found here include The 8 Week Member Experience Audit, all business planners and checklists. Marketing materials - Many of the most successful marketing pieces used by our clients can be found here. For each promotion, we have included the promotional piece along with detailed instructions on how to run the campaign. Keep checking this area because marketing pieces are being added regularly. Newsletters - You will find links to all back issues of our newly formatted PFP News as well as the current issue. These are always a valuable resource!
How to Obtain an All Access Pass
A Key to Your Success!
There is already a great number of resources in our Client Portal and it continues to grow on a weekly basis. For this reason, we have provided filters for you to be able to locate the information you are looking for. To find a particular resource, simply click on Resources. All of our resources will come up. From here, you can simply 'filter by media type' or 'filter by job title.' You may also search for a particular resource title. 1) We have also included a list of all resources for your reference. To access this list, simply go to the Search field at the top right and type in 'resource list.' The Resource List will immediately come up. The list is categorized by position, resource type and alphabetical order. 3) Find the document you are interested in. Right click on the link and click 'Open Link In New Tab.' The document will then open in a new tab keeping the Resource List open in its original tab . This way, you can open multiple documents at once if needed.
Al and Sharon Tassel complete in club consulting at Retro Fitness, Howell, NJ.
It is turning out to be a very busy spring for Al and Sharon Tassel with Retro Fitness Clubs. In January, they did follow up in-club consulting with Retro Fitness in Fort Lee, NJ.. Retro Fort Lee began with PFP just prior to the Covid pandemic taking hold (see Al's Snapshot in this newsletter). Then in April, Al and Sharon headed to another Retro Fitness, this time in Howell, NJ to begin their first round of in-club consulting and prepare them for their PFP launch. Al and Sharon are now preparing to begin work with 2 Retro Fitness clubs in Albany, NY.. Welcome to all 3 new Retro Fitness locations!
Ph. 416.252.5700 stacyc@profitnessprogram.com profitnessprogram.com
in the news
