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In August 2004 the future was looking ugly for Group Fit at Fitness Works (“FW”) in Arizona. At its two clubs, Mesa and Red Mountain, average class attendance was only 11 people! The owners, Philip and Robert Clar were philosophically pro Group Fitness but found the management practicalities of freestyle group exercise a disaster.
Yet 15 months later, FW opened a brand new 26,000 ft² facility with GF as the focal point of this state-of-the-art club. This metamorphosis occurred when Jackie Clar (GF Manager) discovered pre-choreographed group exercise. The attraction was the business system, which supported consistency of member experience in the studios while maintaining excitement for attendees.
In Phil’s words, “now management is in control, rather than the Instructors.” As a result Group Fit survived and prospered, despite FW’s top freestyle instructor walking out in late 2004. While FW experienced a small dip in attendance for 3 - 4 months, thereafter GF visits exceeded previous records and kept on growing.
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- 23% - 31% of attendances from GF in 2006
- 12% of club attendances in GF in 2004
- August 2004, began pre-choreographed GF
- Today, circa 70% capacity use in GF rooms
- 3-club privately owned chain
- Memberships range from 2,600 – 5,500
- GF is the focal point of new club opened 2006
- 95% Instructor retention across clubs
- 60% member retention and expect more
- Created Fitness Works University
- Annual education investment of circa USD 100,000
- 2 more clubs to be opened in 2007
- GF will be central to member experience
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An amazing turnaround
The turnaround in GF’s results is startling. In August 2004, GF provided an average of 12% of total attendances. As of May 2006, FW enjoys 23% - 31% of total attendances from GF across its 3 facilities. Given these clubs are medium to large operations with a range of memberships from 2,600 – 5,500 clients, the scale of this transformation is huge.
Yet management wants more from GF and plans for group exercise to deliver 40% of total attendances at 5-month-old Higley, which has 1 GF room and a dedicated RPM studio. So with retention* at Mesa and Red Mountain consistent at 60%, there is an expectation that Higley will exceed this benchmark and deliver retention of >70%. With an average capacity usage of 70% across the combined 5 GF studios in FW’s 3 facilities, management is succeeding in driving the GF system hard.
Instructors grow class attendances
Instructors are incentivised to deliver attendance growth, maintain quality and foster teamwork. They receive a flat rate per class of USD 12 plus US 50 cents for each person who attends their class. Instructors also receive ‘points’ which translate into monthly financial bonuses for specific activities such as team teaching with trainees, identifying potential new Instructors and helping to organise FW’s quarterly relaunches for each new batch of Les Mills programme releases.
GF’s renaissance is also supported by cross-club initiatives. All staff must attend a minimum of 2 GF classes per month or pay rises are at risk! Personal Trainers (“PTs”) are expected to include GF in clients’ tailored programmes. Phil also has a goal to have as many Instructors full time at their clubs as possible, by facilitating their having dual roles e.g. PT / Instructor or Sales Consultant / Instructor. Currently of FW’s 75 Instructors, 10 are full time and this is gradually increasing. Management believes that with greater club involvement, overall staff turnover will continue improve.
Fitness Works University
It was GF’s 95% Instructor retention rate that prompted management to formalise a further major initiative in-house. Recognising the impact of an inspirational yet standardised training system on Instructor retention, management invested USD 100,000 per annum and set up Fitness Works University. The goal is create a consistency of attitude, service and quality throughout the whole club.
Management is backing education as a critical way for staff to obtain tools for success. FW University offers courses at levels 1 – 5, training staff from front desk through to Master Trainers. Course content includes FW’s unifying vision, customer service initiatives and industry knowledge around topics such as nutrition, supplements, physiology and biology etc. Since establishment in January 2006, 35 of the 75 Instructors and 25 of 70 PTs have been through University. While there was some friction about the requirement to attend University, attendees have been uniformly positive once they have completed their courses.
Management views FW University as a tool for natural selection. They want fun professionals on FW’s team who are committed, even if they are part timers, and who will take up the challenge to continually learn and improve.
Recognition for performance
The University is backed up by behavioural initiatives such as the ‘3-foot rule’. Employees must always interact with members if they are within 3 feet of them. It’s easy to implement and is having a rapid impact on employees changing the way they work to make member experience even better. Further, FW has monthly awards to celebrate both top performance and improvement among Sales, PT and Instructor teams. The ‘winners’ are announced at monthly meetings where all club staff attend followed by either taking a GF class together or watching an inspirational video or listening to a motivational speaker.
Phil and Rob will open 2 more new-build facilities in 2007, with GF being central to both clubs. Based on their experience managing facilities across low (Mesa), mid (Red Mountain) and high (Higley) income areas, management is confident they have the skills and experience to expand successfully. One of their urgent priorities is finding another top GF Manager to support the ongoing GF revolution. Whoever picks up the gauntlet will be on a fast-track to an extraordinary career as a Fitness Professional working with an “A” team.
Fitness Works is a privately owned chain of 3 clubs in Arizona, USA and has 6 Les Mills programmes
*Retention has been calculated using the IHRSA formula of [1-(Aggregate dropped memberships for 12 months/12 month average beginning memberships) *100%]
Phillip says…
Phil, Robert and Jackie combine innovation with rigour to build their expansion locomotive. Their commitment to education in-house takes Key Element 4 of the Group Fitness Management System, “Organise Great Instructor Training,” to a new high, by delivering education cross-club as they expand their privately owned chain.
The transformation of GF here also shows the power of fully committing to a strategy and getting the right people on your team. FW took the GF System and built wins based on Key Element 7 “Plan for Success”. A superb example to us all of what is possible in such a short time.