The Club Insider Archives: August 2011
Club Insider Contributing Authors Delivering the Goods!
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesOur Club Insider Advertising Team was showcased last month with the cover story title "Club Insider Advertisers Delivering the Goods!" Our Club Insider Advertisers are one of the driving forces that keeps Club Insider presses rolling and "Delivering the Goods" every month for nearly 19 years now.
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IHRSA Continues Voluntary Certification With Down Vote On Latest Draft
By: Joe Moore
Joe MooreA committee of industry stakeholders convened to develop a voluntary facility certification has voted down the latest draft of standards released for ballot. A previous draft was also voted down in October of 2009. The committee has since begun work on a new draft, but a vote has not been scheduled.
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Double Dip Recession? Another Great Depression?
Economic Chaos... Meltdown of the Economy... What Should We Do?
By: Daron Allen
Daron AllenThe economic news continues to draw a negative picture for the United States, our economic future and the world as a whole. What does that mean for our industry? How does the health and fitness industry fit into this picture?
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Purpose Led Profit
By: Donna Krech
Donna Krech"We're club people... WE SAVE LIVES!" The room resounded as I spoke at an industry event, sharing the difference it makes in your club's profit when you have a specific, articulated purpose. Decide to make saving lives your purpose, and more will be saved. Plus, more time, money and freedom will be found for you.
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Out of Chaos Comes Opportunity
By: Thomas Plummer
Thomas PlummerThe classic definition of chaos is complete disorder and confusion. Much of what most of you are feeling in the industry today is a reflection of the chaotic state of the industry at the moment. Even the financial gurus of our industry, such as Rick Caro, declared 2009 as the worst year in modern fitness history when it comes to financial aspects.
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Here's Why You Need a Sales System in Your Health Club
By: Jim Thomas
Jim ThomasWe see this frequently in health clubs. No real systems for sales, and no real accountability... We see sales reps who do their own thing and make it up on the fly. Of course, as manager, you're now trying to manage individuals and not a system, which drives most managers nuts (and leads to retention issues). Plus, when the sales rep quits, you're all starting over... again.
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Get Results or Get Out!
By: Misti Burmeister
Misti BurmeisterAfter finishing up a workout, I stopped in to chat with Rick, the sales manager at a gym I frequented, and found him agonizing over whether to fire one of his salesmen. I was stunned because Keith, the salesman in question, was one my favorites. He signed me up and always took care of any customer's complaints, whether it was his "job" or not. "Every time I come into this gym, Keith greets me with a smile and leaves me feeling like I matter," I told Rick. "Why would you terminate him?"
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Professional Points, Programs and Policies to Support Increased Membership Sales
By: Karen Woodard-Chavez
Karen Woodard-Chavezll markets, not limited to the health and fitness industry, have become much more competitive. All businesses and associates within those businesses must constantly reassess how competitive they truly are. In doing so, enhancements need to be made in structure, policies, training and offering to the market.
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How Long Is A Piece of String?
By: Chris Russo
Chris RussoIt's a seemingly irrelevant question isn't it!? Although, does it make any less sense than questions such as: "How do I get fit?" or "How do I market my business?" There is always more than one right answer, but the one thing they do have in common is the need for more information in order to answer correctly. If you ask the right question, you will usually get the right answer.
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Programming Tip of the Month
Aquatics Programming For The Fall And Winter Season
By: Sandy Coffman
Sandy CoffmanSoon, the fall season will be upon us, and as I have said before, the programming calendar begins in September! Now is the time to prepare. Let's take a look at your aquatics area. It is an often neglected area left to lap swimmers, but the programming opportunities are abundant. More importantly, you can use your aquatic area to program for profit.
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Fred Elias Joins Visual Fitness Planner
FORT WORTH, TX - Visual Fitness Planner welcomes 25-year fitness industry expert Fred Elias to the team. Fred is a former Apex Fitness Group Co-founder and recently a General Manager with 24 Hour Fitness. Fred joins the VFP team and will focus on selling and implementing the TouchPoint Follow-up sales system from In Touch Follow-up.
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Iron Grip Introduces Functional Training Set
ORANGE COUNTY, CA - Iron Grip Barbell Company, an industry leader in commercial free weight equipment, has introduced the Iron Grip Functional Training Set, an easy and cost-effective way for fitness facilities to create a dedicated functional strength training area.
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Linda Mitchell Honored for 30 Years at Newtown Athletic Club
NEWTOWN, PA - Newtown Athletic Club (NAC) and owner, Jim Worthington, honored Linda Mitchell for 30 years of dedicated service by naming that day Linda Mitchell Day.
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Mid-Atlantic Club Management Annual Conference and Awards
ELLICOTT CITY, MD - The Mid-Atlantic Club Management (MACMA) held its annual conference in Ellicott City, Maryland on Thursday, July 14 at the Turf Valley Resort. Over 150 attendees from clubs in MD, VA, DC, PA and DE listened to the fantastic motivational and keynote speaker, Norm Bossio, along with Casey Conrad speaking on Social Media Marketing. Conference sponsors included Life Fitness, Precor, Cybex International and Les Mills.
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IHRSA Quarterly Index Posts Improved Performance for Fourth Consecutive Quarter
BOSTON, MA - The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) announced the release of the IHRSA 2011 First Quarter Index, which reports the financial performance of a sample of the commercial health club industry for the months of January through March. According to survey results of 16 leading U.S. health and sports club companies, representing a total of 503 facilities, leading clubs posted improvements in all key indicators.
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Michael Scott Scudder Acquires Fitness Industry Group
TAOS, NM - Michael Scott Scudder has acquired majority managing partner interest in Fitness Industry Group (FIG). By combining his existing Fitness Business Council/CMETO subscribers with FIG, Scudder will have the largest exposure among the independent health club network in North America (well over 30,000, principally club owners and managers).
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Norm's Notes for August 2011
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesHello Everybody! This is your Club Insider Publisher and Tribal Leader Since 1993 checking in!
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