Club Insider

The Club Insider Archives: October 2021

Welcome to Elizabeth Clark...
IHRSA's New President and CEO!

By: Norm Cates

Norm CatesNorm CatesAs the author of this month's very special Club Insider Cover Story featuring Ms. Elizabeth Clark, a/k/a Liz, I started this special production with the idea of providing all of you with an in-depth, thorough and informative introduction of Liz Clark so that you, our esteemed readers, could really get to know her and will find her to be as special as I've found her to be after spending an hour on the telephone with her. During this enlightening and fun hour speaking with Liz, I found her to be vastly experienced in the trade association world, dedicated, talented, remarkably in touch and extremely determined to be the BEST SHE CAN BE in her new IHRSA leadership role as our President and CEO. Read More

Exercise IS Medicine
By: Mike Alpert

Mike AlpertMike AlpertI have been blessed to have worked in the health club industry for 31 years, and during that time, I have been an advocate of the benefits that exercise has on overall health. Over the years, I have worked with physicians, hospital CEOs and educators, and I have read a lot of medical articles that support the benefits of regular exercise on a person's health and quality of life. So, as we get ready for the IHRSA Convention this year, I want to go back and share with you two examples of the dramatic impact that exercise has had on two of my very dear friends: Augie Nieto and Hal Hargrave. Read More

Are You Asking Your Sales Managers The Right Questions To Grow Sales?
Part I

By: Gary Polic

Gary PolicGary PolicWe all know the statement, "You get what you put up with in management," is a true statement. Therefore, I wanted to share a few questions to ask your Sales Manager on a consistent basis. In Part I, I will share Questions 1 - 10. Next, month, in Part II, I will complete the list with Questions 11 - 20. These questions will alert your Sales Manager to what's most important in achieving their team's sales goals... Read More

The Proven, Five Prong Client Experience Strategy That Wows Members Every Time
By: Sumit Seth

Sumit SethSumit Seth"People everywhere are just completing tasks to move onto the next to-do item. They're going through the motions. They're reading scripts. There's no ownership." That's how a flourishing, multi-location gym owner recently described the state of the client experience in the fitness industry. Sadly, his evaluation is truer than we'd like it to be. Read More

Preventing Site Selection Mistakes When Opening Multiple Clubs in One City
By: Mike Manning

Mike ManningMike ManningOne problem I've seen several times when working on fitness industry acquisitions is that operators sometimes open clubs too close together. In the past, this was fairly easy to do because tools didn't exist to make it easy for operators to understand where their members lived. But, this problem has been overcome by software providers who can link to your club billing system to plot the addresses of existing members on scalable maps. Used correctly, for operators who own multiple clubs in a market, this member mapping software is the biggest mistake prevention tool I've ever seen for new location selection. Read More

Are You in the Recruitment Business?
By: Cathy Spencer Browning

Cathy Spencer BrowningCathy Spencer BrowningJim Collins, researcher, business consultant and iconic author wrote, "The old adage 'People are your most important asset' turns out to be wrong. People are not your most important asset. The right people are." We all know this to be true, so why is it that recruitment doesn't seem to be anyone's priority? Instead, it seems like a lot of complaining along the lines of "good people are hard to find." Read More

Norm's Notes for October 2021
By: Norm Cates

Norm CatesNorm CatesHello Everybody! This is your Club Insider Founder and Tribal Leader Since 1993 checking in with our 334th monthly edition! As I sit here today, I think to myself... "SELF, what can you write here today that'll be worthy of this salutation, and an appropriate greeting to my friends out there who're reading this very special edition of Club Insider?" How about this... Hallelujah BOYS and GIRLS... isn't it just great that football is back!? Hooray! Read More

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