Fiture: The Ultimate Fitness Blog

Are you a member of a gym? If so read this and reblog, retweet, share

Today I read some very interesting statistics on the gym industry that I wanted to share with you guys and how it is time that it changes because number 1 customers have changed and number 2 because the world is changing. It is becoming more transparent and people are getting smarter and I think that it is ridiculous that business and executives try to treat customers like they are not people or as if the business or executives are somehow above others. The gym industry is surprisingly no different than the phone or banking industry in that it’s inherent business model is that of tricking customers into buying things that they do not understand so that the businesses can make a big profit on customers ignorance. This is another reason why I do what I do because I want to be in the business of helping people and I want to be able to help change an industry even if it is in the smallest way. 

There was a study that was said that 41% of gyms and their salesmen did not explain gym fees, 81% did not give the customer a hard copy, and 96% did not explain to the customer how to legally cancel their contract if they needed to. These stats are directly from a very reputable source (The Harvard Business Review). What is mind boggling about these numbers is the amount of gyms that have been able to stay in business because of these very rules they set up to set customers up on a slippery slope of bad business. There are intentional rules in a lot of contracts that are set up in gyms that make it to where you fail and have to pay a penalty on it to the gym and the gym prospers. 

Perhaps we can all take a lesson from Lifetime fitness who offers a 30 day money back guarantee and is also a publicly traded company, to pay attention to our customers and our customer needs and conduct fair business. The industry standard is a 40% annual attrition rate and Lifetime Fitness’ attrition rate is 10% lower (30%) than industry standard because of this transparency and customer service. 

By having such a big attrition rate in the gym industry, that is the main reason why gyms have to spend so much money on advertising and special deals to acquire NEW customers because they are not taking care of their CURRENT customers. I will take the lesson with me and my company and team and spend more efforts on improving our customer experience so we can grow organically and fairly to everyone and be able to look ourselves in the mirror at night. 

Do not let some gyms make a bad name for all of us gyms and personal trainers out there. Just be sure to ask thoroughly for all of the information up front and ask for referrals similar to how you would with a doctor. This industry will change I promise because a new generation is coming. 

Share this with your friends and spread the movement www.fiture.tumblr.com