How Group Training Affords a More Personalised Fitness Experience

Group training models present a favourable opportunity for growth, by servicing increased consumer demands of connection and fitness progression. However like most industries, it comes with great variation in terms of quality (and consistency) of the consumer experience. Particularly in a membership driven industry, it’s absolutely paramount to ensure you have the correct product, processes, systems and team training to deliver an incredible experience - in our case, this is known as the Fitstop difference!

We’ve delved into understanding why there is so much variation in performance across the industry regarding attrition rates and retention. Yet understanding the difference in performance is quite simple when it comes to really nailing the experience for members; it’s the ability to consistently deliver a personalised service in a group training environment.

Much like the demand for streaming services, online shopping and social media platforms - they’ve all become increasingly successful by ensuring personalisation via recommendations, appealing to the consumer’s interests and making sure value is given at every stage of the consumer journey. Try perceiving group training in the same way - some examples may include recommendations on performance, technology that compliments the core product, trainers who provide hands-on training support, all allude to unparalleled customer value. A personalised environment is at the heart of Fitstop’s business success and partly to thank for fostering unrivalled, sustainable sub-communities. 

Top 5 reasons how a personalised service supports business performance

1. Impact communities on a larger scale 

In any group training business, community should be one of your strongest selling points. Factors that encourage personalisation like supportive and motivated trainers with a vested interest in their members, members feeling supported in sessions and the ability to communicate with and support fellow members; in turn, the lack of any of these components can really limit the creation of a flourishing community. 

At Fitstop, we take advantage of the benefits of group training by realising the potential in creating great community morale. This allows our members to feel appreciated and in turn, they become ‘Fitstoppers for life’ - increasing retention and referral rates, whilst ensuring an incredibly fulfilling business owner experience. 

Whether you're an investor with an affinity for fitness or looking to step up in the industry and own your own gym, group training affords the opportunity to scale the amount of lives you are positively impacting on a daily basis. Couple this with a successful and sustainable business model that promotes multisite ownership and you have endless opportunities to impact a community on an even larger scale.

2. Attract top talent

Put simply, the trend of having screens in every corner of a group training facility can limit the appeal for quality, skilled trainers who are keen to demonstrate their true expertise. To create strong communities, retaining trainers who are passionate about their job and have the opportunity to progress their skill is essential. Adopting a personalised approach attracts higher levels of trainer talent and ensures that screens aren’t doing their job for them - overall, positively influencing the members experience! 

Fitstop goes one step further to ensure trainers stay at the top of their game with bi-monthly product refreshers and training sessions. It’s imperative that top talent never becomes complacent and delivering the perfect experience is always front of mind. 

3. Hands on trainers ensures a member-centric approach 

There often seems to be a trade off between personalised service and technology. Fitstop intentionally doesn’t use screens in sessions as we prioritise having hands on trainers - offering a high quality service that doesn’t need to be supplemented by screens. Instead, we invest our money into technology that puts Fitstop in an innovated position long-term, such as the Fitstop App, to continuously enhance member experience. Having a hands-on style of training opposed to copious (and distracting) technology also results in reductions in startup costs and servicing, creating a more appealing investment opportunity! 

‍

To ensure consistency of experience, our trainers are armed with regular product refreshers and training. It’s imperative for all Fitstop trainers to be educated on delivering ‘the perfect Fitstop session’; this entails greeting members at the door, introducing themselves every single time, asking for any injuries, buddying members up, leading an engaging warm up as a group, explaining today’s workout, demonstrating each exercise to the group in order (and ensuring correct form, technique and cues are highlighted), and leading the session with energy and passion, ensuring hands-on-support is priority to members!

4. Proven formula that sees results for beginners through to athletes 

Buying into a franchise business such as Fitstop that has personalisation as a core differentiating factor creates a proven formula to allow members to see results. Importantly, these results can be achieved from beginners through to athletes, as providing a personalised service means our trainers tailor exercises and expectations towards current performance levels, with room for regression or progression. 

It may be simple, but being able to service a multitude of members reduces the barriers to entry of consumers, providing access to further members, markets and growth opportunities! 

5. Personalisation = retention 

Personalisation - and making members feel special and appreciated - creates trust and builds rapport that are the backbone of a group training business. It’s important to remember that group training invites a premium membership price, and whilst members are more willing than ever to pay these prices, it’s imperative to go above and beyond in delivering value. Creating trust speaks to retention and delivering this required value; as community is essential in the group training industry, retention is a key ingredient to ensure this community thrives! 

As we know from our addiction to streaming services, social media and online shopping which make use of fantastic algorithms, personalisation keeps us entertained and retained. In a fitness setting, this retention results in significant profit - particularly as it’s much cheaper to retain members than to acquire new ones. 

Of course, a personalised service is not the only thing creating business success, however, we see it as something that encourages success in other business areas. Creating a personalised service results in inspired team members, a fantastic culture, a positive contribution to local communities and an incredibly rewarding investment for business owners! 

If you’re ready to take the next step in your business career and invest in a Fitstop, enquire with Fitstop today - download our info pack at fitstop.com/franchise.