Training existing management for financial success

Published by HealthFitness on November 29th, 2022

Since first opening, our client, a health system fitness center, had operated in the red. We transitioned the management to our trained associates and implemented a sales-driven fitness management strategy and culture resulting in increased memberships and retention.

Today, the center maintains a second place Net Promoter Score rank — a key industry-wide metric measuring overall member satisfaction for all fitness centers across the entire industry.
 
Challenge
Before coming to us, the health system fitness center had not seen a profit in two decades. System leadership, consisting of the Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of HR, connected with us to help them implement a strategy to get them out of the red.

Solution
When we took over operations, we initiated a comprehensive service, sales and marketing-based management strategy designed to run like a successful health club, not a hospital service line.

In the process, we retained all their existing fitness center employees and introduced them to our ongoing sales education program. This consisted of sales summits, weekly training sessions and daily sales calls. To ensure long-term employee engagement, we constructed clear career ladders and development plans. We then followed up with best practices in marketing, prospecting, sales tracking and member retention.

Results
With new, true fitness center management and a committed, informed salesforce in place, our client saw a 13 percent increase in membership sales and 8 percent retention. They added more than $1 million to net operating income in less than three years.

This club now achieves the second highest Net Promoter Score in member satisfaction in the entire health club industry.