Hey there! It’s Vito here and today I’d like to address the hate that services like ClassPass and Groupon are generating.
To hear some people tell it, these marketing services are the death of our industry. No way!
Our failure to evolve and not understand marketing poses a way bigger threat to us than marketing services.
That's all these services are: lead generator. They bring people through the front door that normally wouldn't have come in. What you need are solid strategies to turn those low margin packages into big margin sales!
Sales is the name of the game. I know some of you are cringing at this.
But you can’t help people if you can’t sell them a service. If you want to survive or, better yet, thrive in this day and age, you better fall in love with the sales process.
Here are four strategies to combat and, in some cases, use these services to grow your fitness business
Strategy #1: Have multiple streams and offers
If you only have one of something, you are setting yourself up for failure. So build other revenue streams.
By creating other revenue streams, you increase the value of each member that walks through your door. And ClassPass might be a good way to get them to you. Once they’re hooked, you can tap into higher margin services.
Whether you use something like ClassPass to bring people in to your business or not, diversify if you want to stay alive.
Strategy #2: Be willing to acquire clients at loss or break even…at first
It doesn't matter that people use Groupons or whatever. That's not where your profits lie.
Get them through the door and then offer them personalized programs and services on the backend. That's where the high margins are anyway.
Get them through the door. No people, no sales. It’s that simple. A service like ClassPass can get you those people.
Strategy #3: Develop a Stacking Revenue Model
Stacking Revenue is the business practice of anticipating your customers' needs and having a wealth of products to offer them.
You need all of those solutions in place before they walk through the door. Once they come in because of ClassPass or attendance in a class of yours, address their specific needs each and every time. You bring people in through the low margin front end offer (like ClassPass) and into your higher margin backend offers.
Strategy #4: Create Specialty Programs
Specialty programs are programs designed to speak to a specific audience about a specific problem and deliver a specific solution.
These programs speak to a specific person who is looking for a specific solution. That's something that ClassPass can never offer.