Gyms are Used Car Dealerships for the Body

I’ve been trying to join a gym in Sydney.  I don’t have particularly special needs. I like a treadmill, some upper and lower body weight machines, and maybe a group class or two. I generally know within a minute that the gyms I visit at have what I need.  The one thing I can't discover quickly is cost. Actually, it takes 30 minutes to find out how much the gym will cost me. Why, you ask? It’s certainly not posted on the website or in the gym lobby.

When I visited the gyms the Enrollment Specialist had some questions for me. They wanted to know my personal details, my workout goals, what I do at the gym, when I go to the gym, how I feel at the gym, my last gym, any medical conditions, when I last used the bathroom… Every time I’m fed the line that the information will help them determine what sort of program is right for me, but EVERY SINGLE gym so far has only 2 programs, yearly and monthly.

Being a bit fed up, at the last gym I visited, I arrived and asked directly for the monthly costs.  I politely refused to fill out my personal details and history, respectfully declined  four times to take a tour, civilly begged off going through the class calendar, and regretfully apologized to the Enrollment Specialist several times for not being more forthcoming and pliant, but really “I’m  just looking for the monthly costs.” That’s right. I…..apologized…..to the salesman!  After 20 minutes of circular conversation, he went back behind the counter, grabbed a postcard with all the information I wanted, and then gave me a disdainful look as he walked me to the door. How dare I not want to hear the sales pitch! What an uneducated charlatan I must be!

I felt like I had just come out of a greasy used car dealership using all of their wiles to snare me.

• ·         Make me come in for a visit to ask questions
• ·         Throw all sorts of detailed information at me that I don't want
• ·         Keep me there far longer than I want
• ·         Collect as much personal information as possible to make me feel committed
• ·         Up-sell, Up-sell, Up-sell!
• ·         Hide the bottom line until you’re deeply engaged

That leaves me with two burning questions. #1 How can you effectively sell a service when you obviously don’t understand your customer’s experience? #2 How can you be successful when your model doesn’t differentiate you?

Let’s talk about a sales success story. The Saturn car company, a subsidiary of General Motors, branded itself as a “different kind of car company.” While their engineers were toiling away, their market research team was talking with consumers and dealers around the US and came out with the no-haggle user-focused corporate brand. Not only did American’s flock to the dealerships to buy the cars, but tens of thousands from around the country attended yearly picnics at the factory site in Tennessee to celebrate the Saturn community. (Sadly, the quality of the Saturn product was not as long lasting or competitive as the corporate culture and brand.) Similar examples can be seen in Virgin's success with airlines or Netflix and video rental. They focus not only on what service they provide, but how they provide that service.

Obviously, in the end a necessary product or experience will trump a poor sales experience, but an absolute way to raise your product and brand’s visibility is to differentiate yourself. If your business lives in a packed marketplace like economy cars and gyms it is difficult to create a unique product, but stepping outside that thought space and creating a positive experience where the industry currently fails can be your key to success.