$827 Average Revenue Per Member: All Things Revealed

Everybody gets a programs design specifically for them. So what this allows us to do then is individualize every single, not not only the program, but the , the plan that they come, that they sign up under. Um, and, you know, even though they're in a small group of four people or so, everybody is doing their own workout. So they're doing the workout that's designed for them, right?

So it's still led by a coach that has the program there for every one of the , the clients and they're guiding and , and coaching and queuing and motivating and inspiring all the way through. Um, but it allows us to really , um, individualize the experience for the individual. Uh, you know, in the past when we first started, we had done the , the large group training kind of model similar to the CrossFits or the orange theories or different things.

And, you know, we, we ran a bunch of six week challenges and d and different things, and we had a lot of revenue, but we didn't, you know, our profit was super, super low, right? So our expenses were high and, you know, it , we , it was a , it was a constant churn of members, right? We got a lot of people who were looking for that quick fix, you know, lose a bunch of weight right now, and I'm not really interested in the long term . And that's not who we wanted to serve.

That's not, that's not what our passion and , and drives us. So we, we made this switch last year to going to this individualized programming model and , and we, we had a little bit of resistance initially, but within about 30 days, every one of our clients that had been with us for a , for a while was, was hooked. They were , they were sold on it.

And, and so that's what I think is the biggest difference is, you know, when, when , when we say small group, we really mean small group, like it's four people and even the members sometimes, or the clients try to push back on that and say, Oh, well can you add a , a fifth client? And we're just like, no. Like, there's no more spaces. We wanna preserve that experience for everybody that's in here.

And we feel like the four to one ratio is about as much as we can get the way that we do the programming.

He's actually individually coaching clients all at the same time through their personalized program. And he thought that that was one of the secrets of his a rm. So it's interesting to hear you Josh say the same thing because increased customization and personalization has more value because a client's gonna get more results faster. You are gonna give them more, do more. I wanna ask you a couple of detailed questions here.

When you made this change, did you change , uh, locations or size of locations or anything like

That everybody comes in expecting good workouts, right? Like that's a staple. Everybody is looking for some guidance on nutrition. We take a very habit based approach to nutrition. We don't do a lot of meal plans and macros and, and calorie counting. You know, we've, we've developed what we call our six rules for nutrition. And we kind of coach everybody to those six rules that we believe that regardless of your goal, if you follow those six rules, you'll be, you'll be successful.

But the real, the the thing that kind of like, like I said, brings everything together is the mindset. So we spend a lot of time helping people work on standards and expectations and, you know, looking for, for small wins and things that are gonna keep them them motivated and keep them moving forward long term versus the number on the scale or the way their clothes fit or how much weight they're lifting.

And that's a big one for us because, you know, so many times we find that, you know, our, especially our clientele, the , the people that we serve, they're , they tend to be those, those very successful people in every other aspect of their life other than their health and fitness. And they, they used to be pretty fit at some point. They used to be athletes most of the time. Um, but they also have this very like, aggressive all or nothing mentality typically in everything, right?

And if I can't do it 110%, then I'm not gonna do anything at all. And for us, it's a , it's a lot about helping re reestablish a new way of thinking about fitness in health. And you know, in our mission statement we say, you know, it's, it's maximizing your fitness potential without sacrificing your health. Because for us, health is the most important thing. We are, we are more interested in how well you move when you're 80 than how well you look in a bathing suit right now. Right?

So that's, that's kind of our thing.

And I think actually that might be Greg Glasson myself if I'm not mistaken, but either way, the mindset game is something that a lot of us just think, ah , we'll we'll add that on as a bonus, but you've got it as an actual pillar of your business. That's fascinating. So to get into your program, I, is it a 12 week thing that everyone does? Is that how you operate or how do you get people in

We don't get the same level of experience, and we definitely don't get the same kind of results that we can get. So, so our, our initial commitment is 12 weeks for everybody, whether that's one-on-one training or small group personal training.

And we feel that that 12 weeks allows us to really be able to dive in and spend enough time getting , uh, into all three areas of what we consider our, our hierarchy of health and fitness and which is the fitness, exercise and nutrition or nutrition exercise and , uh, mindset. And yeah, that's, that's the entrance for us.

We don't do the , you know, if somebody had done a 12 week program in the past, and, and after that 12 weeks it goes month to month and then, and then they left for some reason and they come back as long as it's within about a 12 month period, we'll let them come back as a , a month to month buy in again. But if it, if it goes over, you know, six to 12 months, then we make them do the 12 week commitment again and start from scratch.

You can teach them stuff, you can adjust their mindset, you can educate them, they are going to see progress. And then the retention there. I'm guessing from your 12 week intro to actually becoming a f you know , not an actual client, but like a long term client, is it good? It sounds like it would be good.

Like, we're a , we're a high ticket gym to begin with, right? Like, if you're gonna do our Momentum program, even with G P T, you're spending close to $2,400 right up, right up front . So, you know, we are , we're looking for the, the people who want the higher level of service, the the ones that drive the Teslas and stuff. So, you know, typically Google Ads, we do , uh, do a lot of outreach. Um , so we get out in the community quite a bit. So we're pretty well known in the area.

As as , um, for, for our services, we just got voted number one personal trainer in San Juan Capistrano again. So, Oh , congratulations. Pretty excited about that. Thank you. Um, and then , uh, some referrals. Referrals has been a , an interesting challenge for us because our clients are relatively affluent. And so offering some form of, of monetary , uh, incentive doesn't really incentivize them, right?

They, they , they bring people because they want other people to experience what they've experienced. And , um, and it's also been a challenge to get our clients to be able to speak to their friends and family about us in the way we want them to. Because we don't like to use the word gym very much. We're not a gym, right? We're a training studio. We're not, you know , when you say gym , most people have a , an image in their mind of a 24 hour fitness or a lifetime or something, right ?

We're a bunch of people working out, doing their own thing and, and nobody really getting any results. And, and ours is , is is a service, right? So we don't even like to use the word classes. It's all, everything is sessions. So even for our group personal training, they , they don't attend classes, they come to sessions. So it's, it's been a challenge for that. So, so figuring out some different ways to increase our referrals has been , uh, something that we've been focused on.

But, you know, primarily it's, it's Google is where we're getting most of them .

You are looking for someone who has the means to invest in health and fitness. So that obviously allows you to tell your tailor your market. Uh , it's interesting, Google is is unexplored space for a lot of gyms. So it's really cool that you're, you're doing that.

And I'd like the fact that you're, you're really setting yourself apart where it's not a gym, because Jim comes with all those connotations , uh, you know, bad in many ways when you're trying to sell something more expensive and it helps you set yourself apart. So someone's looking for personal training and you come up, People who are shopping for personal training, I'm guessing are generally not surprised by rates that are more than 1999 a month. Have you found that?

So it's, everything is 45 minutes. So, you know, our , our one-on-one sessions are $90 for a 45 minute session. So, you know, it's, even that is still on the higher end for, for a lot of people.

You saying that you , you have these high ticket people that are staying, so obviously retention is gonna be a big deal for you. So two Brain , we know for certain with data that goal review sessions every 90 days increases retention. We know that that's a great thing. I understand that you do these sessions every month. So tell me why you do that and what do they do for your ARN retention?

We've gotta do there , there needs to be some, some more touchpoints and we , we need to , uh, keep people from falling through the cracks and not feeling supported and not having something that they're working on. So we initiated these, these monthly sessions a couple years ago, and they , um, you know, it , it was interesting because there was a little bit of pushback at first. We started to get, you know, some of our clients that were like, I don't need these every month.

And nothing's really changed. And, and so over the ti the period of time we've, we've, these sessions have evolved into what we ask and how we ask it. And, you know, we've developed like a , not so much a script. We definitely have an so p in a , in a , a standardized form that we use. So, so to try and , uh, make the experience consistent from client to client.

But what they've, what we've found that they do is they really allow us to stay connected with what's going on in our clients' lives in , in their fitness, right? So we know when their birthdays are, we know when their anniversaries are not just for the gym, but with their spouses. We know what's going on from a vacation standpoint. Again, our clients are relatively affluent, so to take vacations whenever they want is not unheard of. It happens a lot.

Um, so being able to stay on track with that and be able to provide some guidance even when they're, when they're on vacation, has been something that has allowed us to enhance our value, which I think then enhances retention and, and our, our , our active or average revenue per member as well.

And the cool part about this is when I talk to gym owners now, a lot of 'em are just starting to put these sessions in. And this was me. We put them in through two brain and our members didn't buy in right away. It was tough to kind of make that happen. Now that you've done it for two or three years, I think two years, you said, are you finding that now that it's just part of the service package, the people that are coming in are just like, they just expect it.

They know what they buy in and it's, it's business as usual and smooth sailing ?

And , you know, we we're real big on, on not only talking about what's going well for them, but, but , you know, what are the obstacles that they're facing every single month and what are the things that we can do to create strategies around those obstacles so that when they, when they come up again, that we have a, you know, a a way to deal with it and, and to, to keep them moving forward.

Because again, so often, especially our clients, because of the people that they are, they're , they're super, super, you know, wealthy and not super wealthy, but they're affluent and they are, they , they're successful that when things come up in their life, they have a tendency to hit the stop button on fitness, right? Like, Oh, things are so busy right now, I can't afford to do this. It's like, well, you know, I , I stole this from John Barardi .

It's like instead of hitting a pause button, let's use a dial. Let's just dial it back a little bit. Like, you don't have to stop altogether, but what if we, instead of coming five days a week, you come three days a week or we figure out some things that you can do at home, or let's work on just getting some additional movement in throughout the day. So we have mobility videos in our app and different things like that that they can have access to when they're , you know, when life gets crazy.

Which, you know, we tell people all the time, like, it's not a matter of if it happens, it's a matter of when it happens and how you are able to deal with it when it does.

But I seldom sat down with a member for 15 minutes or however long and actually ask 'em , how is your life going? And knowing the stuff, Oh, you have a birthday coming up , how's your dog? I know your kids are in school, whatever. So just being able to talk to them strengthens that bond, which I'm guessing is gonna be a big part of your retention strategy.

They give Kamal the credit because he's the one that has that relationship with them and he's really good at coming up with unique ways. So whether we do the, the accountability sessions over the phone or in person, he'll, a lot of times, like he's on one right now, he took the, the , the client over and they're getting coffee and hanging out and they get him outside of the gym, which then, you know, changes Wow . The , the , the experience all the way around, right?

So he ends up being a psychologist half the time, right? As we know, you know, and, and you know, helping talk people down off of the ledge, so to speak in terms of, you know, things aren't going right in the way they want it to. So how do we, how do we reframe that conversation or reframe that thought process to, to show what progress is being made and how we can continue making that progress. And, and he, he , it's, it's amazing to, to listen to, right?

Like, to just sit back and listen to that conversation and how he's able to keep people moving and motivating and it's , it's, it's incredible actually.

So, you know, he's, he's so interested in, you know, making it the best possible experience for the client that sometimes he doesn't really think about the financial aspect of it or the logistics of it. So we're always kind of like battling it out, like trying to figure out like, is that the best , uh, idea or, you know, how do we implement something like that? Is there a a small , a small change that needs to be made that we can add to it? We feel like we are always iterating on our business.

Like we're never complacent. Um, I feel like the minute we become complacent, we might as well shut the doors and, and move on because we're, we're not doing anything that's, that's groundbreaking and fun. And, you know, I have a love hate relationship with the fitness business. I've been doing it for a long time. I've worked at a lot of different places. I feel like fitness, the fitness industry is the one industry that can truly change somebody's life without any side effects.

Like there's no, nothing bad downside to getting healthy and getting fit, right. But the way that the , a lot of the , the fitness industry operates in my opinion is, is is not very ethical in a lot of ways. And you know, that's one, one of our big things is we're not interested in quick fixes. We don't do the, what I call the drink from a fire hose approach to coaching, right?

Like everything is about, you know, an individual person, their individual needs, and what do we need to do in order to help them achieve the results that they want, but doing it in a way that's conducive to their lifestyle that doesn't ex expect an overhaul of everything that they're doing.

We do that once a month for our clients and , and just give them the opportunity to , to ask any question that's health, fitness, mindset, exercise related and will answer it. Um, and, and you know, our clients, you know , you know , like as , like I said, Kamala is the experience guy . So he is the one that calls the clients if they haven't been here for, you know, five days or more, you know, he's the one that's keeping, keeping tabs on everybody.

So they're feeling like there is a support system that is there that, that they're not used to having.

And for example, I do them on videos and media topics and people can come and interact, ask any questions they want. It's a value add where clients can just get extra stuff from specialist scenarios. We do how to build your nutrition business, how to sell a personal training, paid ads.

So doing that for clients is a really interesting way cuz you can serve a bunch of people in one hour of your time and make them feel like, wow, I just got a ton of great, you know, FaceTime with a coach and an expert didn't cost me anything extra, but it is part of the value of your package. Uh, I won't even ask you if , uh, Kamala has ever rented a super yacht or anything like that. Let's just let that one , uh, float by. Uh , I do wanna ask you this though.

So you're talking about retention is super important, obviously when you've got a high a rm, remember everyone who joins is a big deal and who leaves is a big deal. Talk to me about how you outreach or , or reach out to other, like, older members or people who have departed. Is there a system that you have in place that helps you reconnect with them because the people that are most likely to buy are often the people who have bought in the past?

In addition to that, one of my daily tasks is to make, have a personal phone call with at least five former clients every day . Wow. So , and it's, and it's , it's really just, you know, again, the idea is how, how are you doing? What's going on in your world? Is there something that we can do to help? Right. Without even saying, do you wanna come back or, or whatever. It's, it's more of like, you know, you were, you were part of the family at one point.

We don't ever consider you not part of the family. We wanna make sure that you're getting the things that you need to get, whether that's with us or at another gym or or on your own, whatever that is. And , and we feel like it's that giver's gain kind of mentality, right? If we can continue to provide guidance, give, give, and even if that's just a , uh, some , uh, some words of, of encouragement or motivation or something like that, then, then that's what we're from.

And then , um, social media wise , most of our former clients are connected to us through social media in some way. So, you know, again, Kamal is phenomenal at , he's a , a very , uh, motivational speaker type personality. And so we post a lot of , uh, motivational videos and things that just like get people thinking and going. We still get quite a bit of engagement from former clients on that regard.

And you know, when we, when we explain how we've changed and why we've did it and what the, the , the , what they're getting out of it, it usually is, is a pretty easy conversation and a , and a no-brainer for them to, to , to sign back up if it's, you know, if it's within their, their their means.

They see your face, they hear your voice, or they see your email, whatever, that's a connection that maybe down the line might pay dividends at best. They might come back and you're saying that it's happened to you many times and for you, these are gonna be high value clients coming in. So it's a huge deal. I want you to give Jim owner something to do right now because they do the , they overcomplicate this all the time. How do you start a conversation with a former client? What do you say

Tell me what you got on the future .

So that's, that's kind of our, some of our big goals in , you know, five, 10 years to see where we wanna go. Yeah.

Thank you for listening to to Brain Radio. We're here twice a week. Please hit subscribe on the way out, wherever you are watching or listen now, here's Chris Cooper message mess .