So, you want to become a successful fitness franchisee. You love being healthy and working out, and you want to tip the scales in your favor and ensure a successful enterprise you can feel good about. It’s easier said than done, but it is possible.
Here at Alloy, we have a long history of helping guide our earlier licensees and now franchisees into robust, powerful, active business owners who know how to get things done. With that in mind, here are a few of our top tips for you:
5 Ways To Become A Successful Fitness Franchisee
Whether this is your first venture into business ownership or you’ve been running companies for years, these tips will help you succeed in the unique world of being a fitness franchisee:
1. Be Passionate About What You Are Selling
Today’s clients are more discerning than ever before, and they’ll be able to pick up on B.S. If that’s what you’re selling. That’s why it’s so important to choose a product and service that you can stand behind and which you genuinely believe in.
Yes – your new franchise company will issue a layout for you to follow, but there will still be hard work to be had on your end. Above all else that you’ll do as a franchisee, choosing a product and service you can stand behind is essential to becoming a successful fitness franchisee. You’ll come off as more authentic when you genuinely believe in the product you’re selling.
2. Stick To The System You Are Given
The great thing about stepping into a franchise company is that you get a system to work with. Unfortunately, lots of people struggle to adhere to this system, which only creates problems and unnecessary difficulty down the road.
With this in mind, stick to the program and stay close to the program you’re given. Focus on your best skills and strengths, and don’t be afraid to delegate the rest to someone who has the knowledge and experience you need.
3. Hire The Right Team
Your business is only as good as the people running it. With this in mind, make your employees and team a priority – value them and show them you appreciate them. This will do a couple of essential things:
- It will create customer loyalty and generate a workforce that wants to stay and strive with you.
- It will decrease employee turnover and hiring expenses, as a result.
- It will make your franchise an in-demand place to work, which will help you draw top talent.
- It will help boost morale among your employees, leading to more engaged workers who like what they do.
The great thing about valuing your employees is that there are dozens of ways to do it. Host fun employee appreciation days, get in the habit of complimenting employees for a job well done, work to build friendships and cooperation among your employees, and take proactive steps to make everyone feel like part of the family.
It’s a simple step that will go a long way toward making your franchise one of the most competitive out there and help you to be a successful fitness franchisee.
4. Master Marketing
Marketing is one of the most critical and most challenging aspects of running a fitness franchise. Fortunately, you’ll get a lot of help with marketing when you start a franchise with Alloy. We’ll give you proven marketing packages, materials, and website templates designed to launch your success. From there, though, it’s your job to keep it up. The more you can learn about marketing on your own, the better.
If you’ve never taken a marketing course, now is a great time to do so. It’s also an excellent time to think about what you, as a customer, would respond to. What would you want your gym to say and do in its marketing? What would showcase value and integrity to you?
5. Prioritize Customer Service
Did you know that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 percent, while the chance of selling to a new prospect is just 5-20 percent? In addition to being good for business, customer retention is good for your bottom line, and it’s smart to prioritize it.
As you run your company, a whopping 80 percent of your future profits will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers. With this in mind, there’s no way to overestimate the importance of excellent customer service and a focus on customer retention.
While there are many different ways to approach customer retention, here are a few I like to recommend:
- Talk directly to your customers. Poll them about what they like and don’t like, and then implement that feedback.
- Cater to your customers. The Alloy franchise serves the “Active Aging” population – specifically fitness enthusiasts who are ages 50 and older. To retain these customers, you need to get good at catering to them and finding out precisely what they need. This will be a trial-and-error process, and it’s crucial to adjust over time.
- Reward your customers. Reward your customers with perks and loyalty programs that thank them for doing business with you. It’s a simple step, but it can go a long way to keeping customers with you for years.
Conclusion
When it comes to running a successful fitness franchise, there are no shortcuts to the top. Instead, you’ve got to put in the work and be patient. It’s not easy to differentiate yourself from the rest of the pack or to create a killer facility people want to frequent. Fortunately, it gets a lot more attainable when you work with Alloy.
Offering proven systems, world-class support and training, and all the assistance you need to launch, run, and build your business, Alloy offers a professional fitness training franchise opportunity for serious, driven franchisees looking for a way to thrive. To learn more about Alloy or find out if the opportunity is right for you, check out our FAQs today.