Who is responsibile?

[toga22]

As per usual ...the fitness industry has seen a flooding of new members at local gyms, due to the January resolutions. Of course it only takes a short time until some of the staff, not to mention alumni members, begin to become irratated by the lack of knowledge and determination of these newbies.

So this morning, after listening too countless complaints and mockery, I posed this question to the staff:

Who is responsibile for keeping new members motivated?

What do you think.......?

Of course they have to be motivated themselves, but many walk in the door with high expectations, undefined goals, and not enough knowledge, thus they become easily discouraged.


~toga

 

[The Shadow]

I want you to motivate me...

 

[Hanabolic Lecter]

I think most clubs don’t care if members are motivated and would probably prefer if contract members stayed away so that they could fill the club with additional members/revenue. Years ago, they would actually try to overwork new members in an attempt to break their spirit. I think there were lawsuits over this practice, and for the most part it seems to have ended.

Bally Total Fitness is a prime example. They have over 350 locations nationwide, and an active member database of over 3 millions members. (These are cold facts. Please don’t bother asking me how I know.) Now do the math and imagine if every active member showed up at his or her local club at the same time and day? Class action lawsuit? Already happened several times before.

BTW. Bally Total Fitness is a great club, and I encourage people to check out their local club.

 

[gymtime]

To answer your question, it is the members' responsibility to motivate themselves, not club staff. Club staff is there to inform and encourage, and yes, provide a certain amount of motivation. But I understand the cynicism of club staff and that of gym regulars. We all know that most of the new year's resolution folks will not last beyond Martin Luther King day, so why make a huge effort?

 

[captaintude]

Hmmm, and I thought the staff at my gym was there to talk on the phone to their friends, look up while on the phone to see me standing at the counter, look away, continue to talk on the phone to their friends, once again quickly look to see if I'm still there and quickly look away, continue to talk to their friends on the phone.....see one of their other friends walk in, quickly throw them a towel, sneak a look at me and the other 3 people now waiting, continue to talk on the phone to their friend,.

I swear to GOD, everytime I go to the gym, they have hired a new high school part timer who could give two shits about their job, and is their to get paid for BS'n with their friends on the phone, and sneaking their other friends in for free.

Of course management has been talked to several times, but since the new members far exceed the regulars by 5 to 1, they could give a crap what we think......unfortunately the gym I work out at has the best weight section in the little ghetto town I live int.......damn I can't wait to move.

 

[lilguy7000]

On one hand, the members already had the motivation to join. The staff is there to educate and push a little bit, but overall the motivation has to come from the member. No one can make you work out, it has to be something you want to do. Now if they are paying for the personal training option most gyms offer, the trainer is obligated a little bit more to motivate the individual. That is one of the reasons they are requesting the one on one sessions. Sometimes it takes pushing from staff to keep members motivated and coming back. Why would someone become a personal trainer if they did not enjoy helping and motivating newbies? Those of us that have been involved for so many years don't require trainers or that amount of motivation. If not for newbies, they would be out of a job.

lilguy

 

[toga22]

Ok...I will give my take on this. I have taught aerobics at the same gym for almost eight years now. I know that about 2/3 of the newbies that walk through the door will only be short term members. One of the reasons for this, which I also mentioned above, is the fact that they walk in the door with little knowledge, no definite goals, and high expectations. Therefore they become easily discouraged. The motivation is there, otherwise they would have never signed up, it just isn't properly focused.

For myself, I try to make myself more available to the newbies while out on the floor in the weight room, offering support and l"opening" up so that they feel more comfortable in asking questions. Unforunately, some people actually have to hear someone say they are doing a good job, to stay motivated. While others, like the "Hardcores" or alumni members, are self-motivated...

I guess that I believe that after a person meets their first benchmark or achieves their first major goal, that they will become more focused, because they are able to see that they are successful.

The owner of the gym, of course, does not care or would actually prefer these people to have short term memberships....which from a business standpoint confuses me. I personally see it as, happy successful members mean longer memberships, or taking advantage of different options (like a personal trainer) which ultimately means more $$$. And if these members are truly happy and successful, the gym will be getting free PR or advertising via word of mouth endorsements, which hold much more weight than slogan advertising ever will.


I don't know just my .02!!

~toga

 

[Fonz]

Newbies aren't allowed in our gym.

People have to refer you or you won't get through the door.

The only sound you hear at our gym are the grunts, the music
and the weights being packed on to the bar.

In an hour, its not unusual for me to say only 40-50 words.

Now that is total bliss. No annoying blabber-mouths
or worst-of-all bench-hoggers.

Fonz

 

[ultragainz]

damn bro wheres your gym at?...iam about to move to europe...there gyms are more hardcore...

 

[big4life]

I think it's the gym staff to keep people interested or motivated.
Unfortunately, most just want to collect the fees, and don't care if they come back or not.

My gym has a good quality staff who work with the new members, to make sure they are comfortable with the equipment, and we are still lucky if 10% of the new people make it to June.