By Bryan K. O’Rourke, MBA

You might have read the latest Wall Street Journal article  “Facebook Tests Bluetooth ‘Beacons’ to Feed Users Local Content”. This technology, termed “place tips”, is another example of the emerging digital presence concept, created by the ubiquity of smartphones continuously broadcasting user locations. Beacons so far have been tested to send promotions and ads to people in and near stores. Facebook with its 1.3 billion members, is experimenting with expanding the use of Beacons at select locations in New York and the potential for fitness facilities is enormous.

Some will think this type of technology is irrelevant at this point. Consider that a recent inMarket study on the use of beacons showed millions of these devices, with many costing only $5 a piece, implemented in retail stores resulting in a 19x increase in interactions with advertised products and a 16.5x increase in in-store app usage. The technology enables location based engagements by knowing when a customer is within a few feet of a specific location. For fitness facilities this could mean alerting members near the studio when a group fitness class will be starting, or promoting an available small group training spot through their mobile device when a member walks in the door. With “contextual buying” the opportunities are limitless.

In a world where competition for attention continues to intensify and where more traditional efforts like direct mail, email, banners and even paid search are losing their effectiveness, beacons are yet another example of how technology is fundamentally changing marketing. The less people see ads as pitches and more as information customized to meet their needs, including where they are and when they are, the more effective engagement will be.

As with any new technology there will be winners and losers who attempt adoption. Winners will help users phones act like concierges with personalized answers and advice as needed. Others who just push out promotions and messages will have trouble engaging audiences and will ultimately turn people off. Since connectivity and social media make “consumer experience” the ultimate marketing, beacons, among other technologies, will create an opportunity for brands to embrace new methods of delivering value.

So what does this mean for fitness facilities ? Why is it important ? To be successful brands must embrace the fact that consumers are changing and thus marketing is changing. With nearly 7 out of 10 fitness facility customers having smartphones and with many of them being used in facilities, having a specific strategy for how to effectively incorporate these technologies into business models will become increasingly important.

So what do you think ? Is contextual buying an important trend ? Should fitness businesses spend more effort on determining their strategies around marketing given the advancement of technologies like beacons ? Feel free to write and let me know at bryankorourke@gmail.com, or tweet me @bryankorourke.com .

Bryan O’Rourke serves as President of the Fitness Industry Technology Council, is CEO of Integerus Advisors and CSO of Fitmarc and the Flywheel Group. These organizations collectively serve over 800 fitness facilities in the US, dozens of global organizations and over 5,000 instructor professionals. Bryan’s an entrepreneur, consultant, executive, investor and former club owner who has worked in the health club and fitness industry for 18 years. IHRSA named him one of 13 to watch in 2013. He has presented at industry and corporate conferences on four continents and is widely published and quoted in periodicals like Inc. Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. To learn more visit bryankorourke.com and follow him on twitter @bryankorourke.

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At ABC Financial we protect our clients from digital viruses; as a gym owner or manager, your clients expect you to help protect them against cold and flu viruses by maintaining clean, sanitary equipment at your facility. You’re members are all interested in staying healthy – here’s some quick tips on how you can make your gym a germ-free zone:

Get The Message Out

• Use on-site signage, e-mail blasts and verbal cues to let your staff and members know that you’re committed to making your gym a healthy, virus-free space this cold and flu season.
• Encourage members to skip their workout if they’re feeling ill, and educate your staff on how they can gently ask visibly sick clients to take a day off; the goal here is to create a culture of health and wellness at your gym.

Research Your Options

• Speak with your suppliers about what cleaning products are right for your facility.
• Look for a low or no-odor, instant-dry anti-bacterial, anti-viral spray product that won’t leave any residue on your gear and is safe for direct skin contact.

Frequency Is The Key

• The more often your gear is cleaned, the cleaner it will be. Simple, right?
• Ideally, your members will spray down each piece of equipment immediately after they use it; encourage this behavior by having your staff actively demonstrate disifecting techniques to your clients.

Make Compliance Easy

• Have lots of spray bottles available – if possible, leave one at every machine or station. Your members are more likely to comply with post-use machine cleaning if they don’t have to hunt down the disinfectant.
• Consider installing bottle mounts on cardio equipment; leave a few extra bottles near the mats and free weights.
• Make sure your staff top off the disinfectant bottles frequently, or better yet, have extra bottles available so your staff can swap out bottles, rather than topping them up on the gym floor.

Remember that you’ll still need to deep-clean your equipment on a regular basis; enlist the services of a professional cleaning company to thoroughly disinfect all your gear every week.

To learn more about how ABC Financial can help keep your database virus-free while boosting your bottom line with industry-leading gym software, contact us today!

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Due to decades of outstanding achievements, innovations and support of the health and fitness industry, ABC Financial was selected as the Associate Member of the Year at IHRSA 2014. Watch the video above to see Steve Ayers, ABC Financial Chief Revenue Officer, accept this prestigious award.

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Today we strive not only to be the foremost resource for leading-edge technology in the fitness industry, but also to collect the most dues from the most club members, every day. We’re devoted to staying on the cusp of industry evolution in service and technology. Plus, we’ll continue to uphold only the highest level of commitment to our customers and their success. Because the strength of our company depends on the health of our relationships with customers, they remain a top priority at all levels of service.

We are ABC Financial.

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Wait List. With Wait List, you can ensure all of your classes are fully utilized at all times. Here are some of the ways the Wait List makes that possible:

• Automatic wait list creation. Once a class is full, additional members who attempt to sign up are automatically placed on a wait list.
• Keeping members aware of new openings. If space in a class opens up due to a cancellation, an email is automatically sent to all members on the wait list.
• Easy sign-up process. Each email sent includes a link for members to enroll through MYiCLUBonline, our web-based gym software application. Your members can then sign up on their own without any assistance from your staff.
• Wait list removal. If a member is suddenly unable to attend a class due to a schedule change, he or she can remove him or herself from the wait list.

Accelerated Services. With Accelerated Services, your members who want to purchase a specified number of sessions, but who also need to finance the cost over a period of time, will be more effectively served. Accelerated services allows you to:

• Sell a block of classes at once. Instead of being limited to a certain number of classes or sessions per week, members can instead purchase a set number of sessions to use during a given time period, while still incurring the same monthly charge.
• Pay any balances owed early. Our new Accelerated Services feature also allows your members to pay the full balance for classes they purchase without paying a penalty.
• Offer unlimited plan flexibility. Members aren’t constrained to a certain number of classes or certain payment methods over restricted time periods. Instead, you can accommodate whatever works best for the member.

When your classes are full, you’ll likely notice a difference in your health club’s bottom line through higher member retention rates and a corresponding increase in revenues. And what club owner can argue against that?

To learn more about the new Accelerated Services and Wait List features built into our health club software, request a demo.

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Here are 3 ways the right gym software can help you enhance your personal training programs:

1. Automate Training Schedules – The best case scenario for your club is that your trainers have days full of happy clients but the worst case can easily occur if those trainers don’t have a way to manage the dynamic nature of scheduling, rescheduling and scheduling again.The best software gives an automated template that is user friendly and time efficient so your trainers can spend their time where they are best suited – on the floor with happy members.
2. Manage Weight Room Traffic – Take a look at any successful gym at 6 p.m. on a week night and you’ll see more traffic than on the runways at La Guardia. It isn’t the easiest time for trainers to run through their programs but sometimes they don’t have a choice.Let your software serve as a health club traffic controller by making it easier for trainers working with clients that are paying for sessions, as well as the members who are following their own routines. You can create multi-use schedules for machines and areas of the club (such as the soft turf area or basketball courts).
3. Track Progress – Clients need to track their progress to experience the success that comes with consistent hard work – but so do trainers. Personal training monitoring relies on goal setting and reporting just as fitness building does.Gym software can be customized to create any range of reports including such elements as:

   – New Training Goals
   – Fitness Milestones Reached
   – Training Session Sales Expectations
   – Personnel Training And Education Certification Requirements

The beauty of gym software isn’t just the customization of such reports, it’s the timeliness in which you can adjust and distribute those reports on demand.

By taking the guess work out of the behind the scenes tasks, you can give more freedom to your personal training team in providing members the positive fitness experience they’ve been promised. And you can keep your teams motivated and energized at the same time.

For more ways to enhance your personal training services with the right software, request a demo from ABC Financial.

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