The biggest misconception about martial arts fitness programming is that it’s not possible to retain students or to upgrade them to higher priced programs. The reason is that students’ needs are not being served-and those needs are very different than a martial arts student’s. You must convince fitness students that your program provides many long-term health benefits.
For your traditional martial arts school to grow, you must be able to give students, and usually their parents, a vision of the future, such as the day their children reach the ultimate goal of Black Belt. Only then, can you sell long-term programs, such as Black Belt Club and Masters Club.
Your fitness students are no different. If you’re able to convince them that your program will improve their health for years, not only will they stay with you, but also they’ll be more than willing to commit to a long-term program.
Don’t feel bad if you currently don’t have a program with long-term fitness goals. The fitness centers don’t either. In today’s fitness world, the only way to obtain help setting and achieving fitness goals is to hire a personal trainer at $50 to $100 an hour. People are willing to pay a trainer so much to develop a fitness program because personal trainers sell a vision of the future, a vision of what their clients could become if they trained with them.
For this reason, there’s a great opportunity for group fitness programming that is priced between the overpriced personal trainer and the no-guidance gym membership.
The secret is to convince prospective students that you’re able to deliver the goods. This is why the Ultimate Bodyshaping Course (UBC) works so well. The UBC is a short, ten-week program that achieves results. You’re able to attract a large number of people that want to be in shape fast. You also have ten weeks to convince them that fitness is a lifetime journey, not a ten-week sprint.
The UBC is an introductory course, with three fitness evaluations. These evaluations have dual purposes. First, they provide students with measurable fitness results, so you’re able to set goals for them. The second purpose is the opportunity to upgrade students to a long-term program.
During students’ mid-evaluation five weeks into the course, they are in a perfect state of mind to discuss additional programming. They have trained for five weeks, so they’re showing improvement. They are stronger, have lost some weight and are jazzed about the future.
Students come to realize that their mid-evaluation is the best time to renew their memberships. They have already been qualified with a letter sent prior to the evaluation, explaining UBC’s follow-up program and the discounts for early enrollment.
The follow-up program I’ve developed is a martial arts-based, long-term fitness course called “UBC Elite Fitness.” During the mid-evaluation, I give a quick five-minute demonstration of the program and a motivational speech about the importance of having a long-term vision of health and fitness. I remind students of the discount and that they must re-enroll within one week of the mid-evaluation to qualify for it. Students are also encouraged and welcomed to try any of our Elite Fitness classes during the week.
The key to additional programming is to convince each student that this is the natural progression in your school. If you’re able to prove yourself to your fitness clients during the short term, then you’ll have no trouble convincing them that your program can have long-term health benefits
