No January Rush (& Why)
Last week I mentioned we won’t be opening up the Gym for the “New Year rush”
And we have had people that haven’t been with us, ask to sign up to us come 2024.
For the last 6/7 years I think people assume I lie await until midnight on Hogmanay & turn the money printer on…and to be honest it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sure, bigger…more volume driven models can withstand it and will revel in 12 month agreements being signed in January.
But what I have learned MOSTLY is that it doesn’t come from the best place for the person in question.
January health and fitness kicks are very reactionary, and sure if the penny dropped over Xmas…you had a scare and a real self talking to and know it’s time to cut the s***. Then I am all about that and your biggest fan. But again 9/10 it’s a reactive decision to join a gym at this sort of time.
What doesn’t work for me (or as a reflection us as a business) is preying when there is blood (or bloat) on the streets.
We want people to come because they want to come and be the healthiest version of themselves all year round. Know it’s not a quick fix. Understand it’s going to take compromise, commitment, work and that it CAN be sustainable around your lifestyle.
What you think you want now, may not be what you actually want. It cuts deeper.
You think it’s weight loss but you know how you feel affects so much more. Your mental health. Relationships. How you feel within & more.
You may just want to feel a bit better, not have huge goals but just want to see where it takes you and that’s totally cool and probably where most sit.
But number 1. It starts within and with YOU. Nobody can do it for you.
And what you want, will probably take longer than you think & you will face more doubt and obstacles than anticipated.
Not selling it very well here but hey ho ????
So no, we won’t be selling memberships or 28 Day Challenges to new attendees between no and probably February. In fact we haven’t really done much for the past couple of months.
We had Grant leave in November as well as sickness, holidays and a crazy busy gym with Holiday Hustle going on.
December we have had Rory and Sam join the team so it doesn’t make sense to overwhelm the team with new people when it already takes a lot to service our current people 100%.
From a selfish point of view too, we want to dedicate all our time/focus & attention on our current base we know come January, attendance and ‘buy in’ will be high, so we don’t want to flood an already busy gym to the point we are bursting at the seams. Ensuring our team have ample space to book into sessions and get the off on the right foot is paramount for us in January. We also have a couple of events, our member “Reboot” and a new booking system to figure out.
Come February, we will be ready and can’t wait to welcome any new DM Elite ‘ninjas’ but for now. Non members will have to wait as we do what we need to do for the next 4-6 weeks. We have a HUGE year of events coming up on top of what we do internally with our coaching at the Gym. Also, some exciting changes coming to how we offer personal training as a value add to member experience AWAY from the Gym ????
Have a great Xmas
Dan