The Anytime Fitness tagline is, “Something different is happening here.”
Brent Potter, a multi-club Anytime Fitness operator in Winnebago, IL, has taken that adage to heart. He’s steadily been shifting his chain’s focus from individual exercise to coaching.
“When we started, we were one of the only health clubs in the area open 24/7 that had locations all around the U.S.,” he says. “As other brands started popping up with some of the same offerings, and our attrition rate increased, we knew we had to change our identity from one of convenience to one of working more closely with our members, and coaching was an excellent way to get there."
Wide-ranging Change
But the change is more than just a programming shift. It’s a cultural change that’s affected a wide range of processes and areas within Brent’s health clubs.
“It starts with the tour of the facility,” he says. “We moved from showing prospects the features of the equipment to how each area of the club and its related machines would directly impact how they were going to achieve their goals. We also changed the way we onboarded our members.
“It’s no longer just about the initial fitness consultation. We created multiple touchpoints that match our members’ journeys to show them that we were as dedicated as they were to achieving their short- and long-term goals.”
Those touchpoints now include:
monthly goal-setting assessments,
homework workouts,
check-ins with their coaches, and
a Personal Training Experience (PTE)—a new member offer.