If you are going to sell it, make it real!
Strengthening Your Hotel and Apartment Fitness Center Selling Strategy
If you are going to sell it, make it real!
There was a time when being able to boast about an on-site fitness center afforded you a distinct competitive advantage.
“Simply stating that you have an on-site fitness center in a brochure, on a website or over the telephone is no longer sufficient."
Unfortunately, those days are gone. Today, most (if not all) of your competitors have fitness centers, and some might even be better than yours.
On-site fitness centers came into vogue as a means of attracting an increasingly fitness-conscious public. They proved their worth as residents and guests realized the benefits of convenient on-site facilities that were comparable to those at the local gym (the keyword here being comparable), without the extra membership fees or hectic commute. They were an easy sell at the start, and by and large, we’ve been selling them the same way ever since.
Meanwhile, the health club industry has continued to ride the wave of the fitness trend to its fullest extent, bringing the workout experience to higher heights.
The race is officially on to design and offer the biggest and best on premise fitness centers, with more trendy accessories, and newer and more versatile equipment. Where one or two decent multi-exercise machines and mirrored wall were once sufficient, many communities are now filling their fitness centers with health club-quality equipment. Existing fitness rooms are expanding.
Simply stating that you have an on-site fitness center in a brochure, on a website or over the telephone is no longer sufficient to grab prospective clients, guests, and residences attention.
* Parts of this article extrapolated from various news sources.
Bottom line:
If your office or hotel plans on adding a gym or renovating an existing gym, do it well or don’t do it at all. I recently stayed a medium/higher-end hotel which bragged about its’ onsite gym. This was a huge factor when I was deciding where to stay and a great selling / marketing feature for the hotel. I was both surprised and upset when I discovered that their “Luxury Fitness Gym” consisted of a couple of low weight dumbbells, mirrored walls and 3 pieces of older cardio equipment. So upset, that I left and stayed at another hotel. Am I alone? Not at all. More and more traveler’s indicative that a top-notch on-site gym is a major factor when deciding where to stay.
So. Hotel owners and managers, the lesson is, “Deliver on the goods” or it will backfire. Another great option for a hotel who doesn’t have the space (they always have the space, they just won’t always use it), is partner with a local gym. When I say “local” I mean “local”. No guest wants to drive or take a bus to a gym if they can secure an easier option.
Examples: I recently stayed in Denver and Philadelphia. Two great hotels, but neither had a decent gym. Solution. They partnered with gyms which were literally across the street in other buildings.
-PT|HAX™
YANNITTE Fitness Planning & Design. An Archimedes Innovations LLc Company. ©2003-2022.
www.PTHAX.FITNESS
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