My landlord once walked into my office and offered to cut a door into the wall behind the pitching cage, allowing for throwing clients to access that portion of the gym easily without impacting the flow of foot traffic in the training space.
His idea made sense, and was certainly appreciated…but I politely declined.
A space often referred to as “the birdcage” here at CSP
While pitching clients are asked to enter our office space, say hello to our Office Manager, and proceed into and across the gym to begin their lessons, I would hardly qualify our set-up as a burden. If I were to further streamline this process by modifying their point of entry, I would be foregoing a huge opportunity to expose potential clients to our services.
Thanks to our existing layout and set-up, we have the chance to hit an athlete with a pleasant “hello” and a smile the moment they walk through the door. Next, we expose him to a quality training environment as he makes his way through the space.
If you’re a youth baseball player routinely walking through a gym full of other ballplayers, you’re eventually bound to ask yourself if you’re missing out on a competitive advantage by only worrying about pitching instruction. As the law of repeated exposures kicks in, most pitching clients eventually stop at the front desk on the way out the door to inquire about strength training.
How likely would they be to do so if they had a private entryway to slip in and out of?
If you own a gym that offers complimentary services such as manual therapy, nutritional guidance, on-site physical therapy, or even a juice bar, you’d be crazy not to physically position the services in a manner that requires at least a little interaction with your primary service offering.
movestrongphysicaltherapy.com
Allow the independent contractor PT to practice in the heart of the training space. Position the massage therapy room in the back corner of the facility and require clients to observe the training action on their way there. At the very least, give people a reason to ask about the action they observe each and every time they arrive to pay for a complimentary service.
You could take the easy way out and cut that door into the wall, or you could take advantage of the free leads that are consistently walking through your door.