My fellow gym owner Chris Merritt offered to share a guest post on my site this week, and it couldn't have come at a better time. We're into day three of no power at the Dupuis Household thanks to heavy wet snow in our area, and I'm not exactly swimming in free time to write. For now, I am thrilled to share this piece discussing the long term implications of employing dishonest marketing tactics in your fitness business. Enjoy!
In the book “How to Be A Great Boss,” by Gino Wickman and René Boer, the authors introduce a discipline from Todd Sachse of Sachse Construction called the “10, 10, 10 Rule.”
“… the first 10 represents the first ten minutes after making a decision. Emotion usually drives your initial reaction. How do you feel about the idea? Are you happy, sad? The second 10 represents the first 10 months regarding a decision, which he considers short term. You usually ask yourself, how much money am I going to make this year? What resources do I need and what will they cost me? The third 10 represents the first ten years after a decision. Now you’re asking yourself, how will it affect my reputation, relationships, community, and family?”
I don’t know about you, my fellow fitness business owners, but I think we could all benefit from running our decisions through the 10, 10, 10 Rule, especially when it comes to our marketing.
I’ve been seeing these Facebook ads lately—and based on the number of people using them, I’m sure you have too—and they’re all the same, literally. They’re pushing a 6-week challenge that uses the exact same landing page, they’re advertising it as free (shocker: it’s not), and oh, by the way, “this is your last day to register!”
Then, once people register, they’re told all spaces are taken, manipulating them to feel like they lost the opportunity. All of this so that the business can reach out and save the day soon after, letting them know that a spot just happened to open!
Further, I’ve been seeing the dude that’s pushing the system all over my own Facebook, every time I log on, advertising his services by showing success story after success story.
And here’s the thing—I believe that they’re legit. I truly believe these people are having massive success with his systems. In fact, I know some people that are using it, and they are having massive “success” in the form of tons of leads and so-so retention—which, with the volume the ads bring in, is great for their bottom line.
But if we run this approach through the 10, 10, 10 Rule, how do we think this is going to pan out in the long run?
I get the first two 10’s. These business owners desperately want to increase their bottom line, and they buy into this marketing program on emotion. Within those first 10 minutes, sure there’s probably some “holy crap, what did I just do?” going on based on the investment in the system, but there’s also hope and excitement.
10 months into this thing, their numbers are way up—and that’s where many of them are now.
But it’s a new system, and there is no long-term proof.
10 years? Based purely on the amount of manipulation involved in the marketing tactic—even with the people who stay on and enjoy these gyms—there’s still the fact that they were lied to in the beginning, and they know it. Worse, there are all those ones that not only know it but didn’t sign on for more after the challenge—or worse yet, walked out the door as soon as they realized it was a bait and switch.
You don’t have 10 years. In my opinion, it’s not going to take even close to that amount of time for the word to spread, and your reputation to be tanked.
I really hope it works out for these gym owners’ sake, but my gut says it won’t.
When does the well dry up? When does your reputation for being deceitful precede you? Time will tell.
And here’s the kicker—the owner of this marketing company opened a gym just down the road from our facility in 2016. At the time, no one else was running ads like these, so we took notice. To be honest, I was impressed, even nervous and worried about how it would impact our own business.
Well, his gym didn’t last long, and it was GREAT for our business while it did. The place so quickly earned a negative reputation that it became the talk of everyone coming over to join up with us. The gym has been gone since about November of 2016 (estimated), but I can still pull their reviews on Yelp and Google—one of which was written by his former employee:
At the end of the day, I’m just a small business owner playing the long game. I don’t see a place for manipulative advertising in our business, regardless of how much money it will bring in the long run.
My aim is, and always has been, to provide value in multiple forms and put the needs of our clients first. And through that approach, our gym has grown month after month, year after year, for coming up on 7 strong.
As Jay Abraham says in “Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got,”
“The more value you give others, the more value you generate. Not only for your clients but for yourself. The more contributions you make to the richness of the lives of your clients, the more bonded you will be to them and they to you. And the more successful you will become.
The focus of your concern should state to the client, in essense, “You matter. Your well-being is important to me.””
At the end of the night, when you lay your head on the pillow, you shouldn’t have to rationalize your actions in order to sleep soundly.
Play the long game, take care of your people like family, and deliver a phenomenal product.
About the Author:
Chris Merritt is the co-founder of Beyond Strength Performance, a strength and conditioning facility located in Northern Virginia. He is also a co-founder of the Strength Faction, an online community that focuses on providing fitness professionals with the support, education, and experience they need to transform their lives and careers.