In reality, there are few industries as dynamic and energized as the fitness industry… It sounds cliche, but by being a health club owner you really are doing good for others and your community, and enjoying powerful re-occurring revenue streams to boot!

At no time is the energy and growth of fitness franchises more evident than at the international trade shows, such as IHRSA (the International Health Racquet and Sportclub Association).

The elements team is gathering in San Francisco for the next 10 days as part of this event … along with a collection of 15,000+ executives and fitness club owners from around the world – this convention is a who’s who of the industry, and is not to be missed for serious fitness club owners. elements uses the show as a tremendous opportunity for our teams to network, collaborate, and focus.

We will be using the time to meet and strategize with current elements club owners, introduce new franchisees to the industry, collaborate with other executives and policy leaders in key government initiatives, and teach at various workshops and lectures.

Involvement in the overall industry, including leadership on the national and governmental levels, is such an important responsibility for a franchisor. I always caution prospects when they are searching for the ideal concept to franchise, to make sure their franchisor has the clout within their given industry to help them out, in case a situation arose. One of the great things about being a part of a brand, is the fact that all of our clubs are represented, regardless of their attendance at the event.

Studies by the Service Management Group (SMG) show that businesses (specifically with service and retail businesses) with higher customer satisfaction rates have much higher growth in in-store sales. Although practically every business understands that good customer service is important, I ask you which businesses have tools in place to track and measure their customer satisfaction index, and what systems do you have in place to ensure a great customer service at each location. You cannot manage what you cannot measure, so we believe that it is vitally important to manage how the customer experience translates into customer satisfaction and loyalty. In fact, if you do not know which employee behaviors and customer experience create customer loyalty in your stores, you are essentially competing with one of your hands tied behind your back.
Because the best brands DO know, we track customer satisfaction and loyalty in every unit, every day – the same as we track costs and inventory. We link customer experience data to financial metrics such as average transaction amount, lifetime customer value, and same store sales growth. When you are able to calculate the value of superior service, you can reinvest dollars deliberately to increase sales from the customer experience.

The founding principle of customer experience management, is that when you improve their experience, customers not only remain loyal, they give you a larger share of their wallet. They also refer others to you. Since the cost of these sales is essentially zero, your customer acquisition cost actually drops as your brand and service levels get stronger.

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elements fitness lifestyle coach Ami Suvanti featured in Woman's World magazine

It is exciting to see the continual interest from the press into our fitness programs, including Woman’s World Magazine. We are gathering large numbers of testimonials from elements members, video testimonials from BalanceD diet users, inquiries from press and media, as well as frequent features on blogs and online media.

elements is designed to become the leading fitness and lifestyle brand for women… we do this by focusing our energy to build the very best consumer experiences…. this is the foundation which causes the brand to grow rapidly. New elements club openings in Chicago, Atlanta, and Colombus Ohio this month were met with buzz from the communities, members, and even online bloggers… even a new partnership locally with Whole Foods Market. elements is fast becoming a community which will grow itself – this will be one of the runaway secrets to this brand’s success in the lifestyle and fitness sectors.

As seen in Woman’s World Magazine

During our photo shoot at Miami Beach National on a very, very, very hot day.

One of the things I find most surprising about my job, is how frequently we are conducting video or photo shoots. Elements is truly positioned as a leader in the fitness franchise space, and it is very important to have unique content: videos, photos, workouts, stories… you name it.

It seems as if every shoot is an adventure – we have had some great locales, and being based in South Beach gives us a richness of locations beyond imagination. Today’s adventure took us to Miami Beach Golf Club where we were shooting a sequence for a feature story in the prestigious CBI (Club Business International) magazine. Elements is frequently written about in the magazine, which is the top industry publication for the fitness and leisure industry, but it is very special to receive a full feature such as this. Our art director chose a great photographer and a great location for this visual… however no one took into account the humidity (and mosquitoes) after a typical Miami summer shower. My instructions “look happy, look up, look over here, higher, no lower, no your hand…” and the team began to get weary very quickly, as we all were melting in the July Miami heat. Adding some complication, it seems as if a particular group of well-known celebrities did not see the “hole closed” sign and played through our shoot! I was keeping my eye out for a small white ball… and of course getting yelled at the entire time by the photographer – I couldn’t wait to get back to to real work!

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I was invited to enjoy a great dinner at the newly-opened DeVito restaurant in Miami’s ultra-chic SoFi (South of Fifth) neighborhood, an area fast becoming known for its A-list residents and new… A-list chefs.

Upon entering the building, I noticed the use of “living walls,” one of the design features that we use throughout many of our elements clubs… the designers has used it to add character to the building exterior, as well as add intrigue to the space. It was a great evening, a delicious gourmet Italian meal, and a nice opportunity to hear growing and very positive feedback on BalanceD, our interactive weight loss portal, which is now beings used by many of the cities top trainers, and of course their clients… our mention in media, from the NY Times to the Miami Herald has made us “the” diet… funny that was not the original intention at-all, BalanceD is a very well rounded portal aimed at the average woman with more than 10lbs to lose… but its hard to say no to great press!

elements-for-women-discover-wellness-campaign-banner

Going green is the buzzword these days… rising fuel costs has made it not only politically correct, but often necessary to consider environmental and efficiency issues in our everyday lives.

Going green comes from our inherit desire to do good… recycling, conserving, and helping others ultimately make us feel better about ourselves. The most successful, or more established we become in our own lives, the stronger the desire is to give back, and do good for the community. It is not surprising to me how many executives are drawn to elements because of the desire to franchise or own a business which can do good for others. The fitness and wellness industries are very lucrative, due to their explosive double-digit growth and re-occurring membership revenue model, but I still maintain that the true success stories in our industry are those owners who truly enjoy what they do, and who are proud to own a business which does so much good for the community.

elements was featured on ABC news today, for our technologically advanced Smartcard Workouts… click here to watch the video

Charlotte is a great example of a thriving American City…. not too big, not too small – and enough energy to make you feel as if you are in the middle of a happening place. Somewhat by accident, during the 1980’s all of the major US banks found themselves with a headquarters there. Now, the streets of this 2nd-largest Southern City are lined with 70 floor office towers, and a dizzying array of public gardens and street fountains.

The city is packed during the day with thousands of executive and corporate women. While the competition from local health club operators is high, elements occupies a envieable market niche – we are only national upscale fitness brand for women. Since elements opened in Charlotte 2 years ago, we had caused two smaller fitness clubs, including Curves to close their doors, and acquired their membership bases. In general, it is very tough for these “microclubs” to compete against full-service women’s concepts, such as elements, as their members get bored very quickly. Member retention is an ongoing, and significant dilemma, for fitness center under 1,000 square feet. It is simply common sense… members are intelligent people, they are looking to improve the way they look… with only one service option – the circuit workout – a member will alwyas plateau, or simply get bored. Amenities such as treadmills, cardio, personal training, and classes foster social interaction, and offer diverse options for members, resulting in a higher retention rate.

After weeks of market analysis, Our team landed in Charlotte last week to announced our relaunch and expansion plan for the market, which I will detail later this week… [subscribe now] to receive this blog in your inbox.

Turn on any radio or television, read any newspaper, and the stories all have a similar tone… steep price jumps in groceries and gasoline, two important staples and a powerful indicator of economic performance.

One of the primary functions of a strategist is to forecast economic trends, well prior to them happening, and set the company course accordingly. As far as I know, elements is the only non-publicly traded lifestyle or fitness company to have a strategist as a part of the brand team. This foresight allows us to outperform many competitors on both a club and corporate level. The corporate performance is especially important for our franchisees and stockholders, as a powerful “mother ship” helps to ensure the success of all local clubs, programs and franchisees.

We had predicted the economic softening many months ahead of its arrival, and has also predicted that in the diet and fitness sectors, consumer purchases under $300 would hold fairly streadily, and consumer purchases under $100 would actually increase. This is attributed to several factors including the high perceived value from a fitness membership, especially at a premium club such as elements. It is also attributed to Americans canceling larger leisure purchases, such as golf outings and trips, in favor of smaller ticket, value driven purchases, such as fitness club memberships and weight loss programs. Even though elements is perceived as an upscale brand by consumers, it is not considered a frivolous or luxury purchase (such as a $700 pair of Gucci shoes), rather a necessity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

We have taken several steps ahead of time to rally during this economic downtown, including focusing more of our corporate resources on developing and acquiring company owned stores and fitness clubs. This type of economy makes a great acquisition scenario for experienced operations team such as ours, and allows the company to derive more revenue from consumer-driven purchases, such as our BalanceD online diet and local club operations. This diversity in income makes elements significant more recession-resistant than our competitors, many of which have announced significant closings and cutbacks, while we continue to scale in the other direction. I do also attribute this to our prudent strategies on acquisitions and contracts, and my personal belief that each deal must stand on its own, and make sense on its own merits.

For well educated entrepreneurs, an economic downturn is absolutely the best time to start a business. Many long term agreements, such as real estate leases can be well-negotiated, sites are easier to come by, and contractors are more eager for the job, making prices more flexible. It takes 5-10 months to get a club open, start to finish, so the new location will be very well positioned upon opening, and will have a very solid financial foundation. We will be announcing several expansion deals this month including Nashville area clubs, Columbus Ohio regional development, and several very upmarket cities in the Northeast. Although the areas are diverse, each of the groups shares one common component, a well educated entrepreneur at the help.

I am heading to Charlotte, North Carolina this week, as we prepare to announce the expansion of our uptown Charlotte location, and the development of a company owned BalanceD Diet store, in uptown’s banking district.

We will soon be announcing the re-launch and expansion of our uptown Charlotte location, as well as new operations HUBs in Chicago, Miami, and California. The Miami HUB will support central and South Florida, and will also include a multinational support staff to launch Latin America growth and the brand continues our wave of international expansions.