One of the greatest perks of the health & fitness industry is also one of its greatest weaknesses.
It’s the mother of all double-edged swords.
Want to know what it is?
While it’s easy for your clients, patients or members to start working with you, it’s just as easy for them to leave.
And that sucks for business.
Here is why.
For most of us, acquiring a new customer takes a lot of effort.
Phone calls, emails back and forth, text messages, initial consults, screenings… the list goes on.
You need to do so much (and work so hard) to get a new customer.
But we remind ourselves it’s all worth it because it’s another person you can serve and, it helps your bottom line. It keeps the business going and that’s the aim after all.
But have you ever noticed that whenever you get a few wins like that, it doesn’t take long before you get the same amount of clients who want to cancel?
Except it is like 100x easier to cancel. All your clients have to do is send you a text message and, if you’re like most in the industry that has a transactional business model, that’s it… they’re cancelled.
You wave your sweet goodbyes as they head off into the sunset.
And at the end of the month, despite all your hard work, you’ve got nothing to show for it.
This stalemate is how most businesses will operate for years on end.
Two steps forward, two steps back.
The cycle sucks.
No business can get ahead if they stay stuck in place.
So what can we do about that?
I was on a phone call to a mentee about this very topic this afternoon.
The answer is simpler than you think…
Make your business stickier.
Stickiness is a measure of attachment to your business. The more attached they are to you and what you do, the more they love you, and the less they want to leave.
This is very different to holding your clients hostage.
And I definitely do not mean writing something in the fine print of your contract that locks them into a 5-year training agreement.
But I am stressing that stickiness is often a predictor of your business’s success.
And we see this play out in our lives every day.
Have you ever wondered why you don’t cancel your Netflix subscription every time you finish watching a show? It’s probably because there will always be more to consume and more value to extract. It’s easier just to pay your monthly subscription and avoid the hassle. Netflix leverages the power of value.
It’s also why we sign a 12-month lease when we find a new rental… getting up and moving houses every couple of months is too difficult and too time-consuming. Leases leverage the power of cost & commitment.
It’s why you tune in to the same channels on YouTube or follow the same accounts on Instagram. You like what they’re about and they continue to add value to your life. Your favourite content producers create a shared vision and worldview that persists across time and space.
You can learn from these examples.
What can you do to create more stickiness with your fitness business?
What can you learn from Netflix’s ‘always-consuming’ strategy?
Or the 2-year contract terms on a phone contract that we all sign without a second thought?
Or the stickiness that software companies create because you can’t imagine doing business without it?
If you can overcome the easy-come easy-go nature of the fitness industry and create a sticky brand by looking outside the industry…
Then you might be on your way to building something remarkable.
Karl Goodman
