Fit to burst

I recently wrote an article on what’s happening in the fitness industry. As part of my research I was after some very basic information. How much it costs to join four of the different chains: Fitness First, Jetts, Anytime Fitness and Virgin Active.

My first port of call was the chains’ websites. I thought this was a good approach and was flabbergasted to find three of the four websites totally unhelpful for this simple fact finding mission. Only the Jetts website had a page detailing membership costs.

I thought I’d go old school and give the gyms a telephone call (shock, horror). I phoned branches of Fitness First and Virgin Active, first as a journalist looking for the information. Nothing. Then as a “potential customer”. Again, nothing. I was told I’d have to come in and meet a consultant. By this time I’d given up, I was so annoyed, and didn’t even try to contact Anytime Fitness, so unfortunately I can’t report on its telephone strategy.

I believe this strategy of keeping pricing a secret is to encourage customers to go to their local gym so the salespeople can hit them with their best pitch. As well, they can take a punt on how much they believe a potential customer is willing to pay and moderate the pricing structure they outline.

I don’t want to judge either of these strategies. Obviously they’re popular among gyms. The moderated pricing idea has been used by travel agents for years, too. My gripe, and subsequent word of warning for business is around what happens next.

Company executives should know better than anyone that time is of the essence. I don’t have time to go into a gym in the city and listen to a hyperbolic sales pitch. So I asked my friends on Facebook. The simple question posed was: Help for an article: Does anyone have Fitness First or Virgin Active memberships? Where is your home club and how much do you pay each month? Did you pay a joining fee?

It was like I unleashed a monster. And it’s a damaging monster that businesses are unable to control. Some of the conversation was negative, like this comment from a mate in England: “Just tried to cancel my Virgin Active membership, as I’ve found a better and cheaper gym. They said if I was leaving (after eight years) for financial reasons they would want evidence like a job seekers letter. And then pay £240 to get out of the contract. It’s the personal touch I like.”

Some neutral but still with a touch of disillusionment like this: “$47 a fortnight, FF, Maroubra. I got them down to $0 admin fee and $5 joining fee (they ‘had to charge something’).”

And this: “Don’t think I paid a joining fee but they got me with the $189 food fitness guide booklet which I was told was fully refundable if I went to the gym every week for 12 wks... Which I was doing till I broke my foot.”

Not all of it was negative: “Virgin peeps love it... It’s like $200/month.”

But even this last comment spreads misinformation - Virgin Active actually costs about $120 a month.

To me, having the pricing information readily available on the website is an easy win that could have avoided the subsequent tornado of disillusionment, sarcasm and brand damage that I unwittingly catalysed. As a potential customer, whenever a brand isn’t transparent like this of course I will go to Facebook or Twitter and ask my network of friends. If there’s negative sentiment around, it’s going to come to the surface.

If I was a brand manager, I would be very scared by social media storms like these. A little transparency is the simple solution.

Do you agree? Write and tell me your views.

BRW

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