Guerilla Marketing VOL IV

Staff Training pg. 2 – 3

Prize Pyramid pg. 4 – 5

Wine Tasting pg. 6 – 8

Pizza can make you money pg. 9

Business Wellness Day pg. 10 – 13

Anniversary pg. 14 - 19

Yard Sales pg. 20

Road Races and Benefit Walks pg. 21-22

Study Group pg. 23-29

V.I.P pg. 30-31

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 The Staff Training Dilemma … Solved

Keeping staff and getting them trained is the hardest part of the owner or managers job.
And quite frankly, the staff is our product. You can have the best equipment and most
beautiful facility, but if staff is not helpful or friendly the member will not be happy – and
won’t keep their membership.

Training is an intrinsically important part of the gym business. Regularly scheduled

sessions with clear cut topics is the simplest way to start. Put a time frame on each
session and stick to it. If the training is to be an hour and a half, then all information
should be completed in that time frame.
Studies show that staff that are well trained, given responsibility and duties will stay at a
job longer. They feel that they are contributing and part of the team.
But how can you motivate staff to come to regular training? Money? By offering a raise
with the completion of so many training sessions is a win win for the club.

For example:
If a staff member completes 15 training sessions that equals a 50₡ raise. At the end of
the session a certificate of completion and the title of the training are presented to each
participant. It is also recommended that an attendance sheet is kept or file to avoid any
future discrepancies.

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To prepare the training, use a calendar and schedule up to 6 months at a time of topics. If
you have multiple locations, the trainings can alternate between locations. For Example:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

1:00 –
Smoothie making 101
Location A
1:00 –
Phone Skills Part II
Location B
1:00 –
Greeting the prospect
Location A
1:00 –
How to handle the difficult
member
Location B
1:00 –
Paperwork…Paperwork
Location A
1:00 –
Selling Steps 101
Location B

Tip: Schedule the trainings on off peak times – not weekends or late at night.
Be consistent with the days and times – do not cancel trainings. You also may
consider involving other staff to lead the trainings.
The classic gym owner’s statement “What if I train them and they leave?” The classic
answer “What if you don’t train them and they stay?”

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 The Prize Pyramid

Rewards, rewards, rewards - everyone loves to get a gift and rewards!

In the lobby set up a pyramid of prizes – 4 levels of gifts. Have the display up 2 weeks
before with information on how the promotion works. Send weekly emails to all the
members about the pyramid.

Now, for this to work the prizes have to be of value. The top shelf is the best prize down
to the first level which would be an entry level prize. The gifts can be taken at the time
they join, renew etc… You will need to replenish the prizes throughout the month.

Try to make a trade with local businesses for as many of the gifts as possible.

Examples:

1 – Renewing you membership

WIN = t-shirt and water bottle

Free smoothie punch card

2 - Spend $300 or more

WIN = restaurant gift certificate for 2

Lobster with Cooking Set
1 hour Massage

3- Join our annual membership

WIN = Spa Day

Microwave
Concert Tickets

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4 – Your Friend Joins – both of your names get entered into the drawing

WIN = T.V.
Bike
Small Vacation valued $500

Set a special day for the final drawing of the top shelf prize. Have that date posted!

For the Month of ___________________ Play prize Pyramid –

 Renew your membership and pick anything from level #1 of the pyramid

 Spend over $300 during the month of _________ and pick any prize from level #2
of the pyramid

 Join the gym and pick from level #3

 All participants get their name into a drawing to win a prize from level #4

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 Wine Tasting

This event is simply for fun. Wine tasting should be done on a Friday evening.
Encourage members to enjoy the gym socially. You can reward the member if they bring
a friend.

1. Recruit a local liquor store to come to your club and do a wine tasting.

2. You may need to limit the number of participants depending on your space and
vendor requirements. The vendor should donate the wine that will be tasted, as it
is a sales tool for them.

3. With a limited number of people, the vendor will have an attentive audience. If
you have too many people, you lose their attention, and you will not be able to
sell the wines presented.

4. You should start the event after the dinner hour, maybe 7:00 or 7:30 pm.

5. You will provide food at the tasting, but only hor d’ourves, which should
compliment the wines. You should serve things such as cheese, fruits, breads,
bruchetta, chocolates, bread sticks or a fun food that the vendor may suggest. The
food is not the focus but it helps when wine tasting.

6. You will need two water pitchers at each table or counter space; one should be
full and one should be empty, for rinsing their wine glasses for the next wine that
will be tasted.

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7. Decorate the tables or counter with candles, flowers and maybe a nice tablecloth.

8. The members can bring their own glass, (which is fun) or the vendor may supply
them.

9. The cost for the wine tasting is $10.00 per person, if they bring a guest they are
only $8.00.
a. Tip – if the friend joins the club – the MEMBER will receive a ½ case of
wine.
10. Sign ups are at the front desk and are promoted by a newsletter, flyers, emails and
a fun display. The display could be a small table decorated for a dinner for two
with wine bottles and information about the event.
a. Another idea is to send it to your local newspaper and title it “open to the
public” wine tasting – with the details.
b. Also have the liquor store that is sponsoring the event advertise for it
along with trial membership offering.

11. Members pay in advance to reserve their spot; non members are welcome at
$15.00 each if they are not accompanied by a member.

12. Have extra staff on hand to help serve and socialize.

13. This event will run about 2 hours.

14. The members may order the wines they have tasted, by the case or the half case.
Encourage members to split cases.

15. Have a list of all the wines served for the evening on an order sheet, so the
member can fill out their order on the same sheet they may have taken notes on.
Have these sheets on a table when they arrive.

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In the summer you could hold this event outside, possibly by a pool if applicable. Cater
it with food and music and it will be a huge hit! It could be a summer celebration or
party. Hold this event around the holidays to help celebrate and bring joy to the club!

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 Pizza can make you MONEY

The idea of this promotion is to have your local pizza parlor tape flyers on all the pizza
boxes! The boxes for both pizza delivery and pick up.

The flyer can be fun in nature featuring a trial membership, grand opening or open house.
Make sure that you put an expiration date on it if it is an offer for a trial membership. If
you are holding a open house/grand opening party outline the date in which the coupon
must be redeemed.

Many times the pizza parlors will do this at no charge and simply want a membership to
trade for the owner and their employees. Owners like the membership to give as Holiday
gifts or as incentives for employees achieving their goals.

Often the owner of the pizza parlor would like to have information at the gym as well.
Menus, take one etc… these can be place on the member board. The parlor could also
offer every member a free drink if they show their membership card for example.

Choose one pizza location at a time and keep rotating to different location and pizza
shops within your town.

This is a numbers game – the more flyers that go out the more leads to your door!

Remember: Support your local pizza parlor. Any meeting, kid’s event that would
require a snack – order from them – shows that the support works both ways.

Oh! As a test, once a week have a staff person have pizza delivered to follow up
on the flyer being placed on the box!

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 Business Wellness Day

The object of this promotion is to invite local businesses to your facility and offer them a
day of fitness, relaxation and health evaluations.

The business will benefit by showing their employees that they are concerned about their
health. Fitness in the work place mean less sick days, higher production and lower cost
of health care.

A professional letter should be presented, along with a folder enclosing your gym
information (you welcome guide will work just fine) as well as health, fitness and your
work related articles. The letter will outline what the wellness day will feature.

A day of wellness for every business can be designed depending on what each business is
looking for. For example: some need stress related and relaxation tips while others may
need weight loss information.

The wellness day can offer blood pressure tests, strength tests, yoga, Pilates, stretching,
lower back exercises and more. You may even consider having other health related
businesses join that day such as cholesterol checks, bone density, chiropractic checks
etc…

See our sample letter that you can send to the businesses.

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Sample of the letter –

Dear business professional,

We all know how difficult it is day after day to keep staff focused, motivated and
productive. Studies have shown that employees who exercise on a regular basis are less
stressed, have increased energy, increase in creativity and work output – and overall a
better sense of well – being.

The YOUR CLUB would like to introduce a new program designed for businesses to
improve the overall health and wellness of their employees. We offer at NO charge a full
day of fitness evaluations, workouts and guidance for your employees. Topics can
include: relaxation techniques, back strength tips, flexibility, nutrition and weight loss,
and ways of keeping fit and healthy while working full time.

The day will also include coffee, fresh fruit, tour of the facility, a personal trainer as well
as other qualified staff that is necessary for your employees needs.

All staff that participates will also receive a 14 day trial membership, along with
incentives to join to continue their healthy lifestyle.

To get your employees started, simply give us a call and we can schedule the day of
wellness at your convenience.

Healthfully,

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The sample letter along with the club information should be hand delivered to the
business. You should give a brief introduction and explanation to the person at the front
desk. Ask for a contact name and email address.

When you get back to the club, email your contact thanking them for taking the
information and that you look forward to working with them and their staff to help them
with their health and fitness needs. Let them know that you would like to contact the
in the next 3-5 days to schedule a day of wellness.

In 3-5 days a phone call to your contact should be made to schedule the event.

Questions to ask:

 Employee concerns

 Topics they would like to cover

 Date of day and time that would be good

 # of employees

Tell them:

 What to wear

 What type of workouts to expect

 What type of tests will be done

 All employees will receive at no cost or obligation a 14 day trial membership

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DAY OF THE EVENT:

 Produce a banner – welcoming name of company

 Coffee, fruit for them at the lobby

 Introduce everyone and review the events of the day

 Let them know at the end – certificates of achievement, 14 day trials will be
offered

 Prepare a special sales sheet for the company – of they purchase a membership
today they will receive:

o List of incentives

o Perhaps waive the joiners fee

o DO NOT discount the memberships monthly rate

We do not encourage you to discount the monthly membership rate for

corporations.

For example:

If a member is chatting with another member (and you know they do) and they discuss
what they are paying every month, one mentions because they work at “Joes” they only
pay ____ per month. While the other member thinks, “I work too! Why do they get a
discount and I don’t??”

Treat everyone fairly. Discounting businesses randomly is not fair and creates bad word
of mouth. Buy the sale with the addition of incentives and add on features. Never
discount always ENHANCE!!

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 Anniversary Promotion

How ever many years you have been in business an anniversary is a time to celebrate!
The traditional means has been with ads offering discounts to match the years in business
or promoting it like a birthday party. These promotion methods would be best as a
backup and not to be the only means of promoting.

The owner should send a yearly letter to the membership base making note of what the
past year was about, what changes were made to the club, personal stories of interest;
such as family anecdotes, and perhaps a member success story. The letter should also
include hopes of the upcoming year and always, thanking them for their support etc…

With every letter consider placing a trial membership gift certificate for friends and
relatives. Place restrictions; such as must be over the age of 21, 1st time participant, and a
year round resident. Where this is an anniversary celebration consider you trial
membership to be longer than normal – such as a 30 day trial.

How to increase membership sales:

Give 2 months free to any member who brings in a guest who joins on an annual
membership. The free time gets added to the end of their contract. You may promote
this through your anniversary letter, post it on your member board or even have a banner
made!

Send cards to all previous members and old leads who did not join – offering them the
anniversary specials. Follow up with phone calls. Cards could look like an anniversary
invitation – inviting them to come back.

Throughout the month you can celebrate with special events – member appreciation
theme.
 Coffee and bagels with owner a few mornings

 Crackers, cheese, fruit and wine a few evenings

 Wash members cars on a Saturday

 Manager shakes member’s hands all day – welcoming them and thanking them –
because of them you have been in business for ___ years.

 Free smoothie samples all month

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  Profit centers should have great enhancements to purchase training packages, to
renew early, purchase spa services. Tradition tells us to discount – consider add
on value first before discounting. You want to keep value of your company.

All month staff can dress formal. You could purchase or rent red bowties and have
special anniversary t-shirts printed – the members will enjoy that.

Design a special anniversary t-shirt. The back of the shirt can list the years with the
workout craze at the time. Make the shirts fun so the members will want to “collect”
them.

Email members weekly with all activities and specials.

Decorate the gym with balloons, flowers and make sure the gym is clean. Pay attention
to details. Maybe paint the month before the celebration and move equipment around a
make it look new and fresh.

Following is an example of a letter from the owner.

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 Yard Sale

Once a year is the best time to clean out all the gym clutter. Old desks, equipment,
workout attire that never sold and get rid of it all with a yard sale!

Open this up to members to participate in the yard sale too. For a small cost, they can set
up tables and sell their items. The cost of space can go to your favorite charity.

You may even consider reaching out to craft fair participants. Fill your parking lot with
all types of vendors.

Notify the public with ads in the paper, flyers, emails to members and posters throughout
the community.

For free press let them know this is in support of your favorite charity. And everyone
who simply comes to the yard sale will get a free 30 day membership.

Take photos, or better yet call local small papers and see if you can get a photo
opportunity.

Decorate the yard with balloons and make sure the landscape is neat and clean.

You can have children events going on to promote any children’s programs that you
offer. Present face painting, clowns, balloons and even a moon walk. This will attract
interest from people driving by and create lots of excitement.

You can display clothes on sale with cloth lines and wooden clothes pins and laundry
baskets filled with items on sale.

To make this event successful for you:

 Get as much PR as you can

 Pass out as many trial membership passes as possible

 Get rid of the clutter in your gym

 Make some money!

 HAVE FUN and remember it is all for a good cause!

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 Road Races

Road races have become very popular. This is a simple way to offer a trial membership
to the participants.

You will want to produce a post card size coupon – 4 ½ X 5 on hard stock paper. Make it
a bright fun color, but something that the information can still be easily read.

 On the card place the race name

 Reasons why they would benefit coming to your gym

o Cross training, functional workouts – balance us with your running – we

can increase your speed and endurance. Etc…

 Put which restrictions apply

 Make sure you place an expiration date on the card

 Offer the trial for 14, 22 or 30 days of membership

Example:

Woman Running Wild

The Your gym name here would like to offer you 14 days
FREE!

Take advantage of our trial membership and take your running to the next level.
Enjoy:
Full line of strength training equipment Simply bring this
card with you and
Tanning start taking
Childcare advantage of your
Personal Training 14 day FREE trial
Etc…..

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 Club address Club Phone # Restrictions Expiration Date:

There are many organizations that put on most of the races in your area. Getting a
contact name is important. You want to establish an association with them; so that every
race the trial membership can be passed out or placed in goody bags that the participants
receive.

If the race organization does not offer “gift bags” but loved the idea.
For a small cost purchase the bags and fill them yourself – include your club info and of
course the trial membership coupon. Also include some snack bars, Kleenex, a pair of
athletic socks, etc…

 On a side note please be sure to have all your sales systems in place before
offering the trial offer. You want to be prepared for when all the participants start
to come into the facility with their coupon.

 For assistance purchase our “How to Implement the Trial Membership” at

www.totalclubsupport.com

Benefit Walks

Benefit walks are also a great way to get your name out in the community. By offering to
do warm ups, stretching and a trial membership at the event!

This will show community support of the charity in which the walk is being held.

The benefit walk coupon should be the same format as the one you use for the road races!

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 Study Groups

The idea behind the exercise study groups and the weight loss study group is to welcome
participants into the club for a trial period.

The difference between this and a trial membership is that the study groups agree to
participate certain days and times. The group will meet together 2-3 times per week for 2
weeks. This encourages use and participation.

For example with the exercise study:

1) Meet participants who call and are interested in the study. Schedule an
appointment to review expectations.

2) What is expected?
a. They must show up on the required days

b. They fill out a exercise form (survey) before beginning the study

i. How they feel

ii. Goals
iii. Workout history
iv. Limitations

c. Ask them to walk daily or be involved in the gyms activities the other days
when not in the study group

d. Each day of the study group there should be a focus of a particular topic
such as:

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 i. Importance of warm up

ii. Cardio equipment 101

iii. Stretching

iv. A group exercise experience

v. Strength training 101

e. consider hand outs after each session

f. ask them to fill out a questionnaire after each session

i. What did they like?

ii. How do they feel

iii. Etc…

3) All sessions should involve all areas of the club

4) The goal is to acquaint the study group members with the gym environment, show
them they do fit in. A supervised program such as in the group study that
educates trains and supports participation can make them more comfortable in
considering the gym environment on a regular basis. – i.e. JOINING!

5) During their study time each person should be given a training card to follow

6) Participants who do not show should be called

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7) The lead trainer should be scheduled to do each session
8) The sales team should have the participants name on the sales board along with
the end date of the study

9) Study groups should be on going. Once you have it in place the systems, handouts
and topics can be revised/re produced.

10) The final day of the study each participant fills out a questionnaire.

a. How did they like it?

b. How do they feel?

c. Do they notice a difference in them emotionally and physically?

d. What did you learn?

11) Also on the final day each participant will receive a certificate with gifts.
Such as:
a. $ to pay for the joiners fee

b. Free smoothie

c. T-Shirt

d. Etc…

12) On the final day, the participants are offered to join. They can then trade in their
coupons that they received as their gift. As well as not having to put any money
down. Their first payment will be the following month!

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 a. They should be comfortable, understand there exercise needs should
continue. The club is making it simple to join. No money down and no
complicated memberships.

b. Close as many as you can on their final day!

13) We suggest 3X per week AM and PM sessions

a. Run the program for 2 weeks

b. You will need 6 topics

c. Your current members may also want to participate. That is great and it
will help the trial members meet people within the gym. As well as
allowing your current members to take part in the program.

14) You can also weigh and measure before and after the session. Weigh-ins can also
be done weekly.

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 Weight Loss Study Group

The weight loss study group runs similar to the exercise study group. The significant
difference will be that they will get food tips, basic nutrition and weight loss programs.

The participants are also encouraged to fill out food logs.

Some information that could be covered could include:

 Reading food labels

 Food serving sizes

 Importance of drinking water

 Foods to avoid

 Glycemic food index…etc..

An interesting twist to this promotion is to consider using the Body Bugg™. The gym
can purchase a number of “Bugs” and then can rent them out to the members. A credit
card number would be held incase of loss or theft. A trial participant has the option of
renting it – for around $150 for 2 weeks.

If you have not heard of the Body Bugg™ and would like some more information visit
www.apex.com

This same concept can be used for members they can rent the Body Bugg™ a month at a
time. You could even package this with personal training.

You also would want to do Body composition tests, weight and measurements before the
program. Before each session ask the participants to weigh in. Each person has their
own training card where the information can be recorded as well as their workouts.

Also remember when they sign up for the group the receive gym information. Do not
give or review prices unless they ask – or it is the last day of the study.

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The rest of the steps remain the same as the exercise study group.

Track them during their session and keep them motivated. Even consider calling them
the off days of the sessions to see how their food intake and exercise is progressing.

A graduation on the final day should include:

* Fruit

* Coffee

* Certificates of achievement

* Coupons – these will be used to join and discounts in your profit centers.

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 V.I.P

Every year you should recognize members who have been with you for 3 years or longer.
A special letter (sample enclosed) that thanks them for their support and offer them
special benefits.

For Example:

 No joiner fee for a friend that joins

 2 months free added to their membership with every referral who joins an annual
membership

 Free visit for an out of town guest

 10% off juice bar

 15% off workout apparel

The letter also states that with the letter they will receive a new VIP card. Simply bring
this letter to the front desk and a VIP membership card will be activated for them. You
can also have the card already enclosed and already activated.

The VIP card should be a special color.

Such as:

 Silver
 Gold
 With the letter V.I.P displayed on the front

The back of the card should outline the benefits they receive

The VIP program is great for member retention. The members love the special
recognition and benefit offers. They will work hard to bring in new members.

Be sure everyone makes a “big deal” about the new VIP member and THANK THEM!

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Following is a Sample of the VIP letter.

Thank You,

You have been a valued member of this club for over three years and now we would like
to do something special for you as our way of showing our appreciation for your
continued loyalty and support.

Enclosed you will find a car V.I.P card with your name on it. We award these cards to
members who have supported the club for at least three years. We hope this card shows
the status you have achieved with us through your constant support of our business over
the years.

The card enables you to enjoy a number of benefits here at the club as well as local
businesses (optional) here in the area. Starting immediately, you may use your card to:

 Get 10% off anything we sell in the club including personal training and special
event offerings
 Bring a guest and have his or her membership fee waived upon joining the club
 Get an extra 10 guest passes a year you may use for any guest you choose
 Get four FREE personal training sessions a year (valued $200)
 Get 8 FREE tanning sessions a year (valued at $80)
 $100 of free spa services a year

(Optional if the club has relationships with area merchants)

 Receive 10% off from any of these area merchants:

 Free Hair Styling From ( )
 Free car wash from ( )
 Free Bike tune up from ( )

Thank you again for your loyal support and friendship. We appreciate your business and
would not be here if it wasn’t for members such as yourself.

Thanks,

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