What is in this article?:
- Checkup: Health Club Opportunities in the Affordable Care Act
- Join the Team
- Who Will Lead?
- A Wait for the Return
- Sidebar: Sell Programs Rather than Memberships
Positioning fitness facilities within the health care continuum likely will become even more important when the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) goes into full effect in 2014.
Sidebar: Sell Programs Rather than Memberships
For fitness facility operators to be a successful part of the health care continuum, they must change their sales mindset, says Jason Conviser, president of consulting company JMC & Associates, Glencoe, IL. Instead of focusing on selling memberships and personal training, they should focus on selling 12-week programs that help people with specific chronic conditions.
"People are not saying I need a health club membership," Conviser says. "What they are saying is 'I feel like my life is out of control. I'm exhausted. I don't feel good.' The world is coming at them very quickly."
People are willing to participate in short-term programs to treat their chronic conditions even though they do not want to join a health club. The short-term hook gets individuals in the door and gets them results. Once that happens, club operators can discuss re-upping on a 12-week package or converting to a membership, he says.
