How to make a tonne of money over Xmas..
It's January and you've just arrived back to work for a cracking start to the new year. You have massive plans to make more money, service more clients and kick some BIG goals. But wait, no-one is here, your diary is empty and your bank balance is struggling... what went wrong?!
Let's backtrack a little.. it's November the year before, you're winding down to Xmas, it's been a solid year of work and you've made some decent money so you're feeling good and satisfied. That's cool, but because it's your first year in business you probably haven't experienced the next few months... now if it's not your first year in business and this is happening regularly then you definitely have to keep reading!
Now, this used to be my routine for the first 3 YEARS
of having my own Studio!
I made good money through the year, then closed the Studio down for 2 weeks over Xmas, recharged the batteries and went back mid January ASSUMING all the clients would come back with me... seems logical, but this was a hope, not a plan.
I'm a slow learner - but after the third year of this happening where I had a decent year and then suffered for the following 6 weeks between December and January, I had to make a change.
After I implemented the following strategies, December ended up being my BIGGEST month of the year and set me up for the reduced cash flow in the January period when my clients were away.
Here are a few things I do REGULARLY now to ensure I make solid cash over the Xmas and New Year Holiday period..
Strategy 1: Upselling Sessions
This is most powerful after experiencing your first Xmas period, and implementing the following year. The aim of this strategy is to front end a clients PT sessions or group ex sessions before Xmas, based on the fact they're going to be off in January.
So, the idea is to upgrade their membership or session frequency in the Nov/Dec period.
They won't pay more during this time, still the same rate they are currently on, but they will receive more visits/sessions.
Ie If they pay $55 for 1 PT session/week, upgrade them to 2 sessions a week but still for only $55/week.
Do this for 6 weeks leading into XMAS, so they get 6 more sessions for $0. However, this means they now owe you for 6 sessions.
The deal is, their debit won't stop over January (or when they are away on holidays) so you still get an income over the period they are away as you have already completed the sessions in advance.
This strategy works well for the client too as they get more perceived value for the same price while they are there, and don't notice the 'regular' debit coming out while they are away as it's normal for their current budget.
Now, the message to the client can be simply "Remember what happened last year when you came back after Xmas and your holidays and put on an extra 5kg? Well let's get on the front foot this year and lose that weight so when you come back you're ahead of the game!
OR.. 'We're going to increase your class sessions by 1 per week to lose the kg's you're going to put on while you're away. This way, you won't undo all the great work you've accomplished this year already'
Strategy 2: Annual Memberships
Each year we put out an offer for an Annual Upfront Membership Package to 15 of our Group Exercise Clients. See our example here
Why 15 you ask?
Well, firstly for cashflow.. These memberships cost $3,000 each and if we sell 15, that's $45,000 of revenue we will be seeing in one month versus over 12 months. So, we need to be conscious that our budget can support this.
Because it's a group exercise model, then the overheads are lower (the profit margin is higher) and the opportunity is there to make some good money at the end of the year to inject into the New Year.
Secondly, so that it's still EXCLUSIVE. People will be attracted to it if there are limited spots available and there is a limited time period to secure their spot (which there is too ;))
As mentioned, this can add $45,000 in December alone and make the quieter January period that much more bearable.
Simply ensure the 'offer' is only available until Dec 23rd so you get everyone paid up in time before Xmas!
Strategy 3: Selling Online Programs
A really good cash flow injection can be to sell programs online
just before the holiday period so that your clients can exercise while they are away in any environment under the guidance of a structured program designed by you!
The beauty of this is that you only design them once, make them generic but detailed, and applicable to many training environments.
Some that we use are:
The hotel workout
The beach workout
Skiing Workout
Foam Roller & mobilisation program
E-book - eating right while eating out
We sell these for $47 on our website and encourage our clients to buy these to keep a routine while they are away.
Again, the message for them is to not lose all the results in 4 weeks that they have worked so hard to gain over the last 12 months.
Strategy 4: Staff!
For the first 2 years of owning my Studio, I didn't have any staff.
Now, while that was OK - it limited me from making money over Xmas through their commissions
So, now 15 years later, I have approx 3-4 staff available to work every Xmas/Jan period.
Sometimes they take their holidays in the quieter times of the year when it's not too expensive or maybe they just want to earn some money over the break (as we all do!)
So, we let our Studio clients know that we have 3-4 staff available over the break for those who would like to keep training.
Note:
This is for appt only training so we are guaranteed $ for our time, and I'm not paying a group trainer to be there if no one turns up for a class.
We have probably 40% of our clients that will engage in this while they are around town. Some will leave for a week or two for a family holiday, but they will be replaced with those others returning.
So, we often have all 3-4 trainers relatively busy
Over the Dec/Jan period the trainers will complete approx 80-100 sessions per week (combined) which is around 40% of our usual amount in the busy times during the year
Now, as you all know by now how I pay my trainers, I take between 50-60% of each session. When each session is billed at $60-$80 each, that's around $3,000 I'm conservatively making
each week during the quiet weeks.
Not bad!
So as you can see it's all about being prepared for the quieter holiday periods in advance.
Planning approx 2-3 months out what your strategy is going to be, then rolling it out year after year!
Enjoy making a tonne of money over the break now :)
Yours in Fitness Business Success,
Ben Dulhunty
