Five-Star Fitness by The Fit Guide

👉🏼 Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

Empowering your team is essential to delivering a five-star experience. In this episode we’ll tell you what the fitness industry can learn from leading hospitality brands in this area.

We explore how to give staff more freedom while maintaining clear standards, with practical examples from handling complaints and waiving fees to creating memorable moments for members.

We also discuss how getting empowerment right can improve staff satisfaction, remove friction from the member journey and free up owners and managers to focus on growing their businesses.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

What does the a gym’s perfect member journey look like?

In this episode of Five-Star Fitness, we’re joined by retention expert Dr. Paul Bedford to explore how gyms and fitness studios can create exceptional experiences at every stage of the member journey.

We cover everything from marketing and first impressions to onboarding, personal training and long-term engagement.

Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Guest Links

Dr Paul Bedford on LinkedIn

Retention Guru

Will Guidara talks about how creating memorable “wow” moments can be a powerful part of a five-star experience.

However, they mean little if you haven’t mastered the basics first.

In this episode, Matt and Jack discuss why gyms need to get the fundamentals right before trying to deliver unreasonable hospitality.

From learning members’ names and making eye contact to removing friction from booking and the wider member journey, we look at why making things easy can have a bigger impact than grand gestures.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

Eric Falardeau from McKinsey & Company joins the show to share his perspective on the biggest trends and opportunities shaping health, fitness and wellness. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with some of the world’s leading companies and investors, we explore where the industry is heading.

We discuss industry consolidation, what investors are looking for, and the growth of multi-amenity gyms, mass participation events and social wellness. Eric also shares why fitness is far from becoming a commodity, what the industry can learn from sectors like hospitality and retail, and the capabilities operators need to build now as the market matures.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software.

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution.

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Guest Links

Eric Falardeau on LinkedIn

McKinsey & Company

One of America’s most well-known boutique fitness brands went from $10 million in annual revenue to closing every location less than two years after being acquired.

FitLab raised $65 million, partnered with Nike and acquired some of America's best-known boutique brands such as Y7 Studio and Mile High Run Club.

The Nike partnership fell apart. Then other studios started closing.

We break down what happened, Y7 founder Sarah Larson Levey's public account of the final 18 months, and the bigger lessons around acquisitions, founder control and boutique fitness.

Is the boutique model the problem…

or is this more about operations and execution behind FitLab?

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

Eric Falardeau from McKinsey & Company joins the show to share his perspective on the biggest trends and opportunities shaping health, fitness and wellness. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with some of the world’s leading companies and investors, we explore where the industry is heading.

We discuss industry consolidation, what investors are looking for, and the growth of multi-amenity gyms, mass participation events and social wellness. Eric also shares why fitness is far from becoming a commodity, what the industry can learn from sectors like hospitality and retail, and the capabilities operators need to build now as the market matures.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software.

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution.

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Guest Links

Eric Falardeau on LinkedIn

McKinsey & Company

Warmth and competence are both essential to delivering a five-star fitness experience, but which matters most? In this episode, Matt and Jack explore the idea of the “Hospitality Quotient” and why qualities like kindness, empathy, curiosity and self-awareness can be just as important as technical ability.

We discuss what fitness can learn from Danny Meyer’s approach to hospitality, why the most knowledgeable coach isn’t always the best coach, and how to identify people with a high HQ during recruitment. From behavioural auditions to better interview questions, this episode looks at how to build teams that are technically strong and genuinely great with people.

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software


Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution


Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

Industry legend Dr. Paul Bedford — also known as the ‘Retention Guru’ — joins the show to share the lessons he’s learned from more than two decades studying member retention in the fitness industry. We discuss why people stay, why they leave, and the biggest mistakes gyms make when trying to improve retention.

Keeping a member is easier than getting a knew one, so if you want your clients to stay as long as possible do not miss this episode.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software.

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution.

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Guest Links

Dr Paul Bedford on LinkedIn

Retention Guru

Five-Star Gym Reception Services Course

Mark Fisher built one of the fitness industry’s most distinctive brands, growing Mark Fisher Fitness into a business that generated more than $34 million in sales before its exit. Today, through Business for Unicorns, he helps gym owners around the world build stronger businesses, teams and member experiences.

In this episode, we discuss how to create unforgettable first impressions, recruit warm and competent staff, use personalization to build stronger relationships, and why small, thoughtful moments often have the biggest impact on retention. Mark also shares lessons from Broadway, hospitality and public speaking, along with practical ideas every gym owner can apply to create a more memorable member experience.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software.

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution.

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Guest Links

Mark Fisher on LinkedIn

Business For Unicorns

Five-Star Reception Services

Welcome back to our monthly fitness industry roundup, where we go beyond the headlines and break down what the biggest stories actually mean for operators, brands and the future of the industry.

This month, co-founder and host Jack Thomas covers:

⭐ Beyond Activ launches its new community app

🥊 Barry’s non-compete sparks industry debate

🧘 Club Pilates surpasses 1,500 studios globally

📈 STRONG Pilates accelerates US expansion

🏨 CorePower Yoga appoints a CEO from hospitality

🏋️ Life Time posts record revenue and member spending

📊 New ABC Fitness report reveals rising engagement

🇪🇺 Basic-Fit surpasses 2,100 clubs across Europe

🌏 REVL Training reaches 50 studios and enters Taiwan

🔥 HYROX participation and spending continue to surge

💪 Growth updates from BODYROK and Pvolve

----------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to our sponsors

Hapana, our preferred gym management software

Ezypay, our preferred subscription and payment solution

Sign up to our newsletter

https://thefitguide.com/subscribe

Connect with The Fit Guide

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website