Vision Personal Training

by Geoff Jowett (Business Owner & Personal Trainer)

The secrets behind one of Sydney's most successful PT businesses revealed by owners Andrew Simmons & Geoff Jowett

Location:
3/30 Endeavour Road, Caringbah, NSW 229
www.visionpfs.com.au

How long has the business been established:
5 years

What does your business do?
Personal training services

Who are your clients?
Mainly business people/executives.
Average age mid 30. 40% male 60% female.

How many members/clients do you have?
We have about 2000 clients on the database with 600 PT appointments on average every single week.

What services do you offer?
One-on-One Personal Training

Core income?
Personal Training

Other profit centres?
No, purely PT, that's our business, that's what we do best!

Describe your business growth and turnover growth.
It has been a journey that has seen many peaks and troughs. Initially we wanted to be the biggest PT business around, now we just want to be the best and the most profitable. The fat loss challenge we ran a few years back really opened up a lot of opportunities for us. The PR we got from some of our contestants was probably worth more than we could ever afford to spend on advertising.

What do you attribute to your businesses growth?
Both Andrew and myself have invested a lot of time and money in our own self-development as business people. I read a lot of biographies of successful people, attend seminars, and take business courses. We have looked outside the business for mentors that have certain qualities that we want to emulate. Probably the best decision we made was to stop selling short term PT packages .We sell only long term packages now, with a direct debit payment option as the only way we will do business. I cannot stress the importance on sales and marketing. Initially I thought it was a matter of opening the doors, but I soon realised that to be successful you have to have a successful sales process and a marketing plan. There is plenty of help around in those areas so there is no excuse.

Did you have a vision for your business when you first started and what was it?
Yes, to be the biggest!

Has that changed over the time you have been in business?
Yes, to be the best in One on One personal fitness in Sydney.

What has changed?
A lot of things have changed over the times; you become more experienced, and learn from the mistakes that were made. We have come to understand our business, which means we can plan ahead with a great degree of certainty.

Having visited the USA on a number of occasions we have taken things that they do well, and left behind some of the things we think aren�t done so well. Staying ahead in your market can only be done if you look outside your market to see what is changing, what works and what doesn't.

We tend to look at other successful business models and analyse what works well and what doesn't. Then we look at ways to implement those things that work well into our business.

Do you have systems or a particular approach for certain areas in your business?
Yes we do, it's impossible to plan for success without a success plan.

Marketing - Plan ahead, allocate funds for marketing, set budgets.

Promotion/Advertising - Editorials, cross promotions with other organisations within the community.

Sales -We use the help of a professional sales training company to help us implement our sales systems. Sales are the key to any business, and being 'fitness professionals' we realised we had to learn how to sell properly. I can't emphasise strongly enough the importance of our staff knowing how to sell.

Lead Generation - We are very pro-active in asking our customers for referrals, and now we have 90% of our customers coming from word of mouth.Our listing on Gymlink is probably the only other advertsining we do.

Member Retention/Customer Loyalty - We focus on our current clients satisfaction. If they get results then we get our results. We aim to turn every client into a 'raving fan' of our business.

Recruitment - We really look for the right attitude in our prospective members of staff. Attitude over Aptitude! We look for a willingness to learn, we will employ anyone with these qualities, oh and they must have Cert 3 minimum. We teach them the rest!

Staff Training - Every trainer at Vision PT goes through a 3-day induction process. We have developed a training program that teaches the trainers to service clients the way we know our clients want to be serviced. After the 3-day induction, each trainer then becomes 'Vision Certified'

Management - We try to create a culture at Vision, we create a team environment. Trainers share the clients and the clients love it!

Who helped you develop the systems?
Most of our systems have been influenced from outside sources, but trial and error have left us with some very successful systems that allow us to run a successful business.

What else do you believe to important in running successful businesses?
I think I've mentioned it before, but securing an on-going cash flow has been the foundation for our growth. Having all our clients pay off long-term PT packages via fortnightly direct debit really has made a huge impact on our business.

I think that in order to run a successful business you need to be able to get your ego and put it in your pocket. Biggest isn't always the best! It's important when dealing with people in the health and fitness industry to -keep it personal- and make your customers -feel special.

How do you know that your clients are happy with the service they get from your business?
We measure our client's satisfaction by the longevity of their patronage; by the referrals they give us. We ask our clients for feedback and they give to us. We do an average of 600 appointments per week; I think that might be telling us something. We have created a system for our training - it's like the Les Mills of PT.

Have you ever consulted with outsourced business professionals for advice on growing your business?
Yes, business coaching, sales trainers, billing consultants, mentors, chartered accountants, books, seminars, etc. If you think you know it all - good luck!

Do you belong to any associations or industry organisations?
No, but I am a member of my local Chamber of Commerce.

How do they help your business?
By allowing me to keep my finger on the pulse within the community. It's important to develop relationships with others outside your industry. 99.9% of my clients don't work in the fitness industry!

What is the secret to your success?
Having a positive attitude, having a willingness to learn. Realising early on that we don't know it all. You have to be willing to take risks, seek help and try to move forward confidently. I'm not afraid to make mistakes because I know that a lesson will be learnt from them, and I guarantee that mistake will not be made again.

Where do you think the industry is headed?
One on one is the way of the future. Large health clubs and gyms have their place, but when it comes to PT, people are now prepared and willing to pay for services to get results!

What do think the future holds for Vision Personal Training Services?
Franchising. We plan to open a Vision PT studio next door to every Fitness First.

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