Surveys Articles

IDEA Survey By Patricia Ryan, MS Personal Training When it comes to the number of trainers you have and the quantity of sessions they conduct, how does your facility stack up to others? Since 88% of the businesses included in the 2005 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey offer personal training, it's no surprise that trainers appear in virtually all facilities. Personal training businesses ha...

Trainer Survey By Patricia Ryan, MS IDEA Data Show Business Is Booming New data reveal the expansion of training into new skills and new opportunities. PERSONAL TRAINING GROWS INTO SMALL GROUPS % of respondents offering program Total of All Respondents Health Clubs and YMCAs PFTs in Client Homes PFT Gyms n (number) personal training (one-to-one) personal training (2 clients share) personal trai...

By Patricia Ryan, MS PROGRAMS AND EQUIPMENT THAT ARE LEADING THE INDUSTRY Highlights from the 2005 IDEA FITNESS PROGRAMS & EQUIPMENT SURVEY. T The population's diverse needs have inspired IDEA business members to offer a wide variety of programs and equipment to help people improve and maintain their quality of life, according to the 2005 IDEA Fitness Programs & Equipment Survey. Among the ar...

money Education Pays, But Do You? A QUICK TAKE-AWAY FROM THE IDEA FITNESS INDUSTRY SALARY SURVEY 2004. By Patricia Ryan, MS S uccessful fitness owners usually say that they have an educated staff, which leads to excellent customer service. A well-trained staff is so important that 59% of businesses require staff members to complete an in-house training program, according to respondents featured...

trendwatch IDEA Equipment Trends Fitness equipment manufacturers follow-- and lead--the ways consumers exercise. By Mike May or more than a decade, fitness equipment sales have represented the largest category of sporting goods equipment sales. In fact, this industry has more than doubled in size since 1990. U.S. wholesale sales of fitness equipment were an estimated $3.77 billion in 2002, up fro...

W What today's most innovative program directors predict your members will be asking for in the future. By Dia n e L o fshul t GROUP FITNESS Trendwatch The world has changed drastically since our last Group Fitness Trendwatch report. People everywhere are still reacting to the events of September 11 in ways large and small. Immediately after the attacks, fitness facilities reported a surge in at...

D happened? o you charge for specialty classes? A few years ago when specialty classes requiring specific equipment or more highly trained--and hence, more expensive instructors--grew on the fitness scene, owners and managers played with the idea of charging fees in addition to membership fees. What What About Those Specialty Classes? By Patricia Ryan It appears that the extra charges never bec...

careers How to Design an Effective Membership Survey Most people are familiar with surveys and have answered some type of questionnaire, whether it was about a product, a political issue or even customer service. Almost always, the purpose of a survey is to discover what people think, feel or plan on doing about a particular topic or issue. As an example, to better understand what is important to...

O Six Steps for Successful Cross Promotion Emphasizing strong internal promotion among your staff is a decisive step toward the success of new services, special events and membership benefits your business offers. ne of the fitness industry's hottest new workouts is coming to your facility. To prepare, you meet with events for which members pay extra. Yet, many fitness programmers are stumped ab...

W Revenues and Expenses How you budget and monitor results greatly impacts net revenue. riting the operating budget is an annual chore. Chore? Your accurate budget is a blueprint for an effective operation. Monitoring expenses and revenues allows you to immediately make corrections to ensure that at the end of the year you have a profitable department or business. The revenues and expenses repor...