These mornings are history!
GOOD MORNING!
Today is the un-official start of the Indoor Cycling Season and I couldn't be more excited!
Are you ready?
If you're a new instructor you will soon learn what many of us old dogs figured out a long time ago; the change off of Day-Light-Savings is the trigger for many to move back indoors and hopefully back to your class 🙂
I teach a lot of early AM classes and look forward to this week, starting around October 1st when I'm looking at the 6 people at 5:54am.
You've probably heard the phrase timing is everything...
Well, if you want to take advantage of the one day of the year when people are most open to a change in their normal schedules, today the timing is perfect!
Think about this... How many people have to talked to who have said "I should really be getting to the club, before heading off to work each morning." And yet something stops them - they don't have the discipline or desire to get out of bed early enough to make it to your class. But tomorrow is different. Many of us will wake up with plenty of time because our body clocks are on daylight savings time. If you catch people with an extra hour and then offer them something they already know they want, you could see a big improvement in your class numbers.
BUT YOU HAVE TO ACT TODAY - MONDAY AT THE LATEST
- Communicate with your list of students (you do have a list, right?) telling them something simple that starts like - Hi Susan, if you're anything like me, tomorrow morning you wake up an hour earlier than you need to. Why not spend that hour riding with us?
- Tomorrow morning is the day to teach your best class! You can take advantage of the time change yourself and get there early so you are relaxed and fully prepared.
- And I mean YOUR BEST FUN CLASS. Forget about Heart Rate and Power for a few days and focus on delivering nothing but fun and enjoyment for your participants. And for gosh sake, please don't feel that with a bunch of new students you need to spend the whole class preaching about form and what not to do 🙁 this week should be nothing but positive affirmations if you want them to keep coming back.
- Offer your students a reason to make your class a regular part of their schedule. We will be talking a lot about SYSTEMATIZATION (connecting multiple classes together) over the next month. After 25 years of sales experience, it's my opinion that your students will have the least resistance to committing to a series of classes this week. Tom Scotto has a great article about adding a Winter Training Program to your studio's schedule that addresses this in more detail.
- It maybe as simple as asking each person you see to commit to coming to your class on a regular basis. In "sales speak" we call this asking an obligating question. A question like; "Sally, will I see you in class Friday?" can be very powerful because if they answer yes, they will feel obligated to show up Friday. Notice I didn't say "Sally, I would love to see you class Friday" which doesn't commit them to anything. Asking obligating questions is hard for many of us so don't be discouraged if you feel uncomfortable asking them. It maybe helpful to first think; "will coming to class Friday help Sally?" and if your answer is yes, then you should be able to communicate your desire to help Sally through a question that will help her get to your next class 🙂
- You and your participant's desires are in perfect alignment this week; they want to use this change to start a new habit and you want them in your class... Now is the time to act 🙂
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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Mr Macgowan, you are quite the fortune teller! Packed classes this morning and a handful of newbies– my favorite! I agree that FUN is the name of the game during this season. Based on past experiences I believe you are more likely to hook a “lifer” now than say, during the January resolutions rush. People are in between seasons and more likely to commit to regular attendance.
I’ve also discovered that this time of year provides an excellent opportunity to readdress bike fit for new participants as well as veterans. With Stages Indoor Cycling, we promote LaserFit (using an actual laser!) to help people identify ‘knee-over-pedal-spindle.’ This process can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes per person, so we make it an after-class sign-up. Not only do you get your participants set-up to a safe and ideal indoor cycling fit, but you enhance the connection and customer service experience. This process does wonders for building relationships with the new folks. Great advice John!