By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
The demand for our product is there. The market for our product consists largely of club operators. Yet the factors we believe make our product special are no longer clear to our customers.
The product is Indoor Cycling and all of its trappings: brand, bike, service, ancillary products, training, continuing education — everything in a club's indoor cycling program. At ICG®, for example, we believe we have a great product, and I can tell you precisely why. But all directors will tell you the same thing about their product. What I finally realized is that the things I believe make ICG unique are not generally recognized by the market as a whole.
Indoor cycling has become commoditized. A commodity is “a class of goods for which there is a demand that is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market.” That means the market treats the product as nearly equivalent no matter who produces it.
Club operators know they have to offer indoor cycling to be competitive. Yet many of the factors that matter to us as instructors don”™t necessarily matter to others. Cycling movements. The number of hand positions. Cadence ranges. Beat Match vs. Freestyle. RPE, heart rate or power. And my favorite, Q factor.
The market doesn”™t care about these things the way we do. Some of these may influence buying decisions from time to time, but they”™re often trumped by sales relationships, service and timing. The club operators want to know if they can get a good product at a good cost, if the company will be there when they need help, and if they can get the product as soon as they need it.
Last week, Team ICG® posted an opportunity for ICI-PRO members to access our online continuing education service. It's free. It will save you money and provide you with a service that improves the product you offer (your class) to your customer (your club's indoor cycling director).
Like it or not, our classes are also commoditized. Do you believe that those who hire us as instructors really care which education curriculum we present? Most indoor cycling instructors present a combination of what they”™ve learned over the years. The principles we”™ve accumulated have become our own. As long as our employer knows we”™re certified under a governing body and presenting techniques that keep the members safe, do you really think they see a difference in which name they put on their program?
If you do, you”™ll contradict what I”™ve written and won”™t believe that indoor cycling is a commodity. You”™ll still think differences between cycling programs are more important to clubs than sales, service and timing.
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i completed the registration form but kept getting the response with a red exclamation point that i must answer a certain question. I have supplied all information requested.
I do agree that there is very little interest in what certifications cycling instructors hold and when last certified. Unfortunately, my experience thus far has left me with the impression that most directors are not up to date or care little themselves as to what is being taught in the classes and whether it is appropriate, safe and not contraindicated. they just trust the instructors and go with it. thus an overall general commodity prevails with little interest in program or instructor improvement.
When I was an instructor at a facility my impression was exactly what you lay out here: little regard for my individual certification(s) and no knowledge of the difference between them. However, as an owner of a studio, I see the individual certification program making a big difference. My clientele give higher marks and more praise overall to those instructors with both Spinning and Stages certifications than they do for those with only a Spinning certification. In my own appraisal of my staff I can also see the difference… so much so that I have a higher pay rate for those with a Stages cert than I do for only a Spinning cert… but I know I’m in the minority here. At a gym facility no regard was given to outdoor riding, either. As an owner one of my staff requirements is being an outdoor rider, regardless of certification. I’ve received nothing but rave reviews for this from my clients, but I think this is one of the difference between the studio environment and the gym environment. They truly are different animals. To sum up, I agree wholeheartedly with you as it applies to gym/big box facilities, but I do think it can make a difference in the smaller studio environment where there may be a narrower focus. In my case the vast majority of my clients are outdoor riders, many of which won’t go near a cycling class at gym/big box. Still, so much comes down to each instructor’s personality, way of cuing, use of music, etc… Individual style is definitely a part of the mix regardless of the teaching environment.
Renee
The form requires a second address, i just entered none and it worked fine.
Is the Stages 1&2 certification the same as the Stages training that goes along with the FreeMotion bikes? I would be very interested as my club will take delivery of 40 FreeMotion bikes in May. Also is it possible to get AFFA CEU credit as that is my certification that requires CEUs to maintain?
I’ve changed the survey so it’s not so fussy 🙁
Julie – this isn’t connected to Stages FreeMotion – I’ll check on the AFFA cecs today.
Jim,
Another good one… Now I understand why you don’t charge. I have passed the entrance exam and am slowly going through the curriculum.
To ehrl97’s point I would suggest that the real difference between the studio and the big box is simply money.
At the studio their success depends on acquiring and retaining paying customers. In other words the studio must generate revenue that exceeds the cost to operate.
At the big box the cycle studio is largely a room that cost money to support. It is not treated as a line of business which is the downside to the membership based cost models of the big boxes.
It does not have to be that way. Gene Nacey at Cycling Fusion has been preaching this for two years now.
This fact also cultivates a buying model that is not consistent with where most of us would like to see indoor cycling go. As Jim points out, “…the club operators want to know if they can get a good product at a good cost, if the company will be there when they need help, and if they can get the product as soon as they need it.
Finally I would agree that at the big boxes, management hardly cares about where one got certified. It will really fall to the Group X manager to find the time to build a strong indoor cycling program. They mostly get worn down by the day to day and paperwork associated with getting the money to improve the cycle studio. After it is all said and done, it comes back to us, the instructors.
Good luck Jim, Keep us in the loop and let us know what the research turned up.
thanks for the tip chuck. got it through.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. You have all picked up on something that I did not discuss but completely agree with – the commoditization is true with most big box clubs but not with cycling studios. Case in point, Team ICG is opening ICG Academy in San Francisco next week in conjunction with OMpower, a cycle/yoga boutique studio which will feature LIVESTRONG bikes, Myride+ and all ICG-trained instructors.
However, I’m not convinced that commoditization is a bad thing for Indoor Cycling. It can be seen as a natural business process that forces you to find some way to differentiate. For many years, indoor cycling was dominated by one brand. The evolution of that brand to a commodity seems more like an opportunity to me. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Hey Julie,
As John mentioned, the Stages1 &2 training that Jim is offering is not the connected with Stagesâ„¢ Indoor Cycling (or Stage 5 – Tom’s education platform).
If you are receiving 40 FreeMotion bikes in May, then more than likely the sales rep for FM spoke with your director regarding the inclusion of the Stagesâ„¢ Indoor Cycling training along with delivery. For our training you will receive, 5.25 AFAA CEUs and .8 ACE CECs.
If you haven’t done so already, I would suggest sending an email to admin@stagesindoorcycling.com and Anne or coordinator will hook you up with additional info.
Thanks!
Btw Jim, I couldn’t agree with you more! This is still a problem with all group ex formats – not just indoor cycling. Until the certification/accreditation process becomes more streamlined and transparent, the gap between the medical community and the fitness community will continue to widen. This is even more disheartening because as a country we are far behind what other country’s are already doing to regulate their health and wellness industries.
Jim,
the natural business process will generally seek the path to overall fiscal viability. The difference with your commodity model is that the big box looks at the cycle studio as an expense. To upgrade it with the latest indoor cycles and/or environmental enhancements (lighting – fans – mirrors etc.) just adds cost with a difficult view of ROI.
The boutique studio is making a charge but much like the daunted ‘Light Brigade’ is faced with overwhelming numbers. The good news for them is they can run lean, staff with excellent instructors, offer additional services and create a community not found so much in big clubs.
If opportunity were the case at the commoditized clubs we would see them ‘differentiating’ by doing all of the above. Yet we don’t see much.
My experience is that the big boxes may take a chance when opening a new club, to build it out and fill their cycle studios with the latest and greatest.
Or, as with LifeTime Fitness their CEO is an avid rider both indoors and outdoors. As such this CEO is willing to spend the bucks (at least at corporate HQ) to replace old with new.
Until and unless the big boxes see a clear path to increased profits… they will wave their hand at changes, but little will.
That is why Karen is frustrated. At the instructor level it is not so much about the money but the affirmation. Education, when is enough, enough? Should we continue to pay to add skills that go largely unnoticed? Delivering a great class means so many different things.
ICG has some great stuff FREE and I hope many instructors use it. Your new Academy will be an interesting experiment. Clearly it will be at a boutique studio rather than a big club. That speaks volumes in and of itself. Good luck
PS. If you are inviting anyone to your grand opening I would love to drive to the city and experience ICG Academy. Maybe I could do so from a journalistic point of view for John Macgowan.
What do you think, John?