11 years ago when I opened up the first version of what became RISE, very few places were doing Group Personal Training programmes like this.
I was aware of one in Sheffield and, other than that, only a few in America.
I’m not claiming that they weren’t any more at all, but none that I’d heard of and therefore, I’m pretty confident only a fraction of the number that are out there now.
There’s several in Macclesfield alone.
Quite a few have opened and closed and the time that we’ve been around.
Mostly offering differences in the way they do things.
But the same fundamental concept in-so-far as it’s an independent facility owned by one or two self-employed Personal Trainers who, amongst their offering, run some sort of Group Personal Training based sessions.
When we first opened up, we used to get a lot of comments about the cost.
Which I got a.
People were comparing it to a gym.
Which, compared to many, it is more expensive than.
The comparison at that point wasn’t so much to one-to-one Personal Training, which, of course, is a fairer comparison and it is considered really cheaper than.
People hardly ever say it’s expensive nowadays.
Sure, some feel they can’t justify the investment.
But, when people know what it’s actually is, I think everyone gets that it is great value for what you get and, especially in our case, the results it brings about.
I was chatting to someone about that recently.
And a little realisation popped into my head.
When people request information about what we do, there’s a process I run them through.
We arrange a chat, look at their goals and what they would need from us in order to achieve them and decide if we’re a good fit for each other.
If they don’t already know it, I’ll cover the price and other logistics as part of that conversation.
Sometimes though, people jump in with the request for the price.
Or they’ll reply to my initial message after their application, asking “How much?”
Which is fine.
I’ll always answer the question.
I just like to approach it in a way where people have both the price and the information about what it is before they make a decision, rather than just deciding on price without knowing what it is.
Thinking back, I’m reasonably sure that no one that has ever asked straight away what the price is has ever ended up joining.
And I said this the person I was talking to
“You should give them more of a chance” they replied.
“It’s not that I don’t give them a chance. I do everything the same as I normally do. They just don’t end up joining”
Which is fine.
Because if we’re solely basing a decision on cost, then there’ll be something out there that costs less than us.
When we actually do some sort of cost- benefit comparison, it’s often a different story.
Without getting fully clear on the benefits, that comparison will never happen.
As with all areas of life.
If we stay, at best, surface level with the benefits of any decision, the cost will often outweigh it.
If the depth of our analysis of our goals is “I want to lose weight”………
Then the total cost of doing that won’t seem worth paying.
– Time
– Inconvenience
– Discomfort
– Money
– Missing out
– Boredom
All those (perceived) costs will easily out away the benefit of “losing weight”.
If we do some combination of getting considerably deeper with the benefits……..
And we challenge how we perceive those costs……
It can, potentially, become a different decision.
If we find the benefits to be;
– More energy to be a better partner, parent, employee, business owner (or whatever else is important to us)
– Feeling less grumpy
– Being able to do the things that bring us pleasure in life more
– Handling stress better
– Less bloatededness and aches and pains
– Improved sleep
– More active sex life
Or whatever else is important to us.
And we reframe the cost as being;
– Spending a little less on the various other things we spend money on
– Just making some different food decisions that can be just as enjoyable
– Averaging out in the week when it’s relatively easy rather than missing out at the weekend
– Swapping just some of our time spent watching telly or scrolling social media for going somewhere to see people we like to see and doing something that makes us feel better immediately
Then that cost-benefit analysis can quickly yield a different decision (maybe even the decision to make what many have called “the best investment they’ve ever made” in themselves” –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply) .
Now, I may be wrong.
Maybe some of those people who asked about the price immediately did end up joining.
But I’m pretty sure that, at most, it will be an incredibly the low proportion.
Because, when we focus solely on the cost of any decision and don’t fully explore the benefits (and maybe challenge that true cost).……..
It’s rarely enough.
Much love,
Jon ‘Cutter’ Hall
——————————————————————-
RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
