As we hoped, there has been a significant increase in phone inquiries, club tours, and new memberships (both face-to-face and online) as a result of the postcard mailing and the buzz about our conversion. Currently, 9 memberships have been sold online, and another 4 or 5 at the club. That's not bad!
The postcards began arriving last Wednesday, with the majority being delivered on Thursday and Friday. Because the second half of the week is generally the slowest time of the week for selling memberships, I'm hoping to see a busy first half of this coming week. Then I suspect there will be a lull, hopefully followed by another surge of activity and sales as we near the 1/31 expiration date.
The foyer, office, and newly-built tanning room are now painted, and they look great. This week I'll order the required signage so we can get more of the WG branded items in the club. It looks like the signage will set me back about $1500 - $2000 (not including the lighted sign that will go on the outside of the building).
As many of you know, I am a newly converted "big believer" in branding. I was convinced after seeing the positive results created by branding in several Planet Fitness clubs owned by a friend. I'm completely confident with the financial commitment required to brand our club. This includes expenditures for things like paint, signs, pens, t-shirts, and other logo items.
We removed all existing banners from the walls, as well as other signs and anything that will be in the painter's way when he returns to paint the gym. Unfortunately, the painter informed us at the end of last week that he's unavailable this week while he finishes another large job. My manager Henry plans to get him to come in a couple of half days just to keep things moving ahead.
Our goal is to get all painting and re-branding completed by the end of January. By then, we should also have all of the new equipment in place, tanning booth installed, and signage displayed. We look to really hit our stride in February as we adapt to our new way of doing things.
My 24/7 fitness center underwent a big transformation - I converted to a World Gym franchise operation. In my blog, I give details about costs; corporate support; and even bottom-line results after the conversion, such as membership sales. Here's a chance to get an inside look at exactly how an independently owned club morphs into a franchised operation.
