About Ron Alterio

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"Now What?"
Why We Fail At Booking The First Appointment And What We Can Do About It
January 2015 - It's January, and there isn't a busier time of the year for our industry! Get your processes and culture right, and you can sign up a boatload of members and make a whole lot of money. Heck, let's face it, you can do a whole lot of things wrong this time of the year and still make more money! For most operators, the January and February season is like going fishing in a barrel. Even better, tapping into the influx of new members this time of year also happens to be the most cost effective way to drive more PT revenue. You have already invested the marketing dollars, their emotions are sky high, they showed up for a tour, and you have created enough value in your entry-level product (the membership) to get them to join. Now, it's simply a matter of booking that first appointment, having them show up and driving more PT revenue right? WRONG!!! Read Article...

"Now What?"
Your 2015 EFT PT Report Card
February 2015 - January is now over, and soon, the mad rush will be a thing of the past. What better time to take a step back and analyze just how efficient and effective you are at driving and sustaining your EFT Personal Training (PT) business. Remember, an EFT PT draft is a 2-prong business model: new client acquisition and existing client retention. The aim of this 2-prong goal should be to focus on getting the number of new PT clients added each month to be as high as possible, and concurrently, to keep the number of existing PT clients that drop off each month to be as low as possible. Read Article...

30-Minute vs. 60-Minute Sessions
Trainer Discretion is Advised!
September 2014 - I am often asked what type of Personal Training (PT) product is better to sell: a 30-minute or 60-minute session? The answer will often depend on your club, the space or niche that your club operates in, as well as the overall financial objectives of your club. However, if you are looking for a tool that helps capture greater long-term PT revenue, increases PT member penetration, improves PT client retention and helps you build a larger EFT PT draft in the shortest period of time, the hands down winner is the 30-minute session. Read Article...

Are You Still Playing Monkey in the Middle?
Why It's Happening in Your Market and What You Can Do About It!
April 2019 - Remember the game Monkey in the Middle? A few kids, one ball and a whole lot of frustration for the one in the middle. Fast forward to today's hyper-competitive fitness markets, and everywhere you turn, it seems there is another Boutique Studio opening to your left and a High-Volume, Low-Price (HV/LP) model opening to your right. Instead of you just trying to win a simple game with friends, now it's your business that's caught right in the middle of a genuine fight for survival. Rather than jumping, reaching or pivoting to try and catch a simple ball, you are now forced to do everything in your power to prevent your members from jumping right over your head and right into the hands of your competitors. Read Article...

How Can Edmund Burke Help You Grow Your Small Group and/or Team Training Programs?
May 2019 - First of all, you might be asking..." who the heck is Edmund Burke?" According to www.goodreads.com, "Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. He is remembered for his support of the American colonies in the dispute with King George III and Great Britain that led to the American Revolution and for his strong opposition to the French Revolution." However, statesmen Burke is probably most well-known for coining a very popular quote which purports, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." Read Article...

How to Be Like "Mike"
August 2015 - We all remember those classic Gatorade commercials from the '90s that helped cement Michael Jordan's legacy as one of, if not the most influential sports figures of all time. Kids all across the country were trying to imitate "Mike" on their neighborhood basketball courts. He was the best. He knew it, and the world knew it. As a result, EVERY kid in America --in fact if we are honest, every adult too-- wanted to be just like "Mike." Read Article...

If It Looks, Smells and Quacks Like A Duck...
Well, You Know The Rest: The Anatomy of an Effective Small Group Demo in the Non-Studio Space
December 2013 - Let's face it... Small Group Training (SGT) has taken our industry by storm. Everywhere you turn, more and more owners are racing to get on the SGT bandwagon. Unfortunately, the majority of operators are simply adopting the "build it and they will come" mindset. As a result, many are struggling to sell (SGT), especially in the more traditional or mainstream fitness facilities. Read Article...

Jackpot: What Can Slot Machines Teach Us About Driving Higher Paid Group Training Margins?
July 2019 - Okay, let's be honest. Most, if not all, can relate to walking by those darn slot machines in the casinos while trying to fight the urge to drop in a coin and pull on that lever. Ironically, anyone who has spent more than a minute inside the four walls of a casino knows that the odds of winning are stacked highly in favor of the house. Yet, despite those dismal odds, there is something irresistible about the notion of one coin, one pull and one jackpot. When it comes to paid group training, it's not that much different. For many operators, driving a higher return per member while servicing a larger percentage of the member base for a substantially lower cost is just too great of a jackpot to resist. Read Article...

Rope is the Only Thing Your Staff Should Be Skipping!
February 2011 - Okay, so that super, crazy-busy time of the year is upon us! You made it through January, but you still barely have time to breath, so I will do you a favor by getting right to the point! Let's face it, the insane mad rush that is January and February can make even the most seasoned sales professional tinker with the idea of taking short cuts just to keep up. Read Article...

Stop Doing These Two Things Now:
How to Capture a Larger Piece of the Wearable Pie
August 2019 - According to Steven Musil from cnet.com, wearable usage in the United States more than doubled from 39.5 million Americans (or 12%) back in 2015 to over 81.7 million (or 24%) in 2018. Moreover, according to Gartner, a leading U.S. research firm, the wearable category is set to grow year-over-year by another 26% in 2019. There is no denying it... Americans love their wearables. Read Article...

The #1 Barrier to Driving More Paid Group Training and What You Can Do About It Now!
June 2015 - Everywhere you go, clubs across the globe of all shapes and sizes, are still trying to figure out this thing called paid group training. Walk into any fitness center, and you'll be sure to see some form (small group, large group, team training, etc.) of paid group training on the menu. However, take one look at the number of attendees that participate in said classes, and you'd think you were watching a private 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 training session. Read Article...

The Leaking Silo Syndrome
What Is It and How Do We Avoid It?
May 2014 - In my last article, published in the January, 2014 Edition of Club Insider, I outlined the three critical steps to building a successful EFT Personal Training (PT) draft. Now, the million-dollar question becomes... once you get it going, how do you keep it growing? The key is to understand and NEVER forget that an EFT PT draft is a two-prong business model. Each prong is equally important: new client acquisition and existing client retention. In short, you want the number of new PT clients added each month to be as high as possible. Additionally, you want the number of existing PT clients who drop off each month to be as low as possible. If you get the ratio correct, your draft grows. Read Article...

The Ultimate Paid Group Training Roadmap
October 2019 - I want to do something a little different for this month's article. After many months of writing about one of, if not the, hottest topics in the industry, Paid Group Training (PGT), I thought it would be kind of fun to create a compilation of sorts. The January rush is not that far away, and you've got a little over 70 days to make the necessary course corrections to really have a shot at driving greater engagement and revenue. As such, I have organized what I believe are the top five articles to help give you the greatest chances for success in the shortest amount of time. Each one starts with a short excerpt from the original article and is then followed by a quick link at the bottom to review the article in its entirety. Read Article...

To Draft Or Not To Draft?
It Really Shouldn't Be A Question Anymore!
January 2014 - From The big boxes to the small studios; from the new kids on the block to the seasoned veterans, inquiring minds want to know... is switching over to a draft-based Personal Training (PT) model right for my business? Read Article...

Trainer Compensation
Why We Have It All Wrong And What To Do About It
October 2014 - Let's face it; personal training is the new economic engine for any fitness business. In fact, in many markets, PT is now the exclusive path to profitability. As a result, many operators are taking a long, hard look under the hood to re-examine and restructure the different moving parts of their PT program. Read Article...

Try Before You Buy...
It's Not Just For Memberships Anymore!
May 2015 - Trial memberships were started years ago to help eliminate one of the biggest barriers to joining a health club: RISK. The idea was to simply use the trial membership as a marketing tool to drive prospects through your door. The prospects would then try out your club for a pre-determined period of time. The goal was to get them engaged in your offerings and programs and then close them on a membership before the trial period ended. Fast forward and this same lead generating tool can now be a GREAT way to get more of your members engaged in Small Group Training (SGT) as well. Read Article...

What Does "Fred The Baker" Have In Common With PT Sales?
March 2015 - If you have been in the industry as long as I have, you too should remember those classic Dunkin Donuts commercials where Fred the Baker dresses up like a woman, goes into the local supermarket, holding his finger over his mustache and inquires, "Were those donuts made fresh this morning?" Poor Fred. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hide the fact of who he really was... Fred the Baker! Read Article...

You Built Your Draft... Now What?
August 2014 - You put in all the work to set up a recurring based Personal Training (PT) model. Now, the million dollar question becomes... how do you keep moving it in the right direction? Read Article...

You Lost Me at Hello...
Why We Fail At New Member Integration and What We Can Do About It
July 2014 - If you are like most clubs in today's hypercompetitive markets, you know the importance of getting more of your members involved in programming or training. You also know that the most efficient and cost effective method of accomplishing this objective is to tap into the influx of new members coming in through your front doors each month. You have already invested the marketing dollars, they showed up for a tour and you have created enough value in your entry-level product (the membership) to get them to join. Now, it's simply a matter of booking that first appointment, having them show up and driving more PT revenue right? WRONG!!! Read Article...

You Want Me To Do What?
A Quick Look At The Top 3 Personal Training Killers!
June 2014 - There isn't a club or studio owner out there that doesn't realize how critical it is to drive more Personal Training (PT) revenue in today's hyper competitive markets. The days of making profits simply from membership dues have been extinct for years. Moreover, in most markets, you not only have a smaller prospect pool than ever before, but you also run the risk of losing your existing customer base to emerging fitness solutions. Read Article...

You Won't Get Too Far Without the Gas
The Top Three Types of Staff Buy-In Needed to Drive More Paid Group Training
June 2019 - Imagine that it's time to go shopping for a new car and you have done all of your research. You have decided on the exact make and model. You know the exact color you want and have made an extensive list of the "must-have" safety features. Most importantly, you have determined the bottom-line price you are willing to pay. After an exhaustive search spanning several weeks and a number of visits to multiple dealerships, you finally find the perfect vehicle and at the right price. There's just one problem. As you make your way out of the dealership and into your brand-new vehicle, it quickly dawns on you that you won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Upon one quick and unsettling turn of the key, you realize the gas gauge is on empty! All the features in the world, the best "deal" on the planet and the perfect color won't get you anywhere if you don't have what matters most: the gas to get from point A to B. Read Article...

Your Members Can Have Their Cake and Eat it too!
November 2019 - Health and fitness clubs all around the country are trying to figure out how to drive more paid group personal training, and one of the most common questions and a key concern that comes up in the process is: "How can I do this without cannibalizing my one-on-one personal training revenue?" Most owners understand that paid group training helps cast a wider acquisition net due to its affordability. Most also understand that paid group training helps service a higher percentage of your member base for a much lower cost. But, let's face it, those same operators have spent their entire careers focused on driving the largest profit center and revenue stream outside of the membership base: one-on-one personal training. Read Article...

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Showing 1 - 22 of 22 Articles