The title of this blog is something I heard from renowned strength coach, Zach Even-Esh. “People who pay, pay attention.”
There’s a lot of free information on the internet. But you sign up for a paid course because there’s either exclusive content, or you get more attention from the creator of that content, or both.
Cheaper is rarely better. If you’ve ever spent a lot of money on something (car, jewelry, etc) then you’re typically going to take care of that better than the cheap things.
How does this apply to us at Final Call?
We’re probably the most expensive gym in the area. Our personal training memberships get upwards of $1,000/month (yes, someone is on that plan) and small group memberships are $115-$135/month depending on the plan.
Of course, when you break down the $ per class, it actually is only $4.79-5.62$/class, but we do often hear that we’re expensive.
Expensive compared to what? The 24 hour gym where you pay $30/month for equipment you don’t know how to use? Other gyms in the area that don’t cap class sizes so you get the attention you want, need, and deserve?
When it comes down to it, it’s not about the dollar amount. It’s about perceived value.
Someone buys an $75,000 BMW because they appreciate the engineering, aesthetics, and history of the brand. It may be 3x as expensive as another car option to get you from point A to point B, but there is value in the consumer’s eyes.
We are not the right place for everyone. We’re going to be seen as expensive by most people and that’s ok. Since we only have room for 15 people in each class, we simply can’t have the 500-1000 members that Orange Theory has or the 4,000-10,000 members that LA Fitness has. (they only want to see 10% of their membership per day)
The right people for us are ones that:
- believe that you get what you pay for
- believe that they’re not paying for access to equipment, but rather access to high-level coaching and accountability
- believe that paying a little more for personal attention helps them get better faster
- believe that when you pay for something, you’re more likely to use it
- believe that investing in their own health and wellness will improve their quality of life (play with kids, carry own luggage, etc.)
- believe that this investment now will also pay off later on down the road by creating equity in their health (saving cost on medical care as they age and prevent decrepitude)
There’s plenty of other common beliefs, but the above are all related to membership costs and seeing value.
If you don’t see value in coaching and accountability, that’s totally fine! We’ve referred people to go to a 24 hour gym, a more competitive micro gym because they weren’t a great fit for us. But if you’re someone who agrees with “people who pay, pay attention,” maybe we should talk.
Always Ready.