Watch this video on YouTube.

Track your usage numbers at the end of every month.  Check your computer and see how many people worked out that month, then divide by the number of members you had that month.  Do this at the end of every month, every year,

Usage numbers are the absolute simplest ways to determine the “health” of your health club.  If your members are using the club, they’ll be more likely to stay members, they’ll be more likely to refer other members AND they spend more on non-dues revenue!!

Non-dues revenue…supplements, personal training, clothing, tanning, juice bars, spa services, vending machines, etc… If you can increase member usage in your club, your members will be more likely to spend more on non-dues revenue sources.

If members are not coming into your club, they certainly aren’t

going to be buying anything you sell in the club.

As near as I can tell, nobody in the industry has looked at the relationship between usage and non-dues revenue.  I have read every single article I can find on retention, attrition, and average length of membership.  Nobody talks about usage and its effects on everything else in the club.  This doesn’t mean that nobody has addressed this issue – just that I haven’t found it.

Non-Dues revenue as related to usage:

The gray box represents the amount spent per member per club visit (key hit or member workout).  The more club visits we had, the more non-dues revenue generated.  Look at January-March as compared to August and September.  Typical for Minnesota, where my clubs are located, but not that much different from the rest of the country.

These are the numbers we put up for 2010 and 2011.  These were the first two years where we started dividing up all the different sources of non-dues revenue.  These numbers do not include people joining and paying their first month at the counter, any enrollment fees, or their access key/card.  The non-dues sources we have are supplements, very limited personal training, and tanning.  We do not sell tanning products, and income from our vending machine was not included.

The numbers are pretty obvious and speak for themselves.

Usage is tied to everything:

Retention – you can’t improve retention without getting people to use your club.

Average Length of Membership – keep them using the club and, guess what, they’ll stay longer.

Results – Your members won’t get results if they’re not using the gym…duh!

Referrals – If your members are using the club and getting results, their friends will definitely want to know

what they’re doing.

Memberships – Improve all of the above and your membership numbers will go up.

Non-Dues Revenue – we just talked about that.

This is a calculator to show how non-dues revenue can go up just by increasing usage, plug in the numbers you know, then estimate what your numbers could go up to by using a program like the SLED System.

Click here to go to the usage calculator

Put in the number of members you have for column “A”.  Enter your average usage per member per year in column “B”.  Look at how much non-dues revenue you took in last year and divide that by 12 to get… I HAVE TO ADD MORE ONCE WE GET THE CALCULATOR IN THERE.

Increase usage and you can virtually increase every aspect of income your club has to offer and you will probably be able to cut a lot of your marketing and advertising costs.  When word of the SLED System starts to spread, people will be in to get it and they’ll leave the gym they’re at to get it.  As of the writing of this page (12/29/11), we’ve had one club for seven years and one for four and a half.  In that time, we’ve closed down five other clubs.   They just couldn’t offer what we do.  Our membership prices range between $40.00-$55.00.

He is also author of 20 fitness books including the new releases, No More Cellulite, Building Strength and Stamina, Strength Training Past 50, Strength Training for Seniors, Complete Conditioning for Golf, and Strength and Power for Young Athletes.

Dr. Westcott has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Fitness Professionals, the Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the Roberts-Gulick Award from the YMCA Association of Professional Directors, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Governor’s Committee on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the NOVA 7 Exercise Program Award from Fitness Management Magazine.
Books

• Strength & Power for Young Athletes, Human Kinetics, 2000.
• Complete Conditioning for Golf, Human Kinetics, 1999.
• Strength Training for Seniors, Human Kinetics, 1999.
• Strength Training Past 50 (Ageless Athlete Series) Human Kinetics Publishers, 1997.
• Building Strength and Stamina New Nautilus Training for Total Fitness, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1996.
• Strength Fitness Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Fourth Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1995.
• Nautilus Strength Training Certification Textbook, Nautilus 1995.
• Be Strong: Strength Training For Muscular Fitness For Men And Women, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992.
• Personal Trainer Manual, American Council On Exercise, 1991. (Chapter On Muscular Strength And Endurance).
• Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Third Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.
• Keeping Fit, George W. Prescott Publishing Company, 1987.
• Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, Second Edition, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1987.
• Building Strength At The YMCA, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1987.
• Strength Fitness: Physiological Principles and Training Techniques, First Edition, Allyn and Bacon Publishers, 1982.

Articles

• Over 300 Articles in Professional Journals
• Weekly Newspaper Fitness Column
• Weekly Radio Fitness Show

Education

• B.S. Pennsylvania State University 1971
• M.S. Pennsylvania State University 1974
• Ph.D. Ohio State University

Awards

• Healthy American Fitness Leader Award, 1995, President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
• Lifetime Achievement Award, 1993, IDEA: International Association of Fitness Professionals.
• Massachusetts Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Honor Award, 1993.
• American Heart Association Recognition Award, 1992.
• Association of Professional YMCA Directors Program Service Award, 1983.

Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., CSCS