SELL THE
SMALL GROUP
DIFFERENCE
AND DRIVE REVENUE
Are you maximising the prestige and revenue of your small
group training product?
WORDS: TIM ANGEL
n the past couple of years, small
group training (SGT) has had a
big impact on the global fitness
industry, with most clubs, studios and
outdoor trainers now offering some form of
this training model. Wearing my multiple
hats of manager, PT and group fitness
instructor, I’ve watched this industry
development with much interest. While it
would be unwise for fitness businesses to
ignore this trend, I do wonder whether some
are simply adopting SGT because they feel
they should, without really maximising the
prestige and revenue that the approach
enables.
Many members and participants will
be unclear what the difference is between
regular ‘classes’ and small group training.
They’re both exercise done in groups, so
what’s the deal?
From a set-up perspective, SGT has
some clear points of difference:
• Lower fitness professional/participant
ratio (fewer people)
• Different training room, area,
environment
• Specialised equipment not available in
group exercise
• Style of training not available in group
exercise or in one-on-one
• Higher intensity, pushing participants to
their limits
• Within session challenges.
Many would argue that these differences are
enough to separate SGT from group exercise
and justify an additional fee, but what is the
real difference? What is the difference in the
experience for the member? Why should
they pay for a session if, to them, it seems to
I
28 | NETWORK SUMMER 2014
be similar to group exercise, only with fewer
people and in a new room?
As a club manager these are questions
commonly heard among the rumblings of
the client base. The answer may be in the
language we use, the delivery (coaching rather
than instructing), and in building prestige.
The language
When implementing SGT in our club,
much care was taken to deliberately use
different language when referring to small
group training. For many of us with years of
group exercise instruction under our belts,
the default word used when describing a
scheduled exercise session with a group
o