Thomas Plummer?

[Armageddon]

What do you guys think of his seminars? Are they any help?

 

[Ashop]

What do you guys think of his seminars? Are they any help?

Who is he and what does he speak on?

 

[massmonster32]

?

 

[Crowler]

Fantastic!

I would suggest that you first get the book and read it and then reread it and then reread it again. This is what I did. Then when I went to the seminar I could partake in the conversations even with club owners who were on their third or fourth seminar.

You could also start implementing some of his suggestions and theories before you even attent then when you go you will have an appreciation of what he is 'preaching'.

I made use of just about everything he suggested such as the complaint system, employee reward system, membership system etc etc. He says it WILL work in any enviornment but I STRONGLY disagree. If you are in a battle with other surrounding cut rate gyms it is VERY difficult to use his system, takes a long time to prove itself and costs ALOT of money.

BUT I THINK you are the guy who is starting a new place which is going to be high end/pricey? Is that right? If so then Plummer would be IDEAL for you.
Especially since you are just building the place. I would strongly suggest the shake bar in full view of the workout area It is nice since you have not built your place yet. It is alot tougher to retrofit.



He DOES have some radical ideas like no aerobics classes but spend the money on cardio equipment instead and no child care. He gives good arguments why not to. Since you are just starting you are in a perfect position to do it the right way when you start. I stopped the child care and at first of course there was an uprising but it was a calculated risk as the next closet club was 20 mins away and I lost very few members. I didn't stop the aerobics and am not sure that is the way to go or not. I would highly recommend Body Pump as it was a big draw for new memberships.

To me it comes down to 3 sorts of gyms/health clubs.

1. A Bally's type club where they want to sign you up for a 3 year contract and then hope you NEVER set foot in the club again as if all their members actually worked out there would be ABSOLUTELY no room to move around.

2. A gym where you pay your $30 a month and no contract unless you want to and it is no frills. these members will go where ever it is cheapest to workout and most wont spend a dime in your gym.

3. A Plummer type club where you charge a higher amount, do everything you can to have the members actually use their membership because you make money on them every time they come in on towel rental, selling them an after workout shake, a preworkout drink and sell them personal training.

I owned a Ballys type club and HATED it. It started to REALLY turn my stomach seeing a person sign a 3 year contract KNOWING they would quit during the first week. So I sold it and did a club the Plummer way. More expensive to get going and takes more time to become profitable but once it is established it is VERY hard for a competitor to come in and steal your members.

Feel free to PM me with any questions or suggestions.


CROWLER

 

[Armageddon]

I'll try and find his book so I can get a head start. Curious to why he says no day care. That is something that would be a big draw here as almost everyone has kids. I mean no one is working so everyone is home screwing. lol. IS it liability and overhead, insurance? Curious to this.

 

[bigdho]

Ive been to a few of his seminars and I think they are well worth the money. At the seminar I went to he didnt say no day care he said IF your going to do it you need to do it right and in order to do that you have to spend a large amount of money for something that isnt going to return any back. I got the impression he wasnt a fan of it but he didnt say not to do it.

Ive read one of his books (we won it at the seminar) it was pretty good. I assume your thinking of going to "The esential 8" seminar?? I think thats the one for start up clubs? It helped us get started off on the right foot thats for sure!

 

[Armageddon]

I had a chance to go to one of his seminars a few years back when I was running a powerhouse, but the owner decided to take his wife at the last minute. That pissed me off as I didn't see what she needed to learn.

 

[Crowler]

Ive been to a few of his seminars and I think they are well worth the money. At the seminar I went to he didnt say no day care he said IF your going to do it you need to do it right and in order to do that you have to spend a large amount of money for something that isnt going to return any back. I got the impression he wasnt a fan of it but he didnt say not to do it.

Ive read one of his books (we won it at the seminar) it was pretty good. I assume your thinking of going to "The esential 8" seminar?? I think thats the one for start up clubs? It helped us get started off on the right foot thats for sure!

Yes I think you are right he said if you are going to have child care then make it a profit center. He is all about how much money you can make per visit per member so you really DO want your members to come in and workout. His complaint system IMO is GREAT> I introduced it in my club and within 1 week I was almost BEGGING people to complain because we had solved the problems people used to grumble about.

The way it works is you have a bright colored complaint card they can get at the front desk. They write out the complaint and it has GOT to be responded to by the manager within 24 business hours. I would reply in red and fix the problem or explain why we would not be changing the item in question. Then the bright colored card was posted in the workout area. It basically aired your dirty laundry so it REALLY encouraged staff to take care of things ahead of time such as a dirty locker room, or dust on the tread mills etc.

It has been awhile since I read his stuff so I am sure he has new and different ideas. Better to go throug it yourself than rely on my memory lol


CROWLER

 

[Armageddon]

I never really thought of the daycare as a money making system, except for the part of bringing in members to work out. How would you set it up to make $$$ other than bringing members in. I would have to dedicate more space, wouldn't I?

 

[Crowler]

Arm,

As I say it was a number of years ago so probably better you find out what he says exactly.

I don't understand when you say you would have to dedicate more room. If you had already intended to offer child care then you would use that area.

Keep in mind that he gets paid to advertise for some of the systems/programs he recommends.

I would strongly recommend you attend a seminar sooner rather than later. Hopefully your partner has done a feasability study, business plan etc.

He has a seminar for just that.

CROWLER