You really do get what you pay for and I am not a big fan of commercial gyms. Each one will tell you they are better than the others but they are essentially all the same, disgusting bathrooms, nasty machines with sweat streaks and 95% of the patrons are there for every other reason but to work out which makes it difficult to have a routine when you are serious about working out. I like to be in environments and around people that are results based and oriented because that is who I am. I have to take responsibility for trying to save a few bucks ($50.00 a month) by going to LA Fitness when I could simply spend 3 times that much and go to a quality gym like Equinox. When you upgrade and pay more… you should GET more. I visited an Equinox and low and behold, I see a clientele and trainers that do not play and a clean bathroom that doesn’t smell like an outhouse with people actually cleaning it and moping the floors?
A salesman approached me at LA Fitness the other day about training. They are constantly trying to sell their overpriced training packages because nobody buys them. Usually I just politely brush it off and say no but for some reason this time I had to address it. You must be careful of the questions you ask because you may get a response and not the one you wanted. I have noticed that the salesmen and women in the gym are often in better shape than the so called trainers which speaks volumes for a business and this guy was a “master trainer.” I once asked a salesman why he wasn’t a trainer and he said major gym chains don’t pay enough. They get the client to pay for many sessions up front like $600.00 and they give the trainer 10% of that. He told me no real trainer is going to accept that. So this guy who approached me, the “Master Trainer” asks me if I have ever thought about hiring one of their trainers. I look him up and down and he looks like he eats extra buttery biscuits and no less than 2 fried chickens a day. This guy is literally OBESE with a big gut and he’s in horrific shape. Yet, he walks around with a shirt that says “Master Trainer?” This is when taking “act as if” TOO FAR. I have never seen this guy work out. I asked him how he became a “Master Trainer” and he told me he is certified and went to school. I then asked him if they require that you actually work out in order to get certification and he was offended and he told me he does work out.
I had to break it down and I didn’t care if he was offended because he was being dishonest in his sales approach. You are at a major gym chain selling training with a t-shirt that says you are a “Master Trainer” and you are obese? This is a horrific reflection on HIM AND the gym’s brand and the reason they can’t sell training packages. It’s hard to believe nobody in marketing can make sense of giving a real trainer a majority of that fee and making a lot more because people are actually hiring the real trainers. I asked him, why would anybody hire you to train them to get in shape when YOU are not in shape? He told me “I AM in shape and it’s not about ME being in shape it’s what the customer wants and my experience.” I told him if I hired a trainer he would have to look the way I WANT to look. He’d have to have the dedication to DO what he is claiming to be an expert in and selling or I don’t believe him. Telling me you have a certificate to get me in shape is MOOT when you look like YOU need a trainer. The point I am making here is to make sure your brand and presentation is what you say it is. Don’t be the opposite of what you sell or you won’t make the sale and don’t get mad at people who don’t believe you. A woman told me a girl was giving out cards in the bank for hair weaves and her hair was matted and unkempt. The woman told me, how does she think I would hire her to do my hair when she looks like that. She said she asked the woman if she did her own hair and the woman was proud and said yes with a smile featuring a set of brown teeth. This is unacceptable and while extreme, I hope you get the point.
