According to the 2009 released statistics by the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), revenue and membership numbers in the U.S. health club industry remained steady.  The recession caused consolidation of club locations and the closure of weaker performing clubs while new club locations emerged in underserved markets. In addition about 23% (10.5 million) of the 45.3 million health club members were new.

The rise of niche and theme-oriented facilities impacted the 2009 survey results significantly. Many owners are getting creative on how to manage their business and tools such as a membership management software or retention management system make it even easier to accommodate their needs.

According to IHRSA the increase in revenues was due to increases in health club usage and non-dues spending. “Increased usage is typically associated with increased spending in non-dues related items, such as personal training, lessons, juice bars and other services,” says Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products.  Special offers and discounts can be easily managed with a membership management software.

Attract new consumers and boost your non-dues sales with the all-in-one iGo Figure Software.
It’s time to get creative and say “bye, bye recession”!

Cheers,

Matt Z

Source: http://clubindustry.com/forprofits/ihrsa-revenues-membership-results-20100331/index.html

It was great seeing you at IHRSA! Purchase the software by March 31, 2010 to get $100 off your initial software order*. Don’t forget to mention this Promo Code: IHRSA10.

Lock in your discount at (866) 532-9588 or sales@igofigure.com.

Undecided? No worries use a full version of the iGo Figure Software FREE.
Simply click here to request the free trial.

Still not sure? Schedule a web demo today and let us show you how iGo Figure will save you even more money. Click here to email us now.

Cheers,

Matt Z

*Order by March 31, 2010 and you will receive a $100 discount on any purchase that contains the iGo Figure Software.

Come Meet Us – Booth #731 at IHRSA 2010 in San Diego, CA from March 10 – 13, 2010

Have you registered for your FREE VIP Pass, yet?
Follow these steps below and experience the iGo Figure Member & Business Management Software on site:

1. Visit ihrsa.org/go2010 and look up your name, or register for the first time.
2. At the line asking “Were you referred to the Convention & Trade Show by an Exhibitor?”,
   click ‘yes‘ and select “Go Figure, Inc.” from the drop down.
3. Enter the promotional code VIPPASS.
4. Complete the profile, review the registrant information.
5. You will then receive a confirmation (with barcode) via email.

See you there!

Kyle Z.

Back in 1995 there were approximately 12,500 commercial fitness centers in the United States. Since 2008, there are more than 29,000! One recent authority suggests the following ten ways to recharge your club and set it apart from the competition:

1. Get Fresh. “Store Blindness” is an affliction that besets everyone who lives or works in the same space. After a while, we don’t notice the worn carpets, the tired colors, the clutter behind the front desk, etc. A first-time visitor will notice any of those immediately. Whenever a strong competitor enters the market, it is imperative that clubs undergo a 360-degree examination. Get Fresh with a club makeover!

2. Get Connected. “Connectivity” may be the #1 advantage that existing clubs enjoy over powerful, new entrants into the market. So get started! Connect through the iGo Figure Software by sending a message to a member through your welcome screen, create a Facebook page for your club and/or sign-up for Go Figure’s free Retention Management trial. You will love the results! “Connectivity” is the basic reason why some neighborhood restaurants and coffee shops that may have flawed operations succeed year after year. Get connected with iGo Connect!

3. Get United. Being faced with an imminent threat from a new club allows your club to accelerate in the pursuit of better performance. Whenever a new competitor announces its entry into your market, you have an opportunity to unite your staff in the pursuit of a higher level of performance and excellence across the board.  A motivated and mobilized staff becomes the ultimate asset, the ultimate weapon with which you can win the battle. Get United and show off your team!

For the rest of the list, visit:

http://cms.ihrsa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=17977&nodeID=15

Let’s beat your competition together!

Always happy to help,

Matt Z

Source: http://cms.ihrsa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=17977&nodeID=15

I just received an email from one of our users in the United Kingdom, Daryl Chapman. He wrote it after having an onsite install and training of the new version by Go Figure’s very own, Angela Clinton. Angela is a technical support lead and customer advocate at Go Figure. Here’s what Daryl said:

“Angela was fantastic. She really knows her onions and gave total confidence… She is a total credit to your company. Both myself and my staff are delighted with v3.6.22 It’s a great piece of software and will undoubtedly save us time and money and also help with retention and gaining new members. Well done to all your development team. I also love the way it has been ‘Brianized’. Good to look at and logical to navigate around. The online support and training systems are also first class.”

Incidentally, Brian is our graphic artist who plays a significant role in the user interface design of the software. After he has designed something that looks great, we call it, “Brianized”!

Those were some very kind words from one of our overseas users that I just felt like sharing with everyone.

Kind regards,

Today I spent time with Angela Clinton, Go Figure’s customer advocate and training specialist to create some new training tools for two large group training events going on this month in Kuwait and Egypt. With the addition of Arabic to the other eleven languages we translated the iGo Figure software into in the past 12 months, more training resources and courses for those countries are growing in demand now more than ever before. We are happy to see a sweeping global acceptance of the iGo Figure software.

Best regards,

Kyle Z.

I recently returned from attending the Curves Franchisee Ball in Brighton, England. In all my experiences with Curves over the years, I think I was most impressed by this event over all others. It wasn’t the biggest and certainly not the most extravagant event. However, this was entirely coordinated by volunteers who received no compensation or funding from Curves Int’l. There were about 100 people in attendance at the Hilton in Brighton. The United Kingdom Franchise co-op had arranged a vendor exposition, of which Go Figure was a part of, small group break-out sessions with two facilitators per group, general sessions with great speakers with a well organized agenda, and an evening ball complete with awards, motivational speeches and recognition of members who shared their personal success stories. This entire event and the organization of it was fueled solely by the owner’s passion for Curves. I was moved by the event and honored to be a part of it. Kudos to the 2007 winner of the Curves Co-op of the year… you all continue to prove why you deserved that award.

Today I am in Dallas meeting with the board members of the franchise association of one of our largest clients, Curves. The meeting has been very productive and positive. I was able to spend one on one time with many people from Curves Int’l as well as some very successful franchisees that sit on the board. I am heading back home later today, and have some great action items to implement in the next few months from this meeting that should benefit all of our users. Nothing seems to have more of an impact and delivers results like spending time with people personally.

Kyle

More and more senior citizen centers have taken an interest in the iGo Figure software as a means to track and manage usage of their fitness center facilities. Ease-of-use, cost, great training and support have been cited as the deciding factors when evaluating possible software solutions.

Kyle Z.

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iGo Figure Software Home Page

I just returned from training over 100 new users if the iGo Figure software in London last week. It was a lot of fun and the attendees were very appreciative for the event. It was also exciting to train on our newest version (3.6) which will be available in a few weeks. New and existing users alike were very happy to see features such as:

• Profile-based security
• Web-based scheduler
• Session based memberships
• Email Member Retention program

There are more new features than that coming in this version, but those were the only ones I had time to showcase. Check out our news and event tab for more on-site training events going on around the world. Also, remember to look for other training resources from the training section of our website.

Be well, Kyle Z.

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