Mon, October 24, 2011 at 11:38 | Guest Blogger Gray is the New Green
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
Aging is normal. Spending nearly $115 billion to keep the dreaded signs of aging from appearing too soon has become the new normal too. That’s what 78 million baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, will be spending on anti-aging products and services.
Is your gym in line for some of this new green?
When you look around your club and see one in four members are in the 55+ age bracket, and see that number continuing to grow, you know full well that gray is indeed the new green.
You aren’t in the pseudo-anti-aging businesses of hormone replacement, cosmetic surgery, or skincare treatment. You’re in a business that has staggering amounts of proven, databased research behind it. We know full well that consistent, moderate-to-vigorous exercise will help prevent obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, cognitive decline, muscle/bone loss, impaired sexuality, and musculoskeletal injuries, among other age-related disabilities, diseases, and functional impairments.
Inactivity doubles the risk of mobility limitations and increases cognitive decline. Yours is the central address for those baby boomers who want to increase their healthy life-years and compress disability into as late in life as possible.
Here are four key elements to consider when courting this most affluent group of health club members:
Market where they are
The key to capturing and keeping boomers is a keen understanding of their values, behavior, and buying motivators. They value competition, change, hard work, and success. They prefer being spoken to in an open, direct, noncontrolling manner. They want lots of details and prefer options. They want you to be inviting, trust-worthy, and they don’t have lots of time to waste.
They represent nearly a third of Internet users, and unlike their young counterparts for whom the Internet is a source of entertainment, for boomers, the Internet is a tool to help them accomplish things. Nearly 75% of baby boomers are on the Internet at least once a month. Keep this in mind as you plan your marketing: most boomers feel misrepresented and neglected by advertisers.
Thus, use the Internet wisely. How many grandparents do you know on Facebook? Of the 150 million U.S. Facebook users, the number of baby boomers is skyrocketing. But don’t forget that many prefer newspapers, television, and talk radio.
Be sure your staff is gray savvy
With a quarter of boomers using personal trainers, be sure your fitness professionals can relate to this group as clients—not as teetering grandparents. There are two things that are critical to building rapport: (1) a complete health assessment, including health-risk appraisals and risk stratification (as found in the ACE IFT model); and (2) Speaking a language that reflects sensitivity and comfort with an older population. Many boomers prefer trainers closer to their age, however younger trainers can certainly demonstrate the ability to relate quite well. Understanding the sleep problems, nutritional issues, life-extension drugs and supplements, preventive health measures, medical conditions, and age-related mental and emotional issues are some of the essentials for a fitness professional to achieve credibility with this population.
Create a gray-friendly environment
View your gym environment through the eyes of your boomer membership. What would they think about the music, the type of gym clothing you sell, the seating (chairs with arms) in lounge areas and cafes, access to lockers and ease of getting a free machine? Are your club’s “member socials” inviting and comfortable for the 55+ crowd, or would they feel as though they don’t really belong? Would you want to consider reserving lockers and machines at certain times of the day for those boomers who sign up for a member exclusive (without referring to age)?
Market kinder/gentler, but still appropriately vigorous exercise
This is a group of individuals who may not be standing as tall as they once did, have difficulty walking up a flight of stairs, strain getting up from a chair, have rotational and balance difficulties, trip easily, and for whom general stability, mobility, and movement issues create limitations. Given the fact that they may have stiff joints, loss of muscle mass and bone density, decreased metabolic and endurance rates, and longer recovery times, they’ll benefit from exercises that promote posture, strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance training. Offering classes and routines with appropriate mode, intensity, duration, and frequency increases the likelihood that this important customer base will enjoy their workouts, embrace personal training, and adhere to their exercise routine.
Your club has a very real opportunity to change the way your members age, and that can turn gray into green faster than any phony expensive eye cream ever will. You’re in the business of offering physical, mental, and social benefits to your boomers. Successfully creating mobility and independence in your membership will drive profitability.
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