Seven Years of the Apparel Plan: Lessons Learned
It's been about 7 years since we launched our Apparel Plan service. If you don't know what this is, here is a quick summary: A plan to help keep you on track with apparel throughout the year so you never miss a project.
General Thoughts and Lessons Learned
- Apparel Plans Still Work: Gyms on an apparel plan sell 30% more apparel than those who are not on a plan.
- A Culture of Apparel: The gyms and businesses you admire have a strong apparel game. It is not a coincidence that the gyms that have a strong apparel game are also the most consistent when it comes to these projects.
- Consistency is Key: Consistency=results. You have to build a culture of apparel. The only way to do that is to regularly offer apparel for members to buy.
- Leave Apparel Design to the Professionals: Gym owners are understaffed and stretched super thin. With the staff you do have, you do not want them wasting time on creating, designing, and managing apparel. This is your vendor's responsibility. Your staff has much more important things to do than design apparel.
- Trust the Vendor: Allow yourself to be served. If you're on this plan, it allows us to become an extension of your team. We'll reach out proactively, show you design ideas, make recommendations, and facilitate this process more for you.
- Change the Mindset: Ask yourself honestly "is my current vendor serving me best"....Regardless of how nice they are, they're local, it's my cousin's best friend from high school!, and the worst one..."they're a member of my gym. I can't switch!". Apparel becomes a nightmare when you're doing someone else's job for them.
- Focus on What Matters: Free up your focus for things that matter to you. Simply, when we touch base with you about your Summer order, it's time to focus on that. No need to worry about the in-between time. Have confidence knowing we're on top of it and you don't need to worry about it.
The goal of our apparel plan is to provide a free planning tool to pitch in and help gym owners get more ton for no extra fees or costs. If you're interested in booking an apparel plan with us, there is no cost to do so. The call takes less than 10 minutes. Book a call here.