Which Fitness Club Takes The Cake?

Answer: The one that wants your business most.

I spent 30 mins yesterday with the membership consultant at Fenix to talk terms.

It was the last day of the cooling-off period, and after chatting with various members (especially my Body Vive classmates) about how much they were paying, I was ready to say "Thanks, I've cooled off" if they didn't produce an irresistible offer.

One of the discoveries I made after scrutinizing the T&C was that Fenix gets a cut from the billing agent for every new customer that signs up for direct debit.

The billing agent adds a one-off admin charge of $65 to your first invoice, and takes $10 for themselves. The remaining $55 goes to Fenix.

No wonder Fenix encourages you to pay by direct debit when they try to sign you up.

I insisted the membership consultant do the math so I could compare the difference between paying upfront and paying by direct debit.

It came up to a whopping $200 difference!

Then I said: let's take away that Pro Trainer add-on; I only go for classes anyway.

It turned out they were happy to offer me a complimentary 30-min review every 6-8 weeks to help me track my fitness goals.

But they never mentioned that when I first walked in. They just tried to sell me the Pro Trainer package as part of the deal.

Finally, I said: is this your best offer?

He replied, "If you're in a position to do something about paying today, I'll go talk to my manager."

How can anyone work in a line that requires you to play games like these with your customers everyday??

I said yes.

I had a rough range in my head of what would be an acceptable outcome, and I was ready with my EFTPOS card, which is always an advantage.

The consultant went into a back room and came out with a substantially reduced figure.

Imagine: the difference between paying upfront and paying by direct debit was $200.

On top of that, they shaved another 21% off the reduced figure.

That gives you an idea how much commission they stand to make if you just accept their "promotional" terms and don't negotiate further.

I'll bet there was still room to negotiate, but I prefer to stop at win-win so everybody's happy.

In all, the amount we agreed on was 38% off the original promotional figure.

It's not often that I walk away from a sales encounter feeling empowered and pleased with myself. This is one of those rare ones.

Can't wait to catch up with my Body Vive classmates next week; I know they will be very pleased for me.