FitGrid Introduces The Talent ROI™ Initiative, A New Instructor Performance Measurement Tool

FitGrid’s latest intelligence layer enables gyms or fitness studios to evaluate how well trainers and instructors are supporting the business metrics that drive brand growth

FitGrid, an intelligence layer for fitness brands, wants gyms and studios to spend more time looking at the biggest budget item and most influential aspect of their company’s P&L (profit and loss) — the instructors. 

Ntiedo Etuk, the brand’s founder and CEO, says it’s fascinating that so little has been done to address this all too significant factor.

“It’s the instructors,” Etuk said. “Instructors have always been the most important piece of infrastructure in boutique fitness businesses. Your instructor is where the emotional bond with the client happens.”

FitGrid is well-positioned to set brands up with all the data and intel required to properly deploy, educate and leverage instructors or trainers. The company says that as more brands utilize tools like its Instructor Performance metrics, the industry will move closer to a hospitality-driven mindset, which promises to create exponential growth as more individuals feel comfortable while engaging with the sector.

Instructors are Everything

Pilates instructors, strength training coaches and breathwork guides all carry different titles and facilitate different modalities, but like all on-floor staff members, they essentially have the same role: they’re the business’ foundation, especially for those at the boutique level. 

“Your instructors embody the product,” Etuk said. “In fact, one could argue your instructors are the product. Unless you have a huge technology component that’s involved, your yoga, Pilates or barre instructors are not only your teachers, but they also make up your client service group, and to some extent, your front desk. They are the face of the business, and if a client has a bad experience with them, it doesn’t matter how great the owner is; members are never coming back.”

Etuk refers to this as the fitness industry’s version of “bedside manner.” And given the broader choice consumers have with their fitness providers, this analogy arguably carries greater weight. 

“If I were to get diagnosed with a major illness and the doctor was dismissive, I’d be upset, but if he or she is the specialist in the field, I’d have little choice but to accept it,” Etuk said. “But in boutique fitness, if that happens, I’m out. I’m headed to another studio.”

Something as little as an introduction to a new member or a more encouraging approach to a training session can go a long way in taking things in a more positive direction.

“Imagine you have a yoga instructor who’s great; she knows how to do all the poses and her class attendees make up a tight-knit community where everyone knows each other,” Etuk said. “But then, someone new comes in. They feel a community that’s already sewn together. If the instructor forgets to greet them by their first name or forgets to do something as simple as telling everyone to turn to their left or right and high-five the person next to them, they’ve missed out on a key engagement opportunity, and when that client doesn’t return, it’s left money on the table.”

FitGrid Identifies the Mistakes And Helps Fix Them

Etuk isn’t just calling out these do’s and don’ts for fitness brands; he and FitGrid provide the tools to put them into practice. The brand’s Talent ROI Initiative tracks trainer or instructor performance by leveraging over 25 KPIs focused on profitability, return rates, scheduling and overall demand. Reports are also automatically generated and made comparable to franchise or industry-wide data to create actionable insights.

But perhaps most importantly, FitGrid created tools that train the instructors on how to best build community, drive loyalty and boost returns, and therefore increase business performance as well.

“We, as an industry, train instructors on how to do their craft pretty well, but we don’t measure, train, and measure again on how those instructors performed from a business metric perspective, and that’s a key flaw in our operating model,” Etuk said.

However, FitGrid has an answer for that: standardizing the instructor report metrics. The brand pioneered standardized metrics for instructor performance the same way it previously did for business. That changed the equation. 

“We’ve already standardized instructor metrics, and will be releasing them shortly,” Etuk said. “This is key. It allows a studio to understand what a Top Decile instructor in yoga or Pilates or Barre really looks like. It allows studios or studio groups to understand how their instructors compare to peers. Imagine Brand XYZ realizing their instructors perform 15% worse at driving client retention than their peers. Long-term, that’s existential to their business.”

A Better Future

In the coming years, Etuk expects more operators to recognize the benefits that come from tracking instructor metrics and adjusting accordingly — featuring more education and training programs around concepts like hospitality. 

“As the technology becomes more widespread, where people can measure these things, you’ll start to see a shift where it’s no longer good enough to just ‘wing it,’” he said. “Owners will realize there’s actually a way to measure these things, see that their competitors are doing it and feel at a competitive disadvantage if they don’t.”

As this level of accountability catches on, Etuk argues the entire industry will benefit. 

“We will see better professionalization at the individual studio level and more welcoming experiences,” he said. “We’ll also see the industry grow because now, all the key components of a business can be measured, so investors will flock in.” 

Standardizing business performance metrics and now instructor performance metrics across an industry is a gargantuan task, and not for the faint of heart. However, the company has already made headway with its standardized business performance push, so if anyone can make it work, it’s FitGrid. It already seems way ahead of the pack.