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Post by determined1 on Jul 18, 2016 14:24:52 GMT
We were told that these programs are mandatory. However, in a conversation with another franchisee they said that they stopped accepting these programs. There are a couple issues we see
1. We're only paid if the member comes in, remembers their card and remembers to scan it
2. Corporate charges us as though they're a regular member
3. There's a maximum which these programs pay. At the maximum it's still far less than our standard membership
4. We're charged a new member fee by corporate even though we collect nothing
5. If a member is absent for several months we terminate them. If they come back at some point we have to reactivate them and pay another new member fee.
There only seem to be 3 winners with these programs. Snap Corporate, Silver Sneakers and Fit and the people who get a membership free.
The franchisee who stopped accepting these programs said they went from losing $12/month on them to making $300/month. Additionally we don't get any reports from Silver and Fit to let us know who's active and who's not. Therefore, we have to go through each of those members every month to ensure they're active.
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Post by Robert on Jul 18, 2016 14:37:09 GMT
Hey determined1. We do not accept Silver Sneakers any more. We grandfathered those that were currently members but don't accept any new ones. SS is a terrible program for clubs. Only pays $23.20/mth. Costs us $5 corp. sign up fee, $5 access card and $15 for equip orientations. So $25 just to get them started. Silver & Fit is OK since they pay $30/mth and a member only has to scan once during the month for full payout. It did just go down $2/mth this year though.
I wonder how many Silver Sneakers that are either inactive or just don't go to the gym anymore that corporate is still collecting maintenance fees on?? If clubs do not weed out the inactives or those that simply just don't go any more on a monthly basis they are paying .55 cents apiece for them. Say you have 35 like this that is over $200/year from one club.
Do you think that corporate would develop a process to eliminate these accounts automatically on a monthly basis so zee's aren't getting charged for nothing?
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Post by determined1 on Jul 18, 2016 15:08:46 GMT
We go through the silver sneakers reports monthly and terminate any members who have been inactive for 3 months. Corporate charges about $35/month for an administration fee for these programs. You'd think that eliminating inactive accounts would be part of that, but it's not. Also, no report for silver and fit.
I'd also recommend not stating exact costs and use a range instead. This prevents corporate from trying to figure out exactly which club you are and not coming back at you later in some sort of vindictive manner.
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Post by cheryl on Jul 28, 2016 16:35:06 GMT
I don't care if Snap says these are mandatory programs, we refuse to run them. Explain to me why I would want to take a member paying monthly dues and convert them to a program where I'll make between .00 and $25/month. Add onto that the fact that regardless of whether they come in or not I still have to pay Snap a new member fee and a monthly existing member fee. If they're not coming in then I'm paying for the honor of having them as a member. No thanks. I don't know if it's true or not, but I was told that Peter's sister sits on the board of Healthways. If that's true then it just seems like franchisees are being sacrificed for the benefit of Healthways and Snap Corporate.
Places like Planet Fitness count on members to pay their dues and not come in. They understand that a lot of people sign up and don't come in. While we try to do everything we can to keep members motivated we know that there are still many who don't come in or come in rarely. Is Snap clueless about this? They've decided that for these members we'll hand that money over to Healthways. Of course if it was to the detriment of Snap Corporate, like it is to franchisees then the program wouldn't exist. The fix is easy. No new member fees for these programs and a percentage of what's collected from these members.
This isn't even getting into other problems with these programs, such as them forgetting their cards, losing their cards, and many having no regard for anything in the club since it's FREE for them.
I'm sure that other clubs which accept these members run them differently. Also, when was the last time you reduced membership fees, had your rent reduced or your operating costs reduced, yet these programs constantly reduce the amount they pay every year.
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Wish I Was Independent
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Post by Wish I Was Independent on Jul 28, 2016 17:54:30 GMT
Great points Cheryl! We don't accept silver sneakers either. We send them right on over to the nearest anytime fitness.
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Post by zzz on Aug 18, 2016 17:59:22 GMT
I know I'm late to this forum but is there a way that you can take your club off the list of offering these programs? Or do you simply tell people we no longer accept these programs? I hate these programs with a passion and do not wish to offer them anymore.
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Post by determined1 on Sept 20, 2016 16:42:03 GMT
Ok, here's another snafu with this program. Typically, if we go through the report and find someone is no longer eligible we put their account on freeze. This way when it goes back to active we don't have a new member fee to pay to corporate. We've had members bounce back and forth from eligible to not eligible several times over a short period. What we found today is that if they're on freeze it means nothing. The system still treats them as eligible and unlocks the door for them.
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Post by Tired Franchisee on Sept 20, 2016 22:53:18 GMT
Determined: how does any Corp head truly believe what they have going on for the Franchisee owners with their Software and Corporate Programs can be compared to our competition like ANYTIME? in the instance of Silver Sneakers and Software. Anytime has us Beat HANDS DOWN.
recently; a family member PURCHASED an existing Anytime that was making money. Their TRANSFER FEE was $4,000. This was just a few months ago. Snap's TRANSFER FEE is $19,000. And our family member is AMAZED that we don't make money on Silver Sneakers Partnership. He has a very small club and it is a great Revenue generator. WE have also heard this from a Manager we hired that came to us from Anytime. We had opted out years ago ; so we opted back in this year thinking maybe it had changed ; HOWEVER according to Corporates Monthly Revenue Report for Sept 2016 we are LOSING $300 per month.
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Post by determined1 on Sept 21, 2016 0:43:58 GMT
A family friend (now a competitor) had always talked about how great the Silver Sneakers program was. They offer classes geared toward those members and advertise to entice them to join.
The nearby Planet Fitness is also advertising for seniors (not specifically Silver Sneakers) prospects to join. I'm guessing that every club or franchise has a different arrangement with the Silver Sneakers group. Is there any way you can get that family member to clue you in on what sort of arrangement they have? Perhaps it's not done on a visit only basis, but a flat fee per member per month.
I could easily see snap negotiating a monthly fee of say $30/month, paying franchisees on a pay per visit model and setting a $24/month max.
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Post by supercool on Sept 21, 2016 12:14:44 GMT
I asked someone at corporate a while ago if the reimbursement rates could be raised, noting that we were getting the same per visit dollars as we were 7 or 8 years ago. They claimed that they couldn't do anything because Healthways sets those prices and doesn't negotiate.
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Post by thatkidfromjersey on Sept 21, 2016 14:59:58 GMT
I asked someone at corporate a while ago if the reimbursement rates could be raised, noting that we were getting the same per visit dollars as we were 7 or 8 years ago. They claimed that they couldn't do anything because Healthways sets those prices and doesn't negotiate. I know as a fact that that is not true. I have spoken to several club owners of other brands (some franchises, some independent) who all get more from healthways than we do. Some get a little more, some get a lot more. But I've never heard of anyone getting less than us. |
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Post by supercool on Sept 21, 2016 22:08:40 GMT
I asked someone at corporate a while ago if the reimbursement rates could be raised, noting that we were getting the same per visit dollars as we were 7 or 8 years ago. They claimed that they couldn't do anything because Healthways sets those prices and doesn't negotiate. I know as a fact that that is not true. I have spoken to several club owners of other brands (some franchises, some independent) who all get more from healthways than we do. Some get a little more, some get a lot more. But I've never heard of anyone getting less than us. My assumption then is that corporate is getting a cut off the top. |
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Post by greenergrass on Sept 23, 2016 17:51:29 GMT
Since the money flows from SS to Corporate to us, then it's corporate in control of how much we are paid if it is a fraction of what SS pays corporate. How do we get this to change? Do we all collectively STOP letting the SS members in our gym until corporate makes some adjustment? It would be a boycott. All they (corporate) have to say is they were able to renegotiate the rate. But you know corporate will not want to give up a source of revenue. I'd sure like to see an audit of their operations!
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Post by Very Frustrated on Sept 25, 2016 14:08:31 GMT
A Franchisee Association headed by a good/great attorney is really the only way this is going to change.
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Post by FirecrackerGirl on Sept 27, 2016 15:04:37 GMT
Corporate is cutting these programs off..... So the question is, what are you all going to do about it now?
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