In the previous article, we discussed how a standard interval offering may not be appealing to the masses, due to the perceptions of who interval training may be for, and how it has traditionally been utilised. We also explored the idea of function value – where people appreciate or value something that simply works.
However, based on function alone, people will not tend to pay high amounts of money for the service/product and therefore business offerings that provide function alone have to work on high volumes to generate profit.
Continuing with the discussion of values, sign value is very different from the above. For facilities, instructors/Personal Trainers (PTs) to grow and become successful they do not want the exerciser to buy services, they want services to be consumed.
The consumption of an offering provided by the facility, instructor or PT creates such overwhelming feelings, that they (the exerciser) continually want more. It’s not about what the exerciser needs to do to achieve the goal (the fundamentals), it’s about understanding
their wants and desires.
‘Consumption is driven not by any object or service need, but as a means to convey our personal beliefs, our personal values (morals) and self-image’ [1].
Again, this means that knowing the audience is key to Interval Training success.
Once facilities, instructors/PTs start to understand their audience, appreciating the importance of personal beliefs and self-image, they can then start to offer an experience with Interval Training that has a distinctive value to the end user. This in turn automatically pushes the exchange value up (how much one will pay) because it is unique, and offers so much more to the exerciser personally, than something that has functional value.
‘The brands we buy and the products we own tell a story, and the audience for that story is most often ourselves’ [2].
People do not buy into the facility, instructor or PT per se, they buy for themselves – they consume because of how the offering or product makes them feel!
Every facility, instructor and PT has a story to tell, something that will connect potential exercises/clients to the unique offering. People buy into stories, if they feel that the story being told reinforces their own personal beliefs, values (morals), and self-image [1].
Facilities, instructors and PTs require an Interval Training story and the story should be reinforced at every customer touch point, through all forms of interaction and engagement.
This means facilities, instructors and PTs require a narrative that reinforces their values (morals) while supporting the experience. Storytelling is an essential part of a customer’s experience, since storytelling is a powerful tool in the delivery of the values (morals held by the facility, instructor and PT).
After all, stories are the backbone of consumption; they inform the exerciser of the unique offering, which the exerciser then buys into because it aligns with their own personal beliefs, values and self-image. Stories reinforce who they are, whilst experiences are services with individual positive feelings attached and stories help to reinforce the individuals feelings.
