At any expo or vendor village event, there are multitudes of booths giving away coupons for “free this”, “free that”, or “% Off!”
All in all, great. Let’s rack up some savings and still get what we want. Looking back, did I even want that drink koozie with an insurance agencies logo on it that I got for 10% off? Banish it to the junk drawer.
These events beg the question, why do discounts and “free” exist?
These strategies are a stepping stone to get you, the customer, to the next product. It’s not a bad thing. It’s part of marketing.
What makes the difference, at least in my eyes, is if the discount is even given.
For example, a car repair shop. Of all the car repair shops I’ve been to, I have never asked, or received, a discount for getting what I needed done. I may not be happy about paying for what was needed, but that’s because no one likes paying for their car being broken down. If I paid 75% of what it cost to repair a flat tire, the mechanic would only fill up 3/4 of the tire, because they weren’t paid for that last 1/4. I paid for the full repair. That money has its value, my truck runs again.
Here’s another, a highly rated restaurant against that’s locally owned compared to a national chain. Let’s say an order came up at a chain restaurant for a cheeseburger and an iced tea. The burger came out with no cheese and it came with a diet coke. 10% is taken off the bill for the mistake, barely anything lost to a behemoth chain. At the higher end restaurant, that doesn’t happen. More money is paid because the value is there. 10% off isn’t given because the drink order was never forgotten, the food order came out on time, and the steak was wonderfully cooked. The chef, wait staff, and bartender are all trained to do this. They’ve been vetted, tested, and proven. And the owner, putting their life’s work into the local economy.
Both examples show value. Neither of these examples are things we haven’t experienced.
In both examples, it’s free to walk in the door. But, when you want something of value (the service), it costs money. Human psychology says it has to cost something, something has to be on the line for it inspire action.
Back up to koozie, it was basically free and it hasn’t been seen or used since it was taken home. It kept the drink cold, but there are many like it in the drawer. Then, a thermos was purchased. This thing was $45 (probably a Yeti). One object, with high value, does the job and does it well.
Frictionis that thermos, we are the car repair shop, we are the fine restaurant. We recognize the value that we have, and we live up to it. We train for it for hours every week. Anybody can walk into our door for their free intro session with us, and we can provide a solution. It’s our job, and we love it.
Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 shutdown, our physical space hasn’t been open. But, we’ve been working still. The FCF Online Program is running, and it’s only getting smoother. It’s available to all our active, current members in place of not being able to come in to our physical location. It’s not going anywhere either. After all is said and done, we’ve opened back up, and classes are running again, this program will still be running.
The FCF Online Program was built to continue to coach our members even though we couldn’t see them face to face. We put out services to continue to improve the lives of our athletes and friends.
Speaking of online services, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other online programs offered. Most of which are free or discounted. P90x, Beach Body, Men’s Health, Women’s Health. You name it, it’s out there. I searched for them, there are 875,000,000 results on google for “online free workout”. Even if you’re familiar with functional fitness and follow any number of Games athletes on social media, about 1 in 5 have an exercise program that they offer. It’s like you have to choose your favorite kid. Do I use Rich Froning, MisFit, Invictus, or mainsite?
I could list these for hours.
Ultimately, you have the choice of how you want to progress. You can read about “what” to do to get fit and eat right anywhere on the internet. Just like I can read about changing the brakes on a truck, that doesn’t mean I know how to do it perfectly the first try. Like I said, mainsite is free. I use it every day, but as a tool to gain knowledge on “what” so I can understand when my coaches say “how.”
Why is Frictiondifferent? We offer an online program, what’s the deal? Why would anyone pay for at home workouts when they’re so simply put out to the internet?
What matters is value of service, and the time put into that service. Coaching is our service, not our physical location, though we miss it dearly. Only because it allows us to see our athletes, and help new ones. If we had a new space with the same people attending, we’d feel right at home.
That coaching tells you “how” and “why”, in addition to “what”. Without those, there is no meaning to “what.”
I’m a person of examples and analogies, I’ve leave you with one more. Anyone can learn to drive on their own, having driver’s training from someone from an accredited organization tell you what’s right, what’s wrong and what can potentially save your life costs money. The money spent on taking driver’s training is an investment in yourself, your family/friends, your future, and the future of others around you. We always ask in our free intro session, “who else would benefit from you achieving your goals?” The investment in yourself has value to others as well.
Value can be found in the right places, usually with the smiling faces of trained staff and happy owners.
Support Local,
Friction
