TRANSCRIPT: INTRODUCTION TO SKILLSYNC

 Hey, it's Will Brereton and welcome back to Group Fitness Real Talk. So we're gonna start with a quick shout out. Thanks to everybody who listened to and gave feedback on the Triple Threat series. It's been great hearing how different episodes have resonated with different people. The one about Ozempic and GLP-1s got a lot of comments we heard from instructors who were using them and really felt that it was great we were talking about it instructors that were concerned about how it might be reshaping fitness and how they can meet their client's needs. But everyone was on the same page about the importance of keeping up with changes that are happening in the industry. And this is exactly the kind of conversation that we wanted to spark. 

The pre choreography episode blew up a little bit more than I expected. Given that I thought that this was something that had been pretty evident across the group fitness industry for quite a few years now. As I've said before, I believe the real problem that needs solving for instructors isn't the type of format you teach, so whether it's pre choreographed or otherwise, it's pay and it's recognition for the effort that you put in. And that's exactly what today's episode is all about.   

So today's one is gonna be a little bit different. Instead of giving you tips or trends, I'm gonna walk you through something that we are launching at SH1FT Fitness to address what I think is one of the most broken parts of our industry, and that is the cost of learning new programs or formats.

Now, I don't often talk a lot about what we do at SH1FT Fitness on this podcast as the point of it is to give you real talk on the industry format agnostic so that it's relevant for every group fitness instructor within the industry, no matter what you teach. But this topic is super important to me and we've launched something at SH1FT Fitness that I think will provide so much value to group fitness instructors at a time when I think you need it the most.

So as we know, instructor pay hasn't moved in 20 years. Now if you haven't listened to our episode on instructor pay, I highly recommend that you go back and give it a listen. It's episode eight of our Triple Threat series, but the big takeaway is that gyms are paying more for license fees, instructors are not getting paid more, and COVID has only made this worse.

Even now with live fitness bouncing back, we've got instructors who are struggling to justify staying in the game even though their heart is still really in it. And here's the kicker, if you want to pivot into something new or explore a different program or format, or even just adapt to your club dropping a license for something that you teach, you're gonna be hit with training costs again.

And it's not just switching brands, even staying with the same brand, but moving from pre choreographed into one of the new styles of Group Fitness training means forking out for that training, and often it's a digital only training and often it's a expensive digital only training. And this is for content and material that you might only be able to use at a licensed gym.

I'm gonna be completely honest and say I think it's a rip off. Here's the truth about digital training coming from someone that's been in the game a long time. When I came into the industry, you had a two day live in-person training where for sure you left completely changed. You learned, you connected with other instructors, and you walked out a better instructor and in some cases a better person. Now, most trainings are online, livestream, self-paced. And don't get me wrong, I think they serve a great purpose in the market. SH1FT Fitness offers this as well.

They're convenient, they're accessible, and they lower the barrier to entry for many instructors, particularly those who can't afford to take time off or have responsibilities that they can't give away a lot of time for, and they prefer to do it in bits or from home. But, these digital trainings don't deliver the same value as a live training, and yet I see that in many cases companies are still charging the same as they did for in-person trainings, and this just seems to be how it's done in the industry. The thing is, it's much cheaper to run a digital training for the company. I know this, that's why we do it, but it's less transformational for instructors.

So for the cost to not have really changed, I think that's bs. So at SH1FT Fitness, we wanna be part of the solution rather than the problem. So I asked the team, can we do something completely different? Could we flip the model? 

Could we remove the cost of certification altogether? So today at SH1FT, we're launching a new program called Groupc. If you are already a group fitness instructor, you can join SH1FTs with zero certification cost, no long online training, no assessment video, and no hidden catch. You just upload your certificate and if it's on our approved list, you're in.

So if you're listening to this and you're a certified group fitness instructor, but your gym might have dropped the license for the format that you teach, but you don't have the time or the inclination to move into freestyle or creating your own content, then this is for you.

Or if you've fallen out of love with the programs that you used to be teaching, you don't love the music anymore, you're not so happy with the direction the program has gone in, and you're struggling to find an alternative, particularly when you don't want it to pay all over again, this is for you.

Or if you're an instructor who's resonated with the messaging in the group Fitness Triple Threat Series. So for example, you want to transition from choreographed into pre-designed, and you're looking for an option that isn't gonna break the bank, that will give you the freedom to teach anywhere. This is also for you.

But I also wanna say that if you're someone who's teaching pre choreographed fitness and you're loving it and you're really happy with the amount that you're getting paid, then keep on listening, but this might not have as much resonance with you, and that's okay. 

So how does SkillSync work?

If you're an instructor who's already got a Group Fitness certification, then SkillSync is offering something really simple you submit to us your existing certification, and we will automatically recognize that certificate and immediately grant you the ability to join our squad at SH1FT Fitness.

There'll be zero certification costs, no long hours of training, and you won't have to submit an assessment. Now, don't get me wrong, we think it's really important that instructors always have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver a safe and effective class. The thing is, , but we don't think that you should have to prove it and pay money over and over again.

Now, on our SkillSync webpage, you'll find the full list of approved certifications, but we'll also consider certifications that are not on this list on a case by case basis. 

At SH1FT Fitness, we have six group fitness formats across four categories, and there will be a different list of pre-approved certifications for each one. And this is gonna be based on what our team have reviewed and considered to be sufficient proof that you have the necessary skills to teach the relevant format of ours.

So if you're not already aware of our formats, they are L1FT, which is our strength and resistance training format,  BL1TZ a body weight only interval training format, M1ND our restorative format with elements of yoga and Pilates. R1DE our indoor cycling workout STR1KE our mixed martial arts or combat style format and rise, which is interval based functional training using the step. 

One of the key considerations when launching SkillSync was ensuring that every instructor that joins through SkillSync has demonstrated their ability to teach a safe and effective class to their community. So let's be clear, this isn't a program that's gonna allow you to cut corners. It's just gonna allow you to cut costs.

All of our pre-approved certifications have been vetted by myself and the SH1FT team, and we are confident that an instructor joining us by the SkillSync program will be an experienced and skilled addition to our SH1FT family.

If you're listening to this and you don't already have an existing certification, but you're looking to get into teaching group fitness, then we absolutely welcome you too.  You'll just need to complete our full training course and be assessed by one of our assessment accredited master trainers and assessors before you can join up to squad and become a SH1FT instructor.

Okay, so let's talk about cost or better the lack thereof. We like to be completely transparent with costs at SH1FT, so here is the deal. Certifying in SkillSync is completely free, and once you're certified with SH1FT, your certification never expires. You can cancel and rejoin as it suits, and we will never make you pay more to recertify. This is a bugbear of mine. The whole recertification thing is just another way that I think that instructors get ripped off. My view is you don't have to reset your primary fitness qualification. So why should you have to recertify in something just because you haven't taught it for two years for whatever reason that may be.

For me, this is pure profit seeking behavior designed to scare people into continuing to pay when they might not be able to because they're worried about having to recertify the cost and time that that will take. I don't like it. We don't do it at SH1FT. We never have, and we never will. Now, this is worth remembering because even if you aren't in a position right now where you want to teach any of our SH1FT fitness formats right away, you can cross certify for free into SkillSync, and then that certification will remain valid for life.

If you do wanna start teaching SH1FT right away, we offer monthly subscriptions that you can cancel at any time. And there are two options. So a single format subscription is USD$15.99 or £11.99 in the UK, and that gives you complete access to every workout that we've ever created from day one in that single format.

Or SH1FT Pro, which gives you access to every format in which you're certified. So that's four categories, six formats for just USD$29.90, or £22.99 in the UK. And for this, you'll get full access to our complete back catalog of workouts. So that's over a hundred prebuilt workouts, like well over a hundred prebuilt workouts.

Plus the opportunity to create thousands of mashup workouts, either within a format or across a format using our app. Over 90% of our instructors are on SH1FT Pro just because the value is really high, and the best thing is they can basically teach six formats for less than $30 a month. This figure is really deliberate.

We wanted to make sure that SH1FT Pro was the best deal on the market, and so we set the price no higher than the average rate of pay for a 60 minute class so that with SH1FT after one class per month, you're gonna be in profit.

Like everything we do, it comes with our 30 day no questions asked, money back guarantee. So you can literally sign up, teach a class, see how it goes, see if it gels with you, see if your class likes it, ask for feedback. And if you don't love it, we'll give you a full refund of your first month's subscription payment.

I realize that at this point you might be wondering if there's a catch, or at least why are we doing it right now. So I've already mentioned that the main driver of this is the fact that the cost of transitioning to new formats is too high, but there is a little bit more to it.

SH1FT has been around since 2017, but you may have seen recently either on social media or maybe in some industry news that after all these years of hard graft, we've won some big strategic partnerships with some of the biggest club brands globally.

So that means that SH1FT Fitness as a company has made some pretty big gains. We've been working extremely hard on them and we're really excited, but that gives us an opportunity to do something that we've really wanted for a long time. We've never forgotten why we started the business, which was to be an instructor first brand dedicated to putting instructor needs at the forefront of everything that we do.

 And genuinely we believe we've created the ultimate instructor solution.

A game changing app that will cut your pre-class prep time by like up to 90%, hundreds of pre-built classes in the app, and the flexibility to create unlimited bespoke workouts based on what the class in front of you actually needs. And then all of that with no restrictions on how or where you teach. So we don't charge license fees and we don't restrict how or where you teach.

We are really proud of our instructor app and how much it's impacted the thousands of instructors around the world that are teaching. With SH1FT Now and being completely honest, we wanna share this with as many of you as possible. Honestly, we believe it will change the way that you teach for the Better Forever.

We know for sure that the real value in this SkillSync program is definitely not getting the certification for free. While that definitely helps, it's really about experiencing the difference of being a SH1FT fitness instructor.

But right now, with everybody's time and wallets stretched, we understand that there are too many hoops and too many costs for you to jump through to actually experience it. So given our recent success and our growth, we knew that now was the time to give back. We knew that it had to be something big.

And something that would really positively impact the instructor community as a whole. This is how SkillSync was born. Our goal with SkillSync was to create a solution that recognizes your hard work and your commitment to group fitness and making your communities fitter by offering you something truly valuable in return to help you make more money.

Really important for us that you make more money doing what you love. It's that simple. We get rid of a cost that you, as instructors don't particularly want to incur. So that you can get access to something that we think will help you make more money, teach more classes, fill schedules, avoid class cancellations, be easier for you to learn and ultimately be better for the entire industry instructors and gyms alike.

Okay, I am almost done, but I'm gonna talk through some FAQs just because we really do believe in transparency. First off, how do I find out if I qualify and what happens if my certification isn't on the approved list? So I'm gonna put a link in the show notes, which will take you to the SkillSync webpage where you can find out all the details.

If you don't see your certification on the list, but you do think that you should qualify, then do please email us at info@sh1ftfitness.com. Our team will review your request and if you meet the standard, then you're in. Next question,  are we just cutting corners or lowering the expertise of instructors? Absolutely not. We are not letting anyone into the SkillSync program. It's only for certified instructors from pre-approved certifications that have been reviewed by our highly qualified team. You're gonna need a real certificate, and we do vet them.

We are simply not making you prove the same thing twice or third time or a fourth time, but more importantly, we don't wanna make you pay to prove that you have those skills again.

So will you be trained in how to be a SH1FT instructor? We've actually created a special onboarding series for all SkillSync qualified instructors, which will help you to familiarize yourself with our systems and formats and ensure that you are confident teaching.

You'll also get access to our full on demand training for free. Now, there's no requirement that you actually complete it, but it's there if you want to dive deeper.

Okay, how fast can you start teaching? We recommend that you give yourself about a week to onboard,  but after that, most instructors can teach using the SH1FT app immediately. The day that we drop a new workout, our instructors will often do it as their workout and then teach it that evening. There's no memorizing choreography. It's all simple and basic while also being effective and there's no prep required. 

Lastly, is there a deadline? Kind of we are capping SkillSync at 1000 instructors initially.

Why? Because we genuinely pride ourselves on keeping a tight knit and high support community. We really do converse with all of our instructors. We take feedback, and the communication is always two way. It's not going to be you just giving us comments and us not listening to them. So this program isn't about volume for us, it's about value. So these spaces could go pretty fast. Therefore, I recommend registering ASAP. It's gonna take you two minutes.

It's gonna cost you nothing.

Okay, so to finish up. I strongly believe, and the team at SH1FT Fitness strongly believes that it's time group fitness got a long overdue shakeup, and it should be a shakeup that puts instructors needs first.

The economics of fitness have changed, and instructors have been squeezed from all directions. Pay hasn't increased. Upskilling has gotten more expensive, less good, and that's unsustainable. Over the last eight years, we've proven that SH1FT isn't going anywhere, and we've grown to a point that we're trusted by big brands and small gyms alike, and now it's time to give something back.

SkillSync is just our way of doing that. Give back. It's our way of saying to instructors, we see you. We value you and we want to make this work better for you as instructors. That's it. SkillSync is  live and we hope that it's gonna change the game for instructors. Those a thousand spots won't last long, so check out the details in the show notes today, and I'll see you in the next episode.