Money Talks: Explaining Fees to Parents
It’s a common gym owner conundrum: “My parents are researching event costs on their own and questioning my fees!” After all, it’s easier than ever for parents to get online and do their own legwork—since event producers are utilizing the same strategies that gym owners use to market their businesses, from informative websites to robust social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. But what does that mean for gym owners who get caught in the crossfire? We asked Julie Hallam, co-owner of New Freedom, PA-based Titanium Athletics, and Tara Wieland, program director for Midland, MI-based Michigan Storm Cheer & Dance, for their take.
The Transparency Dilemma
The bottom line: parents want to know where their money is going. Hallam first started to notice a spike in this trend during the country’s economic downturn in 2008. “Parents started using the Internet to research fees,” she says. “They wondered where their money was going.”
Like many gyms, Titanium Athletics operates in a rural area. The majority of Hallam’s athletes come from single-income homes. “[The families] are cost-conscious,” she says. Parents review competition websites, look at posted entry fees, run the numbers—but from their perspective, they don’t add up. While Hallam can’t blame parents for being thrifty, she maintains that they’re not taking into account what gyms actually pay to attend competitions: “There is much more to it than that.”
It’s the nuances to the business of all-star cheer and gym pricing, Hallam says, that parents don’t understand. She acknowledges marking up competition fees, but asserts that the approach is essential for gym owners to continue to operate. “It covers additional costs,” she adds, “like my coaching staff’s travel expenses to attend competitions and extras such as credit card or registered check fees.”
Tara Wieland with Michigan Storm Cheer and Dance agrees, adding that parents “don’t realize that event producers often alter their posted pricing at the last minute” due to unexpected schedule changes or cancellations. She, too, has noticed an increase in parents doing their own legwork. “10 years ago, it was different,” Wieland says. “Parents weren’t scrutinizing fees.”
This perceived discrepancy has created confusion (and sometimes anger) on the part of parents, prompting some gym owners to call for event producers to stop posting their prices publicly. However, Hallam and Wieland both believe that demanding competition websites remove pricing from public view is not the solution—rather, strategic parental communication is.
Smart Strategies
Hallam’s solution is to bundle her program membership dues for the entire season and then spread the costs out over 11 months, starting in June. Her membership includes competition fees but also incorporates coaching, tuition, tumbling, uniforms and competition travel costs for her staff. Internally, she uses a budget and bases her competition schedule on what they can afford to attend without charging more.
She admits she has cut out the smaller events. “They tend to eat up our budget, and our parents are looking for value,” says Hallam. She strives to balance parent expectations (such as competing on the national stage versus locally) with the quantity and quality of competitions they can realistically manage. “We also look at attending events where the awards add value to the cost of competing,” she notes.
Hallam’s intent is not to hide costs from parents. But she believes charging a flat fee—where costs aren’t necessarily allocated to a specific competition—over a period of time allows her to cover all expenses without having to defend her fee structure to parents.
Wieland employs a somewhat different strategy, providing parents with an exhaustive list of where their membership dues are going. “[We tell them], ‘This is how much for coaches, this is how much for travel,’” she says. “Parents know competition costs aren’t the only thing they are paying for.” She too looks for value when it comes to choosing events, putting an emphasis on those that offer a family atmosphere and a superior experience for both the kids and parents.
While Hallam and Wieland approach the issue of presenting fees differently, they agree that, now more than ever, it’s essential to effectively manage the parent-gym relationship. “Our industry has to be sensitive to parents wanting to know where their money is going,” Hallam says. “But there also has to be a certain level of trust [by parents], too.”
An EP’s Perspective
Billy Smith knows both sides of this situation all too well—after all, he was a coach and gym owner before he began producing events at the helm of Spirit Celebration and Amazing! Championships. “[When I owned a gym], I did not hide anything from my parents,” he shares. “The best thing you can do is be upfront and let them know flat out what the costs are—travel expenses, per diem, hotel, coaching—so they know the deal. I don’t think coaches have the right to gouge parents, just like EPs don’t have the right to gouge coaches.”
On that note, Smith also maintains that posting competition fees promotes consistency and fairness across the board on the part of event producers. “If we didn’t post our prices, I could in theory make up different prices for different gyms,” he points out.
The bottom line? Gym owners must stand their ground when it comes to dealing with parents. “You’ve got to be really careful of how much power you give up when you’re the owner,” cautions Smith. “The gyms that have the most discipline will succeed.”