Primark: Quality is Remembered Long After the Price is Forgotten

Quality Is Remembered Long After The Price Is Forgotten

By Phoenix Pro Strength & Conditioning Coach, Scott Marsh

Upon my drive home from London at the weekend, I passed a Primark store and it got me thinking....

The Primark store that I noticed was not overly outstanding or extraordinary, just your pretty average store, with its clinical white walls and welcoming blue lettering above the door, offering simple designs and cheap fabrics, purchased in bulk meaning that they can be supplied to consumers at discount rates.



Beyond ethical law suits and cheap fabrics however, every time you go to a Primark store you will notice one thing: It is absolutely bursting at the seams that it sells!

There are swarms of people walking down the worn out, sweet trodden, Mcdonalds takeaway filled carpet walkways. There are people everywhere in fact: around the shelves, on the shelves, stacking the shelves, knocking things off the shelves and more often than not you are greeted by a little kiddy that jumps out of one of the racks making a large racket whilst their concerned mother, arms full of clothing searches for her little delight.

The hoards are not just inside! Outside the store, in the surrounding streets, the same masses wander aimlessly adorning multiple Primark bags as if they are the new greatest fashion statement. It is clear, cheap does sell.

I hear you ask though...what does Primark have to do with health, fitness or even personal training?

The Discount Culture

Also upon my drive home I drove past a number of gyms. (Doesn’t this sound like one of the most interesting drives of your life?). There were large commercial gym chains as well as a number of independently run facilities, all of which with had their latest offerings on big displays in view of the driving public. Both types of gyms had one aim and one aim only, to woo you into their facilities where you can fill in their large array of forms, where you can sign away your life (well... the next 12 months) and never be expected to return again.

The biggest thing that is noticeable in many service based businesses in the wake of the credit crunch, is huge discounting. Some gyms are offering the use of their facilities for just £15 a month. I have even seen some offering the use of their facilities for as low as £3.50 per month.

Gyms are not cheap places to run, so you can imagine either the amount of people that they are signing up or the extreme losses that they are making each and every month. On paper and on the large advertisements that these businesses pay for though it sounds fantastic for the consumer. Big name facilities to use at a fraction of the usual cost!

The Service You Pay For

This is the link.

When you go to Primark you expect what you pay for. Primark is great for those little essentials, those throw away outfits, the kind you can wear once and then throw out afterwards, due to extreme stretching in the wash, loose threads, pulls or because the red stains from the 100 snakebites you threw down it on a Friday night, without a care in the world because you only paid £3 for it!

When you shop at these discounted places, you are not shocked by rude staff that may actually get removed from the building if they crack a smile or start up conversation, you are not shocked by the fact that you have to wait for up to 45 minutes to purchase your goods, or try an item on. You are not shocked that the item you have in your hand at the till has peoples shoe marks on, because it has been on the floor for the past couple of hours. You are not shocked that you may only get one wear out of your latest dress or pair of jeans, because this isexactly what you are paying for.

In contrast look at a pricier retailer or department store. You walk in, often greeted by a friendly albeit slightly orange lady who welcomes you with a smile and often tells you of the latest offers. You walk in to well maintained and organised displays, staff who try to go out of their way (sometimes a little bit over the top but hey) to serve you the customer, recommending the latest styles, the best items for your shape whilst providing advice on the fit, how it looks and how to care for your item. The transactions are usually quick and efficient also.

You walk out of the store with your purchase knowing that the extra money spent, went on a quality item that could last a number of years and that will go with everything. It paid for staff who made you feel welcome and gave you educated advice and you were slightly impressed by the fact for the past half hour, you felt like the shopping experience was ‘all about you’.

(Obviously there are exceptions!)

Oh no...There’s a hole the size of Belgium in my blouse!

Now for the interesting part, and I am sure many of you will secretly admit to this.
You find a hole in that blouse you just brought. It is an absolute tragedy! Your Friday night is ruined! Depending on which store you purchased your item from however determines your reaction.

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It all started with the blouse....

The one you brought from Primark you simply keep in the bag and chuck to the back of your wardrobe. You can’t be bothered with the queuing, chaos or hassle again. It was only cheap and you probably have another item you could replace it with.

The more expensive blouse you brought from the store has a hole in it. You jump straight in the car, pay the extortionate Saturday parking rates, and find yourself at the customer service desk getting a replacement or a refund. You paid a premium so you expect good after sales service too. You also care about the item that you have purchased. You paid the premium to look and feel good!

The fitness industry is just like this! I have heard horror stories of people having to buy themselves out of their gym contracts halfway through the year, as they have used the facilities once or twice. Afterwards you may think, ‘where was my ‘we miss you letter’’ from the facility when they realised you hadn’t been in a while.
You guessed it! There wasn’t one!

These gyms do not expect to see you, and just like Primark, because you are paying such low rates, they expect you to never notice that little direct debit you set up with them, trickling out of your account each and every month, so never expect you to make a request for a refund.

Primark Gyms

The big chains will offer you ‘the world’ at the cheapest price because they can! If every paying member of a club turned up to one of these gyms on the same day at the same time, there would be queuing barriers for each machine that probably circled the buildings three times over. It is bad enough sharing the free weights with another user, but would you queue for a couple of hours to use a treadmill?
Do you feel like you get that department store service every time you walk in your local gym? Are you greeted? Are your needs met? Are you given recommendations and advice? Most of all...are you getting the results that you are paying the membership for?

Exactly!

I just can’t afford personal training at the moment...

One of the biggest things we experience as a personal training company as an objection to our services is the cost. Don’t get me wrong, personal training is a non essential luxury item that many are not in a position to afford.
A lot of people however simply just haven’t got their health and fitness as a priority at the moment, and would prefer to spend it on other things. They may think that health and fitness is their priority and may even only have to trade one night out at the pub a month for the personal training services that would make dramatic differences to their health, but perhaps at this time, obtaining the quickest yard of ale time is the main priority!

There is nothing wrong with this of course! Enjoy yourselves!

An interesting test for anybody who wants to know what their priorities are at a certain time in their life, would be to sit down with your check book or bank statement and categorise where you spend your money. Then sit down with your calendar and categorise how you spend your time outside of work. Or if you have kids and want some extreme honesty, ask them what they think your priorities in life are.
You may be in for a surprise! You may be thinking that your priority is health and fitness at the moment, but what do your kids, bills and calendar say? If you want to prioritise your health you may just need to make a few adjustments here and there with your expenditure and time, or you may just need that extra push and expert advice that you can receive from a quality personal trainer.

What are your results and wellbeing worth?

As with anything, we only expect to pay what we feel a service or product is worth to us. A major problem with fitness facilities around the country slashing their prices, is that it makes personal training service providers seem even more expensive; the Ralph Lauren of the clothing industry perhaps. This further removes potential clients from the results they have always dreamed of!

Remember back to my example of your shopping experience in the department store. Some of the key words were: WELCOMING, ORGANISED, GREAT AFTERSALES CARE, QUALITY, and EDUCATION.

Well with the right personal trainer you get all of this (or at least should expect it) and MORE!

Unlike your visits to the Primark gym you should feel better afterwards than when you first walked in. You should feel that your results are the main priority of your trainer and that he or she will go out of their way to deliver their promises to you. You should be in contact with them regularly and helped towards your goals even when you are not with them. You should feel safe in their company and motivated in a manner that suits your personality, and most of all you should feel like the service that is being offered is backed by a sound knowledge of their field, and how the body works and reacts to certain situations.

And yes you are right, that hour should be ‘all about you’

Personal training should be seen as an investment and not a cost, and like the more expensive garment should be a key part of your wardrobe for many years, whilst being matched with any other new item of your life.

Quality Not Quantity

So as you stand outside the Primark of the fitness industry, think about what you truly want from a service.

In the current financial climate, we spend a lot of our time comparing prices and often just jump for the cheapest option, but what does your health mean to you? How important is your fitness? What do you want out of your hours of training that you plan to pursue?

If you want results, personal training may be the best investment you can make.
I will leave this article with something to think about:

When you are out of quality...what else are you left to offer?