Awarding Organisations. More Than Just Certification?

Steph Roberts, Managing Director of the hugely successful fitness training provider and Centre of Excellence ‘Origym’ (rated 4.9/5 stars on Trustpilot) thinks so.

In a recent interview she said, “The importance of an awarding organisation is often forgotten. It’s a lot more than just certification.”

Origym has grown exponentially since it started providing fitness and instructor training back in May 2016. Steph and her fellow director, Luke Hughes, have driven enrolments from around 3 to 4000 per year to double that (currently c. 8000) in less than three years. Steph says such an increase wouldn’t have been possible without the support of Focus Awards.

Problem

The fitness and instructor training business is all about people. Student needs are wide ranging and of necessity must be both structured and flexible. As enrolment numbers have increased, the flexibility factor has become more challenging to manage.

For example, Origym’s students might sign up for a course which because of work and family commitments could take between four weeks and four months (or occasionally longer) to complete. It illustrates the scale of the challenge to maintain client engagement.

Steph and Luke are fully qualified health and fitness professionals. They spent many years building the skills to run a successful business before founding Origym and decided from the outset that their offering would be affordable, cost-effective and of top quality. They demanded exactly the same attributes from their Awarding Organisation.

Having worked with Awarding Organisations over several years, their lack of flexibility and clumsiness of administrative systems had continually frustrated the Origym team.

Solution

Origym’s target customer base is broad and diverse, with its age range spanning around 40 years. From “young lads in incredible shape who just want to spend every day in trainers” to sports and fitness career enthusiasts whose aim is to become professional instructors or personal trainers, it’s clear that Origym has the right approach.

Steph actually ran a measured side-by-side trial with Origym’s previous AO before deciding to transfer the business to Focus Awards.

“It’s partly about flexibility,” says Steph, “but also about cost.”

Results and Benefits

Focus Awards has made a significant difference to Origym’s business in four key areas.

“I find the industry to be stuck in its ways,” Steph continued. “What I absolutely love about Focus Awards is their flexibility. They want to take your thoughts and ideas on board; the things that make your training and delivery methods unique.

Focus also helped us generate and create new courses and content, one of which blends the training with the holistic and nutritional side to fill a specific customer need. We sell this course to at least 100 to 200 students every single month, which is great.”

Another massive benefit has been the ability to reduce salary costs, because Origym now needs less office staff to administrate its interaction with the Awarding Organisation.

All the administrative processes are easier and less time-intensive, thanks to the innovative systems Focus Awards provide, which also add efficiency. They enable Origym to cast its net wider for clients and target operational spend more effectively.

Origym initially signed up to one of Focus Awards’ innovative and powerful Price Plans and has just renewed its commitment for a much longer term.

Steph explained that as well as helping to budget for Origym’s certification costs on a monthly basis, Focus Awards’ Price Plans mirror her clients’ financial drivers. Costs become manageable, affordable and predictable.

“Focus is the most competitive AO I’m aware of. Their Price Plans are a mark of genius.”

Focus Awards delivers a higher quality business experience, not least because Steph is not afraid to engage with them. She says dealing with an AO doesn’t need to be stressful, and Focus Awards’ transparency and customer-centric service exemplifies that.

An additional big plus for Origym is the ability to reach and speak directly with a decision-maker when she needs quick answers. “If I rang my previous AO, I’d hit three walls of staff before I got to the facilitator.”

Focus Awards is Agile, and Steph specifically mentioned CEO Joshua Cole’s steady stewardship, which, together with Focus’ Lead External Quality Assurer’s (EQA’s) expert guidance, has been a key influencer in Origym’s continued ongoing relationship.

When asked if she could sum up Focus Awards’ performance as Origym’s Awarding Organisation of choice in five words, Steph responded with “Approachable, efficient, innovative, supportive, cost-effective.”

More than just certification, then…

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If you would like to experience similar levels of support and engagement from your Awarding Body, call 0333 3447 388 or email Focus Awards today.