Gym Automation Manual, Part 3: Avoid Abdication

You can only automate your gym after you’ve completed these two steps: systemize and optimize.

Once you’ve built a system anyone can follow and then improved that system to the point where it’s maximized, then you can hand it off.

That’s called “delegation.”

If you pass off a subpar system and expect staff to succeed with it, that’s called “abdication”—and when you abdicate, you’ll often find yourself sliding back into roles you’ve tried to offload.

How to Avoid Sliding Back Into a Role

We’ll continue with the sales example I’ve been using throughout this series.

The best salespeople in the fitness industry follow this process:

1. They write sales scripts for their staff.
2. They role-play (practice) the scripts every day.
3. They track everyone’s sales metrics (set, show and close rates).
4. They record everyone’s sales conversations.
5. They use software like Gong to pick up key phrases and words in the conversation.
6. They edit their sales scripts.
7. They role-play their new sales scripts.
8. They test the new sales scripts and compare against previous metrics.
9. They record and test again.

Now, you’re probably not going to go to that level of detail—but the Two-Brain gyms with the top close rates actually do go to that level of detail.

You probably don’t even want to spend all your time focusing on sales. I don’t!

But you must focus on the metrics of any system. Metrics reveal the efficacy of your systems. And your systems are your business.

To level up as an entrepreneur, you must offload duties so you can focus on higher-value tasks.

Resource: “The Value Ladder”

But here’s the secret:

If you don’t systemize everything first, you’ll always end up back where you started: doing things yourself. Or the jobs won’t get done at all, and your business will suffer.

For example, if you don’t teach your client success manager exactly how to renew memberships, you’ll have to do it yourself—or you’ll lose members.

If you don’t tell your coaches exactly how the gym should look when they leave for the night, you’ll be rearranging equipment in a rage the next morning.

If you don’t know how to build a marketing funnel to acquire new members, you might get taken by “sales gurus” who promise to solve your problems but can’t deliver.

Systemize, optimize, then automate what you can.

That process ensures you delegate—and never abdicate—responsibility for different areas of your business.