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The Heart and the Brain

October 11, 2017 Selling Gym Memberships
A solid business runs on two things: systems and relationships. Think of these two pieces as the brain and the heart of your business. In order for a business to succeed it needs a brain (systems) to direct decision-making and avoid chaos. But it also needs a heart (relationships) to keep the blood (revenue) pumping. If a business has neither, it usually leads to an overworked owner, constantly looking for new customers while retaining none. Without a system in place, he or she is prone to making poor decision-making. If a business just has a heart, it will struggle to grow, eventually imploding due to angry customers and a dried-up bank account. If a business has only a brain, it will result in poor retention and an owner who can never leave the gym, lest it fall apart. But with BOTH, we have a powerful business that can weather all obstacles. We have systems in place to keep things running smoothly no matter who is in charge, and we have relationships to promote retention and organic growth. A brain and a heart combined develop a healthy, un-killable business and create better lifestyles for owner, staff and clients. So what’s the trick? Build your systems ASAP and continue to work on them indefinitely. Ensure that your staff can easily access and search your staff handbook to avoid any issues. Create a community by genuinely caring for your members AND staff. Try to meet with one staff member per day to talk about their growth and ambitions. What does their perfect day look like? Where do they see themselves in one, three or five years? How can you help get them there? Apply the 90-second rule to your coaches. Make sure they are spending time with each member, during every class. Use campfiring to build relationships after class.  During cool down, talk to your members, learn about them and help them. Offer ...
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Episode 91: The Mentor Hot Seat, Volume 1

October 10, 2017 Gym Operations Podcast
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Chris Cooper in front of illustrations of start-up icons

Why I'm Headed To CrossFit HQ

October 9, 2017 Gym Operations
It’s no secret that I worked on the CrossFit HQ Media team for years. I’m still an irregular contributor to the Journal on business-related ideas. My relationship with the Journal, the Hope team and Greg Glassman himself is too long for one letter, but here are the highlights, and how the conversation benefits you: In 2013, after serving as Regional Media Director (and helping with the CrossFit Community Page), Greg called my gym to ask if I’d meet him in Seattle. Of course, I flew out. After a long night at the Four Seasons, I met some of his friends for coffee at the original Starbucks. Sevan Metossian, Jimi Letchford, and Andy Stumpf were there for coffee, and they asked what kind of business advice I’d been giving gyms. Many readers will know that I was mentoring gyms for a website company at the time. The HQ staff asked what I was telling other gym owners–they were nervous, and rightly so. Other “consultants” had steered the community wrong before, in my opinion. I shared my views on mentors vs. consultants. They supported me (as they always do), but made it clear they couldn’t overtly endorse anyone as a CrossFit business expert. Late for my flight, I walked back to the hotel; made a handshake deal with Greg in the parking lot (my only ‘ask’ was for the chris@crossfit.com email address, which I still have) and flew home. The next big conversation about business came at the 2014 Games. I flew out to Carson hoping to meet with Jeff Glassman about my CrossFit Brain project. That, too, was supported by HQ (I was sent to chess matches and memory contests; and wrote several articles that were unpublished as the “big soda” campaign began to take shape.) But the trip was worthwhile because the conversation turned back to business–my true passion. During a long night in the bar at the Hilton with ...
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What Is "Community"?

October 4, 2017 Member Retention
What is a community? What is a culture? Can you define them in one paragraph? How about one word? Chances are, like most business owners, you define community either with a collection of ideas or with the word itself. Neither are acceptable. Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client. You are looking for a way to lose weight and get fit. You stumble across a gym on Google and want to learn more about it. So you go to the gym’s website and the first thing you see is a picture of some sweaty person with a pain face, the word “community” emblazoned at the top. Confused? I’d be surprised if you weren’t. This is what we do to our prospects every day. We shove the idea of community in their faces without defining it. So what is community? A community is relationships—a collection of relationships. A community is made of people who build each other up because they care about each other. And because they care about each other—and they know that you and your coaches care, too—people in your community stick around. So how do we build community? You must first be genuine and authentic: “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care,” or so goes the saying attributed to former President Theodore Roosevelt. By showing, through action, that you genuinely care about your people and their results, you build strong relationships. What about your staff? Your staff should be a genuine extension of you, and therefore just as authentic and caring. If they are not, your community falls apart. If they don’t take the time to work with a client in class, run a goal-setting session, reach out to a missing member, show up to a social event or comment on a Bright Spot Friday post, your community will fall apart. Where do we go from here? Instead of throwing ...
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Episode 90: Who Is Your Audience?

October 2, 2017 Gym Marketing Podcast
 
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How Many "Likes" Do You Need?

September 28, 2017 Gym Marketing
How many “friends” do you need to make a living? What’s your profit margin on “views”? Facebook is a fun toy that really does have practical business applications. For generating interest and communicating with people, it’s the most effective online platform the world has ever seen. But Facebook’s real mission is to keep you on Facebook. It can be a useful business tool…but it can also distract you into “ego traps”: likes, shares and views. Here’s what they mean, and how to avoid the traps.First, a bit on who’s actually paying attention. In the Two-Brain Marketing Course, we teach three stages of audience interest: 1. Informed (very warm, ready to sign up) – they’ve decided to do CrossFit, and are just comparing gyms2. Aware (warm, but not hot) – know they “need to do something” and are actively seeking a solution to their problem (like weight loss)3. Oblivious (cold) – don’t even know they have a problem; aren’t looking for a solution. This is important to understand, because your messages on Facebook reach all of these audiences at once. For example:You post a before/after picture in a blog post about your nutrition challenge.1. Informed: “That’s cool. This gym has nutrition challenges.”2. Aware: “Looks like I can lose weight through nutrition challenges. Add that to my list of options.”3. Oblivious: “Girl in a bikini!”People in each audience might hit “like”, or even share your post, but for far different reasons. The point is that we really have no idea who’s hitting the “like” button. If your picture receives fanfare from 100 people, it’s entirely possible that none of them will become a new client. It would be nice to have an algorithm that says, “If 100 people hit ‘like’, one of them will sign up.” But that’s not true; there’s no linear progression at all. What Really Matters: Conversions A conversion is when someone signs up for your service. With money.A conversion isn’t a “page ...
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