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By Ken Andrukow, TwoBrain Mentor We all love seeing a new face walk into our business. We’ll find the first opportunity to go over and say hi, and probably ask, “how can I help?” Often, the new face will answer that they’re looking to learn about CrossFit. We happily tell them all about how fantastic CF is. Then we introduce them to their new community, and point them toward a lifelong path of optimal health. That new face might be interested. They might even come back and sign up for an introductory class. They could stay for six months. Then they leave. When this happens, we wonder what we did wrong. The problem is that we were so focused on the “what” of CF, we forgot to ask the new face the single most important question: “Why?” I’m always seeking out my clients’ “why”. Why did they start at my gym? Why do they stay? Why do they work so hard? Why do they come at the same time, five days a week? And if we haven’t done our job right, why did they leave? If I can answer these kinds of questions, I can not only put my clients on a path to achieving their goals, but I can keep them engaged in my business for years rather than months. Knowing my clients’ real motivations allows me to develop new services and opportunities to meet their needs. Here’s an example. I have a client, let’s call her “Jean,” who has a history of knee osteoarthritis. In the past, she competed in collegiate-level sports. In the three years she’s been at the gym, I’ve learned that Jean’s “why” is all about functionality. She’s committed to regaining mobility and movement so she can continue to play sports recreationally and perform ordinary activities like running up and down stairs, and sitting and standing comfortably. I initially had Jean on a modified individual program that addressed her mobility issues. After ...

If you want something done, give it to a busy person. We all dream of a blank slate; an unscheduled day; a weekend with nothing on our calendar. But we’ve all spent a Sunday evening looking back and thinking, “Where did the time GO?” and wondering how we frittered away 48 hours without accomplishing anything. When my gyms were new, I’d spend 15 hours there every day. I was “busy” – but didn’t make any progress for the first three years. People came and went. I didn’t do any marketing, or planning, or budgeting. I just let business happen to me. I wasn’t in control of my business. When I got a mentor and started to TAKE control of my gyms, I wondered, “How will I do all this extra work?” And clients in our Incubator sometimes ask the same question: “How can I give Chris one hour per day when my days are already FULL?” My mentor gave me a deadline and a clear path. Accountability and clarity are the best gifts I ever got (and now, that’s what I provide to other gym owners.) Ironically, those are exactly what I sell in my gym business. But EVERYONE needs a coach. If I say, “Add a Facebook retargeting pixel to your landing page,” you’ll say, “That’s amazing. Sounds super powerful. Gotta do that.” And I guarantee you won’t do it. It’s effective. It’s important. I can even make it easy for you (there’s a full walkthrough video in the Incubator.) But you STILL won’t do it…unless I say, “I’ll check on your progress tomorrow, and we’ll be using this on our call next Tuesday.” Deadlines are a positive constraint. But a budget can be one, too. For example, if you can only afford one rower, you look at programming differently: “I want to alternate steady-state aerobic work with higher-intensity intervals. What tools are at my disposal?” Timed shuttle runs ...

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