Ok ok, I’m not gonna pressure you.
But I reeeeally do think you’ll dig my new(ish) book…
We’ve been getting awesome feedback, and I think you’ll find it chockful of actionable stuff and hard-won lessons from life as a gym owner.
Speaking of feedback…
Please enjoy this sample chapter from the book. 😉
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Feedback
Here’s a simple strategy that can pay BIG dividends.
You’ll see better retention AND get more clarity on how to improve your services.
You see, MFF has always been good about gathering feedback. We do email surveys. We have an anonymous suggestion box. We religiously track even informal, offhand Ninja feedback in emails, texts, and conversations. We know part of our job is to find out exactly what the Ninjas think of their experience, and constantly look for ways to improve.
And while I’ve always been obsessive about reviewing these data points, for a long time I was missing a pretty obvious (and important!) form of client feedback. Now that I’ve streamlined my personal and professional life, I’m finally doing one of the single most important things you need to be doing as a training gym owner.
And that’s consistently calling your clients.
Like… on the phone.
When you ring them, you’re looking to do two things:
- Sincerely thank them for working with your business; particularly now when there’s so much uncertainty in the world
- Ask them how you can improve their experience and/or help solve their fitness problems
Email surveys or check-in’s definitely have their place. But you just find out different things when you actually talk to people.
There’s also an obvious level of “actually- giving- a- shitness” on display when you reach out to your clients. Personally calling people can’t be automated, and it doesn’t scale. This very lack of efficiency is why it so clearly demonstrates real care and concern. So this can be a powerful way to improve your relationships and increase retention.
Now if you have a smaller operation and are doing a lot of the training, you’ll have an easier time keeping your fingers on the pulse. But lest you feel overconfident about your perspective, I’d argue it’s sometimes harder to see what’s really going on when you’re working in the business 24/7. That’s why it’s so important to step out your role as “technician/ coach” and put on your “business owner” hat.
Having dedicated conversations with your clients can be a great way to learn what systems are clunky and find out what other solutions you should consider providing.
Furthermore, here’s real talk: you can’t equally weight the feedback of all clients.
First of all, no one will agree. So you can’t take equal action on everything.
But second of all, some people are frankly just less credible than others. This is the biggest downside of survey-style data. You don’t want to weigh all feedback equally. Get on the phone with your very best clients and find out what they think.
There are a few different ways to slice up this pie, but the simplest way is this:
- Set a repeating weekly appointment to spend at least 20-30 minutes calling your clients
- Keep track in a spreadsheet who you call and what you discuss
- In each call:
- Thank them for their business
- Ask for one way you could take better care of them or improve your services
- Ask them to share any challenges they’re currently facing with their fitness goals
- Write down what you find out, and whenever possible, follow-up with:
- Any actions you take based on their feedback
- Content and/or solutions for their current fitness challenge
Dassit!
Now I know we’ve all got a lot going on. And believe me, I’ve been guilty of not prioritizing this in the past.
But think about…
Is there really ANY better use of your time as a business owner than connecting with your clients, thanking them for the business, and learning how you can serve them better?
Methinks not!
CALLS,
Mark
PS: Here are three ways to get more BFU in your life:
- Learn more about our coaching group The Unicorn Society HERE.
- Subscribe to our Business for Unicorns podcast HERE.
- Subscribe to Mark’s YouTube channel HERE.
PPS Speaking of “more BFU,” have you checked out my YouTube channel lately?
To see my latest video, click the thumbnail below.
