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5 Things That Your Trainers Need to End Their Sessions With a Bang

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ctto: f45_training_fremantle

Picture two gym members—let’s call them Brianna and Kaye.

Both of them begin their day excited at the idea of working out. It’s because they’re determined to finally work on their fitness goals after years of slacking, binge-eating, and procrastinating. 

So, Brianna and Kaye show up at the studio for the first time, both dripping with excitement. Determined to have an absolutely great time, they each give their all during their 45-minute workouts. But towards the final set of their sessions, their moods begin to diverge.

When the buzzer goes off, signalling the end of the workout, Brianna leaves the gym in high spirits. Smiling ear to ear, she gives out high-fives and heartily says goodbye to the trainers and other studio-goers. She even tells them, “See you tomorrow!”

Meanwhile, Kaye speed-walks to the exit with her shoulders slumped… and she goes home without a smile or even a quick goodbye to the trainer.

Now, a question…

Between Brianna and Kaye, who do you think is more likely to return to the gym the next day?

Brianna, of course! 

She left the studio probably feeling the best she’s felt in years. So, why wouldn’t she show up for another session? 

Meanwhile, it didn’t seem like Kaye had a great first day. At the very least, that means it’ll take a LOT of effort and self-discipline for her to come back… if at all. And she will most likely spend the rest of her day dreading her next session, which means she might not show up at all!

This story shows the importance of ending your sessions with a bang. 

You never know who among your members is contemplating the idea of never coming back to your studio. But if you can provide that explosive finish to your sessions, you can give them some fuel to keep coming back.

And not only does that do wonders for your attendance and churn, but it also provides a more lasting impact on your studio members’ lives.

So, what exactly do you need to end your studio’s sessions with a bang?

The 5 Things

#1. A Set of Expectations

Delivering that explosive finish that spells the difference between high and low churn, it falls squarely on your and your trainers’ shoulders. And as the studio owner, the onus is on you to remind the team about what you expect from them.

During your team meetings and pre-session huddles, tell everyone that you can’t have a session that goes all the way through and just peters out. You don’t want members looking around at the end of the session feeling like, “Oh, it’s done?”

They have to feel pumped up, accomplished, and raring to go back for another round! 

So, lay some ground rules. And make sure everyone’s on the same page about what you want to happen.

#2. Quick Feedback Loops

Along with setting a set of expectations, you have to implement quick feedback loops to make sure your expectations are met. Know that 45 minutes in each session are long enough to turn around a session that started badly. 

If you notice that your members are not that engaged in the workout or if the energy seems low, step in and intervene. You can have another coach work with your lead trainers just to pump up the energy. That way, you can still end that session with a bang.

Whatever you do, don’t let a session go just because it seems like it won’t end well. It IS your responsibility to make sure it does. 

So, don’t hesitate to pull your team together for quick feedback huddles whenever something isn’t going well.

#3. A Showrunner

In every single session, you should have one person in charge – a coach who is running and controlling the room. That way, if a trainer leads the warm-up and the vibe’s a little low, then the showrunner can do something about it. 

For instance, they can say, “Let’s get everyone to drop their weights mid-session because the vibe’s really low. We’re all just going to do the same tempo squat for the next three sets to bring everyone together again.”

Your showrunner should know they’re in control and that they can totally own the outcome of the session.

#4. Self-Awareness

Another thing you need to end your sessions with a bang is a self-aware team of trainers and coaches. 

Each and every member of your team should have enough awareness of the atmosphere in your studio. That way, they’ll know if they have to work extra hard to create that explosive end to your sessions or just keep doing what they’re doing.

#5. A Build-Up to the End

Now, let’s get a bit more practical.

You want to build up tension and energy towards the end of your session, right? 

One trick to do is to turn the music down a bit halfway through the session, then turn it up in the last few sets to get the members’ blood pumping. 

Another thing you can do is start screaming out countdowns to let everyone know there’s one minute left to their workout. Then, continue counting down the last few seconds in a loud, booming voice to create that massive energy.

And once the buzzer goes off, go around and give high-fives, fist bumps, toe taps…whatever you feel like doing to create that explosive vibe. Make sure everyone feels they’ve just accomplished something great – and that they should be proud of themselves for that.

If you can send your members home feeling the best they’ve felt in a while, you can almost guarantee they’ll be coming back for more sessions in your studio.

Start and End Studio Sessions With a Bang

Finishing with a bang.

Sometimes, it’s all you need to turn a so-so kind of session into a 5-star experience for your members. And now that you know what it takes to end your sessions with an explosive bang… 

The only thing left is to go out there and make it happen.

Do it right and you can expect to keep record attendance in your studio, contributing to lower churn. And ultimately, you’ll have a more impactful studio!

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How to Create a 5-Star Experience For Your Studio Members

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Low attendance.

It’s one of the telltale signs that you’re about to see a lot of member cancellations in your studio pretty soon. And yet, many studio owners get surprised when it happens. 

But it’s only logical, don’t you think? 

See, when you’ve got low attendance rates in your studio, that means your members aren’t loving their time with you. It also means they don’t feel good enough after your sessions to want to keep coming back. 

And if members don’t see the point in showing up to your sessions… then it’s only a matter of time before they leave your studio for good!

So, if you want to fix the issue of high churn, your goal should be to consistently hit record attendance. To do that, you’ve got to create a 5-star experience for your members.

5 Things You Need for a 5-Star Session

Creating a five-star experience for your studio members… It seems a bit arbitrary, don’t you think?

Let’s say you just had a group session. And your trainers and coaches feel pretty good at the end of the session – so much so that they’d rate it four stars out of five. 

But does that mean your team actually delivered a four-star experience for your members? 

No, not necessarily. And it’s because what you and your trainers feel is subjective and might not reflect the actual experiences of your members.

So, what we need to go after is a consistent, objective goal of giving your attendees a 5-star experience. And the best way to do that is to create a formula. That means assigning one objective for every star. 

That way, if you are only successful in hitting three out of five objectives, you can correctly conclude that your members just had a three-star experience. And if you were able to hit all five objectives, then you can rest assured that it was a 5-star experience for your members, too.

Now, to kick things off for you, I’m going to share the 5-star session formula my team uses. These are the five key objectives we strive to hit at every session so as to create a five-star experience for our attendees:

#1. A Big Community

No one signs up to team training to just train on their own in the corner. Chances are, they’re looking to be part of a big community.

That’s why your job is to be the light and the fuse that brings your individual members together, forming a community. 

As the studio owner, you must take on the responsibility of being a community manager. This means you should be able to break the ice for your members and have them bonding and connecting with each other even before the session begins.

Now, it really does take some time before strangers warm up to each other. But you can speed up the thaw by playing games and connecting people who have similar interests. 

For instance, you can ask your members to tell you one interesting fact about each other… or else they all get extra time on the treadmill after the session.

You can also break up the big group into smaller groups, but make sure you team people up with other members who might have the same interests as them. Then, spark some conversations by dropping tidbits like, “Hey, I think both of you are headed to Bangkok for the summer!” 

As you watch those conversations start to take their natural course, you can tell you’ve succeeded in planting the seeds for a big community.

#2. An Electric Atmosphere

Now, this is not about being loud or being a cheerleader-type of trainer to create the illusion that everyone’s having an awesome, electric session in your studio. What this is about is playing to your team’s strengths and designing an actual great experience for your members.

For example, you might want to pair one coach who has a gift for raising people’s energy with another coach who’s talented at spotting individuals who need help with their form or execution. 

So, while one trainer goes around the room helping individuals out with the workouts, you have the other trainer holding the room and keeping that electric energy flowing. And they’ll do it by shouting out things like, “Now, don’t you dare drop that ball! I can see what all of you are doing right now!”

#3. A Tailored Touch

Here’s an objective for you:

Every time you walk up to a member in every session, you need to add value to their time. It’s either a progression, a regression, or a target that you give them. 

Never walk past someone without giving them a specific, tailored touch.

You should let them know that you are well-aware of their goals. And that you’re hell-bent on helping them achieve those goals.

If you took the time to learn about your members’ reasons for being in the studio, providing this tailored touch should be easy for you… but it’ll be absolutely mind-blowing and life-changing for your members!

You need to communicate to every member that even though they’re in team training, their individual needs and goals are accounted for. If they feel that way, you can expect them to keep coming back to your sessions – because they actually see the point in doing so.

#4. Education and Empowerment

Apart from being adept at workouts and helping members achieve their physical goals, you need your trainers to be inspirational. 

They should be able to educate and empower your members. And an important way to do it is by helping members adopt a better mindset about going to your studio and creating habits that help them get fit.

Admittedly, this is one thing that your coaches might struggle with a bit, so help them out. Have them listen to motivational podcasts. Get them to follow fitness TikToks. And put them up to the task of sharing one thing they learned about mindset training during your team meetings.

#5. An Explosive Finish

It’s easy to start your workouts with a bang when everyone’s still in high spirits. But the real challenge is ending the session with a bang when both coaches and members are already exhausted.

There’s nothing worse than the timer running out for the last part of the session and everyone’s just looking around, saying, “Oh, is that it? It’s done?”

You don’t want your session to just peter out. What you need is for your members to leave your studio in an ecstatic mood so they’ll have the motivation to show up in your studio the next day. 

So, don’t let your sessions end with a whimper. Always go for an explosive finish.

Time to Get Record Attendance in Your Studio


One final thing…

You have to understand that the magic is not in knowing this 5-star session formula. The magic is in being able to implement it.

So, I want you to take what you’ve learned from this article, then go out there and make it your own. 

Sit down with your team and brainstorm what your studio’s five stars are. Once you’ve identified your own formula, the hard part comes next: putting those five stars up there and creating 5-star experiences for your members.

It won’t be easy—I’m not going to lie.

But it’s the best way to hit record attendance and maintain low churn in your studio.

And in my book, that makes the hard work worth it.

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The Studio Owner’s Guide to Group Inductions

The Studio Owner’s Guide to Group Inductions
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How do you start the journey of your new clients? 

Do you give them a tour of the studio? Start with a health assessment? Or do you just get down to work?

Well, if you’ve ever felt unsure about what your studio’s opening sequence should be, then today’s your lucky day! 

Why? 

Because I’ll be sharing a great way to start off the fitness and health journey of your studio members. 

And that’s by none other than applying inductions. 

I personally love doing inductions… Especially group inductions where people just get to bond and enjoy their first day.

Enough about me, though. Here’s a promise: 

By the end of this article, you will definitely see the point in doing inductions. I promise that you’ll learn to love doing it, too!

Let’s get started, shall we?

What Are Inductions?

To kick things off, let me first explain to you what a fitness studio induction is all about. 

An induction is an activity that welcomes new studio members by letting them do a series of activities. These include any of the following:

  • Meeting with a personal trainer
  • Going through orientation
  • Getting a tour of the facility
  • Getting a quick fitness assessment

If you don’t do an induction of any kind, then you’re going to leave your member feeling a bit helpless – and it’s just not right! This is especially true if it’s their very first time seeking professional help to improve their fitness and overall health.

Why Do Group Inductions

Now, I’m partial to doing group inductions instead of individual newbie inductions. See, with a group induction, you’re literally getting a group of newbies together and then setting them up for success. That’s the best part.

But if you’re still not convinced, let me give you three more reasons why you should start doing group inductions ASAP:

Reason #1: It’s the Key Thing That Needs to Happen to Rollover Newbies

Did you know that holding inductions is the first step in the rollover process after you successfully make a sale?

So, if you’re wondering why you’re not getting 80% rollovers from your free classes, then you’re probably not doing group inductions at all. 

My advice? 

If you want newbies to actually show up and recommit at the end of their program, then you should start doing group inductions.

Reason #2: It Saves Time

Doing group inductions is not just good for your would-be members. They’re great timesavers for you, too! 

See, instead of doing ten 15-minute inductions during the week, you can just split it into two sessions with groups of five. This is great because your time is precious, right? And so is that of your managers. 

Can you imagine how much more work (and rest) you and your team could do if you just conduct inductions in groups?

Reason #3: Your Prospective Studio Members Will Feel Safer 

There really is safety in numbers. 

The reality is that for thousands and thousands of centuries, it has been a natural human desire to feel accepted as part of a group. It’s a basic survival instinct. And people know they’re safer in a group, that’s why they come to team training sessions. 

They want to make friends. 

They want the accountability of a group. 

And they want the general vibe of not being alone.

That’s why it just makes so much sense to start newbies off in a group setting.

So, when you do group inductions, you’re immediately assuring them they’re part of a community. And you’re making them feel safe by telling them they’re not on this journey alone. 

Plus, the newbie members won’t feel like they’re being vulnerable in front of too many people.

Staging the Best Group Inductions – The 3 Tips

Tip #1: Find a Schedule That Works Best for Everyone

Ideally, you need to conduct group inductions before your members start their first session. 

But the truth is that it won’t always happen that way. Some would really have irregular schedules that it would be difficult for you to find one that would be perfect for every single newbie you’re inducting.

A good compromise is setting up their inductions at least within the first week of their joining. Anything later than that would defeat the purpose of setting up group inductions in the first place.

Tip #2: Start With An Intimate Group

It’s good to have a nice intimate group, like 5, 6, 7, maybe 10 members when doing group inductions. This will allow you to give ample time for every newbie to speak up and be heard. 

But why does this matter?

You see, during group inductions, it will be part of your job to dig deeper. You need to know the actual reason why they signed up for your studio. In fact, you need to ask ‘why’ three times to really get to the bottom of things. And of course, that takes time.

Keep in mind that the number of people in your group inductions will still greatly depend on how many people you close.

Tip #3: Adopt and Adapt

There is no one size fits all approach to handling group inductions. Even if you do group inductions, every member will be different. So you can’t expect that something that worked for a certain batch of group inductees will work on another. The same is true for different studios.

That’s why you need to figure out what’s the best approach for you and your team when doing group inductions. 

Start Doing Group Inductions Today

For us studio owners, holding group inductions is a great way to get to know our studio members. After all, we get to know their goals. Then, we set some habits in place to keep them accountable. And we understand how we’re going to serve them best. 

So, when you think about it, doing inductions is a win-win for both you and your client. 

You set yourself up for success to get them rolled over into membership. And you set your clients up for success by getting them on track with their fitness goals.

Now, if you want a full template you can use for your inductions, just reach out to us anytime.

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How One Studio Achieved a 2% Churn Rate (And What You Need to Do to Get Results)

How One Studio Achieved a 2% Churn Rate (And What You Need to Do to Get Results)
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You want to see results in your studio as soon as possible. But things just aren’t going along as fast as they should. And opportunities get missed constantly.

Such issues are usually the result of a lack of organisation. 

One of our clients was in this very situation. They struggled to get more traffic, gather leads, and raise engagement in their studio. The client’s membership was down by 150 people and their visits were only twice on average. 

When we started working with this studio, it turned out that all they needed was some structure and better organisation. That’s why from the moment our client became more organised, things took a turn for the better. 

In fact, the results were astounding.

Their membership started growing despite the disruption that was going on due to the global pandemic. The visits jumped up to 4.8 and the engagement soared.

And none of that happened by accident.

See, our client took action to remove one of the main causes that prevent studios from taking advantage of opportunities and getting results:

They got rid of the drama and the disorganisation it brought. 

You can do the same.

This article will show you how to make your studio more organised, approach your business with a clear head, and start reaching your goals.

Drama Makes You Miss Opportunities

New studios struggle with a particular issue that ends up keeping them down:

They spend most of their time on the urgent rather than the important.

Worst of all, that situation tends to carry on as people get accustomed to living in a world of urgency. At that point, there’s so much focus on the drama that studios miss key periods of the month and even the entire year.

In other words, you’re so caught up in urgent matters that you don’t think about tackling the important moments. This reduces your overall impact and causes you to make less money.

Drama can also cause you to neglect crucial aspects of business, such as getting more flow in your studio and making your team more organised and effective. As a result, nobody, including the owner, understands their role.

Of course, all these changes when the studio gains clarity on its goals and what needs to be done to achieve them. 

And getting your calendar on point is the first step toward that clarity.

The Calendar Is Your Friend

Much can be said about your cash flow from the way your calendar looks. But ultimately, if you don’t apply time blocking, that usually means bad news for your studio.

Now, the main benefit of time blocking is that it helps you single out the most important things that will generate wealth and cash flow and build up your assets. It’s the time you book for yourself to do all of the things that will drive your bottom line.

To put it simply, your calendar isn’t only for marking meetings. In a sense, it can become a logbook for your success.

The problem is that many studio owners don’t view their calendars as the powerful tools that they are. They don’t really understand that the point of a well-organised calendar isn’t only to keep track of your daily activities. It’s also to stay focused on the quality of tasks that take priority in your day, month, and year.

Seeing the calendar as your ally will allow you to carve out the time you need to improve your studio. And focusing on the right tasks might turn out to be just the boost your business needs.

Creating Your Own Luck

Tying in with time blocking, another critical aspect of your studio business is to be prepared and plan your actions.

Truth is, the most important things in business happen by design and intention, rather than mere luck. You might even say that relying on luck is often the worst choice a studio owner might make.

But luck in business is a bit more of a complex notion. In fact, we could talk about two distinct types of luck: dumb luck and the other kind.

Dumb luck is something like when you find $50 under your seat at a cafe. It’s something good that happens to you without any input or direction on your part.

However, the other kind of luck doesn’t work like that. Instead, it’s the luck that you create for yourself.

Imagine doing all of the necessary preparations for your studio. You come up with a formula, and you might’ve seen it play out with success all around you. Then, you see an opportunity appear. Finally, you take action.

Suppose you’re successful. 

In that case, it would be easy to attribute your success to business luck. After all, you’ve come across a perfect opportunity. And when you acted upon it, you actually got the results.

Now, most people would describe that as the “right place at the right time” type of luck. But the truth behind it is different.

What people call business luck actually consists of three key factors:

  • Thorough preparation
  • Spotting the opportunity
  • Taking massive action

Your team needs to be trained and your systems in place. Furthermore, you must be prepared mentally to jump at an opportunity. Then, when the time comes to act, you know precisely what to do and have all the mechanisms in place and ready to go. Finally, once you start acting, you have to do it consistently and with great scope. 

When all of these factors come into place, great results become possible for your studio. 

And that’s the luck that you create yourself, not a game of chance.

Let Go of the Drama, Organise, and Jump Into Action

Being prepared and focusing on the important aspects of your business are, without a doubt, the crucial aspects of your business. 

If you can learn to let go of the drama around urgent matters and pay attention to the key points, everything will start to fall into place. You’ll create a sound foundation for a well-organised studio that works like clockwork and reaches goals without issues.

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Two Things You Can Do Right Now to Generate a Healthier Bottom Line

Two Things You Can Do Right Now to Generate a Healthier Bottom Line
ctto: F45 Darwin

If you went around and ask studio owners one of the worst feelings they can experience, many would probably give the same answer:

Missed opportunities.

Studio owners share this pain point with other businesses, and it’s particularly pronounced with new studios. 

But that doesn’t mean more experienced studios don’t miss out on an opportunity every now and then. In fact, you’d struggle to find a studio immune to the issue.

However, new studios have a more challenging time when they can’t seize opportunities promptly. This is because missed opportunities hinder growth, which is the primary goal of every new studio.

Luckily, there’s a way to resolve the issue. And it comes down to executing key tasks every month.

This article will break down two vital components to make that happen. These components will help you run a successful studio and never miss an opportunity again.

The Captain’s Checklist

This checklist serves to keep your crew, i.e., your team organised and functional.

The captain’s checklist is entirely focused on what happens within your business weekly. And this person-oriented aspect sorts out the crucial tasks your team members have every week.

Essentially, this checklist serves to avoid the constant “Did you remember to do that?” questions. That’s because forgotten tasks can pile up quickly if you don’t have a system to organise them.

That said, coming up with a functional checklist will require some careful consideration on your part.

First, you’ll need to break down everything that has to happen during the week. Then, you’ll need to split all of the crucial tasks into different days. Finally, you’ll have to outline which team member is responsible for which task.

Clearly, the captain’s checklist is an excellent organisational tool. But it provides another great benefit: 

At the end of each week, you can take the checklist and check for any problematic entries. And once the month is over, you can compare all checklists to spot potential issues with specific tasks.

Essentially, the captain’s checklist doesn’t only tell your team who should do what and when. It also tells you how well your team is handling particular aspects of your business. As a result, you can tweak certain processes and establish better work habits that the team can stick to consistently. 

You can make your checklist even more effective by marking key performance indicators or KPIs. Finally, if you want to get into the details, you could create multiple checklists to handle the finer aspects of complex tasks.

At the end of the day, the captain’s checklist will be your best friend when it comes to organising your studio for maximum efficiency.

Start Harvesting Correctly

When we talk about harvest, we’re referring to the last three days of the month. These three days are a critical part of your calendar when specific actions will be necessary. 

In particular, you’ll need to do three things during these days:

First, you’ll send out a new offer to all of your lead lists. 

When sending offers to your newest leads and people who haven’t bought anything from you yet, you’ll give them the exact same offer that they received the last time. The purpose of this is to freshen up these leads with the same message but with a new wrapper around it.

For example, if you had a Valentine’s Day or spring head-start offer, you’ll send out the same content. The only difference will be that you’ll rephrase the offer to make it fresh.

The reason behind this approach is to take away the monthly operational drag that can happen when you need to come up with new service promotions every time.

Doing this regularly will create an atmosphere in which people will automatically raise their hands when the end of the month comes. Then, you’ll have an easier time bringing those people out and making sales.

In essence, this task will set your studio up for the upcoming month while closing the current one.

Second, you’ll do blitz rollovers. 

In other words, you’ll dedicate a day to focusing on anyone who hasn’t rolled over so far during the month. This even includes people who have just arrived.

The vital point here is to gather everything that worked previously and go all out to try and get everyone on board using it. After all, there’s no point in keeping things in the drawer at the end of the month. 

So, don’t hesitate to offer every incentive you can to get people to roll over. Take note of all the freebies, giveaways, vouchers, and every other resource at your disposal and use them to your advantage.

Finally, the third thing you’ll need to do at the end of the month is to take care of the bulk stuff.

This mainly refers to nurturing your important business relationships. For example, you should reach out to your joint ventures, schools, sports teams, businesses, physios, and anyone else that you talk with.

Ideally, you’ll already have a tally of what you’ve done on that front during the month. This will make it easier to share relevant stories with them and let them know that everything’s working correctly.

Now, this task will be made more straightforward by getting it done in a single day. This way, you won’t have to take note of every contact you’ve talked to.

Remember, these three things are essential to wrap up your month. But there’s one bonus thing you should do come the end of the month:

Put the time aside to plan out the next month.

Once you get all of this done, the harvest period will be over, and your studio will be ready to take on the period ahead in full strength.

Learn to Organise and Wrap Up Every Month

The captain’s checklist can help you bring a high level of organisation into your business, with precise tasks for every team member.

In addition to that organisation, if you make sure not to miss harvesting on the last three days of the month, you’ll enter every period as prepared as you can be. With these aspects covered, you’ll give your studio the boost it needs to become as effective as possible. 

Careful organisation will be your best friend on the road to success.

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What Numbers Say About Your Studio – And the Secret Key to Growth

What Numbers Say About Your Studio – And the Secret Key to Growth
ctto: f45_training_bayswater

One of the greatest challenges for many studios is that they aren’t growing fast enough.

This problem leads to numerous hardships and additional complications for businesses, as well as plenty of frustration.

After all, you put in all of the effort and give it your best, but things still seem to move forward at a snail’s pace. Then, when you try to determine the cause of the slow growth, you realise that so many aspects of your business need attention.

So you start playing whack-a-mole, chasing after the source of your business issues. You try to cover every base, sending yourself and your team into a spin. But it’s not clear what works and what doesn’t.

In the end, the only things you’re left with are feelings of uncertainty and a lack of control. And it’s all because of a simple mistake in the approach:

You can’t afford to make reactive decisions in your business. 

By the time you start patching up the critical spots, it might become nearly impossible to control what happens. That’s why the best way to go is to make your decisions proactive and based on data. 

This article will explain how to leverage numbers to grow your business and avoid the common pitfalls of an unprepared studio owner.

The Four Futures Outcome

Imagine an aeroplane flying from San Francisco to New York. 

On a regular flight, getting from one city to the other would be pretty straightforward.

But imagine if the plane veered off course by only two degrees. In that case, the aircraft would end up in Baltimore instead of New York.

In other words, a small mistake can lead to significant consequences in the long run. 

The same principle applies to businesses, and it’s the basis of the Four Futures model.

Based on your metrics, your business might be looking at one of four possible outcomes: 

  • Good
  • Okay
  • Poor
  • Disaster

Furthermore, these outcomes can manifest over different periods, which is why monitoring your metrics on a three, six, nine-month, and yearly basis is crucial.

Naturally, you’ll want to gravitate more towards better outcomes, ideally reaching great every time. But to do this reliably, you’ll need to understand how metric tracking and measuring work and why it matters.

What You Need to Know About Measuring Your Metrics

When studios don’t understand their metrics, they might find themselves in a strange situation: 

They might be winning without even realising it. On the other hand, they could be on a downward spiral and not know it.

This is why understanding your studio’s metrics is crucial.

Now, the essential things you need to know about your metrics boil down to three key principles. The first one is simple:

Your numbers should never be a mystery.

The reality is that so many studios have no idea about how many leads they’re getting. Not to mention their conversion rates, rollovers, and other metrics.

It should go without saying that missing out on the crucial numbers can make you leave a lot of money on the table. Plus, your team likely won’t have a clear direction towards success. 

Next, you can’t keep making decisions based on emotions.

This isn’t because emotions are necessarily bad in business. Rather, if you allow your feelings and stress levels to dictate your decisions, your team will never know which version of you will show up. This will make the work process unclear.

Your decisions should be driven by data because that’s the most definitive and measurable way to go. 

Finally, understanding your metrics will allow you to get help whenever you get stuck.

If you don’t know where you are and what’s working and what’s not, nobody will be able to help you to their best ability.

Now, these principles require you to get familiar with at least some crucial metrics. Let’s look at them in more detail.

The Numbers You Need to Know

At the bare minimum, every studio owner should know about one critical set of numbers: 

Leads.

To be precise, you should understand how many leads you’re getting weekly and monthly, as well as their sources.

Some of the leads will come from paid sources, while others will be from organic sources. Knowing how many leads either side brings will inform you about the cost-efficiency of your marketing. 

Then, you should view the number of leads in comparison to how many sales you’ve made. And if you express that ratio as a percentage, you’ll get your conversion rate.

Another crucial metric is your rollover rate. The magic number you want to reach in that regard is 80%, but getting there will require you to understand some other numbers. 

In particular, you’ll need to keep track of your overall number of members and whether your studio is at a weekly net growth or loss. This particular set of numbers brings us to one metric that will be the key to your studio’s growth.

The Key to Growth

To put it simply, growth is rollovers minus churn.

Now, this is simple in theory. If you want your studio to grow, you need to increase the number of rollovers and reduce the amount of churn. 

In practice, however, it can be a more complex matter.

To increase your rollover, you need to boost your leads, conversions, and sales. And to reduce churn, you have to improve engagement and your retention systems.

All of this work starts with tracking your numbers. If you do that correctly, you’ll be heading in the right direction.

Leverage Numbers to Bring Your Studio to the Top

Understanding the crucial metrics in your business is the very thing that makes or breaks a studio. In fact, it’s the main difference between the top studios and the rest. 

Remember, the studios that truly succeed have a clear grasp of their numbers and know how to tweak them to get optimal results.

If you devote enough time and effort to learning about your key metrics, you’ll be able to make your studio as efficient as possible, making it stand out from the competition.

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Operations Top Stories

The Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Studio

The Top 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Studio
ctto: f45_training_eppingvic

Retention.

As you know, a large part of growing your studio has to do with getting your members to stay for long. After all, if they’re happy with your services, they may recommend your business to other people. Not to mention they’ll willingly pay the full price. 

You can use several strategies to improve your retention rate, such as auditing your newbie member acquisition process. Unfortunately, many studio owners overlook this step, causing their businesses to underperform. 

This article will dig deeper into why you can’t ignore auditing your newbie member acquisition process and two other mistakes you need to avoid. 

The 3 Mistakes

Mistake #1. Using The Word ‘Trialers’

As previously discussed, you want to audit your newbie member acquisition process to support your studio’s growth. But you also want to ensure your team is invested in the acquisition process by shifting their mindset. 

One of the shifts you should make is to stop calling your new members ‘trialers.’ It has a negative connotation because it means you don’t expect them to stay. 

Remember this:

Your new members aren’t trialers – they’re just new members. They’re yours to lose, and you will lose them unless you treat them as your customers. 

Unfortunately, many studio owners ignore this part of the acquisition process. They consider their new members as trialers, so they typically provide them with subpar services. 

What’s the result of this? 

A low rollover percentage, usually around 30%. They may hit 50% if they’re lucky, but they’ll get nowhere near 80% or higher numbers. 

You can only have a high rollover percentage if you audit your acquisition process and stop viewing your new members as trialers. 

So, adopt a different mindset.

Your studio’s new members are here to stay, and you need to make them stay if you provide them with high-quality services. 

Mistake #2. Not Changing Your Beliefs

The reality is that studio owners share certain beliefs that hold them back. 

For example, they’re not confident enough about their studio. While they become a coach or manager, they don’t think they’re cut out for it. 

Also, they want to help people, but they believe they will let them down. And they feel that they’re out of their depth because they can’t figure out how to approach their customers. 

If you share this attitude, you need to change it as soon as possible to prevent new members from leaving your studio. 

And the best way to do so is by getting coaching. 

Those who are experienced in this industry can guide you through client interaction and any other aspect you’re not confident about. 

As you train harder and harder, the conversation with your customers will be more authentic. They’ll trust you more and be eager to stay with your gym. 

Another belief studio owners have is that they need to talk to their prospects like they’re selling their services. They think this is the only way to persuade potential customers to become full-time members. 

But that’s not what you should do. 

Rather than cutting a deal with people, listen to their needs and accommodate them. 

Remember, you have something to offer to these people. But don’t make it sound like you’re only interested in selling your services. 

Instead, put yourself in their shoes. 

They want to exercise, but they don’t have support at home pushing them to sign up for a studio. Their family may not be interested in their well-being, which can be a huge setback. 

So, they need someone to provide the support… 

And that someone is you. 

Position yourself as a lifesaver. You can help your members become healthier, lose weight, gain muscle, or achieve any other goal. 

Once the conversation takes this direction, you’ve moved past the price and are now focused on the outcomes your prospect is looking for. They’ll realise your mission is to help them and not take their money. 

Such wholesome interaction is conducive to faster studio growth. 

Mistake #3. Not Converting at the Studio

Making sales calls isn’t the only way to get more members. Nevertheless, most studio owners only rely on this method to seal the deal. 

This is the wrong approach. 

Yes, making sales calls should be a big part of your sales strategy, but it shouldn’t be the only part. You should also convert at the studio. 

In fact, getting new members might be even easier on the floor. 

Think about it.

If someone walks into your studio because it’s an open week or you’ve set up an appointment, it means they’re interested in your services.

They think your studio might be perfect for them. But you’ll still need to convince them of that.

Not trying to convert is a wasted opportunity, which is one of the reasons most studios don’t grow fast enough. 

See, prospects enter their studio, but they let these prospects leave without attempting to sell. They’re reluctant to propose despite doing the hard work of getting prospects to visit their place. 

Here’s the thing:

Clients perceive their hesitance and lack of confidence, so they leave. 

This hesitation usually happens because selling is a weak spot for many studio owners. And they naturally avoid what they’re not good at. Also, they never address the issue and improve their skills, which makes them lose numerous members. 

Some owners also depend on their talent only. Talent may indeed deliver some success, but it’s not sustainable for long-term growth. 

The only way to overcome this obstacle is to invest in proper training. 

As you learn more about the sales process, you’ll know what you need to say at any given moment once your prospect enters your studio. 

Additionally, you shouldn’t be the only one who can make sales. 

You should have at least one or two converters on the team who are confident enough to sell on the floor. This way, you’ll always be ready to convert. 

Set Your Studio Up for Success

Mistakes can happen to anyone. However, you can’t ignore them and leave the growth of your studio to chance. 

Whether you’ve adopted wrong beliefs, treated your new members as trialers, or failed to convert at the studio, tackle the issue head-on. 

An optimised sales strategy and improved client interaction can make your membership go through the roof. And, of course, getting some guidance always helps.

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Sales Top Stories

The 3 Secrets to Getting More Sales in Your Studio

The 3 Secrets to Getting More Sales in Your Studio
ctto: f45_training_braddon

Confidence is really key to running a successful studio. 

To understand what I mean, take Haley, one of Geron1mo’s most accomplished clients, as an example. She’s an expert saleswoman, effortlessly closing dozens of deals for her studio every week. 

But things weren’t always like this for her. 

At first, Haley was shy and hesitant to take real action. 

She didn’t know how to interact with potential clients and attract them to her studio. As a result, her sales plummeted, so there was no way to grow her business. 

But Haley didn’t give up. 

She took a long, hard look at herself. That’s why she identified a lack of confidence as her biggest weakness. 

Her prospects also recognised this lack of confidence, too. See, Haley didn’t sound excited about her services, and her potential clients heard it. 

She understood her timidness would be her downfall, so she decided to change this. 

Haley made it clear to her prospects that her studio was perfect for body transformations and achieving a healthy routine. 

Soon, she became more confident than ever. And she turned into a sales beast, setting a 50-sales week record. 

If Haley turned things around in her studio, so can you. 

Keep reading because you’ll discover the three secrets for getting more sales in your studio. 

The 3 Secrets

Secret #1. Get Real on the Phone

One of the most important steps to increasing sales is to polish your phone game. You need to establish a rapport with your members by asking the right questions such as: 

  • Why do you want to be here?
  • What do you want to achieve with this program? 
  • Do you want to lose weight or gain muscle? 

As the conversation flows, your prospects are more likely to open up if you also insert some emotion. You can ask emotional questions like: 

“What would it mean to you to achieve your fitness goals?” 

This tells the customer you’re interested in their well-being. And that you want to find out how you can help them. 

It also makes them more comfortable and eager to share their feelings. 

Once you’ve built a rapport, your potential members will realise they can trust you. 

Remember, you’re not a salesperson who only needs people’s credit card details. Instead, you’re building a strong relationship with that potential member and increasing your chances of closing the sale. 

Getting real with them and setting the foundation of that relationship is key.

Secret #2. Be a Better Listener 

The best salespeople are always great listeners. They want to hear about their client’s troubles so they can provide the best solutions, so they remain attentive throughout the conversation. 

You need to do the same.

Rather than listening passively, you need to be an active listener and empathise with your customers. After all, you can’t hope to solve their problem without listening to them. 

Establish a rapport by asking relevant questions, but don’t stop there. 

Take in the answers before jumping to the next part of your script. Otherwise, your prospect may feel you’re not listening to them, and it will put them off your studio. 

Now, the best way to avoid this scenario is to acknowledge their concern. 

Whether they want to lose weight to feel better or gain muscle to be more confident about their body, show your prospect that you understand them. 

This way, you’ll create an even better rapport, and your clients will be more likely to confide in you. 

Secret #3. Don’t Focus on Your Gym or Membership

If you want to be a prosperous studio owner, you need to understand one thing: 

Nobody cares about your gym or your gym membership!

Your customers aren’t interested in your battle ropes, sleds, and other equipment. They only want to hear about the outcome. 

The sooner you realise this, the better you’ll be at making sales. 

Now, to help you understand this point, picture yourself going on a holiday. 

There are some things you never think about, right? 

For example, you won’t really care that the plane takes 16 hours to reach the destination And that there are only two centimetres of leg space. The jet engine and lunch aren’t on your mind, either. 

Instead, the only thing on your mind is what happens at the end of the flight. 

You think about the beaches, palm trees, bikinis, drinks, memories in your photo feed, and other fascinating parts of your holiday. Everything else is irrelevant. 

Your customers take the same route when considering your studio. 

Rather than visualising the equipment and challenges, they think about what their body will look like three months from now. 

They dream about losing 15 kilograms and becoming their best self. 

Ultimately, the journey to their destination isn’t on their mind. But it’s your job to show them how to reach it. By contrast, their only job is to show up at your studio three or four times per week.

Keep this in mind whenever you’re talking to your customers. 

If you feel the conversation is going in the wrong direction, get back on track by reminding the client of the outcome. 

That said, you’ll know your sales call is fruitful if you move past the client’s wish to lose 5-10 kilograms and you start hearing about other motivations. 

For instance, they may tell you that they aim to improve their mental health or want their family to see them differently. Alternatively, their main goal might be to become a good role model for their children. 

If the customer displays this emotional drive, know that your gym membership and equipment are no longer relevant. 

Instead, only the customer’s drive is relevant. And doubling down on it will help you seal the deal. 

Master Your Sales Strategy 

Following a generic approach to client conversations will get you nowhere. While your script is important, you can’t rely on it blindly. 

Instead, you should strive for a powerful rapport with your potential customers. Asking appropriate questions and listening to their problems will help you do so. 

In addition, don’t forget to move past your gym because your prospects don’t care about it. The only way to strike a chord with them is to emphasise the outcomes they want to have. 

As they get excited about the results, making sales for your studio will be much easier. 

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Marketing Top Stories

How to Optimise Your Challenge Strategy to Sign More Members

How to Optimise Your Challenge Strategy to Sign More Members

Much of your work as a studio owner revolves around setting up challenges. And setting up diet and exercise challenges, for starters, can motivate newbies to transform their lives. 

This makes them perfect for increasing your membership. 

As you grow, you need to streamline your challenges to keep them from becoming stale. Doing so will spark more interest in your studio, attracting new people. 

However, optimising your challenge strategy can be overwhelming. 

But what if it didn’t have to be that way? What if there was a simple recipe for advancing your challenge strategy? 

Well, there is one.

And it has to do with building brand equity for your challenges. 

This article will show you how to build brand equity for your studio’s challenges without getting overwhelmed. 

Theme the Challenges 

The first step to enhancing your strategy is to theme your challenges. 

Now, you might hesitate because you might think that your studio is running too many challenges already. Or that they’re too short to fit any themes. 

But the reality is you can theme any challenge, regardless of how many you’ve set up and their duration.

In fact, the easiest way to do so is to consider the current season and the mood of the people. 

For example, newbies may want to be free to show off their bodies in the summer. If so, the theme of your challenge could be ‘freedom.’ 

Theming your challenges makes the routines more personalised and gives newbies more reasons to do the challenge. 

Focus on Delivery Method

When setting up your challenge, you’ll probably focus on how many people will sign up for it. 

A different approach might work better, though. 

Instead of just considering the number of people who’ll participate, you also want to focus on the delivery method. Determine the ideal delivery method that will help you produce an epic scan out rate and enhance the reputation of your challenges. 

For instance, if your only goal is to get 100 newbies to participate in your challenge, the outcome will probably be disappointing. After all, you may indeed get 100 newbies to join the challenge but just 20 of them may scan out. It won’t be enough to grow your studio, right?

You should do it the other way around.

Determine the ideal scan out rate (80% out of 100, for example) and develop a delivery model that lets you achieve it. 

Get Challenge Specifics

Asking the right questions can help you empower newbies through challenges. However, you can’t ask them just any question. 

For example, the “Are you doing the challenge?” question will get you nowhere. 

After all…NOBODY really wants to do challenges – we all know they’re hard!

That’s why you should ask much better questions like, “Where do you want to be by Christmas?”. Or even, “What does it take for you to be super happy and proud of your fitness and health achievements?”.

Ask such questions and you can be sure that newbies will give you an answer. But this shouldn’t be the end of your conversation. 

There’s a chance that they may not be specific enough, so continue to probe them. The second or third answer will probably be the information you’re looking for. 

Now, when they give you an answer like, “I want to be 80 kilograms on Christmas morning”, this is a specific answer you can work with. It tells you what the newbie aims for, and you can shape your challenges around them to help the newbie achieve them. 

Then, you can ask them why their goal is important to make sure it’s meaningful: 

“Why do you want to weigh 80 kilograms at Christmas? What happens if you don’t get there? Would it really be so bad?” 

Using the last question, it will seem you’re trying to take away the newbie’s goal. And this should make them even more adamant about accomplishing it and taking your challenge. 

At this point, you’ll have all the necessary details for setting up the challenge. This includes the newbie’s goal, timeframe, and emotional reason. 

That means you can now ask them the final question: 

“What’s your plan?” 

In most cases, they won’t have one, allowing you to offer your challenge as a solution. 

Prescribe the Challenge 

You’ve already established what people want to achieve through your challenge. They want to feel like an absolute superman or superwoman on Christmas morning, for example. And your studio will help them do so. 

Does this mean your work is over? 

Nope!

You still need to prescribe the challenge, laying down the specifics. 

Make it clear to your newbies that your challenge isn’t just about weight loss. Depending on their goals, it can also be about getting shredded, putting on muscle mass, or getting their habits in order. 

By explaining the ins and outs of your challenge, you can sell your plan more easily. The newbie will then visualise it and picture themselves at the end of the challenge. 

They’ll soon understand that your method will help them create a healthy routine that lets them transform their bodies. 

Get Your Team Behind It 

The final part of streamlining your challenge strategy has to do with your team. Everyone needs to be on the same page and invested in creating a successful challenge. 

How do you ensure this? 

You can consider a financial award for hitting a target scan out rate. Whether it’s a raise or a bonus, it’ll motivate your team to work harder on the challenge, knowing there’s a lot to gain. 

But the award doesn’t need to be monetary. Sometimes, a mesmerising team experience can work better than money. 

For instance, you could organise a team trip towards the end of the year if they hit certain numbers of your challenge. They’ll look forward to this bonding event and put in more effort.

Dream Big With Your Challenges – It’ll Pay Off 

The reality is that many studio owners get overwhelmed when developing challenges. So, they make huge mistakes that kill their scan out rate and lead to subpar results. 

But you don’t have to fall into the same trap since the recipe for success is simple: 

Theme your challenges, focus on the delivery method, and obtain specific information from your newbies. 

Once your newbies are on board, prescribe your challenge and make sure your team is fully involved. The result will be more members and faster studio growth!

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Retention Top Stories

How to Understand the F45 Studio Member Curve

How to Understand the Studio Member Curve
ctto: f45_training_eppingvic

Your studio community consists of different groups, and not all members are motivated the same. Here’s a breakdown of the member curve and what it means for your studio.

Member management is a crucial part of running a studio. In particular, every studio needs to have a foolproof retention system to keep clients and become successful. That said, one of the most important points is to show the members that you care about them. 

There are several methods to achieve this effect, including proactive and reactive approaches. And studios that master these methods have a significantly increased chance of retaining existing members and attracting new ones. Even better, they create engagement among clients and remind them why they joined in the first place. 

Understanding the studio member curve and the role it plays in community management is critical in that regard. 

This article will explain what the member curve means for your studio and point out the proactive and reactive methods you can use to influence that curve in a positive way.


The Membership Curve

This depicts the level of engagement your members have with the studio. It usually follows the pattern of the so-called “normal” distribution curve, which means that it starts low, rises into a single peak in the middle, and goes back down. 

At the start of the curve are the members with the most sessions. And the number of sessions falls as you go further along the curve. That means when you get to the end of the curve, the members there have zero sessions.

Based on this curve, we’ve classified the type of studio clients into five groups, from the most to the least sessions:

  • Super
  • Selfies
  • The Fringe
  • Red Flags 
  • Bin Chickens

“Super” members are those extremely engaged people who turn out to your parties and openings and follow you on Instagram. The “Selfies” are self-motivated members who want to do their thing and don’t engage in most activities that go beyond the training, while the “Red Flags” are people who show a reduced interest. “Bin Chickens” are that handful of people you don’t need in your studio.

In terms of numbers, you’ll likely have a similarly small number of “Super” and “Bin Chickens” members and a bit more of “Selfies” and “Red Flags.” 

But the majority of your members that form the peak of the curve will fall into “The Fringe,” which will be the group you’ll want to focus on the most.


Targeting the Fringe Group within the Members

“The Fringe” group is the biggest group in your studio and consists of people who do just one to three sessions per week. This group requires special attention not only because it’s the largest but also because of one particular reason:

We’ve found that most cancellations originate from The Fringe. 

In other words, this group needs to be managed much more actively than others because it represents the bulk of your community. More importantly, it can considerably impact your client retention rate. 

Many studios take a passive approach to community management and simply go with the flow. But this approach can be counterproductive, especially when it comes to The Fringe. 

Remember, people in this group are on the borderline between cancelling and converting into full-price clients. And the only way they’ll stay with the studio is if they feel the extra attention coming their way.

Particularly, offering them one more session weekly is the single most significant conversion method for The Fringe. But it needs to be a proactive move. If a member starts considering cancellation, it’s usually too late to react to their decision.

In terms of specific ways of member re-engagement, there’s a four-step blueprint that will help you target The Fringe. You can use it to move the group’s members down the curve and move to the group of satisfied and loyal clients.


Four Ways to Re-Engage Members

The blueprint of reaching out to The Fringe members consists of the following steps:

  • Attendance report
  • Sending a “You Rock” message
  • Celebrating with a video
  • Keeping notes


Here’s how it works:

First, do attendance reports every week as they are extremely useful for analysing the situation in your membership curve. These reports should show every session that every single member had in the previous week. Using those statistics, you can find the people who did between one and three sessions – The Fringe – that requires your focus.

Once you have that group defined, choose a number of people to send a “You Rock” message to every day. It would be best to use every opportunity you find to send that message. For example, when they nailed their previous session, are nearing a milestone, hitting their personal bests, or showing amazing results. 

You can leverage video to share these messages of celebration and encouragement. Videos are incredibly effective and don’t take too much time to create and send. Messaging your members this way will create a great impact while requiring minimal effort. In fact, for many Fringe members, receiving personal video messages was a key reason that made them decide to stay with their studio instead of cancelling.

Finally, ensure to keep notes on all these activities. These notes will help you organise the outreach better and avoid repetitions, which is a real risk if you manage everything without writing it down. This way, you can keep track of who you sent messages to and how they responded to them.


Boost Members’ Engagement Where It Counts

A thorough understanding of the membership curve and the groups it consists of will give you an excellent foundation for activities that will boost client engagement in your studio. 

If you focus on the right groups and reach out appropriately, you’ll start to see much better retention rates. At the same time, your clients will become more motivated and satisfied, ultimately leading to better results both for them and your studio. 

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