No More Groundhog Days in 2010?

Well I promised to stir it up in 2010 - I just couldnt wait! As per usual, a few days of not facing customers gives me time to think, mull things over in the slow time ( don't know about you but it takes my brain a day or so to switch off from work - so this is the final act before xmas)

We are about to hit the new year rush to join gyms of all descriptions, the scrumfest that is sales is often a case of get 'em in! A groundhog issue that I keep coming across with our customers over the past year, is the lack of understanding of members Goals, and the process used to identify what a new member is trying to achieve when they join the gym.

It's a regular response from staff in clubs I visit to state "lose weight/get fit" as the reasons they have gleaned from the new member at their first contact (Induction or in some cases sales tour). To me thats skin deep and just not enough detail - I need more, (amount/timescale/impact of success or failure in reaching goal/history and level of weight gain etc)That seems to be accepted as adequate to crack on and create a programme, (which in our observations and scrutiny has no special significance in relation to the goal) Is it really expected that staff will develop relationships with customers over the coming months and then the programmes become more appropriate? Unfortunately contact with new members is sporadic and due to the continuous influx of more new starters in the next few months, priority is given to Inductions, with a failure to deliver service beyond the first week. The result is we are losing the ability to influence behaviour

Now I can sense a few rocks about to come my way, but bear with me, I am not trying to bash Instructors................... maybe we should be pointing the finger at Club Owners/General Managers!! This over promise/under deliver situation has created a lot of ex-members. Perhaps we can find a different more realistic approach in 2010. However some Owner/Managers still don't see this as an issue and do not need/want to tackle this issue head on. Does anyone else notice this?

If you run a club that has no sales team then we are often putting the needs analysis process into the gym staff/ receptionists, yet we have seen expectation of the needs analysis being no less thorough than having a trained/skilled sales team.

Is it time to put in place an effcient, automated process, (possibly online questionnaire in this day and age) that ensures consistent information to be captured then used appropriately by the Fitness Professionals?

Lets throw this around, I am keen to hear thoughts from around the group

The most important meeting of your day

So I planned the week to have a day at home with the family on my birthday (43 and feeling every day of it), it's been great no travelling no phonecalls (easy when you switch that evil little box off!!). So I crammed as much as I could into the day to make the most of it, then I get a message to say a day in Wilthsire on Friday needs to be pushed back and rescheduled. Now these things happen, so no point getting out of the pram, but the problem is I am now at a loss of what to do with a full day with no agenda! I spent most of the weekend lining everything up so it is a problem free week - and now I have SPARE TIME..........nigtmare. So I tried the obvious thing - can I get a few friends together for golf, but it's started snowing and there is no chance of that happening. So its a genuine empty day, its suddenly made me realise............... I might have forgotten how to take time out !

Without getting too sentimental, at this time of year, it should be a priority to make the most of the break we take for xmas, to make sure that we can enjoy spare time without having our mind still ticking over with work issues floating around in there. I hope that after the year we have all had we should not just have our xams party, but maybe take the opportunity to reassess our work/life balalnce (and if you can't find the balance point - just learn to love your work!! just kidding).

I hope this year will have a lasting effect, not because it may teach us to be more analytical before seizing opportunities and understanding the risks before putting our shirt on an outside bet, but to reset our personal targets. We must realise that we can't keep everyone hanging around waiting for our attention when we get a break in workload...........it rarely comes until its too late.

Heres a thought I was once given - make sure when you arrive home the first five minutes when you get through the door, give your partner & children your undivided attention. They have waited for hours to see you, make sure the phonecall you were on ends before you put the key in the door. Don't say "let me send a quick email. Don't say "just let me just chill out for a minute first".

Make coming home the most important meeting of your day, give it 100%.

Happy Xmas

Adding value - even on the M74!

Full on week ahead that will take me to 3 countries, jsut hope the weather stays favourable! I thought I was sitting an examination on the M74 when not one but two customers called me to help them set up WS. I know my knowledge is good, but even I suprised myself by talking them both through a process on the software while doing 65mph on the M74...... it was almost like a scene from one of those 70's disaster movies trying to land a plane with the volunteer plucked from row 3 seat B! I imagine the customer in question would see that value late on a Friday evening as worth every penny! Oh did I mention........it was free?

Next Year I am looking at how we can continue to add value for our customers and have thought that maybe we have an opportunity to expand our Key Manager Programme to include a Mentoring Pool (Have a look at my Linkedin profile and apply to join the Fitness Hub Group to discuss it more) the idea is to act as a kind of Google for Fitness Managers to get help in Management - have a look and give me some feedback.

Well the weekend is at the stage where its now pack the bages in prep for an early drive to Wales in the morning, no golf clubs loaded though, its weekends only at this time of the year. Shot a best of 72 on Saturday so that put a smile on my face as well as Cardiff Blues beating Toulouse in Heineken Cup Rugby.

Have a good week and keep the foot on the gas! Work Hard Play Hard.

DO'S

Burning the candle at both ends!

So with two weeks to go until xmas, it seems like we are trying to put 2 pints into a pint pot!

Apart from the relentless traveling, customary golf weekend mornings and ferrying the kids to a dance show that they are in (oh and attending the xmas party season) I find this hyper active time actually means my mind is at 100 mph until late evening, problem is it means I keep getting lightbulb moments/ideas at silly times of the day, usually when I am trying to wind down.

The latest spark to enter my head was about establishing a mentor group for gym managers/personal trainers etc to tap into a pool of mentors that they could tap into for guidance/knowlegde etc.In this day and age we dont want to create more cars on the road, so in essence I thought of an online mentor. Essential to the success is a pool of talent to act as a mentors - this got me thinking it was just like a dating agency (not that I would know!) but simple process join as a member and submit your particular circumstances and be matched to a suitable mentor with the experience you need. I could go on but rest assured its another late night contemplating it.
Anyone out there got any thoughts?

Standby........we have started!

This time of year is the mad season for the business (happy to say as we have all had a bad one last year! - I might actually enjoy ths xmas), travel is huge and the weekends are drive free days.It's when you realise that you can name every service station on the M1 and that the prettiest view from a costa cafe is at Annadale water on M74 (jeez how do I know that?). Spending every evening creating follow up reports and prep for next day, Tv in the background, do they still do jobfinder on ITV at 3AM!? Office day tommorow - might even get clear my inbox.