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In good times, your gym will rise to the level of your marketing.
In bad times, it will fall to the level of your leadership.
Your gym is more than a place to exercise. It’s a community of people united in a common goal. It’s a movement to change health and longevity in your town.
As the owner of a gym, you’re the leader of that movement. Nobody opens a gym just to make a living. They open a gym to make a difference. It’s not just a job; it’s a crusade.
This week the CrossFit community experienced a tragedy: a death on the CrossFit Games swim course. Every gym owner is going to face a crisis in their community at some point, too.
My job is to lead the Two-Brain movement: to help caring, compassionate coaches build sustainable gyms that last for decades; provide opportunities for other coaches who are on the same mission; and actually change lives.
You can’t become a better leader by reading a book or taking a course or participating in a round-table discussion on leadership. You become a better leader by leading through a crisis and evaluating the effects of your actions afterward. You do that by having mentors and models, and we do that through mentorship at Two-Brain.
One of my personal mentors is Bonnie Skinner. Bonnie is a registered psychotherapist and the founder of Level Up Mental Fitness Coaching.
On this special episode of our podcast, Bonnie will answer questions such as:
Then I share a model for communication that I fall back on to help me in times of crisis. It’s called the CALM model, and it can be used by leaders in any challenging period. I’ll lay out the structure and use the CrossFit Games tragedy as an example.
Clarity: Here's what happened: It's a tragic accident.
Assurance: These are high-level athletes who understand their risks and eagerly accept them. He would have wanted the Games to continue for his brother, his fellow competitors, his fans and all of us.
Leadership: Let's all remember how fleeting life can be and reflect on it during our gratitude practice this week.
Movement: We're going to remember him with a tribute on Monday.
Your clients will always look to you for leadership in times of crisis. Help them by going first: Don't wait for them to see some of the horrible criticism online. Help by keeping them focused on the athlete and his family. Help by giving them a way to express their grief, memorialize the person and lean on their community.
Being a leader doesn’t mean inventing solutions from scratch; it means seeking and finding the best way to lead.
You can use others as models—you can read biographies, for example. Or you can find a mentor.
Theft, fraud, lies and messy affairs—these are just some of the reasons why staff members get fired from gyms.
So how do you deal with severe staff stress?
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks HR horror stories with Two-Brain mentor Andrea Savard, who has co-owned her gym, FirePower Fitness and Wellness in Ontario, Canada, for 20 years.
Over the years, Andrea has had to part ways with staff members, and even clients, who did not live up to her gym’s standards.
She shares some of her worst staffing conundrums and how she handled them. (Yes, she has tense tales.)
According to Andrea, many situations are not preventable. If you stay in the game long enough, you’ll have to fire a staff member.
But there are steps you can take to mitigate the likelihood of HR disasters and facilitate swift action when they do appear. Individualized electronic access codes and passwords, staff agreements and regular evaluations, and a code of conduct are just some features of gyms that are set up to professionally manage staff. A good lawyer on call doesn’t hurt, either.
Tune in to hear more top tips from a veteran gym owner.
Links
Andrea's Code of Conduct
Gym Owners United
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0:53 - Andrea’s interesting situations
6:35 - Did you take the cash box home?
16:23 - Theft can turn into fraud
27:59 - What did Andrea change?
33:07 - Don’t share private details when firing
How do you know when it’s time to part ways with a coach?
To answer that question, “Run a Profitable Gym” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Josh Martin, former gym owner, Two-Brain mentor and owner of The Refined Art of Coaching.
Often the issue isn’t actually with the coach—it’s caused by a lack of clear and reasonable expectations.
The key is to get your expectations out of your head because people can’t read your mind.
Josh shares tactics for ensuring your coaches are hitting standards and explains how you'll know when they’re damaging your product.
And sometimes you might have the right people—but they’re in the wrong positions.
Eventually, though, almost every entrepreneur will have to remove a coach, so Josh offers different approaches to firing and lays out their pros and cons.
Links
Sample Coach Evaluation
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1:13 - When to part ways with a coach
8:09 - Career Roadmaps & evaluations
13:51 - Having to fire a coach
24:30 - Signs a coach can be saved
31:49 - The right people in the wrong seats
Two-Brain’s Top 10 leaderboard for client headcount in May ran from 341 to 941 clients at single-location gyms.
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks with Robin Sowden-Taylor, owner of the large gym Ion Strength and Conditioning in Wales, as well as a smaller gym that’s on track to follow the same path to growth.
Ion’s mission is to have a positive impact on health and wellness in the local community. With 430 members and impressive length-of-engagement (LEG) stats, Sowden-Taylor’s business is on the right track.
Ion specializes in group training and has large classes of up to 80 participants. Robin explains how his coaches manage these huge groups and how Ion’s growth comes partially from specialty programs that serve kids, over 60s and moms.
It can be very difficult to run a huge gym without guidance and a commitment to improving entrepreneurial skills. Robin takes inspiration from Jason Khalipa, Ben Bergeron and his Two-Brain mentor, Lisa Palmer, who provides him with the accountability he needs to get things done.
Listen to hear exactly how Robin has strengthened staff and client retention and grown his gym to 400+ members. A Two-Brain mentor can help you determine exactly how many clients you need at your gym, then teach you how acquire and retain them so you can run a thriving business, too.
Links
Gym Owners United
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3:53 - Summary of Robin’s larger gym
9:25 - Staffing
15:26 - Managing massive groups
21:47 - Retention numbers and success
34:43 - Goal Review Sessions
It doesn’t matter how good your sales are if you’re losing clients due to poor coaching. People just won't stay and pay if your product—coaching—is lacking.
As a gym owner, you sell results. Results help clients become healthier, and they increase retention—one of the most important metrics in your business. No million-dollar gym has poor retention.
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin talks coaching with Oskar Johed, co-owner of CrossFit Medis and CrossFit Sickla in Sweden and a member of CrossFit's Level 1 Seminar Staff.
According to Oskar, good coaching starts with hiring: You’ve got to bring in the right people and have a system in place for onboarding them.
Then you must create Career Roadmaps for them; Oskar shares his gyms’ elite-level coaching progression, which you can use as a model.
Finally, regular evaluations are essential for developing strong coaches—you can even give instant feedback like Oskar does.
Tune in to hear all of Oskar’s expert tips—he provides actionable steps you can take today to improve the coaching in your gym.
Links
Gym Owners United
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2:36 - When should a gym focus on coaching?
6:37 - First steps to improving your product
14:28- Ensuring performance & improvement
26:35 - Do credentials matter?
33:02 - Good numbers but coaching can improve
If you doubled your average revenue per member, how many clients would you need to pay yourself $100,000 per year?
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin sits down with Kieran O’Dwyer, Two-Brain Business mentor and owner of two gyms in Australia.
Prior to joining Two-Brain, one of Kieran’s gyms grew quickly from 100 to 270 members, and his systems were totally overwhelmed: The gym couldn’t manage the clients and major retention problems appeared.
When Kieran found himself bleeding more members than he could replace, he sought out the support of an expert gym owner. His mentor, Peter Brasovan, helped him shift his focus to current members, improving their experiences through goal reviews, milestone rewards and better membership options.
By refining his business systems and focusing on high-value clients, Kieran is now earning more and paying his staff more. He also has better retention, increased average revenue per member and less stress—all with fewer clients.
That stack of wins freed up his time: He can now mentor other gym owners to target and retain high-value clients and generate more revenue.
Links
Free guide: “5 Ways to Make $100,000 Per Year From Your Gym”
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2:04 - More members but retention is suffering
6:02 - Stress, scrambling and sleeplessness
13:25 - Financial hit when scaling back?
21:14 - Did reducing client count help?
25:00 - Advice for gym owners who want to grow
How can you acquire and keep more gym clients?
Our top fitness entrepreneurs share their secrets.
This month’s Two-Brain leaderboard features coaching gyms with outstanding member counts—ranging from 341 to a whopping 941.
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” Two-Brain founder Chris Cooper runs through the Top 10 gyms around the world for client headcount and then shares the owners’ tips with you.
A few themes: These gyms all have great retention, funnels, sales systems and general business systems that can be used by large, cohesive teams.
Another commonality: All these gym owners invested in mentorship and have seen a great return on that investment.
What’s the best plan if you’d like to push your client count above 300?
Start with 150 members and use a mentor to help you create airtight systems to manage them. Then scale up slowly with a stable foundation under you.
Links
Gym Owners United
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1:25 - The May 2024 leaderboard
3:52 - Using the 150 Model
5:06 - Common themes
7:31 - Focus and operating at scale
11:39 - Building systems with mentorship
What are the rewards if you create an outstanding client journey at your gym?
Better retention, greater lifetime value, lower marketing costs, higher profit and vastly improved results for clients.
On today’s episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin chats with Peter Brasovan, former owner of Myriad Health + Fitness. Now a Two-Brain mentor trainer, Peter explains exactly how to build a strong client journey.
Key highlights include using the Prescriptive Model, No Sweat Intros and goal review sessions.
A critical mistake gym owners make? Not getting every single client on the same journey. You’ve got to give A+ service every time.
That’s harder to do as your gym grows, so Peter tells you how to find the right client success manager (CSM) and ensure you get a return on your investment in this key staff member.
Tune in to get the 411 on a 10-out-of-10 client journey—then take two tips from Peter to start improving your client journey today.
Links
The Prescriptive Model
Gym Owners United
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0:58 - The client journey
9:07 - Find the client's goal
18:42 - Action is greater than perfection
24:31 - The client success manager
30:01 - Common issues for gym owners
The longer members stay at your gym, the better your chances of changing their lives.
So how do you get clients to stick around?
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host Mike Warkentin and Two-Brain CEO Chris Cooper discuss key tactics for improving retention.
They also reveal the frivolous things that don’t actually make a difference.
The foundation for improving length of engagement is simple: Every client needs to have a clear goal, a plan and accountability.
These essential elements are built into the Prescriptive Model, which includes an initial free consultation and regularly scheduled goal review sessions every 90 days.
When clients see the progress they’re making toward their goals, they’re likely to refer friends and family—and when their friends or family members join the gym, they’re more likely to stick around even longer.
As your business grows, retention must be scaled up along with everything else. If you don’t personally notice when someone hasn’t shown up in three days, it’s time to invest in a client success manager (CSM) who can help you reach out to absent members and get them back in the gym.
Links
The Prescriptive Model
Gym Owners United
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1:42 - What keeps clients longer?
4:43 - Motivate your clients
11:00 - Taking steps to success
12:24 - Delegate and outsource retention
29:46 - Your coaches and retention
Picture this: You’re in a sales consultation at your gym. You’ve communicated how your service will help the prospect meet their goals, and they’ve affirmed their interest. You’re so close to getting the sale, and then they hit you with “I need to think about it.”
Sound familiar?
In this episode of “Run a Profitable Gym,” host John Franklin sits down with Matt Temby, owner of Vault Health and Fitness and head of sales at Two-Brain Business, who shares proven tactics for getting to “yes.”
There are five objections that typically come up somewhere during the sales process: think about it, partner, money, fear and logistics. The first two are smokescreens that hide the true objection.
John and Matt role-play through each of these objections, giving examples of exactly what to say to address the concern and close the sale.
The key is to get a decision before the prospect leaves. If you do that, you’ll help more people change their lives with fitness.
Links
Check out Chris Cooper’s book “Help First,” which inspired Matt’s sales journey
Matt Temby on front-end sales
Gym Owners United
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1:38 - What to know before the pitch
7:56 - High-tier pitching
19:03 - The spousal objection
26:27 - Digging out of the hole
38:00 - Push because you care
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