Guest Post by Luka Hocevar
Lately everyone is talking about the WOW experience.
We have Tony Hsieh and Zappos to thank for that and to be honest it has definitely been a game changer in the industry. It helped me look at my business and what experience people were getting once they walked through the doors of Vigor Ground (and before they walked in).
Thing is, many people “talk” about it but not many people are actually “changing” the experience they deliver.
If you’re thinking that because your training is on point it’s enough to retain all your clients long term as well as having a constant stream of new ones, then you may have been drinking too many No explodes!
People will come for the results but stay because of the experience.
With that said I wanted to show you how to find ways to make your experience “Like WHOA”!
WOW is great and all but WHOA has an extra letter so you know the shit is serious (and it has it’s own song that I used to come out to when playing ball)….
There are a lot of areas in your business where you can add a better experience. I’m not going to write them all out but I’ll give you some things you can look at and address with the exercise Ill give you later (in no particular order of importance):
- Customer Service (before people walk in, when people walk in and afterwards)
- Orientation and Assessment
- Desk dates and Strategy Sessions
- Appreciation
- Training (the actual x’s and o’s, the programming, etc.)
- Coaching (the interaction with the clients, cues, etc.)
- Professionalism (trainers punctuality, dress, etc.)
- Energy (music, trainers energy, atmosphere,…)
- Events (charity events, seminars, challenges/contests, appreciation events, etc.)
- Referrals
- Nutritional Guidance
- Culture
- Results (many of the above fit into this but it gives a broader picture)
Some of the topics are broader and some are more specific. The above are some that I addressed in the past 6 months, but you can add whatever you feel needs to improve.
Before we go into this, I have to warn you. To get the most out of this you have to get out of your own way, be honest, and just write what comes to mind.
What we’ll do is use a method called Sentence Stemming to find out how you can improve your experience in different areas of your business.
For instance, here’s the question you can ask to start the process:
“I would get better results for my clients if…….”
Take 3-5 minutes and write out everything that comes to mind. I mean EVERYTHING!
Here are some answers you may come up with (based on what we get from many trainers):
- “If I get them to be more compliant with their food/lifestyle”
- “If I brought more energy to the session and bring out their greatness”
- “If I see them more often and am able to affect their mindset and actions more regularly”
- “If I get them faster results at the beginning and keep them motivated”
You should be able to get a lot more than that written down but it’s a start. You can then dissect each one of those to get to the answer of how.
“I will get more compliance with my clients food and lifestyle if…..”
With the above question the answer may lead you to realize you need to add a Facebook coaching/accountability group, weekly nutritional small group coaching, as well as a program with a kitchen makeover and one on one session that breaks down what is really holding your clients back. The last two can be an up-sell that will deliver a better experience to your client and also make more money for the business.
You can break down each one of these questions really deep and get to the solutions. Just know that the more you peel you have to be ready to realize there are going to be changes to make. Peeling the onion can get emotional….
No excuses and no time to dwell on what hasn’t been good enough. Just write out what you need to improve and then DO it.
Breaking it down like this has helped me restructure many parts of my business this past year.
I asked myself many of the questions below:
- “My clients would be more appreciated if…….”
- “People would leave the gym wanting to tell everyone about us if….”
- “Team and front desk communication would be better if…..”
- “Someone that just walked into the gym for the first time will go “WHOA” every time if…..?”
Take a couple of hours once a month to ask your self these questions and break them down through sentence stemming. Pick a couple of areas to improve and then implement the solutions that you found at the end of “peeling the onion.”
You have the power to make shit happen and change it for the better and it’s not under someone else’s magical influence. Once you realize that you’re already on the right track.
Then it’s just your choice of whether you are going to change it or not.
Simple.
If you want to find answers in your personal life, relationships, or anything else for that matter, use the questions from sentence stemming.
Just don’t hit me up with what you find out there. Not interested.
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Luka Hocevar is the co-creator of The Fitness Business Mixtape, which is a must have resource for anyone in the fitness business.
