Fitness Business School – A Different Perspective

Full Transcript

Hey, Pat Rigsby. And in this episode, I want to talk with you about approaching your business from a different perspective. I didn’t come from the fitness industry when I was starting out on my business ownership career, and I think it helped me a lot. And I want to share some insights that I think will help you too. So let’s get into it.

Welcome to the fitness business school with Pat Rigsby, the podcast for fitness entrepreneurs who want to make more income, have greater impact, and enjoy more freedom in their ideal business. If you’d like an accelerated route to these goals, email me at [email protected] and put BGA in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details about our business growth accelerator program.

As I reflect back on the almost two decades that I’ve owned businesses in the fitness industry and the 15 plus years that I’ve been coaching fellow business owners are recognized very clearly that coming to this industry from being a college baseball coach was actually a pretty big advantage. Now I didn’t default to the way things had always been done. I hadn’t really been exposed to the traditional ways that people did things in the industry. And I really didn’t know any of the names that were prominent in the fitness industry. So I could really just form my own fresh opinions about pretty much everything. See, as a baseball coach, the goals were to basically do two things, win games and graduate players.

So I started with those two goals and worked backwards. And what was kind of cool about this was everything was measured on those two scoreboards. I couldn’t just say, well, we did what we’re supposed to do in practice. I can’t control what they do outside of practice is my excuse for why we didn’t win. But, you know, we hear that a lot in the fitness industry. Well, you know what we did what we were supposed to do in training sessions, but I can’t control what my clients do outside those sessions. You know, I mean, basically I had to run a program that developed players better than the competition. I couldn’t just say, Hey, I sent letters to kids. I watched them play. I called them to try to get them to be interested in our school. I did. All I could do to recruit is my excuse for why we didn’t attract better players in the recruiting process. You know, and the same thing kind of applies here. We have so many people saying, Hey, I ran Facebook ads. I, you know, I did the marketing I’m supposed to do. I had a funnel and it didn’t work. Ultimately we have to find a way. And fortunately for me, that was kind of something that was inherent when I came into this ownership role.

So, you know, this thought, these ideas were always running through my mind, if there was a goal, a certain number of clients to generate or a specific amount of recurring revenue to produce, then I started there and work backwards to develop a plan. And when the plan didn’t work, I just kept revising it until it did. If we sold fat loss as a benefit to one of our programs, you know, and, and actually I had a money back guarantee from day one, then it was my job to figure out what we had to do to deliver the promise. See, my first career was built on achieving outcomes. That’s how I was measured. That’s how I was judged. So when I came to being a business owner, I didn’t get pulled into the trap of thinking that we’re just selling a process and it’s up to the person on the other side of the table to actually execute it. And their results are entirely on them when it came to recruiting, which was much harder and more competitive than marketing and selling in the fitness industry today. I mean, basically you either got the recruit or you didn’t. So I never really fell into this trap of well, Hey, I ran the ads and I didn’t get the results that I wanted. I just kept trying different things until I found an approach that worked.

Now, the reason I’m telling you this is pretty simple. See, we’re not in the delivering workout business, we’re in the problem-solving business. So don’t get stuck, falling in love with just one solution, one marketing tactic, one way to deliver workouts. It may work for solving one problem or work under one set of business circumstances, but it’s not going to work for everything. Your job, as a business owner, isn’t just to deliver workouts or run Facebook ads, it’s to solve problems. Like how do I lose fat? How do I feel better? How do I get results? Even if I can’t come to the gym, how do you get more clients? How can you pay yourself more as a business owner? And you know, the person who’s the best problem solver wins. Hopefully you’ve recognized this over the past several months, the people who’ve adapted the people who said, you know what? I still have a problem I’m trying to solve. I know who I’m solving it for them solving it for the client that I serve and I’m solving it for me and my team as the business and the people who’ve adapted to that and figured out how to solve those problems under ever-changing circumstances. They’re the ones who’ve won. They’re the ones whose business has at least sustained where they were previously. And in some cases actually grown.

So don’t think that channel challenging or changing environments or some sort of death sentence, or that you can just check the box that, okay, I ran this ad. I deployed this funnel. I ran this promotion. I delivered a workout and think that that’s enough. It’s not, it’s your job to get a result. Everybody loves to talk about the process. That’s been big in the sports world. It’s something that people default to, especially this time of year, right? Get the right behaviors in place, have the right habits in. It’s true. But if your process isn’t it producing results, then we have to update and amend the process. Right? And what motivates people to move forward through a process is this promise of an eventual outcome and eventual benefit and an eventual result. So, you know, it’s not enough to just punch the clock and do a workout. The client needs to know that there’s some pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, right? They need to understand that there’s a reason to stay the course when something kind of is a bump in the road, or it gets in there away from doing things the way that they’ve done them nationally, the past several months last year, it’s been a wonderful reminder of how important this mindset is. And honestly, it’s a blessing. That’s probably given me an advantage through this past kind of several months, this entire pandemic, too, to have come to this industry from a different perspective and understand that, well, the circumstances may change my obligation.

My responsibility stays the same. I have to deliver results for my clients. I have to deliver results for my team. I have to deliver results for my family. And if you keep that in mind, then you’ll keep changing and adapting and evolving. And you won’t be married to this concrete plan. When I talk to clients about their plans, I remind them they’re all in pencil because when you have better information or when you have changing circumstances, the more adaptable person succeeds now, does that mean that you should abandoned ship whenever the first sign of trouble appears? No. It means you should be willing to take new information, or whenever you embark on new challenges, you should be willing to say, okay, you know what? I’m going to evolve. There’s a better way to do this. There’s a better way to solve the problem or the way that I’ve solved the problem previously is not available to me. So if you’ve always been married, only having one perspective, if you’ve only done things the way that you’ve seen others to them, and you’ve been kind of stuck in a rut, this may very well be your answer, coming at things from a different perspective, being adaptable, seeing yourself is a problem solver. And knowing that those problems are going to change and evolve over time, if you do, it’s going to be a real springboard to a greater success for you.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Fitness Business School. And before you go, I have a quick announcement. When I first connect with a fitness business owner, they almost always ask me, “How can I get more leads or how can I get more clients?” Well, I have an exclusive offer for you and it’s going to help you do just that. As a listener of this show, you can test drive Fitness Lead Academy for six full weeks for just a dollar. Fitness Lead Academy is a one of a kind program where you get done-for-you marketing tools and coaching to attract more qualified prospects and convert them into paying clients. Imagine having three marketing emails written for you each and every week for easy-to-deploy promotions provided to you that are proven to convert and they’re ready to use and proven ads and social media posts given to you each and every month as well. Plus you have access to three weekly live video coaching sessions to help you with everything from dialing in your brand to navigating things like building funnels and getting ads approved. You get all of this and more when you join Fitness Lead Academy. And to prove that FLA can serve you as your virtual marketing department and not only save you plenty of time, but also consistently bring you more leads and clients, you can get access to the entire coaching program for six full weeks. Again, for just $1. If it delivers for you in the way that I expect it will, you can continue on for just $199 a month. So basically, just one additional client each month and you’re ROI positive. And I’m sure that if you apply what we give you, you’re going to get more than just one additional client each month. And you’re going to likely save at least 10 hours a month to take advantage of this special offer. Just go to TestDriveFLA.com to try it out for six full weeks. If it’s not what you’re looking for, you can cancel it any time.

Just go to TestDriveFLA.com to get started.