The holiday season: Chris Cooper calls it the "black hole of hedonism." Schedules fill up, good eating habits go out the window for weeks on end and frustrated clients pause their memberships—or even quit altogether. How do you keep your clients from getting sucked in?Here's Coop on the best way to retain clients during the holidays.Links:Drink O2Gym Lead MachineGym Owners UnitedTimeline:0:46 – A coach’s greatest weapon during the holiday season.1:48 – Give your clients a plan.2:48 – The habits tracker.4:04 – Go back to the CALM model.

Want to sell a higher-value service?  Or increase the value of the service you already provide? You've got to increase your "with-ness.""With-ness" is the degree to which your service is a "done-with-you" service. That means you're not selling a commodity (done for you) and you're not selling an instruction manual (do it yourself). You're walking the path right alongside your client, giving them personalized attention and feedback and adjusting the course as needed. You're doing it with them.Done-for-you and do-it-yourself services are not bad. But they're not what you're selling—at least not if you're selling high-value coaching. Links:Drink O2Gym Lead MachineGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:21 – Lessons from Coop’s editor. 4:37 – Why you’re worth big-ticket prices.5:12 – Done-for-you services: Pros and cons.6:35 – DIY: Pros and cons.8:51 – Bridging the gap with done-with-you services.9:42 – Benefits of the done-for-you approach.11:06 – DIY and done for you: Neither is your competition.14:26 – “With-ness”: Where the value is.18:29 – What high-value coaching looks like.

Sales and marketing may be trendy and sexy, but retention is where you make your money. It's easier—and more cost-effective—to keep a client than to gain a new one. Nick Seabock owns CrossFit Off the Grid in New Jersey, and with an average length of engagement of 41 months per client, he was Two-Brain's retention leader for July.Here, he joins Mike Warkentin to talk retention tactics: How to keep clients new and old engaged and committed for the long haul.Links:CrossFit Off the GridBeyond the WhiteboardChalk It ProGym Owners UnitedFree ToolsTimeline:2:24 – Nick Seabock: Third in line to the gym-owner throne.7:13 – Going from head coach to owner.9:51 – Back to basics.13:13 – Social media: Your most powerful retention tool.18:32 –The power of touch points.21:26 – Systematizing retention efforts.24:34 – Automation vs. personalization. 27:28 – Don’t forget about your long-timers.32:59 – Tell your members’ stories.34:51 – What to do today to start improving length of engagement.

Remember when you first started coaching and your whiteboard briefings were more like physiology lectures? You don't do that anymore now. Now, as a mature coach, you know your clients just need to focus on one cue at a time. Entrepreneurship has a path to maturity, too. Some lessons you can learn from books and experts. Others simply require time — and experience making a mistake or two. Chris Cooper's been an entrepreneur for a long time, and he's made a lot of mistakes. But he's better for it, and here, he shares some wisdom from the road to entrepreneurial maturity. Links:ArboxAGuardGym Owners UnitedTimeline:0:55 – How Coop realized he was maturing as an entrepreneur.3:42 – Taking a long-term perspective.6:46 – You never know what worse luck your bad luck will save you from.8:40 – Finding balance between business concepts.10:14 – Understanding that retention trumps sales. 11:59 – Flexible with service, committed to audience.13:04 – You can learn from your competition. 14:29 – Finish one thing before starting another. 16:05 – Signs you have a ways to go: You think too much about what others are doing.16:24 – You try to impress the wrong people. 17:32 – You chase novelty. 18:12 – You get political. 19:17 – You’re suspicious of others’ success.

CrossFit LLC recently released its new CrossFit Affiliate Playbook. What's inside? Who might benefit most from it? And is the advice any good? Coop shares his thoughts.Links:Drink O2Beyond the WhiteboardHow to Make $100,000 with 150 clientsGym Owners UnitedTimeline:3:07 – Why you need a playbook.6:35 – The reason most gyms fail.8:21 – Cracking open the CrossFit Affiliate Playbook.9:55 – Defining success.11:50 – Core values, mission, and vision.13:31 – On culture and exclusivity.15:39 – How to serve people better.17:36 – Creating a business plan.21:09 – SWOT analysis.21:40 – Revenue models and the right questions to ask.23:40 – Remember who’s talking.24:29 – Where the CrossFit Affiliate Playbook deviates from the data.26:38 – What the playbook gets wrong about setting prices.32:02 – What the CrossFit Affiliate Playbook could do for you.

The gym down the street is closing. Yours, however, is doing great. Should you buy the failing gym? Is it an opportunity to grow your business or will you be buying a whole new set of problems? Chris Cooper is notorious for advising against buying other gyms. But there are a few situations in which buying is a win-win for everyone — and even Coop would make an offer. Here's what they look like.Links:Incite TaxLevel MethodFree ToolsGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:05 – Gyms are getting sold — and why that’s a good thing.3:38 – The one reason Coop would buy another gym.5:06 – Barriers to buying a built-in audience.5:41 – What mistakes are you buying? 6:15 – A successful gym buyout. 8:47 – Purchasing retention.9:53 – Selling a gym as a Two-Brain client.11:47 – Know what you’re buying.

When was the last time you taught your clients something new? We've all got our preferences: CrossFit, boot camp, yoga. But when you bring something new into your practice, your clients — and your business — will be better for it. It's what we do all the time at Two-Brain Business. Learn why in this episode of Two-Brain Radio, then take Coop up on his challenge to learn five new exercises in the next 30 days that will help broaden your practice and benefit your clients.Links:Gym Lead MachineTwo-Brain CoachingGym Owners UnitedTimeline:2:37 – Buying knowledge from the experts.7:12 – How CrossFit made something new out of existing parts. 9:02 – Why gym owners should try new things. 11:40 – Coop’s challenge to you.

In business, it can be tough to formulate a win-win-win scenario: The business wins, the client wins, and the client's client wins, too.But that's exactly what Dave Colina and his company, Drink O2, did when the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit gyms hard — and they've only continued to do bigger and better good since then, including bringing together a coalition of fitness brands to help gym owners make more retail sales and incentivize and retain new clients. Learn about how O2 took a help-first approach to a community in crisis — and how everyone can benefit from it. Links:Drink O2Community CoalitionChalk It ProGym Owners UnitedContact:gyms@drinko2.comTimeline:1:43 – The story behind Drink O2.4:29 – Helping gyms during the COVID crisis.8:01 – Forming a coalition of brands to support gyms.12:59 – “Stay for May”: an even bigger impact.18:32 – Dealing with the chaos surrounding the CrossFit brand.24:02 – How O2 and CrossFit are joining forces to help affiliates become more profitable. Dave's thoughts on the new Affiliate Partner Network.

CrossFit, LLC recently announced its newest offering: CrossFit Precision Health Care, billed as "personalized healthcare from CrossFit-trained doctors and health professionals based on your unique goals and needs."But what exactly is it? Does it work? Will it help affiliate owners and their clients, or is it just another form of competition? Chris Cooper weighs in with his initial thoughts.Links:Two-Brain ProgrammingForever FierceGym Owners UnitedCrossFit Precision CareJulie Foucher and Eric Roza discuss the state of primary careTimeline:1:17 – Four questions to ask when considering CrossFit’s new Precision Health Care program.2:50 – How an ecosystem of support in health care could be beneficial to your clients.6:56 – Will CrossFit’s Precision Health Care present competition for affiliates?8:19 – Will it help your clients? 9:03 – Will it help your coaches? 9:58 – Will it help CrossFit, LLC?10:51 – The Two-Brain verdict.

When it comes to bank accounts, bigger is better, right? Chris Cooper says "no!" Don't misunderstand: He's not saying you should spend every dime you make. But if your go-to financial strategy is to squirrel away every dollar into your business' bank account, you're actually limiting your earning potential. Coop explains it all in this sprint episode of Two-Brain Radio.Links:AGuardBeyond the WhiteboardGym Owners UnitedTimeline:1:11 – Hoarding too much money is wasteful.2:21 – Your safety net doesn’t need to be that big.4:06 – How much cushion you really need. 6:03 – Don’t let insecurity drive your financial plan.7:13 – Examine where that insecurity comes from.