Run a Profitable Gym

What's easier: getting a new client or keeping a current one? Smart gym owners know it's the latter, but unfortunately, the data shows that gyms are only keeping clients about half as long as they should.If you don't want to stay stuck on the treadmill of constantly seeking new clients, you've got to focus on retention—and that means focusing on the client journey.Here, Chris Cooper explains how motivational interviewing, goal reviews and the "learn, design, deliver, refine" model can help gym owners forge deeper connections with clients and retain them for the long term.Links:Precision Nutrition's Five WhysCOVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallFree ToolsContact: chris@twobrainbusiness.comTimeline:2:46 – The retention treadmill.6:30 – “Learn”: No-sweat intros, motivational interviewing and the five whys.14:55 – “Design”: Prescribing the solution to your clients’ problems.22:16 – “Refine”: The most overlooked part of the retention process.26:36 – No-sweat intros vs. motivational interviewing: When to do which.36:19 – How goal reviews improve retention and revenue.44:35 – Who should perform goal reviews.

If when all is said and done, Cole Sager is remembered for his character more than his fitness, he's just fine with that. But that doesn't mean he's not fit.Cole has been to the CrossFit Games six times in his career and finished in the top 10 thrice. His best career finish was 5th in 2018. He also received the Spirit of the Games award in 2017.He joined Sean Woodland to talk about his time playing division one college football at the University of Washington, how to beat the odds and overcome self-doubt, and why his dad decided to name him after a fictional character portrayed by Tom Cruise.Links:COVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookFree ToolsBook a Free CallContact:Instagram: @colesager35Timeline:1:24 – Training for the Games in a season upended by the coronavirus.4:49 – On being named after a Tom Cruise movie character.6:32 – The small-town mentality and growing up playing football.8:55 – From high-school star to college walk-on.16:25 – Abandoning NFL ambitions for CrossFit Games dreams.21:27 – How Cole qualified for Regionals just a few months into CrossFit.26:43 – Maturing as a CrossFit athlete.31:44 – Lessons learned from his debut CrossFit Games in 2014.35:01 – Dealing with the pressure of being a repeat Games athlete.38:39 – Winning the Spirit of the Games award in 2017 and why being a positive role model is so important.42:41 – Lessons learned from the new structure of the CrossFit Games: No room for error.45:48 – Why Cole is OK with being known for his character more than his fitness.

We've always said that microgym owners sell coaching, not access, and never has that been clearer than during the COVID crisis. Your clients aren't getting barbells and cues—so what are they paying for?Certified Two-Brain mentor and Two-Brain Coaching co-founder Josh Martin says coaches need to look at the bigger picture. At his gym, CrossFit For Glory, coaches take the "sleep, eat, move and manage" approach with clients. The true value of coaching, Josh said, is in helping a client move closer to his or her goal—and that takes more than a training plan.Here, Josh talks about how trainers can redefine their services to meet clients' needs during and post-COVID and how to value those services.Links:CrossFit For GloryCOVID-19 ResourcesYour Gym 2.0Expensive or Free: How to Charge What You're WorthTwo-Brain CoachingJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:mike@twobrainmedia.comTimeline:3:41 – How has the primary role of a coach changed since COVID?4:37 – “Sleep, eat, move, manage.”11:31 – What clients need right now (it’s probably not Fran).16:27 – How to sell new services with confidence.21:21 – Reassessing the value of coaching.25:26 – It’s all about relationships.29:41 – The hidden opportunity in the COVID crisis.

Over the last few weeks, Chris Cooper has talked about how to rebuild your business post-COVID and how to repackage your services to your clients' individual needs. Now it's time to talk about how to bring these new services to your clients. In this live webinar recorded on May 17, 2020, Chris discussed motivational interviewing, how to structure goal reviews to improve length of engagement, how the prescriptive model differs from upselling and why you should be expensive or free. You'll also get a crash course in content creation and audience building.Links:COVID-19 ResourcesYour Gym 2.0Your Gym 2.0: The Four CornerstonesYour Gym 2.0: Selling Your New ServicesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:chris@twobrainbusiness.comTimeline:5:50 – Revisiting the prescriptive model.7:43 – Motivational interviewing.12:11 – Updating client prescriptions via goal-review sessions.17:26 – How often should you be doing goal-review sessions, and who should do them?26:41 – How to promote your new services and the importance of affinity marketing.34:29 – Be expensive or be free: the difference between information and coaching.42:14 – Expensive or free in practice: CrossFit.com and TwoBrainBusiness.com.55:18 – Establishing trust by producing content.59:17 – How to come up with good content ideas.1:11:54 – How to get better at producing content.

Steph Hammerman is one of the most well-known adaptive athletes in the CrossFit world. She is the first Level 2 coach with cerebral palsy. She's a cancer survivor and has completed a hand cycle marathon. She also owns Hammer Driven Fitness in North Carolina.Here, she talks with Sean Woodland about growing up with cerebral palsy, beating cancer, how she uses her voice to advocate for others, how she got into CrossFit and why the societal perception of adaptive athletes still has a long way to go.Links:Hammer Driven FitnessCOVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookFree ToolsBook a Free CallContact:Instagram: @stephthehammerTimeline:2:50 – Growing up with cerebral palsy.5:11 – Finding her voice.10:05 – Advocating for others.14:27 – Getting—and beating—cancer.23:24 – How Steph got into fitness.27:08 – Switching from hand cycling to CrossFit.33:04 – Competing at the Crush Games in Miami.35:19 – Becoming a coach to adaptive athletes and able-bodied athletes alike.37:28 – Changing the societal perception of adaptive athletes.39:54 – How to treat adaptive athletes at your gym.

If you've been watching your leads plummet during COVID-19, you're not alone. Certified Two-Brain mentor and sales expert Jeff Burlingame says it's normal right now to see a conversion rate of 25 percent or less. But that doesn't mean you can't sell.Here, Jeff shares what's working and what's not when it comes to sales during the coronavirus crisis. You'll get inside the mind of the consumer and learn how to use affinity marketing, social media and the Help First philosophy to close more sales now and during upcoming periods of transition.Links:COVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:mike@twobrainmedia.comTimeline:2:21 – The state of sales during COVID-19.6:43 – The consumer mindset.9:12 – Focus on warm traffic.14:38 – How to ask your members for help.23:15 – No fire sales.29:39 – How to get five new clients in three minutes.34:28 – Lead with value.40:53 – How to use Facebook groups to establish trust and authority.43:02 – Adapting the No-Sweat Intro process for times of transition.

Last week, we talked about evaluating your business: Where it is and where you want it to go. Now it's time to talk tactics.In this live webinar recorded on May 10, Chris Cooper walked a group of gym owners through the steps in Two-Brain's Your Gym 2.0 Worksheet Part 2.You'll learn how to create service packages that are perfect for your best clients, what to charge for them and how to integrate nutrition coaching, personal training, group coaching and online programs into hybrid packages. Links:Webinar recordingYour Gym 2.0 Worksheet: Part 2Your Gym 2.0 WorksheetTwo-Brain Coaching coursesCOVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:chris@twobrainmedia.comTimeline:3:15 – Reviewing the cornerstones of the fitness business.7:53 – Don’t get hung up on sunk costs.10:14 – Determining what your seed clients need: the NPGO exercise.18:30 – Stones, pebbles, sand and water.28:53 – How to set prices.38:22 – Revisiting the prescriptive model.41:04 – Scaling your fitness business without discounting it.44:45 – A sample pricing binder.

You might know that Jacob Heppner is a CrossFit Games veteran, but did you know he's also a nerd?While his friends partied in college, Jacob holed up in the library. And after requesting the "hardest major you have" of his guidance counselor, he chose math. He was pretty good at it, too—his first internship was as a mathematics technician at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.That's also where he discovered CrossFit. At first, he thought it was a cult. Now, he's a four-time Games athlete with a career-best finish of 6th in 2019.He joined Sean Woodland to talk about his interest in math, his passion for community service and the lessons he learned about being successful under the new Games format in 2019.Links:COVID-19 ResourcesJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookFree ToolsBook a Free CallContact:Instagram: @jheppner66Timeline:2:42 – On being terrible at football but bringing up the team’s average GPA.4:45 – The drive to serve others.8:51 – Why math?11:58 – Finding CrossFit at Fort Leavenworth: “Sounds like a cult.”16:15 – Jacob’s first Regional experience.18:38 – Remembering “Thick and Quick.”22:20 – On being top 10 in 2015 and 2016.24:54 – Two years of setbacks.29:40 – Making a comeback in 2019.34:04 – Lessons learned from the new Games format.35:54 – The return of the dreaded handstand push-up standard.40:11 – Becoming a content creator.43:56 – Learning to appreciate the platform he’s been given.45:25 – How the CrossFit community stands apart.

The coronavirus crisis has changed everything, and that includes advertising.Digital-marketing expert Mateo Lopez went down the rabbit hole to discover what successful gym owners and sales gurus are doing to make sales during lockdown.Here, he and Mike Warkentin of Two-Brain Media examine real fitness ads from clients of a fitness sales guru, discovering some key patterns along the way.Links:COVID-19 ResourcesFree ToolsJoin the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:mateo@twobrainbusiness.commike@twobrainmedia.comTimeline:2:41 – Why you might consider a lead ad during this time.6:11 – Going down the rabbit hole: What are the online fitness sales gurus doing?11:57 – Using the sales guru’s landing page to find testimonial clients.16:19 – Pattern point no. 1: narrowing the niche.21:35 – Pattern point no. 2: the five-day challenge.26:44 – More testimonial-client ads: Different niches, same pattern.38:35 – Creating warm leads with low-barrier offers.40:19 – Streamlining the system to take home more money.44:14 – It’s not actually about the ads; it’s about the service.

The coronavirus crisis isn't just a crisis—it's an opportunity. An opportunity to evaluate your business: what you do and don't miss about how things used to be, what worked well, what you'll never do again and where you want to go moving forward. In this live webinar recorded on May 3, 2020, Chris Cooper took a group of gym owners through Two-Brain's "Your Gym 2.0" worksheet to hash out all the above and more. The worksheet will guide you step by step as you reflect on your business and re-envision its future. Download it here and work through it as you listen.Links:Your Gym 2.0 WorksheetTwo-Brain Coaching coursesCOVID-19 Resources"Good to Great""Traction""Scaling Up""Get a Grip"Join the Gym Owners United group on FacebookBook a Free CallContact:chris@twobrainbusiness.comTimeline:3:08 – The rite of passage.4:51 – What has this crisis taught you about your Perfect Day?6:50 – The pre-mortem: Imagine your business is dead. What killed it? What survived?12:43 – Think like a CEO.16:38 – Defining your rocks.21:39 – The after-action review: What went right during the crisis?24:58 – Pouring the foundation of your new business: What will you never do again? What will you keep?30:47 – Shaping the cornerstones of your new business.36:35 – Designing the front door.38:20 – What to consider before renaming your business.42:24 – New additions to the Two-Brain Roadmap and how to use it to rebuild your business.