Alloy Personal Training Business

In this episode, we discuss the rules and tools of Alloy programming for active aging clients.

We discuss what are some rules that Alloy believes in or that we adhere to when we were framing out programs for adults.

We also discuss how the dynamic warm-up, overhead squat, and functional movement screen fit into the scheme of things. 

We talk about how important it is to have a balanced approach when it comes to workout - Nobody moves differently from one another. We may have deficiencies, we may have issues that we have to work around. 

But we all push, we all need to pull, we all need dominant movement, and we all need to do hip down movements, and there's vertical pushing and pulling mixed in there. But in a total body approach, if we hit all those every single time, you're going to get much better results, you're going to get a consistent workout.

Stay tuned for more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Activating people with limited time - The first thing is total body training (3:19)
• Starting out with a dynamic warm-up when somebody comes in (5:07)
• Ina sitting-oriented society, where should most of the exercises happen? (9:32)
• In a total body approach, you're going to get a consistent workout… (10:22)
• Putting exercises into different blocks for varying levels of clients (11:00)
• Where do the folks that are a little bit beat-up go? (13:24)
• Alloy’s core philosophies; programming at different levels (18:00)
• Six core movements for each workout (27:17)
• The metabolic finish (27:49)
• About some of the bootcamp type of businesses - One workout fits all (33:14)
• A coach should look at it through the lens of the client, not themselves (35:00)
• Plugging and playing into patterns (36:12)
• Of suspension trainers and kettlebells… (41:19)
• Come up with your rules; figure out which tools are going to work (45:40)

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Additional Resources:

• About Dr Stuart McGill
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, I sit down with my personal coach, Tim Fulton, to discuss the 5 keys to a successful small business launch.

He shares with us his thoughts on having a business plan. Quoting a study that pointed out that there is a larger than expected number of small businesses that have any type of plan, he puts the absence of a plan down to a fear factor - the fear of being held accountable, the fear of this becoming real when it's in writing.

He also emphasizes the fact that growth sucks up cash - Unfortunately, many business owners don't realize that until they're in the midst of it and all of a sudden, cash is getting scarce.

Another pearl of wisdom - Find some advisers, and be humble enough to ask for help.

He also talks about the significance of being clear about your “why”.

Tim feels having a growth mindset is important. Individuals having a growth mindset almost look forward to making mistakes because mistakes are learning opportunities.

Stay tuned to know and learn more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Having a business plan (7:59)
• A study found less than 20% of small businesses have a plan (8:19)
• Why do so many businesses not have a plan? It’s a fear factor, feels Tim (8:40)
• Be adequately capitalized. Growth sucks up cash (11:33)
• Find some advisers, and be humble enough to ask for help (15:42)
• Have a strong “why”; figure out your purpose, your mission (18:03)
• Tim feels having a growth mindset is really important (24:54)
• Those with a growth mindset almost look forward to making mistakes… (26:21)

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Additional Resources:

• Small Business Matters website
• "Small Business Matters" by Tim Fulton on Amazon
• "Small Business Matters & All That Jazz" by Tim Fulton on Amazon
• "Start With Why" by Simon Sinek on Amazon
• "Start With Why" - Simon Sinek's Ted Talk on YouTube
• "Delivering Happiness" by Tony Hsieh on Amazon
• "Mindset" by Carol S. Dweck on Amazon
• "Good To Great" by Jim Collins on Amazon
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we’ll talk about policies and procedures for personal training businesses. We will zero in on three of them, namely, a 24-hour cancellation policy, medical freeze (or just simply “A freeze”), and rollover sessions.The 24-hour cancellation policy is applicable in situations where a client has booked a training slot and then they cancel, which means that the business will have lost the revenue it would have generated during that time slot. Therefore, the client has to be charged a stipulated cancellation fee when they cancel. 

That policy serves well in making clients more accountable because the moment they book a slot, they will always ensure that they attend the training, which of course, keeps them on track in their fitness journey. The medical freeze or freeze is when a client is looking to take time off from the gym to go on vacation, work, or anything else that might keep them away from the gym. That usually takes anything between one to three months, and it’s usually a very bad sign because it might mean that the client is trying to leave the facility. We will share our experience with this and talk about the strategies we use to overcome it effectively. Rollovers refer to when a client doesn’t use up all their sessions and they can roll them over into the next month or year. 

When we had annual memberships, we ran our rollovers like the old school cell phone service providers used to do where a user had a certain amount of minutes they could use every month, and if they didn't use them all, they would roll them over to the next month as long as they stayed active as a member with the service provider. Stay tuned to learn more about the best rollover tactics to use and pick all the actionable steps you can take at your personal training facility to grow sustainably. 

Key Points of Discussion:

• The questions around policies and procedures for personal training businesses (03:10)
• The promise that you make someone as a personal trainer to hold them accountable (05:20)
• Taking it back from transactional to the coach relationship (08:39)
• Better behavior equals better performance (13:11)
• Allowing a two month freeze in an annual membership but doing it in such a way that no client wants to take that time off (15:20)
• The best strategy for someone who might be going on a medical freeze (19:04)
• In rollover strategies, use or lose it is a great policy, but not the best  (21:47)
• Allowing clients to downgrade their memberships to use rollovers (27:18)

Additional Resources:

• www.AlloyPersonalTraining.com
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss the best practices around creating an effective pricing strategy for your personal training business.

We talk about whether you should do per session pricing or EFT.

We, at Alloy, have done both. When we opened in 1992, we sold packages of sessions.

The cashflow is much easier to manage when you're charging people by the month. And getting into the monthly payment mode landed us into EFT.

In EFT model, you simply go to the customer, you have one transactional conversation, then you move their relationship immediately to relational and personal. And that's where it should stay forever. 

And for lack of better terms, the money just sort of goes away and you never have to think about it again. That's the best relational way to set up personal training as well. And there's never that awkwardness of asking for that sale over and over. 

Stay tuned to know more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Downsides of the per session pricing model (2:33)
• Cashflow is easier to manage when you’re charging people by the month (4:19)
• Pain point of going back to that client saying: “Hey, your 10 pack is up…” (5:48)
• In EFT, after one transactional conversation, it’s relational, and personal (6:16)
• When we switched to EFT, frequency of the usage went up (7:42)
• Moving from one-on-one into small group training… (10:14)
• Keep it really simple (17:18)
• At the sales process, definitely use unit pricing. Every retailer does that (18:02)
• Monthly versus annual memberships (19:41)
• Three buckets of people… (22:41)
• Sit down and review those notions at times, and challenge yourself… (25:52)

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Additional Resources:

• The book "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath on Amazon
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we look at a concept from the Harvard Business School that helps us define the true "Job" of our product or service.

A Harvard professor presented this concept called job of the product. And basically, what he was challenging us to think about was when someone buys a product, or they do something, they're buying that product to do a job. So there is a job in my life that I need filled and I'm going to hire a service or I'm gonna hire a product to do the said job.

Remember, the job of their product is through the lens of the customer.

Anybody that is starting a new business should maybe re-evaluate their business through this lens and sort of figure out: “Well, what job is my service?”

So, “What job is personal training really doing for people?” is where you would start. And once you can identify what that means, then you can understand who your true competitors are and you can put more effort into that.

Stay tuned as we dive deeper into the concept.

Key Points of Discussion:

• This concept called job of the product (3:28)
• The job of their product is through the lens of the customer (7:38)
• “What job is personal training doing for people?” is where you would start (9:18)
• Understanding who your true competitors are (9:23)
• If you knew exactly what the customers were trying to accomplish… (10:00)
• "Healthier to spend your money on, come here, and get your community" (12:56)
• Exercise means a lot of different things to a lot of people (15:42)
• If they're not getting that community, they stop coming in (15:45)
• Ask that question of you, put time into it, and then run it by your team (16:06)
• Once you identify that job, then you put efforts into meeting it (16:22)

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Additional Resources:

• Clayton Christensen on disruptive innovators and how to hire a milkshake
• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss why high intensity interval training (HIIT) may not be the best type of exercise for your business.

We talk about high intensity training - the pros and cons, and how it fits in somebody's program.

High intensity interval training just means getting hot and sweaty. And it's super popular right now.

It's just really been popular since the explosion of the studio model, which has really been probably eight years or so of the real popular studio models.

And because of that, the “heart rate” was introduced.

And that sort of drove that as well. The brand promise of some brands is heart rate.

And so when you start tying effort level during a workout to the number of calories burned, and the end goal is like what happens just in these 45 minutes or this hour or these 30 minutes or whatever, you run the risk of then effectively telling your customer that the most important thing is how many calories they burn and how high they can get their heart rate in the next 30 minutes.

And then you might make claims like: “Hey, this not only is going to burn calories; it's also going to build muscle.” Which is not true if you know the science behind muscle-building.

Stay tuned as we delve deeper.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Benefits of a short, intense exercise (5:05)
• You can't put out that much effort in 30 to 45 minutes (7:31)
• It doesn't actually produce maybe any of the results you're looking for (9:05)
• Doing metabolic-based training is better than sitting on the couch (9:30)
• The metabolic finisher - at the end of a true strength training workout (10:33)
• Your body's going to adapt to strain, strenuous activities, and stimulus (11:04)
• Doing it with strength training and sensible eating (13:51)
• There is a really high churn rate in a HIIT-based business (17:14)
• Fitting HIIT into clients’ schedules (22:45)
• If you’re looking for fat loss, general fitness, and you want to feel better… (29:12)

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Additional Resources:

• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss some guerrilla marketing strategies proven to have worked for fitness businesses.

In this day and age, everyone thinks about marketing through the lens of Facebook, Google ads, and things like that, which we would look at as digital marketing. And those are really important. 

But all that can lend itself to you simply turning on a digital ad and then just sitting inside of your facility, waiting for people to run through the door with their wallets hanging out to buy your service. Well, it does generate leads and it’s an absolute necessity.

The problem is when it's done at the expense of all other marketing, be it from a budgetary  standpoint or from a time allocation standpoint - when all of your time and energy goes into digital marketing, it's a big mistake. We are in a high-touch service business, that means there is human interaction.

That's a basic nature of what we do. So to think that marketing for that could 100% be digital or automated is a big mistake.

What people get away from because it's hard work and they don't want to do it or maybe they didn't know how to do it is guerrilla marketing. Another way to refer to that would be local, grassroots type of marketing efforts.

It’s important to get out of your facility, to go and meet people, and to find creative ways to market. Stay tuned as through the lens of guerrilla marketing, we touch upon plays that have worked for us.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Diversify your efforts and look at things maybe other owners aren't doing (4:03)
• Getting out of their store once a week to market meant higher revenues… (4:47)
• Cross-promotions have been really effective (6:42)
• Where else do your clients shop? Where do they eat? What services… (6:54)
• Cross-promotion - Prong one: leverage the list (8:27)
• Prong two: physical presence for the month (13:11)
• Prong three: the educational event (15:36)
• Super Saturday - a customer appreciation day, is another idea (17:20)
• Business of the Week: Choose a local business and leave a gift basket... (18:51)
• The banner on the road and the sandwich board (23:53)
• Getting in front of doctors and physical therapists (28:08)

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Additional Resources:

• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss the importance of core values and how to build them for your business.

We talk about what core values are and what they mean to us and our corporation. We then go through ours, one through five.

Core values are something that we see thrown around a lot. We read about them - there are business articles on core values. People give a lot of time to core values, but I'm not really sure if everyone understands why you do core values.

I look at core values as sort of a compass, maybe even as a decision lens for our team. So if you have a certain set of core values, it should allow your team to make a decision through the lens of your core values.

So as we go through ours, we talk about why we came up with those, what they mean to us. And for those listening, I just want you to think what would that mean in your organization. How could that apply?

Overall, I’d say you need core values. It's very important and your team needs to be able to keep them top of mind. We know we have ours pasted up in the trainer office.

Once you have your set core values, there's a lot of ways those can manifest themselves in your business.

Stay tuned to know more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• We had many more core values when we started than we do now (3:45)
• When you come up with core values, you almost need to brand the idea (3:53)
• Come up with something specific to you and your culture, that can grow… (4:21)
• As your team gets larger, your core values need to be even simpler (4:55)
• A lot of organizations now are employing a chief simplification officer (5:24)
• Number one of our core values: Own your role; be your own boss (5:58)
• Number two: Bring your A game every day (10:59)
• Working yourself out of a bad mood by acting nice, upbeat, and happy (13:57)
• Our core value number three: Humor with a touch of crazy (15:51)
• If you can't have fun doing it, you know you're not going to do very well (20:54)
• Our core value number four: Drive change (21:54)
• Our core value number five: Keep it simple (26:34)
• Taking our core values from 12 to five, that's keeping it simple (27:21)

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Additional Resources:

• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity
• "How to Lead When You're Not in Charge" by Clay Scroggins on Amazon

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss the five things you should consider when considering buying a fitness franchise.

Franchising is hot right now. It's a great investment opportunity; it gives you a better return on investment as an entrepreneur. If you go to sell, if you're an independent operator, it gives you systems and a massive shortcut to success.

Nonetheless, you’ve got to put the work in and run the systems. It's one thing to have them create it, but you still have to be an entrepreneur.

We felt like it's a better vehicle for our potential or our core customer, and ultimately, a better vehicle for their core customer.

How about the pricing? What's your investment for a franchise versus starting on your own? And the sustainability and longevity? What is the level of support that you're going to receive ultimately? Those are important questions to consider.

The franchisee-to-franchise alignment and financials are other vital considerations when you are mulling over buying a fitness franchise. Stay tuned to know more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Pricing: The upfront fee (franchise fee) and the ongoing fee (4:13)
• There are franchises that do a flat fee (5:27)
• With low barrier to entry and price per month, don't expect lots of support (9:36)
• Sustainability and longevity: You need to look at overall market conditions (13:12)
• Make sure there's some history there, that the scalability is proven out (16:40)
• Level of support you're going to receive could make or break you (17:03)
• Make sure the franchise fee threshold is enough to get you training (17:27)
• Franchisees to franchise business coach ratio - the less, the better (20:09)
• You can't take the personal out of business relationships (20:24)
• Your core values: Do they align with the master franchise? (23:15)
• The financials: Ask for an Item 19 if they don't have that (24:08)
• How soon will you get a return on your investment? (25:18)

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Additional Resources:

• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we discuss our best practices for interviewing and on-boarding personal trainers. Once you identify some candidates, how do you take them through that process and how does it work?

How do you attract the right kind of talent? As we discussed in the last episode, interns and existing clients could turn out to be great resources. If you launch an ad, you get a lot of people who aren't serious.

If you're truly going out and hiring from the outside, put some things in that ad that speak to the seriousness of the position, speak to the intrinsic motivations that coaches have, which is changing lives, doing things like that. And certainly, what the parameters of the expectations for income would be as well.

You really want to perhaps mention some attributes that have to do with your core values in your ads. 

Review the resumes that you get. If a candidate looks good on paper, do a short phone call first. Ask a bunch of questions - why they're interested, what they’ve done in the past… just your usual get-to-know questions. 

Then you set a tripwire. We currently use a personality analysis. We send them an email with a test. Half the people won't even take the time to click on the link and take the test. So that’s your tripwire!

Stay tuned to know more.

Key Points of Discussion:

• Put some things in that ad that speak to the seriousness of the position (5:01)
• Mention some attributes that have to do with your core values in your ads (6:06)
• Set up some tripwires to weed out people that aren’t paying attention (8:11)
• The test can give you an insight into somebody’s hardwired traits (10:13)
• Or ask someone to come by the club and to pick up a questionnaire… (10:58)
• Look for roles they've been in that’d relate to being a personal trainer (14:45)
• Don't narrow-frame your decisions to certification and experience... (15:47)
• When they show up, are they on time? (16:52)
• Do they look you in the eye? Do they shake your hand? (18:02)
• Build interview questions around your overall core values (18:59)
• Maybe something didn't go well in their last job role… (19:57)
• Do they understand how they fit into your organization and the world? (21:52)
• Making sure they can admit if they made a mistake (21:59)
• Looking at them and saying: “Tell me your favorite joke” and being quiet (22:46)
• If the second interview goes well, we go into our mentorship (27:21)

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Additional Resources:

• Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity
• The book "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work" by Dan and Chip Heath on Amazon

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!