The Business of Fitness with The IFBA

In this first episode of 2022, Chris, JC and Tom talk about taking a strategic approach to marketing. The big question in today's unstable industry: if your 'primary' marketing channel ceased to exist tomorrow, would you be able to maintain a stream of leads without too much disruption to the business? The team explain how to create an agile marketing ecosystem that can respond to change, turning your marketing 'taps' on and off easily to make the business resilient and financially stable.

In part two of this podcast, Chris and JC go through how they like to set goals over the short, medium and long term to make them achievable and powerful. They discuss why the cycle of action is such an important tool for constantly reviewing your goals – and course-correcting your trajectory to keep your objectives in the crosshairs, whatever gets thrown at you.

In the first of a two-part podcast, JC and Chris discuss the frameworks they use to review the performance of the W10 gyms – including their staff, their marketing, and their overall financials. They give you a step-by-step breakdown of how to implement this in your own business and set your direction for 2022.

Once you've got the big rocks in order, where do you focus your energy next? This episode provides an overview of Seasons Four, Five, and Six of the Podcast covering Team Development, Programming and Sales. Take a listen and don't forget to re-visit the individual series as you're ready to delve deeper into each.

In this episode we're giving you the best bits of Seasons One to Three. Covering everything from product to place, systems to opening a gym (plus some popular and punchy case studies), this is a bitesize episode full of actionable nuggets. It's the ideal potted recap of topics you've already listened to – or a shortcut to navigating which episodes you might want to tune into for the first time.

Chris chats to communications expert, Cathy MacDonald (see episode 12) as she expands on the art of communication with a particular slant towards the sales process. Cathy was formerly a Hostage and Crisis negotiator and has taught professional from all business and industry sectors how to communicate more effectively.

The original plan was for the W10 sales process to be walked through, from how to conduct calls to closing with all objections dealt with along the way. Instead, the conversation went in an unexpected, but totally relevant direction which underlined the importance of knowing yourself, your 'voice' and your values so you can use these things to maximise sales in your business.

This week, we're joined by special guest Dave Wright, Founder and CEO of fitness tech giant MyZone.

Dave gives us the takeaways from his journey through the industry: starting out marketing for fitness clubs, before opening his own gyms; and finally launching Myzone to help facilities drive client retention.

Dave tells us how the MyZone system is best utilised to increase member engagement and develop community – while keeping us all entertained with his Antipodean sense of humour!

It's far more expensive (and time-consuming) to gain a new member than it is to retain an existing one.

To take advantage of this, we need to see sales as an ongoing process that continues throughout the entire customer lifecycle (not just before membership sign up).

This pod is focused on the strategies and tactics you need to keep your members happy and engaged, with the net result of a much healthier bottom line.

What (and who) is the assessor?

Despite the catchy title, the physical assessment is just one small part of their job. A role that has the potential to increase your sales tenfold and drive your retention and referral figures through the roof, the assessor may be one of the (if not THE) most important person in your facility. Choosing someone to take this position could make – or break – your business.