Alloy Personal Training Business

In this episode, we talk about the life of an entrepreneur and the things you must do to be and remain successful. There’s a whole new economy that has allowed numerous opportunities for entrepreneurship. Many people want to be entrepreneurs but do not understand the downsides and challenges there are.As an entrepreneur, you must make time for yourself. This means going away from your business and doing things that make you a better person. If you are an entrepreneur in the fitness world, you can even visit another gym to exercise. In your entrepreneurship journey, there will be times when you’ll feel overwhelmed with all the things that require your attention. Launching products, meetings, traveling, and tasks that take all your time. This is the best time to create time for exercising, whether you are a fitness entrepreneur or in another industry. The second issue we talk about is joining a community of like-minded people. Entrepreneurship with all its glamour can be a lonely endeavor. You feel alone and isolated some times, having a community where you can talk and bounce off your ideas is critical for your psychological well-being.The last thing we look at is diet and here we don’t mean the food we eat, but rather what we consume on a daily basis that goes to our brain. What we consume comes from the people we interact with, what we read and what conversations we have. These are the things that constitute your diet as an entrepreneur. Key Points of Discussion:Make time for yourself as an entrepreneur (5:26)Exercise and keeping your fitness helps your perspective as an entrepreneur (12:11)Exercise is like a performance enhancer for your business (15:03)As an entrepreneur, ignorance is bliss (15:27)it's critical for the psychological well-being and spiritual well-being of an entrepreneur to get into some kind of community with like-minded people. (21:28)Taking care of what you read and conversations you have as an entrepreneur (25:39)Having discipline as an entrepreneur on what you feed your brain and people you spend time with (26:36)Keeping of digital and doing purposeful tasks (34:02)---------Additional Resources:alloypersonaltraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 talk about how to train and work right even when the job gets monotonous. Landon shares with us his journey from college and how he got into fitness. He tells us about his early days as a coach and how he learned from his mistakes. How he was open to feedback and how that helped overcome challenges.We delve deeper into professional behavior on and off the floor. How to relate to your clients in a friendly manner while still showing them respect without sounding too formal. We then talk about fighting the imposter syndrome that often creeps in. You are well qualified for your job but still feel inadequate at times especially when you are dealing with people much older than you. This is not a bad thing as it forces you to work even harder and improve your skills.Finally, we talk about the perceived glass feeling we feel we have hit when we do the same job for a long time. Landon opines that self-reflection and self-evaluation is how to overcome this feeling. There is no ceiling to improving our skills. That way, when an opportunity arises we are well-prepared to handle it just as Landon has the amazing opportunity to expand Alloy to the Charlotte market. Stay tuned for more.Key TakeawaysHow to train and work right even when it gets monotonous 0:54Professional behavior at work: showing utmost respect 9:45Appropriate communication on and off the floor 10:21How to talk too older people than you in a friendly manner 10:50Fighting the feeling like you are not good enough, the imposter syndrome 11:25How to stay motivated while working in a monotonous system 15:44Having the mindset of looking at challenges as opportunities 16:51Constant self-reflection and self-evaluation in your professional career 32:20Additional Resources:www.AlloyPersonalTraining.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 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)---------Additional Resources:About Dr Stuart McGillLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------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 AmazonLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:The book "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath on AmazonLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:Clayton Christensen on disruptive innovators and how to hire a milkshakeLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity"How to Lead When You're Not in Charge" by Clay Scroggins on Amazon---------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)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise OpportunityThe book "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work" by Dan and Chip Heath on Amazon---------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 how and where to find great personal trainers for your business. And before we dig into that, we talk about what we are looking for in a trainer.When we first opened, we had independent contractors, so we didn't have employees, which is a huge mistake and actually illegal in this day and age.You’ve got to have a systematic approach to what you do. It's your business, it's your risk, you know your money to start this entity. You need to set up a business system so that when you go to hire coaches, you're literally just filling a place on the team. You're not hiring another entrepreneur to run a business in your business. You're hiring someone to run your play.We've got internships, which are accredited college internships. You’ve got mentorships, which is a half internship and based on adults and you can decide whether you want to charge or not.Another avenue for potential trainers is existing clients. And you could also go for community outreach or maybe working even through your current trainers.Stay tuned to get to know the nuances.Key Points of Discussion:The thing about business systems: You go out and find the right athlete (3:44)Don't forget that people have to enjoy their time with you (5:24)A systematic approach would help me get them from zero to hero faster… (6:54)Where do you find these trainers? There are four different ways (7:44)Source one: Accredited college internships (8:02)Mentorship: Teaching someone who's maybe in a different career (14:35)Existing clients: You know a lot about their work ethic (17:12)Community outreach; maybe working even through your current trainers (22:00)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 the active aging (50+ age group) market provides the greatest opportunity for fitness businesses.Matt has pulled some really good data we discuss. We talk about what the metrics, the economic metrics, are showing us.We also talk about what our personal experience has been with this crowd. We've been here 28 years and we've seen some real traction with this particular population for lots of different reasons.Forget about fitness. Like if you're in any business, you can't ignore the fact that this group has the most money and they are growing in numbers and people are living to be quite a bit older because of medication and other things. You're going to see this population continue to grow and they're going to want to stay active.This 50 plus market indeed makes for a massive opportunity - We're really good at it and we're really good at scaling it.Why should people look at active aging? What's the future of this market? Is it as boring as people think? Stay tuned to find out.Key Points of Discussion:Group training more scalable than one-on-one servicing (5:52)There are more than 75 million people in the 50+ group right now (6:23)People learning you lose a significant amount of muscle after you turn 30 (8:09)They want to be able to go snow skiing and do all these things (8:09)You have to be more technical to train someone who’s over 50 (9:30)I find this age bracket more compelling than I do “only” six-pack abs (10:25)This group has got these tangible goals, like: “I want to move better.” (13:04)70% of the disposable income and only 5-10% of marketing dollars there! (13:31)80% of all savings alone are in this group (15:04)Believe it or not, they spend more time than millennials online (15:23)They spend $7 billion online a year (16:33)Older clients are going to stay longer and pay more (21:09)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 history of the Alloy brand and why we decided to move to a franchise model.We share with you our journey from when we started this place, to kind of where we evolved and to where we're at today. It would be pretty impactful for people that are looking to speed up a business or start their own.We turned 27 recently. Back when we started, I was sort of paying my way through school as a personal trainer and personal training was a very new industry. There wasn't a lot of validity around it. No one really knew what we did, but everyone needed a coach. That still holds true today.What were we really doing? Showing people proper exercise, coaching, basic good nutrition and holding people accountable. That was it. And of course there's always a market for that.That's something everyone's going to need. And everyone's had a sports coach since the beginning of time. So it made sense. It just wasn't really an industry. So I was bouncing around between different health clubs and going into people's homes.And I thought it'd be neat to put all of these experiences of private coaching into four walls.So to bring those in and try to control the customer experience around it, like have a place just dedicated to training. So I had a client that was willing to invest. It wasn't much, but we invested enough to open a 1,500 square foot training center. And I brought in some friends of mine that were in the industry to work with sort of their clients. And that was the birth of it.Stay tuned as we go into further detail.Key Points of Discussion:A client was willing to invest. We opened a 1,500 sq ft training center (2:17)In 1998, we did $1 million in training; we'd expanded to 3,000 sq ft (3:14)1999: I was almost out of business as I had independently contracted staff (4:18)We systemized what many consider more of an art - personal training (5:29)Around 2000, we finally scratched our way back (6:02)We switched our one-on-one training over to “small group training” (6:05)Around 2003, we transitioned everyone over to this small group setting (9:37)We started to see there might be something for even a larger group (11:05)Larger groups: A lower price point drew younger clientele (11:36)We expanded eventually to around 8,000 sq ft (12:28)We started doing a lot of consulting for other trainers (12:54)Birth of licensing: A gym owner said, “Can you bring it into my facility?” (12:56)Fast forward to earlier this year: We had licensed 2,000 clubs worldwide (13:47)Alloy fitness franchise is a personal training franchise, but it's scalable (16:30)Two types of people that would be good for any fitness franchise (21:02)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 the ongoing four-part series on sales, we took what we call our starting point session, which is our one-hour sales session where someone comes to the gym and they're physically in front of us.In the previous three episodes, we've done step one, which is the meet and greet or the peeling the onion, you've taken them on to the floor, you've done the functional movement screen, and then we've put them through a workout. So now you're sitting down with them and it's the crux move now.In this episode, we deal with the last part of the sales process. We explain how to close the sale. It’s about when you've got the client teed up to this point where you're going to sit down with them and ask them for money. Stay tuned as we walk you through the process.Key Points of Discussion:Your rate sheet: Anything more than four options is too many (7:54)Review what you've done that day with them and their goals (8:31)Make a prescription and circle the option that you think is best for them… (8:37)Don't let your income hold you back from selling a membership (9:41)Sales have much to do with body language, eye contact, and enthusiasm (12:12)Slide it over, make the suggestion, and be quiet until there's a 'yes' or 'no' (14:02)Put more effort into steps one, two, and three (18:50)It's not like you're selling them something they shouldn't have… (19:07)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 initial workout - the sample workout, and why it's so important to the sales process.The key to the sample workout is something that we spoke to in the first two episodes, which is the way that people learn. So you're going to have some people that are auditory learners. Those are the people that you are going to handle with “peeling the onion”. They typically want to spend more time in the office.Maybe they like to see that there's a process to what you do that would be handled by the assessment or the functional movement screen.And then, there would be people that would come in and they don't want to talk at all. They cut you short on your questions. These people are typically a little bit more fit. They come from a background where they're already exercising or they consider themselves more fit. They just want to know that what you have to offer is going to be enough for them.We talk about the way to structure your initial workout. We believe in a scripted sales process. So that means that the sample workout also needs to be scripted.If you're paying attention during the peeling of the onion, then you're going to know that what their hotspots are - what they are for the heavy guy that wants arms or the lady that wants to lose this little piece of fat. So this is your chance, not only to show them that there's things in the gym that are unique for them, but also to just give them a few exercises that address specifically those areas. Stay tuned to learn more.Key Points of Discussion:You’re going to handle the auditory learner with “peeling the onion” (1:27)There are those who just want to know what you offer would be enough (2:07)Scripted sample workout: Basic movement patterns, and the emotions... (2:58)Why are we doing a sample workout? (4:33)Let the beginner level client feel safe and comfortable (6:15)You can give intermediate clients more advanced cues (8:24)Those who are beat up but really fit: They need more advanced workouts (9:56)Their actual fitness level versus what they think their fitness level is (15:47)The workout is part of the evaluation (16:55)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 Part two of a four-part series revolving around sales, we are going to talk about client assessment. We’re essentially going to quantify movement.Our promise to customers is looking good - that's usually weight loss. The second one's feeling great. Now, feeling great, a lot of time, has to do with movement quality. We're going to talk about what we call the functional movement screen (FMS).Now, in case you’re not familiar with the FMS, it's pretty technical. It came out of professional athletics. There's a lot of really good data to back up its validity.The FMS is built by a couple of high-level physical therapists that are sports performance oriented, and is used in the special forces. So you’ve got to try to dumb all that down to fit the general fitness population.Nonetheless, when you look at predictability of injuries based on certain scores around the screen, they're repeatable and reliable. And they've used them with the fire department or even with big energy companies for light pole workers. If people can get their scores to 14 or better, their chances of getting injured are exponentially higher.We're trying to set ourselves apart from other facilities, certainly other training studios, which offer a good workout, like meaning you're going to get sweaty. But there's a lot of smoke and mirrors around it. It's fancy, there's good music, there's a lot of screaming, there's a headset.But are the exercises being applied correctly? And when we get someone in who, in our peeling the onion, says that they have an injury or a concern, this is your chance to show them that there's a process to what we do.Have a component in your sales process that shows people that you know what you're talking about, that you're an expert in what you do and makes them comfortable, and it shows that you care and that you're different from the place down the street. And for the person that learns by seeing, this is a very good visual tool. You make things stickier for this individual.In today's age, to sell something, you have to be an expert and people are not uninformed. Like no one suffers from a lack of information these days. If anything, we've got too much information. But if you don't somehow align yourself as an expert in their eyes, and what better time to do it than when you were about to ask them for money, you're crazy.Key Points of Discussion:Promise to clients: Looking good (usually weight loss), and feeling great (2:45)Feeling great, a lot of time, has to do with movement quality (2:56)One in the 45-50 age bracket will likely be having chinks in their armor (3:00)Putting a tangible score to people's movements (4:04)We're going to use what we call the functional movement screen (FMS) (4:13)It is important to show them a real process (5:40)The movement quality measurement shows them that it's all about them (5:57)Get them to understand you know how to apply the workout and template (6:04)In a group setting, let them know: “Don’t worry, all this is being recorded.” (6:20)We know exactly what to do with you and so we love the FMS (6:29)The original FMS test was so hard that it would make people often fail (6:49)You don’t want to give them a test so tough they can't pass it the first time (7:08)You have a dowel and a board. You do tests, and they ask questions… (10:20)Taking out all hard things and replacing them with things that are doable (10:40)We worked alongside FMS creators to come up with the modified screen (11:34)People are going to fall into four quadrants (13:21)The first: They move well, so functional and they have no pain (13:28)The next bracket: We see this a lot: Moves well, has pain (14:03)When the screen does serve to make you look really smart (15:30)It makes us look more scientific (16:13)The goal is to let them know they're in good hands (16:24)And remember, you're actually collecting relevant data (17:46)In a lot of ways, you're protecting them from themselves (17:59)There's another quadrant, that doesn't move well, but has no pain (18:47)There are a lot of people that fit into the “doesn’t move" category (18:53)As part of our franchise, get an FMS certification to go along with it… (20:47)Taking the data and applying it correctly… (21:18)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 will be discussing the "meet and greet" portion of the sales process. We're going to be talking about sitting down and getting personal, digging in and finding out why someone's there, and convincing them that we're the place that can help them.If you can't sell, you can't help people. So, of all the things you want to do - Get people in great shape, with you being intrinsically motivated to change lives - None of that's happening if you can't sell. So, you've got to lean into sales and have a scripted sales process.A scripted sales process, as opposed to shooting from the hip, is infinitely more successful, even with someone that's talented.And if you're looking to scale your business or open a second location, finding an amazing salesperson that we can slot in there and just let them do their own thing versus running a script, is very difficult to do. So start by having a scripted sales process, and we're going to walk you right through ours, so stay tuned.Key Points of Discussion:It's funny that the sales systems of those who are successful, are similar (5:23)Shoot from the hip sales is not a consistent customer experience (6:12)Seeing to it that there’s no over-promising and under-delivering (7:26)“Meet and greet”, aka “goal and needs analysis”, aka “peeling the onion” (8:20)Collecting ahead of time a little bit of info based on their phone call (8:34)You should have reviewed the info when you sit down with this person (9:05)Walk them around the club; introduce them to coaches, and clients (9:13)Then you walk them back; this session needs to happen in an office (9:49)When you sit down for this meet and greet, be in a private setting (9:57)You say you've reviewed their goals and have a few questions for them (10:56)Don’t sit across the desk; face them, and give them eye contact (12:07)Have a real conversation, like you’re at a coffee shop (12:40)Ask enough of “why” questions; that’s peeling the onion (12:47)Get them thinking what it’s going to be like when they get into shape (14:23)Why they failed in the past, and how we're going to be different (14:50)Dig deep and help them formulate a meaningful goal (15:24)Try to get people off of the superficial goals (17:06)You don't want to make people cry, but it happens as it's personal to them (17:41)Convincing them that you're the place that can solve that pain (17:53)Ask meaningful questions, and then, shut your pie hole and listen (18:48)We tell them: “All right, listen, now we're going to go out into the floor…” (19:26)Just run the play; just run the script (21:45)---------Additional Resources:Core message of "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber on YouTubeLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 consistency. In fact, many people maybe take it for granted, but it plays out in the customer experience in a big way. You see, if you want to scale your business, you want to then hire another trainer and then another one, you're going to want to make sure that you can turn to those people and say: “This is how we do things.”And that no matter if they're working with you as the original coach or one of the people in your business, there's no lapse in customer experience. So build a playbook, and then you have to run the play.Take, for example, your experience with a haircut. It’s not just about the haircut, but also about the customer experience at the barbershop. Likewise, when it comes to personal training, it’s not just about the workout.Being able to deliver effective workouts just barely gives you the right to even be in business in the fitness studio space. Being able to deliver a great workout with a really amazing customer experience around it - that's really hard. But if you can do it right, now, you're cooking with oil. Stay tuned for the nuts and bolts of consistency.Key points of Discussion:He says, “I'm not going to that barber again,” and it’s not about the haircut (2:27)Besides a good workout, your coaches should be giving same experience (6:15)Same protocol, but it felt different, because one person asked for 20 reps (8:56)On a different trainer’s schedule, they should get the same experience (9:31)Recommended: a communication tool to go from one coach to the other (11:00)Clients “getting married” to coaches often about working around injuries (15:09)It’s about the seven core tenets discussed in Episode 4 (16:46)Mediocre firms clocking higher customer satisfaction due to consistency (18:03)You have to build the play before you can say: “Run the play.” (21:24)---------Additional Resources:Core message of "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber on YouTubeLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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, our guest, Rami Odeh, tells us about his journey of early success, near failure and a return to success with the sale of his training gym. Rami started like a lot of people, in corporate America. He then went back to graduate school to chase his dream of opening his own business. After graduating, he got a fresh start as a personal trainer and loved it for the instant impact it had on lives. This led him to open his own facility and propel a much larger number of people to the heights of success.It wasn’t sunshine and roses forever though.He moved the gym to a new building that he bought, ran into debt, and almost lost all that he worked so hard for. This eventually led him to overhaul his business model and once again taste success again.He’s seen and done it all. Stay tuned to know what and who all, apart from his grit, saw him through tough times.Key Takeaways:Rami’s sports and corporate background (1:47)The one corporate meeting that got him to go back to graduate school (2:31)Did an internship in a gym; loved seeing an instant impact for what he did (4:51)Worked in large gyms; graduate degree in exercise science was an asset (7:04)His foray into in-home training; did it for about two years (8:27)Finding a place to open his own facility (9:48)Took up a part-time job at a hospital; helped help him market his gym (11:18)The first 8 years, the biz grew 30% a year; they were doing $1 million (13:42)Moved the gym to a bigger place; great revenue, not great margins (14:50)Got real close to walking away from it all (21:07)Had a third party personal training company coming into his gym (21:40)Looking at short-selling the building (25:21)Went about learning from the near failure; revamped everything (27:56)Grew year over year and went into profits again (30:01)Community support and a spiritual anchor really helped him (33:25)Sold the business and kept the building (39:38)Living a life of gratitude (42:32)He’s an author and has moved into talking about spirituality and exercise (45:26)---------Additional Resources:Book "Quiet the Noise"Rami's LinkedinLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 speak with Anthony Wilkins, co-owner of Alloy for Women, about his transition from trainer to business owner and the challenges he's overcome.He also lets us in on his background, how the women’s concept gym got to where it is, and the things he’s learned along the way. His experiences can help those of you who are maybe thinking about opening your own gym or maybe changing your personal training model.Anthony also talks about how he dealt with some sort of an identity crisis around going from being a coach at an established center to an owner, starting from scratch and gaining a foothold in Suwanee, Georgia.Key Takeaways:Zeroing in on Suwanee after research. “You have to do your research.” (9:07)Getting to know people big in the community, and leveraging that (12:27)Figuring out how much cashflow one wants to always have on hand (15:11)There's no clocking out when it is your baby (16:52)The ability to ask for help is the biggest skill that one’s going to need... (17:50)“80% is what I think you can do. The other 20, you need to come along.” (24:52)In the light of close relationships built, it’s tough when changing location (35:28)---------Additional Resources:www.AlloyforWomen.comLearn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 will be discussing the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that are critical to the success of your business. Learning what to measure and knowing why it's important is all vital stuff. The knowledge, or the lack of it, can make or break your business.You can reverse engineer figures such as the number of leads, how many leads you got, how many of those leads you got to book to come in and see you, and how many you closed, to give your team actionable steps and keep them on track.Be clear about behaviors that can help your team understand what to do - ones that you know are going to lead to the numbers that you want. It’s going to help with client retention in a big way. To know more about how KPIs fit into the big picture, stay tuned.Key Takeaways:Tracking the overall number of leads and their source (1:24)How many of those leads do you get to book to come in and see you? (4:04)Are you closing at least 20% of overall leads? What's the cost per lead? (7:54)A good KPI for a personal training biz for retention would be 3% a month (9:33)Then you start looking at lifetime value of the customer (11:36)The efficiency rate as percentage of sessions booked (14:13)The Big 5 customer uplifts: (21:04)1. Completing a challenging workout2. Achieving fitness goals3. Fitness staff speaking to the customer4. Encouragement from fitness staff5. Reception staff speaking to the customer---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 are discussing the most effective ways to evaluate the trainers on your staff. Evaluation time is an opportunity to tell them about the things they are doing well, and what they could start doing to add to that.How often should you review your coaches or your team? Should you do an annual review? Well, waiting a year until you do a sit-down with anybody on your team is way too long. Even in a small environment, people can get a little sideways and start wondering how they fit in, how they're doing and what's next for them.A few years ago, we switched from an annual review to a quarterly review. So it's literally a quarterly sit-down. That helped a lot because then we can get to sit down and have these conversations before things get too far gone. And then, what happens in these meetings is really important, because when people show up otherwise, they are here to work, and we are busy.So, how can you go about making sure that what transpires in these meetings ends up making all sides happy? This is what we are going to discuss, so stay tuned.Key Takeaways:Have trainers think before they get to the meeting (3:13)What are they doing really well right now, and thus should keep doing? (3:50)What can they start doing? Could be about something they're already into (5:13)What do they need to stop doing? (7:02)What can you help them with? (8:19)Grade your trainers across core tenets; secret shop through your clients (12:17)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 share our seven core tenets for creating a great customer experience around your personal training sessions. Gestures like greeting your clients on their way in, and when they are finished with a session, don’t take much, but go a long way towards creating an awesome customer experience.In the personal training business, things are supposed to be more intimate and more personal by default. And there are situations that call for building a community even within the construct of personal training.How to go about describing the benefits of an exercise to a client? What is the importance of touching the client? What do you say to a client who has a goal of losing 25 pounds and is stuck at 15? And to a client who says “thank you” at the end of a session? Stay tuned to know all this, and more.Key Takeaways:Greetings within 10 secs of entering the front doors, with the name added (1:36)An effective introduction - two different scenarios (5:23)Describing the benefits of an exercise through the client’s lens (8:05)A touch on the arm or a pat on the back (11:37)Finding a win for each client in every session (13:30)Holding people accountable; asking them when they’re coming in next (15:58)Thanking your clients before they leave (18:04)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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 are going to explore different types of reward systems and how they positively affect client retention. Rewards, both the structured ones and the ones that are personal and impromptu, go a long way in increasing customer engagement and driving the type of client behavior that you want to see.In concurrence with a set of principles laid out in a book we’ve read, we’ll be emphasizing that it’s important to increase the number of high points in the customer experience. That can serve to offset the things that are just “good enough” and thus help create an overall high customer satisfaction scenario. And yes, the personal touch - exhorting the individual customer towards higher things and celebrating even the small accomplishments, is as important as having a structured rewards system in place.We are going to talk about this, and more, so stay tuned.Key Points of Discussion:Surprisingly personable rewards tell the customer you’re paying attention (0:59)Clients’ gifts, and structured reward programs such as referral incentives (4:01)Taking a leaf out of Disney’s book: Optimizing the peaks, the high points (7:34)Look for little wins for your customers daily, and systemize that (10:51)Little things can create the peaks, as a California hotel case study shows (11:27)Creating high peaks for regulars instead of chasing lowest end customers (17:57)---------Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity---------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!

A major challenge facing a gym owner or manager is finding and keeping a team of top-notch personal trainers on board. In this episode, we discuss the concepts and strategies for dealing with trainer turnover.To illustrate the point of turnover, we will use the River & Ponds analogy, which says that some people will come into your business and it will be a river for their career. Meaning, they will be here today then the current (the market) will take them somewhere else in a short period of time. The opposite is the pond, where employees stick around for a long period of time.Surprising to some, they both come with their own challenges.How to go about making it a win-win for everybody in two different situations is the topic of today’s conversation, so stay tuned.Learn more at: http://bit.ly/alloy_franchiseKey Points of Discussion:• Rivers and ponds concept: Short-term and long-term employees (1:15)• Old is not always gold (3:32)• Mentorship: A test drive for both the employer and the employee (3:42)• Starting with the easy part, that often is your training protocols (6:57)• It’s not a bad idea to ask them how long they plan to stick with you (9:17)• Helping people grow (11:30)Additional Resources:Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity--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!

The current landscape of the fitness industry, in particular, the personal training business models, is the topic of today's conversation. There's a lot of money in fitness right now, and the economy is doing really well - the industry is growing overall. But there’s a lot more competition in the market - one has got to be business-savvy to survive and thrive. We are giving you an overview of the business of coaching and personal training, so stay tuned. Learn more at: http://bit.ly/alloy_franchise Key Points of Discussion: Boom time for fitness sector marked by intense competition (1:31) In the personal training space, the regular gym, disruptor and Planet Fitness models doing well (2:45) Lots of people in the game right now - prices going down (3:42) Studios, large clubs and boot camps compared (4:44) Working on small group training and personal training (11:41) Active aging: Serving the 50-plus crowd (21:18) Additional Resources: Learn About The Alloy Franchise Opportunity -- 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!