#JTInTheRaw Show 53: What The Fitness Industry Can Learn From The Hospitality Industry

What would you think when the maintenance man, who can barely speak English and needs to visit a dentist for two prosthetic teeth to complete his pearly whites, in a hotel looks at your squarely in the eyes and says “Good morning. Have a great day.” Then brings his palms together, fingers pointed to the sky and bows.

What would you think if this happened many times every day?

What would you think if the maintenance men were just a sub-contractors and not even an employee?

And what would you think if the employed housekeepers, wait staff and receptionists all replicate that behaviour every day every moment?

What would you think?

Welcome to #JTInTheRaw show 53 where I chew the thin on business and today I’m going to challenge each and everyone of you to lift your game!  More to come…

But first thanks to everyone for their well wishes on show 52!  Two weeks ago I celebrated a year of shows and you guys rocked with your compliments.  I’m grateful!

It was in show 52 that I talked about having a scoreboard in your business.  The quote of the week was “People play differently when they are keeping score.”

Your actions you are doing daily to achieve your weekly, monthly or even annual goal are captured on a visual scoreboard and updated regularly.

If you missed show 52, click here.

I did receive 5 questions from viewers asking for some more details on what the scoreboard should look like.  Thanks Ben from Brisbane, Oliver from London, Peter from San Diego, Ingrid from Montana and Tina from Sydney for your question: what should my scoreboard look like?

• First – choose a theme.  This means a scoreboard with:
  • Trend lines
  • A speedometer model with a needle indicating performance
  • Bar chart
  • Traffic lights – colours indicating performance
• Second – the design must be simple, easy to see the performance, see if we are winning or losing and must show the main measure and the actions that impact that measure.
• Third – the build.  This is best done by the team as they own it.  It can be electronic, poster, whiteboard or chalkboard but remember if must be able to be seen!
• Lastly – updated.  It MUST be updated so decide who will update, when will it be updated, and how often.

My final tip on your scoreboard that is my favourite.  I like to see where I should be to get my end result compared to where I actually am – shows if I am winning!

Oh and your scoreboard is not a communication board to post reports, status updates or other general information that will distract the team from the results they need and want to see.

The simpler your scoreboard the more engaged your Team.

I’m sure that helps Ingrid, Ben, Oliver, Peter, and Tina.

If you haven’t watched show 52, pop 52 in the comments and I’ll send you the link.

And if you know anyone whom you think needs to build a scoreboard or needs help building their scoreboard then pop their name in the comments below and they’ll get a notification to watch the show.

What We Can Learn From The Hospitality Industry?

As some of you know, I just had a wonderful 8-day holiday in Thailand and as a guest in the resort I couldn’t help but notice the hospitality of the staff.

I can say unequivocally that every staff member when they walked past me did not avoid eye contact as we passed.

They smiled.

They said good morning or good afternoon.

And they put their hands together and bowing.

Every single person!  From managers to maintenance men.  It was part of the resort’s cultural DNA.

In many gyms I visit this is one missing link.  And I guess I scratch my head in wonderment! I mean these are not high paid staff in the resort – in fact I suggest they could be paid a fraction of what your staff are paid.  So do this not because they are highly paid.

I guess for these staff it is very much they are proud to have their job and proud of where they work. So they accept the cultural requirements of the resort.

My question is WHY WHY WHY can’t we instil this into the culture of our businesses?

Let me share the behaviour of the resort staff made me feel very welcome.  It broke down barriers so I felt comfortable asking for assistance.  And I am a raving fan of the service – even though I didn’t really any “actual” service.

If you want your members to have those similar feelings, the perhaps work with your team on their engagement with your members and clients.

I have been to many gyms and it is chalk n cheese in the consistency of the eye contact and warm welcome.  If you think this is an important component to the service, then get to work!  And make it part of your DNA.

Facebook Social Media Memes & Their Value In the Facebook Algorithm 

Now a little education on social media: Facebook LOVES social media graphics because as humans we are visual creatures.

We are naturally drawn to beautiful, interesting images, on every social media platform.

Sure, Facebook wants to promote their advertising platform, but they also are highly conscious of your user experience. If your posts don’t get engagement, that tells Facebook that people don’t want to see your posts, and your reach goes down.

You lose your connection with your audience, growth slows, and opportunities dwindle.

The flip side, however, is that you are REWARDED for posts that people engage with. And people engage with visual content.

At Active Management, we have stunning social media graphics that are strategically designed to drive engagement and grow your business. You don’t have to waste your time trying to figure it out, just add your logo to our ready-made graphics and you’re good to go (it’s easy, and we show you how).

This means FREE traffic for your business, and cheaper results for paid traffic.

Even if you’re running Facebook ads, improving the reach of your organic posts is rewarded with better results for your ads.

Facebook does keep score, and factor your page ranking into your media buying power!!

But for many of you highly engaged, organic traffic is all the power you need to grow your business with social media.

Think of it as free advertising.

We have a full collection of social media images ready for you:

• Ways to burn calories
• Reasons to exercise
• Inspirational quotes
• Leadership
• Happiness Is . . .
• Why Walk
• Book a PT Session

You can buy one set for 110 bucks by clicking here.

Become a silver member and get every set included in your membership.  That means you get 770 bucks worth of social media memes for only 249 – a third of the price – plus loads of other resources to help you run your business easier, faster and more productively.  Click here for membership details.

What’s On This Week?

This week, I am delivering a presentation via Zoom to the team of Life and Soul in Broome before heading to Brisbane to speak at the Go Health Clubs conference.

Oh and by the way, on the 27th July I will be in Perth for FitnessBiz Brunch. The theme of the event: differentiating your business by leadership!  To grab a ticket click here.

Next week, #JTInTheRaw will be back from a location in Sydney.

To finish up today, quote of the week returns to the hospitality industry.

“Eye contact and smiling will cost you nothing to create an impact in your business.”

Do you want to work one on one with JT?

Check out all previous shows here: http://www.activemgmt.com.au/category/jt-in-the-raw/