Active Management

Tag: fitness industry

  • Are Your T&Cs Hurting Your Member Experience?

    Are Your T&Cs Hurting Your Member Experience?

    This week I found myself scratching my head over a hotel’s terms and conditions – and it got me thinking about your business.

    We were booking a venue for a REX Roundtable meeting, and they offered tea and coffee for the day… for $120! That’s on top of morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea already booked.

    When we said no thanks, they replied, “Oh, sorry, tea and coffee aren’t included with any of the meals.”

    Wait… what?!

    It was a clear reminder that some rules and policies are set up for the business’s benefit – not the customer’s experience.

    So here’s the challenge I throw to you in this week’s 3-minute JT in the Raw: Are your rules and regulations designed to protect your business or to protect your members?

    It’s a simple question – but one that could transform your customer experience.

  • The 1% Better Hack: The Clipboard Secret

    The 1% Better Hack: The Clipboard Secret

     

    Please imagine that you’ve got a sick pet. You have a choice of 3 qualified vets to look after your very sick pet:

    • One wears activewear
    • One wears casual wear
    • One wears a white lab coat with a stethoscope and biz-cas wear

    Who do you trust most?

    Research shows people overwhelmingly trust the lab coat as perception matters.

    In my recent travels, I’ve seen PTs running sessions with no clipboard, no device, no notes. I have seen sales people touring prospects with no clipboard.

    Here’s my 1% better tip for this week: Grab a clipboard and write stuff down. This screams credibility, presence, and genuine care.

    If you want clients to believe in your service, it starts with what they perceive.

  • Is Your Team Forgetting This Retention Hack?

    Is Your Team Forgetting This Retention Hack?

    Remember the bar Cheers where “everybody knows your name”?

    That wasn’t just a TV slogan, it was a retention strategy used across the industry in the 90’s.

    I feel between 2000 and 2022, we let team members off the hook when they said “I’m no good at remembering names.” But today, in a world of super personalisation, that no longer flies.

    When the member walks through the door:

    • Start with eye contact
    • Add a genuine smile

    Then say their name. Because nothing lights up the brain like hearing your own name. It makes members feel seen, valued, and more likely to stay.

    Remembering Member Name Hacks:

    1. Link their name to what they wear. I always wear a No Bull sleeveless top – easy visual cue.
    2. Tie their name to a unique trait – training time, tattoos, or that pink star keyring Sandra O’Donnell always had.
    3. Repeat their name 3 times in the first 90 seconds. Repetition locks it in.

    This week, get your team asking for, remembering, and using names. It’s a muscle, so use it, train it and it will grow.

  • The Silent Profit Killer In Your Gym

    The Silent Profit Killer In Your Gym

     

    Chatting with a friend last week about joining a gym, he said “I didn’t think I’d put on any weight… until I saw a photo from 5 years ago.”

    That’s weight creep — and your business has a version of it too: Expense creep.

    Since 2021, here’s what we’ve seen:

    • Electricity: Up to 30% in the US, 50%+ in parts of Australia
    • Wages: 18.8% increase in the US, 13.6% in Australia
    • Super just ticked up from 11.5% to 12% in Australia

    And yet… many gym owners haven’t raised their prices.

    Here’s the thing:

    Your expenses have crept up.

    Your margins have shrunk.

    And if you don’t make a bold move on prices, you’ll be running harder just to stay in place.

    My challenge for you this week:

    1. Compare your P&Ls from the last 3 years.
    2. What’s increased (and what’s still going up) and by how much
    3. Work on the increase needed to maintain your profit levels.
    4. Then start planning your 2026 price strategy now.

    Plan your 2026 prices now to start the price change strategy.

  • The Biggest Mistake Gym Owners Make with Their Staff

    The Biggest Mistake Gym Owners Make with Their Staff

     

    Willy is a locker room attendant at Club Greenwood in Denver.  He might know more about what members want than anyone else in the organisation.

    He listens. He takes notes. And crucially he closes the loop – he goes back to the members with decisions or results of their feedback.

    Willy is proof that the smartest insights often come from the most overlooked roles.

    Your frontline staff:

    • Hear every member complaint
    • Watch what works and what doesn’t
    • Feel culture shifts before you do

    Many owners and managers send the unspoken message: “Your job is to do—not to think.”

    That’s the biggest missed opportunity in our business.

    Here’s the next move, ask your team: “If you ran this place for a day, what would you change?”

    You might be shocked by what you hear—and grateful you asked.

  • Sensory Impact Of Your Gym Subconsciously Impacts Usage & Then Retention

    Sensory Impact Of Your Gym Subconsciously Impacts Usage & Then Retention

     

     

    I want to challenge how you think about member experience.

    100% great service still matters. But if you want people raving on socials and sticking around longer, it’s time to sharpen your sensory design.

    Here’s what I see working:

    • Bright light lifts mood.

    • Blue tones sharpen focus.

    • Warm hues relax and soften space.

    • The right music tempo can boost heart rate & even member efforts by up to 15%.

    • Scent—like citrus or mint—improves energy and reduces stress.

    At RECESS Fitness in Dallas, the bass shook the floor, mirrors popped with lighting, and the whole space smelled incredible. You just felt it the moment you walked in.

    Your members won’t consciously notice most of this. But they’ll feel it, share it and they’ll come back for it.

    What sensory tweaks could you make?

  • Why The Best Gym Owners Look Outside The Industry

    Why The Best Gym Owners Look Outside The Industry

     

    If you only look at other gym owners, you’ll only get as good as gym owners.

    If you want to get better (and even stand out), start looking outside our industry for champions of your weakest areas.

    British Airways once studied a Formula 1 pit crew to speed up aircraft maintenance, not another airline. That study was game-changing for their business.

    Last week, my REX Roundtable visited Text Em All — a US-based company world-famous for their culture – check out this link for their culture. We learned how they attract, keep, and keep amazing people engaged. One part of their secret sauce is Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team is brought to life with real behaviours. It was brilliant (yep, I took photos – reach out if you’re curious).

    Your challenge:

    • Be brutally honest – where is your business weak?
    • Find a company outside the fitness industry that crushes it in that area.
    • Study them.
    • Personalise their secret sauce.
    • Grow.
    • Reap the rewards – maybe not all in 7 days lol

    If you need help finding one, email me. I might know just the business to learn from.

  • The 1% That Cost Olympic Gold — Don’t Let It Cost You

    The 1% That Cost Olympic Gold — Don’t Let It Cost You

    In the men’s 100m final at the last Olympics, Noah Lyles won gold in 9.83 seconds.

    Letsile Tebogo came second in 9.88.

    If Tebogo had run just 1% faster, he’d have hit 9.78 and taken the gold — Botswana’s first-ever 100m title. One. Percent. That’s all it would’ve taken.

    So… if you could improve just 1% this month, what would it be? And what’s stopping you?

    In the gym, we celebrate 1% wins: heavier lifts, faster runs, better reps. But in business, we chase 10% revenue jumps and 12% cost cuts.

    The truth is sometimes 1% is all you need — if it’s in the right place. Here’s how to find that 1%:

    1. Zoom out and look at your business like you’re 1,000m in the air.
    2. Surround yourself with people who’ve been where you are.
    3. Or do both — that’s what REX Roundtables is all about.

    And if you improve 1% per month, the year-end result is 12.68% better than where you started at the beginning of the year. That’s worth celebrating.

    What’s your 1% focus this month?

  • How Streaks and Dopamine Boost Gym Member Retention

    How Streaks and Dopamine Boost Gym Member Retention

    Duolingo. Apple Fitness. Headspace. TikTok. They’ve all mastered one thing: streaks.

    Not because they’re cute but they trigger dopamine. And here’s the kicker: dopamine doesn’t reward outcomes — it rewards anticipation.

    That’s why daily wins, visible progress bars, and “almost there!” nudges keep people coming back.

    If you want members to train more consistently, here’s the playbook:

    • Use streaks to reward frequency
    • Add status to make it feel important
    • Drop in random rewards to surprise and delight

    You can run this manually with high-fives and shoutouts. But the bigger your business gets, the more you’ll need tech to help.

    I recently saw My Gym Rewards and makes life easier for you as an owner. Myzone is another popular app and much of the electronic equipment use similar tech.

    Gamification isn’t just for kids or apps. It’s retention fuel and your members’ brains are wired for it.

  • What Great Gym Owners Do That Other’s Won’t

    What Great Gym Owners Do That Other’s Won’t

     

    When you’re in a leadership role—owner or manager—it’s not just about making the right decisions. It’s about making the toughest right ones.

    And those decisions? They’re usually about people. They shape your club’s culture more than any policy or promotion ever will.

    In 2022, I walked the Gettysburg battlefields with my REX Roundtable. The leadership decisions made there—some bold, some delayed—shaped history. The lesson? Not making a decision is a decision.

    Here’s a simple 3-step filter for big calls:

    1. What’s the upside if it works?
    2. What’s the downside if it bombs?
    3. Can I live with the downside—really?

    Protecting culture might cost you in the short term—but it pays dividends in loyalty and legacy.

    Jeff Bezos sums it up best:

    “If the decision is reversible, go fast. If it’s hard to reverse, pump the brakes.”