It’s not an uncommon story.

His trainer planned his exit for months.  He had been using the gym’s resources to help give his business a jump start.

He built a website, recruited a couple other trainers at the gym, let all of his closest clients know, started taking clients on the side for cash only, and a lot of other shady things.

Now Jake wants to sue the hell out of his ex-trainer.

While some gym owners have been successful in this approach, most have simply spent way too much money and time fighting this uphill battle.

As s a business owner, and a victim of this myself, I can’t think of a worse feeling than the moment you realize someone you trust is doing things behind your back…then purposely trying to hurt your business in the process.

Where is the respect?  You give them their start…you build up their clientele…you trusted them…and they ruin it all. It’s a horrible feeling.

Two things normally happen.  First you want to seek revenge.  The second thing that happens is that you start looking at your other employees and start distrusting them as well!

While these feelings are natural, I advised Jake to allow himself to breathe for a moment and think about the reality of the situation.

I told him his first action should be to focus on stabilizing the business.  Contact and keep as many of the trainer’s clients as he can.  Then focus on the ones who already left to go with the trainer.

There is such a small window of time to make all clients and other trainers feel comfortable about the big transition.  By beginning that transition with a lawsuit could position YOU as the bad guy.  And don’t start bashing the trainer or getting into a pissing match.  The only thing that is certain to happen is that you’ll both be covered in piss.

The best revenge you as a gym owner could get is to limit the amount of losses the trainer is trying to create for you, thus cutting off his supply of clients.

Then he can consider a lawsuit.  Jake is cash flow positive, so chances are good that he can outlast the trainer in court.  But you never know just how much you’re going to have to spend in court.

In most cases that I’m aware of, when a gym owner sues the former trainer, and they have a solid non-compete in place, the gym owner will win the case.

BUT…by winning they have also cost themselves a lot of revenue.  They’ve taken attention away from the gym.  They’ve wasted loads of time and they have created even more negative energy around the gym.

You may actually have started your business by first being a trainer who took clients and started your own thing.  Now that you’re a business owner, it scares the hell out of you doesn’t it.  Funny how things come full circle

And if you’re a trainer considering doing this…don’t.  It’s perfectly fine if you feel you’re destined for bigger and better than what your gym is providing you.  But integrity is the only thing you have 100% control over.  Lose it once, it’s gone forever. It’s better to have a surplus of savings, then build your business from scratch.

And you never know, if you do it the right way, communicate openly with the gym owner, and don’t directly compete with the gym, he/she might even be willing to help you get started.

No matter what Jake decides to do, he will need to take a long look at his own management style.  He has to take some responsibility for letting himself and his business allow the trainer to put him in this position.

It’s his job to make sure that clients and members are loyal to the gym and not only to the trainer.  They need to inspect what they expect and make sure the clients are receiving a high level of customer service from not only the trainer but from the gym as well.

If the trainers are the clients’ only contact with the gym, that could become a problem.  You as the owner or manager need to touch base with clients on a regular basis as well.

The clients need to know that the gym is looking out for them and that the trainer’s system is in fact the gym’s system.

Had Jake done that, he would have found out much sooner what the trainer was up to and he could have minimized the damage caused when he left the gym.

He can’t go back now and change the past, but at least he can avoid repeating it by taking a few precautionary steps with current and future trainers and clients.

And one last note…if you still have trainers as contractors…you have to make the switch.  They need to be employees and they need to follow your systems and your programming.  Period.

Perhaps you believe you’ll never sell your gym. That’s perfectly fine. But what I’ve figured out is that if you run your business AS IF it were for sale, and you look at it through the eyes of a potential buyer…your business will be better for it because you’ll identify issues, you’ll fix those issues, and your business will improve.

There’s an old saying “It’s easier to clean your house once you know you are going to have guests”.

When you’re trying to sell your business, the same cliche applies. Everything gets cleaned, you paint the walls, you right your wrongs and make sure the gym looks it’s best both aesthetically and financially.

So by positioning your business today to operate as if it were for sale, you’ll not only sell it for more when it does come time to sell, but you’ll also make a lot more yourself between now and then!

The key to selling anything is to make it easy for someone to buy. This is especially true when it comes to a fitness business. There are certain things that have an enormous impact upon the eventual price you would like to receive AND the revenues you want to generate between now and then.

Focus on Solid Accounting and Know Your Numbers

Ask any health club broker and they will tell you that a gym with incredibly clean and well-organized books and business records will get the most interest, regardless of asking price, type of gym, etc.

Additionally, good record keeping has been shown to get a business sold for much closer to the asking price than if it has sloppy records. And you will sell in a shorter time frame as well because it makes it easy for a buyer to get a true view of your business.

One of my industry friends is looking to sell his gym. He tried to get a valuation on it and he was told that his records are not organized enough to get a solid grasp on what the business is even worth!  If a broker tells you that, do you think a prospective buyer would be interested for long??  Nope.

In fact, many near-deals fall apart due to poor book keeping and cloudy numbers. A buyer won’t take your word for it, but they will believe the numbers and they will be impressed that they’re buying a business that is run like a business.  Too many gyms, and businesses in general, are run more like it is a hobby.  If you want a real business with real profits and a real chance of eventually being sold for top dollar, run it like a real business.

I hate how much I have to pay my accountant; I can certainly think of more fun ways to spend that money.  But by paying an accountant to keep accurate books, I always know where my business stands, and I can make better decisions to improve those numbers.  I’m certainly not looking to sell my business, but I have found that knowing my numbers helps me improve those numbers.

You gotta know where you are before you can get where you wanna be!

Solid book keeping will allow you to also have a solid grasp on your own cash flow and give you a much better vision for analyzing expenses, payroll, profit centers, and any other financial activity at your gym.

What Happens if  YOU Can’t do it Anymore? 

You either need to have a manager or managers who know how to do everything in your absence. If that isn’t a possibility right now, then you absolutely MUST have solid completion plans created.

My assistant Trudi hears the words “completion plan” nearly every day. When she does anything new, she is to create a completion plan for it. That way if she is out sick or on vacation, someone can step up and do her job by simply following the detailed plans she creates.

She simply outlines Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, etc for every task she ever completes. If she’s gone, but payroll needs processing, I can pull up her payroll completion plan and know exactly who gets paid, how much they get paid, where to send the check, etc. She does this for every task in the business.

If you don’t have this in place for everything you do, what happens if you’re sick, or you’re on vacation, or your manager is sick or on vacation, or if you fire someone, or if you’re in the hospital? (I’m knocking on wood now)

If you have someone who can pick up the slack, or detailed completion plans for someone to follow, your business will be okay. If you don’t, your business will struggle.

And most importantly for the purpose of this article, if you have these completion plans created, or a highly trained staff in place, and you sell your gym…it will be much easier for a new owner to pick up where you left off. This will be a huge selling point for your buyers.

And if you end up offering owner-financing as part of the arrangement (typical in today’s economy), you too will be hurt if it’s not easy for the new owner to implement the systems efficiently.

Tsk Tsk – Unreported Income

We’ve all been in the situation before. Cash deals, PIF’s…hmmmm….it won’t hurt anything to NOT report this to the IRS. Will it?

Or what about all those “business dinners” on your business credit card…or the big screen TV that is in your living room, but you claim it was for the gym.

It happens…but you need to understand that you may only be cheating yourself in the long run.

For every dollar you keep hidden, you’re probably saving 30 cents on taxes, right?  So if you’re not reporting say, 50k per year each year for 5 years, you’ve saved yourself $75k.

But if you would have reported that same 75k instead of stowing it away or not reporting it, the total will be added to the valuation of your business. You have to remember that your business will sell typically at a 2-3 multiple.  Which means that 75k you saved from the IRS would actually be worth 150k-225k in increased valuation to a would-be buyer.

Not to mention that if you were to keep that revenue IN the business, you could use it for additional marketing and staff and other things that will lead to increased revenue, far beyond the amount you hid in the first place.

Plus, it is so frustrating for a new owner to uncover all of your secrets and find out that you lack integrity (bad news spreads quickly).  At the end of the day, integrity is everything. Plus, Karma is a bitch. If you do the right thing, every time, you will be rewarded. Do the wrong thing knowingly, and karma will get you.  Don’t blame me, blame the Universe.

Now let’s assume you really are entertaining the idea of selling your gym. You’ve pictured yourself as a buyer and you’ve fixed all of the problems above.

How do You Sell Your Gym and for How Much?

First of all, don’t try to do the valuation yourself. Secondly, don’t have your accountant do it. Bottom line, you both would try to value it at the highest possible price, then you’ll be upset when it doesn’t sell.

Selling a gym is not like selling a house. Just because a similar gym across town or in the next town over sold for X amount doesn’t mean that yours is worth the same. Yours could be much higher or much lower depending on a variety of factors. It is much more than just revenues and net profit for a fitness business. It is future receivables, a competent staff, profit centers, upward potential, equipment and other assets, real estate, your location, member attrition, lifetime value of clients, your lease, historical trends, and much more.

If you own a gym with revenues exceeding ten million per year, you’d be best off to get a business “appraiser” to do your valuation. If your revenues are less than that, a business “broker” will do just fine.  Health club broker Todd Lipton is a great place to start.

NOTE:  Don’t use a real estate broker for your valuation. They typically only know how to valuate and sell buildings, not businesses.

If you do own the real estate, you can have a real estate broker valuate the building and land, but you still need a business broker to valuate and sell the business. A business broker wants more commission, but typically the commission can be built into the selling price of your gym.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re planning to sell your fitness business now, in the future, or never. The fact is that if you operate your business as if it were for sale now, you’ll earn more money now.  And of course you will be able to sell faster, and for closer to your asking price when the day does come for you to sell.

They make our lives easier…and they also waste a heckuva lot of time. I polled a group of gym owners to find out what apps they couldn’t live without. Of all of the hundreds of thousands of Apps now available on Apple, Android, Microsoft, and others, this seems like a pretty solid list of must-have apps for your smartphone.

Evernote – My favorite tool in the whole world. I’ve been using Evernote for probably 4 years and I will likely never stop.  For people with ADD (guilty!) or people who need a place to brain dump, welcome to Evernote. It’s like a junk drawer for your brain. You never have to remember anything again. For example, in my evernote app I have notes ranging from Christmas presents I think of throughout the year for friends/family, books I want to read, new business ideas, favorite quotes, songs to download, my dress shirt size (I always forget!), the key code to override my Harley’s alarm system, the best happy hours I’ve found in San Diego, my Skymiles number…and hundreds of other things I don’t want to use my memory for. Best…App…Ever…

Around Me – Though the Yelp App does a good job of finding things I’m looking for in my vicinity, Around me was the original App I used for this and I still use it a few times a week. If I want to find the nearest sushi spot or gas station or hospital or parking garage, this is the App I go to. It’s quick and it syncs seamlessly with Google Maps.

Dropbox – I can’t say enough good things about Dropbox. We use it every day in our businesses. Though I use it 90% of the time on my computer, the fact that I can have all of my information sync with my iPad and iPhone when I’m on the go is amazing. In a nutshell, dropbox is a folder that looks like any other folder on your computer, but it syncs in the clouds so that whatever you put in that folder syncs with your other devices. AND syncs with the computer or smartphone or tablet of specific staff members. I have certain subfolders in my dropbox folder that are shared with my assistant, others that are shared with business coaches, others shared with affiliates, and some shared with friends as an easy way to exchange pictures from events. (By the way, If you don’t already have Dropbox, get it at this link. http://db.tt/siTI23il  They’re doing a promotion where YOU get an extra 500mb of bonus space when using that link, and so do I !)

Google Voice – Too many people have my primary mobile number. So when I post an ad on Craigslist or I sign up for a new service, I use my Google Voice number. It is impossible for me to part with my Mizzou phone number, so I have a Google voice number that is local to San Diego that works exactly the same and I can answer on the same device. Not to mention when I travel, I can call back to the U.S. for less than 10 cents per minute from most countries using my Google Voice account.

Priority Matrix – I was pleasantly surprised by this app. Instead of simply listing what you have to do, this app can separate it by project. Not only that, the app separates your tasks into quadrants such as: Do NOW, Start planning, High distraction tasks, and Uncategorized. Or: Critical and Immediate, Critical but not immediate, Not critical but immediate, and Not critical and not immediate. Instead of one giant list, this further separates so you know what deserves your attention. Currently I’m using the built in “Reminders” App on the iPhone, but I might have to switch to this app once I get the hang of it.

Workout Muse – This App was developed by my buddy BJ Gaddour. Hundreds, and probably even thousands of fit pros use this App to build custom interval training workout mixes. This is PERFECT for your bootcamps.

Yelp – Though you may hate Yelp for causing Groupon to reject your Deal of the Day bid, it is still a really useful App for finding things in your city. And more importantly, read a few reviews before you make a mistake. I’m still hurting from that Mexican restaurant from this weekend. Should have checked with Yelp.

Facebook – Duh.

LastPass or 1Password – Instead of trying to remember all of your passwords to all of the websites you visit, these apps remember them for you and keep your information safe from would be hackers. I’ve had 1password on my computer for a couple years and I can’t live without it. I haven’t picked it up yet on my phone since most of the websites I log into I don’t visit on my phone but Frank Emanuel said he can’t live without it.

MassText – Instead of having to select your boot campers record in your phone one by one or contact a certain group of friends, etc, add them all to a group in this simple app and text them all at the same time. I know the iPhone has the ability to program contacts into a particular group, but it’s tedious and this app simplifies it.

Kindle - I got tired of transporting a dozen boxes of books every time I move, so a couple years ago I consolidated almost all of my books onto Kindle. But I end up reading most books from my iPhone or my iPad instead of the Kindle device. The app keeps all devices synced to the last spot you stopped reading, regardless of device.

My Fitness Pal Calorie Counter – Cal Shoemake let me know about this one. It is mind boggling how many foods they have listed in this calorie tracking app. Mung beans…check. McRib…check. Monster Low Cal Energy Drink…check. (What the heck is a Mung bean?) If you’re looking for a solid app for your clients to track what they eat when they’re away from you, this looks like a good one.

Postcard on the Run – What a fun little app! Pat Rigsby showed me this one. You can take a pic while you’re on vacation, type in an address you want to send it to and a message you want to add for the recipient, and for less than two dollars, the makers of this app will take that photo, turn it into a postcard, and will send it to your specified recipient with the message on it. Very very cool.

Astrid – I’m always testing different productivity apps (there are hundreds), but Shane Mouton shared this one with me and it’s already among my favorites. I haven’t been able to test all of the features, but it appears this app goes well beyond your basic to-do list apps.

Qrafter – Craig Galloway and I agree on this one. This is the easiest and most intuitive QR Code reader in the App Market. I still prefer to create my QR Codes at the website www.youscan.me, but Qrafter can create simple ones for you on the fly as well.

GPS Drive – I’ve tried three GPS apps and this one has been the best. It’s only $10 for the year and it works better and more consistently than my Garmin. And it’s always in my pocket which gives it a clear advantage as well. If I ride the motorcycle and happen to get lost, I can pull over and within a minute will know how to get to my destination.

And some fun Apps (aka…time suckers) 

Some of my favorite games include Scrabble and Words With Friends, Angry Birds, Fling, Fragger, Cover Orange, Euchre, Draw Some, and Word Warp.

Pandora – The best music app. Period.

Fat Booth, Bald Booth, and Aging Booth – Seriously…download these and you’ll be the life of the party. Many tears have been shed from laughing so hard at seeing my mother fat and bald.

Cell Tracker – This App is great. You tell someone you downloaded an app that can locate exactly where anyone is based on only their phone number. They don’t believe you so you prove it to them. You type in their phone number and the “satellite” goes to work identifying their location. The look on their face is priceless when the app shows them exactly where they are. It takes some people just a minute to realize that it’s actually YOUR phone that it has found. Some people never catch on. A great app to show your kids so they don’t think of sneaking off to do something they shouldn’t be doing.

ESPN – I knew that when I cancelled the cable service a while back that I would miss ESPN. The ESPN news app helps me stay on top of the most important stories. That way I don’t get surprised when my friends tell me Peyton Manning is a Bronco or that Tiger Woods choked again.

SIRI – I saved the best for last. SIRI is quite literally my new best friend. In fact I have her programmed to call me “Super Awesome Handsome Man”. I can get her to do anything for me. It was totally worth the upgrade from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4s. Eat your hearts out Android users.

Do you have some favorite Apps that I left out.  Please let everyone know below!  

-Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

I couldn’t agree more with ole Rick.  Time is so important that I’ve come up with a 3-step process to ruthlessly protect the time I have.  I use a system I call Eliminate, Automate, or Delegate.

Make a List
You can start this process by making a list of all the tasks you are responsible for.  I want you to include EVERYTHING, from simple blog posting to the more involved payroll or staff training.

Eliminate
Once you have your list, I want you to go through your list and determine if there is anything you can eliminate.  If you can, do it.  If a task is for the most part unnecessary or it costs more than it makes you, get rid of it.

For example, if you’re still posting to your gym’s Myspace page…I feel pretty certain you can eliminate that task.  If running a childcare program at your gym is costing you more money than it’s making you, eliminate it.  If the running club you organized only has two people show up to meetings, eliminate it.

Automate
Then of your remaining tasks, you decide which can be automated.  If you determine that something needs to be done, and that it can be automated, do it.  Even if you ultimately end up needing to delegate it, you can streamline a lot of the process by automating as much as you can.

For example, if you are coming to open the gym in the morning, or paying someone else to do it, you should consider setting up a security system that automatically unlocks in the morning and allows your early members to use keycards to access the facility.  If you are manually sending a personal email to anyone who joins your gym, you should set up an email auto responder to do it for you.  If you are handling bottles of water behind the counter, consider setting up a vending machine.

If you are forwarding leads from your website to your sales team, automate it so it forwards to both of you.  If you’re having to write down your schedule for your staff, you can simply share your Google calendar with them.  If you find you’re having to train a new front desk staff or salesperson every month, record a video training and have them watch that first.  Do it once, then automate the process.

Delegate
Once you’ve figured out what you can eliminate, then you’ve automated everything you can, it’s time to delegate.

The thing to remember about delegation is that the person you delegate a task to will NEVER do it as well as you would.  But you have to get over this concern.  My rule of thumb is that as long as they can do 70% as well as I would, it’s fine.

Because if I delegate 4 tasks that each normally take me one hour a week to do, I just freed up 16 hours a month to focus on more profit generating activities, to work on tasks that I actually enjoy, or to simply spend with friends or hanging with my dog MJ or doing something else I love to do.  Remember the point of this is to free up some time to enjoy your life!

Keep in mind that if there is something that you just hate to do, delegate it.  Even if it’s a complicated process, you can take the time to train someone to do it for you so you don’t have the stress of doing it.  For example, you know you should be writing blog posts and sending a newsletter.  But if you hate to write, this is probably never getting done.  Better to delegate someone with some writing skills to do this.  Maybe you hate Facebook.  Delegate status updates and Fan page additions to your front desk.

If you’re still doing your own payroll or accounting or taxes…stop it right now!  Outsource it immediately.  The small amount you’ll pay more than takes care of itself by the reduced stress in your life.  If you are trying to update your own website, find an outsourced website designer to take care of it.  If you’re still teaching class at 5:00am and hate it, have someone else do it.  Trust me, it’s worth the $20 you’d pay someone else to do it so you can sleep in or drink that extra cup of coffee or read the newspaper before you come in after the sun rises.

So remember the three things, in this order.  Eliminate if it’s unnecessary and/or you hate doing it.  Automate if it’s a necessary task that can be streamlined.  Delegate it if you can’t automate entirely and have someone else handle it for you.

My guess is that if you make your big list of tasks, you should be able to eliminate, automate, or delegate nearly half of everything on it.

Life is way to short to try to do everything yourself.  On your dying day, I guarantee you won’t be saying “I sure wish I would have spent more time working”.

Curtis

Do you like the system?  Do you have a system of your own?  Let me and others know by leaving a comment below!

This promotion assumes you have massage or some type of spa treatment at your facility.  You could try this by bundling personal training along with it, but I don’t know many of our significant others who would appreciate “Happy Valentine’s Day…maybe you should go work out”

If you don’t have spa or massage or some other wellness related service, then skip to the bottom of this blog post for an idea on how you can still pull this off….PLUS a cool bonus gift you can give to your clients that they will LOVE.

This is a simple, low cost strategy that can be marketed to your current patient list via email, a letter mail out, or flyers/handouts/signs at your facility

Here is what you offer as your Valentines Day Package:

A 45 Minute Massage and a Bouquet of flowers that is delivered to recipients door on Valentines Day, complete with a custom card, and gift card for other services at your facility.

Who wouldn’t love a massage treatment and flowers delivered to their door?  And best of all, you’re saving your member the time and trouble of going out and doing the shopping themselves.  (Now that I have all of the mens attention)

What You Need:

Find a local florist that offers delivery on Valentines Day with minimal or low cost, that can supply bouquet of flowers and let you add a custom letter or gift card to the bouquet. Get your clients and members to pre-order this with you, so that you can provide the florist with all of the orders at once, along with your customized cards and giftcards.

Many will even offer you a special rate (yes, even on Valentine’s day) because you’ll be sending them traffic that they didn’t have to spend marketing dollars on, making the bottom line profit the same.

The Pricing:

For the Valentines Day Bouquet and Massage package, go for a price point around $129.  Your market, may be slightly higher or lower. Remember, the customer that is buying this is also buying for the convenience of them not having to go shopping for V-Day.  You can also sweeten the pot by offering the purchaser a free 30 minute PT session or a $25 gift card for themselves.

The Upsell:

This is where you can make some extra money.  You’re certainly not going to make bank off of $129.  Even if you do sell 50 of these, the cost of flowers, your time, and the actual cost of the massage you’re not looking at much margin.  You should have plenty of upsells and downsells you already use daily, so you’ll just follow that same strategy.  Adam and Taylor have had success with upsells such as:

• An extra 30 Minutes of Massage for an additional $2
• A Facial for $17 An Acupuncture Treatment for $47
• An Accupuncture Treatment for $47
• A Chiropractic Exam For $57

If you can reach their same magic number of 50 units sold, you’ll get some good immediate cash, you’ll get some solid upsell revenue…and even more importantly, you’re positioning yourself as indispensable to your members and clients by going above and beyond to make their lives better and easier.  AND when you get their significant others into the gym you have the opportunity to sell them fitness as well!

What if you don’t have spa, massage, or wellness offerings?

Well first, you can always partner with a massage therapist and get them to give you a killer deal on 45-minute massages.  They may even provide them to you for free just so they can have access to some of your members with expendable income to experience their services.  Then pick up the giftcards or certificates from them before you contact the florist.

         >>>>COOL BONUS IDEA TO GIVE YOUR BEST CLIENTS<<<<

This is probably best for your boot campers, training clients, or clients who spend more money with you…probably not for a general gym member necessarily because there is a bit of cost on your part.  So perhaps it’s best as a special reward for those who are willing to invest more in you.

Go to www.MagMyPic.com.  Some of you may remember this as one of my Killer Resources from Fit Biz TV where I put myself on the cover of a magazine.  My mother was very proud of this.

Right now they have some Valentine’s day themes you can create for your members.  Or put them on a funnier, non-VDay magazine.  The point is that for $2.65 they will print your member’s picture on the cover of the magazine and mail them a framed version!

How much fun would it be to present your clients a framed picture of them on the cover of:

•     Sexy Beast Magazine
•     Nerd of the Year Magazine
•     Muscle Magazine
•     Model Magazine
•     Sexy Magazine
•     Teen Diva Magazine
•     The Incredible Bulk Magazine
•     Power Team Magazine

They will love this, and they will love YOU for thinking of them!

Just go on your clients Facebook pages and download your favorite embarrassing picture of them and use it for a magazine cover.  $2.65 later and they’re getting a framed version of their own magazine.  Have them shipped to you so you can present it to them.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

Curtis

What is a QR Code?

QR stands for Quick Response, and it is essentially a barcode that you can place on all of your advertising that will send people to a destination of your choosing (Facebook page, Youtube video, your website, etc). Your prospect will need to have a smartphone and have downloaded a QR reader app.  Most smartphone users have a QR code app on their device.

Why Use QR Codes?

Last month alone, over 15 million U.S. mobile phone users scanned a QR code.  Most of the users were between the ages of 25 and 44 and a high percentage of these people earned over $100k/year.  Not only does your ideal target market use QR codes, they are also very easy to implement into your current marketing strategies.

As popular as QR codes are and how many businesses worldwide are using them, most fitness businesses have been reluctant to incorporate them into their marketing. Probably the main reason clubs haven’t adopted this strategy is simply lack of understanding of how it will benefit their business.

How to Create Your QR Code

You can simply do a Google search on your computer for “QR code generator”.  My favorite, and the one that created the QR code within this post, can be found at www.youscan.me.  The code was created in less than 20 seconds.  It simply asks what you want to happen when someone scans your code.  Then it gives you a QR code you can download, print, email, add to your website, print ads, etc.

How to Scan a QR Code

Even if you’re not familiar yourself with how it works, the majority of your prospects do.  It doesn’t hurt for you to understand the process though. Grab your smart phone right now.  If you have an iphone, download the free app “Qrafter”.  If you have an Android phone, download the free app “Zxing”.  If you have a Blackberry, download the free app “QR Scanner Pro”. If you have a Nokia, download the free app “Mbarcode”.  If you have something else, I assume it won’t be hard to search “QR Code” in your app store and you’ll find one you can use.

Now that you have the app loaded, open the app to the scanner and hold your phone up to the computer screen right now to scan the QR code to the right.  When you go to the URL, you’ll notice what pops up is a link to a Facebook Fan page.  Click the LIKE Button to see what happens.  What should happen is that you have successfully become a fan of this blog and the Fit Biz TV show (as long as you’re logged into Facebook).  You can do the exact same thing!

In addition to getting people to like your Facebook page, you could have the QR code link to a Google map to your facility, a video introduction of you and your services, your website, opt in forms to get a free report or your newsletter, a printable trial pass, a coupon or any number of things.

Here are some things to remember when using QR Codes

Try to incorporate them into all of your marketing, including both print and digital.  Put them on your website, your direct mail, your business cards, gift cards, fliers, brochures, in the window of your gym, on your vehicle, billboards, on t-shirts, and more.

Give people a reason to scan your QR code.  Offer a discount, a free trial pass, a free weight loss report, to enter a contest, to watch a video tour of your club, or anything else you would normally promote.

Also, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway…Make sure you test your QR code before you begin promoting it.  Make sure it is tested on all smartphones.

Even if you aren’t personally interested in QR codes, your prospects and members are.  It’s not about what you want; it’s about what your audience wants.

Follow these basic rules and you’ll be well on your way to maximizing the effectiveness of your QR code and driving new leads to your business with the latest technology.

Have you used QR Codes effectively?  Do you have any questions?  Be sure to let me know below…

Offering discounts to family members has been common practice throughout the history of the fitness industry.  Nearly all gyms offer a discount for additional family members, but it is very important to determine just how much of a discount to offer.

They use the giftcards from www.fitnessgiftcards.com like crazy in their business, claiming that the cards have singlehandedly been the key to their success (true story). Well for Halloween they attach their gift cards to fun size bags of candy and provide candy to their bootcampers and members to distribute at their homes for trick-or-treaters!

They’ll announce over the weekend for their members to save their money and instead of buying their own candy, they tell them to stop by the gym to pick up candy they’ve already purchased for them to give to the kids.  Each bag of candy has attached to it a giftcard to their gym.

Not only do the kids get their candy, parents get something!  How memorable will you be when someone actually thinks of the parents at Halloween.  I think it’s a fantastic idea and I love the creativity they’re using with the cards.

Here is a picture of their surplus they’re giving to members….Happy Halloween!

I want to begin by saying that there is no “perfect” tour.  However, based on my experience, here are some tips that will give you the greatest opportunity to close more sales.

First of all, the tour strategies mentioned below require a proper tour setup, consisting of a strong greeting and prequalification.  Your greeting should make the prospect feel that they are the most important person in the world at that moment.  In addition, a prequalification form should be used every time, without exception.  By filling out a prequalification form, not only will it help provide you ammunition to overcome any objections they have, it also allows you some conversation points to get them to know you, like you, and trust you.

I like to start each tour by letting the prospect know that when the tour is finished, you have a special opportunity for them.  This lets them know that you will be asking them to join today, eliminating any surprise when you do.

Don’t give the same tour to every prospect.  Based on their prequalification form, you’ll know what interests them the most.  If they say they’re interested in getting stronger, don’t start by showing them the cardio equipment.  If they say they’re interested in classed, don’t take them to the free weights.  Every tour should start in the area in which they will be most interested.  If you don’t, they won’t be able to focus on the other great aspects of your facility because they’ll be waiting to see the amenities they are looking for most.

Ask a lot of questions that stimulate a YES response.  Questions like “It’s a nice facility isn’t it?”, and “We have lots of classes, don’t we?”, and “I assume your spouse supports your decision to improve your health?”.  The idea is to get them to say yes as many times as possible so that you create a pattern of positive responses, causing them to say yes when you present prices as well.  Always remember that telling is not selling.  You need to stimulate the prospect’s thought process and get them to tell you the reasons they are at your facility.  If you tell them, it won’t influence their decision.  But when they decide for themselves and verbalize it to you, your chance of selling to them increases exponentially.

After you have finished touring the facility, you will ask one final commitment question, which will provide the perfect transition to the price presentation. This question will allow you to gain a final commitment that will remain fresh in their mind before you present prices.  Ask questions such as, “You’re going to like it here, don’t you think?”, or “You can picture yourself working out here, can’t you?”, or “The facility has everything you need to meet your goals doesn’t it?”

You want to make them feel as if they have already made a commitment to a membership. If they do have any concerns or questions, pause on the floor and address all questions before presenting prices. Once all objections are satisfied, ask them to have a seat so you can help them decide which membership option is best for them.

The tour is typically the area where a sale is won or lost. By controlling the conversation and asking a series of questions, your tour can easily take half an hour. No matter the size of your facility, a tour should never take less than 10 minutes. They have likely toured other facilities, so make sure your tour is the most memorable. They need to feel that your club is the answer to all of their problems.

Remember, there is no perfect tour process, but if you implement these strategies and are genuine in your approach, you will find that the sale will be made long before you present prices.