I was chatting to a mentee the other day. During the call, we uncovered a huge opportunity. Since the start of the year, there were over 60 casual visits into their facility who never turned up for a second session.
… But they weren’t ever followed up.
Not a check-in; not a follow-up offer… not a ‘here’s the next step’ call.
That is A LOT of interested prospects who did not get nurtured or cared for… despite them being a red-hot lead who actually turned up to try the gym out.
It seemed like a no-brainer to me to put an irresistible offer together for them… something so good they’d feel crazy saying no to.
Pro Tip: If you’re going to make an offer, it should always be a home run. Don’t waste your time with anything less. Hit it out of the park or don’t go up to bat.
Anyway, we put the offer together and said we’d reconvene in a weeks time. On our call on Friday, I asked how many of those 60+ prospects they’d had a phone conversation with.
“I don’t know” was my mentee’s response.
I was like, “what do you mean?”
He replied: “I’ve created a sales list for the team to call, but I haven’t got a report back yet.”
That’s when it dawned on me.
What was obvious to me was not obvious to him.
He thought that the appropriate thing to do was to delegate the responsibility to his staff… which is fair enough… I’m an advocate of delegation when done right.
But that was the wrong play in this case.
Because you never delegate a core function like sales to your staff (especially when they aren’t as experienced as you)…
UNLESS, you’re already rolling in cash and can afford more misses.
But most gym owners are not (yet) in a position to be burning leads while someone gets their reps in…
So in this case, it was on him to pick up the phone and start dialling… but he didn’t.
And that’s on ME, not him, because I should have never assumed that was obvious.
I have to take full responsibility for that, and I’ll never make that mistake again.
And that’s why I am writing this email.
As founders and business owners, the core functions of your business will always rest on your shoulders. The buck always stops with you.
Lead generation > nurturing > conversions > fulfilment > retention.
If things are going south in any of these areas, it’s up to us to take responsibility for their direction and turn it back around. Sure, you can enlist help, but never delegate and pass the buck.
Because you’ll get erratic results and your gym’s future deserves better than that.
Just thought I’d get this to you now while it’s on my mind.
– Karl Goodman
