Have you ever gotten to the end of May and realized you wanted to start a summer challenge or program? Then you think, “Oh shoot! Now there isn’t enough time!” Or have you gotten to the last week in September and then realized you were hoping to start a nutrition challenge in November? Whoops!
Do you have a plan for the rest of the year or even the next couple of months? Now is the time to plan for your clients’ summer goals! One of the ways our gym stays on track during the year is through planning. We use the months of January and February to determine the plan for the year. We do this across the three pillars of our service offerings: Nutrition, Personal Training, and Group Classes.
We always start with the big picture. We take a look at some of the big events of the year that are very specific to our group classes because they make up the majority of our membership. Then, we create nutrition-specific activities aligned with these big events. This year we have the Open occurring at two different times – once during February-March and once again in October. We also try to do a pre-summer activity to get ready for our adventures to the beach and post-summer activity with kids/parents going back to the school schedule. Then, we layer in some of the smaller events throughout the year. We also try to set-up a monthly or quarterly gathering for our community to meet outside of the gym that still involves nutrition education.
With the schedule in place, we can start to determine how to best support our members throughout the year and give our coaches a path towards creating opportunities for themselves. We plan our social media around these events both leading up to but also during and after. We determine our monthly or quarterly events to either complement or supplement what is coming up next. Finally, we meet and plan with our staff during team meetings and individual meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. This creates opportunities for them and us which supports you and the business.
One example of a specific event would be something pre-summer focused on getting beach or summer ready. We know as coaches we should have been focusing on this in January to be really successful and our 1-on-1 clients know this as well. Unfortunately, the rest of our clients may not understand it could take 12+ weeks to get where they want to be for the summer. Since we know people still want to be successful moving into the summer, we start writing content about taking action now to get ready, we post more about where they could be if they start, and we deliver program sign-up or suggestions to help them.
An example of a program could be a six, eight or twelve-week program that incorporates nutritional support along with some good old fashion bodybuilding movements done before or after class. Build out the program, explain the benefits, and then deliver to your clients using the backbone of your nutrition program from HSN Mentoring. This is a much better way to do it than the famous slimmer in 7 days workout plan.
So how can you get started planning ahead? Start by looking at the big picture view; determine the big events or moments in your client’s lives and determine how you can best support them. Then, figure out what they are looking for during those times of the year and support them with either 1-on-1 coaching, specialty programs, or events that could guide them in the upcoming parts of their lives. Now, figure out how you deliver your content by creating a schedule, plan to set-up goal setting sessions or athlete check-ins, and plan meetings with your staff so they are informed and capable of handling the next steps on their own.
Planning ahead allows us to increase our revenue generated from our nutrition program and subsequent programs by several thousand dollars a year and gives our coaches the space to thrive within the opportunities we develop by planning. Most of our nutrition program is focused around 1-on-1 coaching but we deliver many more services at our gym from the support of nutrition through additional services we can deliver. So what can you be doing right now to set yourself up to be ready for June?
Carl Balentyne
HSN Mentor
