The Gym Owners' Manual

You work hard to get new members through the door, and what keeps them coming back is often different from what you’d expect. This episode looks at what really drives retention, from the culture your team creates to the friendships members make, plus simple ways to find out what your own members value.You’ll learn:What really keeps customers coming back, and why owners often get it wrongHow presence and attitude make members feel welcome and valuedHow to spread coaching time fairly so new members don’t feel left outWhy leading by example shapes your team’s cultureWays to help members make friends, from social events to team classesHow to introduce new members to the class and get your regulars involvedWhy the day-to-day class experience can matter more than the programmingHow to ask members what you’re doing well, and track attendance with challengesWhether you’re losing new members after a few weeks or want to strengthen the community you’ve built, you’ll leave with practical ideas to try this week.New episodes weekly.

Your phone is buzzing before you’ve had a coffee, and the day already belongs to someone else. This episode shows you how to stop firefighting and start working to your own agenda, from setting a reply time to keeping work messages out of your evenings.You’ll learn:How to set a reply time that works for you, such as within 24 hoursWhat to say to members and coaches who want an answer right nowWhat context switching is and why every interruption costs more than the reply itselfWhich notifications to turn off so your phone stops hijacking your dayHow to block out time for focused work and protect your best hoursWhere to put low-value admin so it doesn’t take over your morningHow to keep gym messages separate from your personal life, including setting a switch-off timeHow to decide what counts as urgent and share it with your teamWhether you’re a new gym owner answering every message the second it arrives or an experienced one who’s tired of living on other people’s agendas, you’ll leave with practical steps to take back control of your day.New episodes weekly.

Standing in front of a keen visitor and hearing “but...” at the last minute is frustrating, and it’s usually avoidable. This episode works through the 10 objections gym owners hear most, with calm, practical answers for each one, so you can turn more last-minute hesitations into sign-ups.You’ll learn:How to answer “it’s too expensive” with a value reframeWhat to say when someone asks for a discountHow to handle “I need to think about it”, including how to use a back pocket offerWhat to do when someone needs to speak to their partner firstHow to respond to “I don’t have time” and “I’ll start next month”How to reassure people who’ve joined a gym before and never used itWhat to say to people who feel too unfit, too old or worried about getting bulkyHow to practise your answers with your team so they feel naturalWhether you’re new to selling or have run consultations for years, you’ll leave with ten answers you can tailor to your gym and use in your next consultation.New episodes weekly.

Someone walks in and asks how much a membership costs. What you say next can decide whether they join or walk to the next gym. This episode shows you how to run a sales consultation, from the first hello to asking for the sale, with role plays that show the difference between a rushed pitch and a conversation that builds trust.You’ll learn:Why a consultative approach converts better and keeps members around longerHow to greet visitors and stay in control of the conversation when they ask about priceHow to set up your space and run a needs analysis that makes people feel like guestsThe questions to ask about goals, schedule and support at homeWhy repeating back what you heard builds trustHow to give a gym tour tailored to what the visitor told youHow to present two matching options, and why too much choice stops people decidingHow to ask for the sale with an assumptive close, then practise and review the sales you loseWhether you’re a new gym owner who finds selling intimidating or an established coach looking to lift your conversion rate, you’ll leave with a step-by-step process you can practise with your team and start using this week.New episodes weekly.

Gym ads take either a lot of time or a lot of money, and most gym owners don’t have much of either. In this episode, we cover where to run them, what to plan before you spend a penny, and the numbers you can realistically expect.You’ll learn:Why Meta is the easiest place for most gyms to start with adsThe difference between high-intent channels like Google and AI tools, and low-intent channels like Facebook and InstagramWhy your creative gets half a second to grab attention, and why you need to rotate it regularlyThe four things to plan before you spend: budget, creative, tracking and what happens after the clickWhether to call every lead or send them to your website to self-serveWhat £10 (about $15) a day can realistically get you, and the conversion rates to expectHow to work out your cost per acquisition and what it means for your profitWhat pushes your costs up or down, from your area and the time of year to the day of the week and the time of dayWe also introduce WodBoard Ads, a new done-for-you ads service that takes the time and the cost out of running them.Whether you’re already running ads or haven’t started yet, you’ll come away knowing what to plan for and what a new member really costs you.New episodes weekly.

In month one, you remember every person who walks through your door. By month six, leads are slipping through the cracks and you don't even know it. In this episode, we break down how to build a sales funnel that shows you where every lead is, what happens next, and where you're losing people.You'll learn:Why you can't keep your leads in your head, and what it costs you when you tryWhat a sales funnel actually looks like, and how to picture it as columns on a whiteboardThe typical funnel stages for a gym, from first enquiry to paying memberHow to progress from a whiteboard to a spreadsheet to a CRM as you growSimple ways to capture walk-ins, like a QR code or a guest bookWhat to send at each stage: a phone-first reply to enquiries, SMS reminders, a light-hearted message for no-shows, and a next-steps email after sign-upHow to nurture the "not right now" leads over the long termWhy a "no" is better than a ghost, and how to follow up 3 to 5 times at different times of dayPlus, the numbers worth tracking, including show-up rate and free versus paid trials, and what it takes to lift your conversion rate from 20% to 30%.Whether you're running your first gym or your fifth, a simple funnel means no lead gets forgotten and every enquiry gets a proper follow-up.New episodes weekly.

Loads of inquiries but hardly any of them turning into paying members? Or the opposite: barely any inquiries, but nearly everyone who reaches out signs up? In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry pull sales and marketing apart and show gym owners exactly how to measure and improve both.You'll learn:The one-line test for telling sales and marketing apart: everything up to the point someone inquires is marketing, everything from inquiry to payment is salesReal-world marketing examples gyms are already using, from signs and QR-code referrals to run clubs, local sponsorship, and community events, including a shout-out to Paisley's PAC Performance and their matching-t-shirt run clubWhy an old marketing rule (half of what you spend is wasted, you just don't know which half) still holds up, and how to measure what you can instead of guessingGeorge's real experiment from his first business: turning Facebook ads off and on for a month to find out why almost nobody credits ads when asked how they found the gymWhy ad effectiveness fades over time, and what that means for planning a year-round marketing calendar instead of scrambling for ideas each monthSales ranked in order of effectiveness, from in-person consultations and gym tours down to phone calls, messaging, and self-serve website sign-upsWhy the coach isn't always the right person to sell memberships, and how to build a simple, consultative sales process using a needs analysisThe only two metrics you need for sales and marketing (number of inquiries, and percentage of inquiries that convert) and how to use them to spot exactly where your weakest link isWhether you're bringing in plenty of inquiries but struggling to close them, or converting almost everyone who reaches out but can't get enough people through the door in the first place, this episode gives you a simple framework for diagnosing and fixing whichever side needs the work.New episodes weekly.

What gets measured gets managed, but only if you're measuring the right things. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry explain why the numbers behind your gym matter more than the likes on your latest post, and work through every metric a gym owner should actually be tracking.You'll learn:Why "what gets measured gets managed" is one of the most powerful tools a gym owner has, and the vanity-metric trap (like social media likes) that can quietly derail itWhy customer numbers are trickier than they sound, and how to lock down a tight definition of a "customer" before it skews everything downstreamHow splitting your customer count into joiners and leavers reveals whether you've actually got a retention problem or a sales and marketing problem, even when your headline number is growingWhy tracking member activity (average sessions per week, or simple active, semi-active, and non-active bands) gives you an early warning sign of who's about to churnHow to calculate average revenue per customer, why it matters for forecasting and pricing decisions, and the one thing that can silently distort itWhy average membership length (around 18 months for a typical class-based gym) is one of the best measures of how "sticky" your gym really isWhy profit and take-home pay is the metric that matters most to many owners, why it usually lives with your accountant rather than your gym software, and why it's rarely a smooth lineA simple system for putting metrics into practice: reviewing them as a team the moment the month closes, and changing one thing at a time rather than overhauling everything at onceIf you've ever had a gut feeling about how your gym is doing, this episode gives you the numbers to back it up, and a straightforward system for turning them into action without overwhelming your team.New episodes weekly.

It's always easier to keep an existing member than to go out and find a new one, but most gyms only ever speak to members in passing, between reps or on the way out the door. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry break down how a proper member check-in, done consistently, becomes one of the simplest retention tools a gym has.You'll learn:Why new members and long-term members need completely different check-in conversations, and what each group is actually looking forHow to structure a check-in call: 10-15 minutes, phone or in person, in a dedicated and confidential slot rather than a rushed chat after classA simple drip-feed education plan for new members (five to ten topics, sent out before their first call) that gives you a natural way into the conversationWhy open questions beat closed ones every time, and the exact phrasing that opens a conversation up instead of shutting it downHow to reframe long-term members' progress using their own starting point, and the psychological trap (sometimes called "progression amnesia") that stops experienced athletes from noticing how far they've comeHow often to actually run these calls: the two-week and three-month checkpoints for new members, versus a few times a year for long-term membersHow to use check-ins as a trend-spotting tool across your whole membership, and why the real reason someone joined your gym is rarely the reason they say out loudSimple ways to manage the logistics without expensive software: a spreadsheet system that tracks who's due a check-in and whenWhether you're trying to stop new members quietly disappearing in their first month, or keep long-term members engaged for years, this episode gives you a practical, repeatable system for checking in that doesn't take over your week.New episodes weekly.

The gym owners who retain members longest aren't the ones with the flashiest kit or the biggest space. They're the ones who get people into the habit of just turning up. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry break down how to turn consistency itself into a retention tool, using a feature WodBoard calls the Consistency Club.You'll learn:Why the most consistent athletes are almost always the ones who stick around longest, and how to help new members build that habit before they drop offHow to set up a Consistency Club based on attendance (not bookings), with monthly targets tailored to each membership typeThe gamification tricks that actually work: levels, colours, streaks, and lifetime milestones like 100, 250, or 500 classesWhy hidden levels for new members (so they don't see an "unachievable" target) make early consistency feel achievable instead of scaryThe story behind WodBoard's infamous "red bar of shame," and why members hated it enough to email in complaints, and why that reaction matteredReal-world ways to reward consistency beyond the app: shout-outs, prizes, badges, discounts, and one gym's annual red carpet Christmas event for their most consistent membersWhy keeping members' attendance history matters more than most gyms realise, especially when they're switching softwareWhether you're trying to get January's new faces past their mid-February drop-off point, or keep your long-term members engaged for years, this episode gives you a practical way to make consistency the thing people show up for.New episodes weekly.