On the Art of Engineering an Ask

Sometimes success lies in a simple question...

Business and life are both mysteriously complex, yet simple. One common simple truth I’ve found when it comes to both that solves most problems:

Know what you want. Be transparent and honest. Make the ask.

One amazing nugget of data I’ve uncovered recently:

Gyms that have more member engagement, have less membership churn. Thus, they generally have more reliable businesses that generate more revenue over time.

One of our clients was excelling in both churn and member engagement. Interesting enough, his member engagement was 2x the norm and his churn was 50% of the norm. Pretty convincing data.

I asked him how he did it:

“What do you do to have such excellent churn rates and member engagement compared to the rest of our clients?”

His answer was profoundly simple:

“I tell them during the sales process - if you don’t show up 4x a week, you won’t get the results you want. If you can’t commit to that, you are better off going to a self service gym where you won’t get the results for much less money”.

Know What You Want. Be Honest. Make The Ask

Know what you want. This gym owner wants long term members, who find value in the gym and refer their clients to join them.

Be transparent and honest. If someone can’t commit to coming, they won’t find success. Tell them this and allow them to make the choice.

Make the ask. Making a direct ask makes the other person know exactly what is at stake and what’s required of them.

Sometimes all of our biggest problems can be solved simply by following this framework.

How can you deploy this concept today?