Why Gym Check-Ins Are Your #1 Data Point
Why Gym Check-Ins Are Your #1 Data Point
Or: Thinking about your inputs to drive your desired outputs
At PushPress, our North Star Metric is our client’s check-ins. It forces us to focus on the value we’re delivering to not only our clients, but their clients.
Our mindset is if we help our clients win, we will automatically win in the long term.
Your business should similarly focus on value, not results.
Top Down and Bottom Up Thinking
There’s two ways you can approach building anything in life:
Top down or bottom up.
Top down approaches places the focus on the core problem(s) we are trying to solve.
Bottom up approaches puts the focus on the bottom most things that drive results in the direction we are seeking.
To simplify, think of things in terms of inputs and outputs.
The output is the end result to your business. The inputs are things we can leverage to drive outputs.
The Easiest Rule of Business
Let’s start with one simple concept as a rule of business.
Your business success will be predicated by your ability to serve your clients needs in a manner that exchanges their money for value provided to them.
Historically, businesses that win are those that prioritize (obsess over) the needs and values of their customers first.
Keep this in mind as we go on.
The Fallacy: Measuring Outputs In a Vacuum
Too many business owners, business coaches, investors and board rooms focus only on outputs.
How much money did we make?
What is the average revenue per client?
How long does someone remain a client until they quit?
Our minds are efficient problem solving machines. Whatever problem we feed it - it will solve.
Thus, starting with outputs as the problem, we digress quickly down the wrong problem solving path.
Top Down Problem Solving
Let’s walk thru how your mind will solve the top down problem:
How much money did we make?
Is it enough? Did we hit plan?
No… ok how can we make more money?
Let’s raise rates and change our product to attract more people at the higher rate.
To charge more we will need to…
The problem: Top down thinking is self-serving.
The end result has nothing to do with the organic needs of your customer base. It had everything to do with the needs of your business.
The Truth: Focus on Inputs
Focusing on inputs will produce a problem your mind can solve that is aligned with the needs of your clients. It makes you start with why.
Gym owners - this means your KPI’s should be centered around your client’s value, not your business results.
When you begin thinking in terms of inputs, everything will change in your business.
Focusing on inputs allows you to become fanatical about your clients. What do they want? What do they value? How do you get them the value faster?
Revenue, growth, retention and average client values - they will all become the result of your focused efforts - not the reason you are making decisions.
Check-Ins: Your North Star Metric
The simplest metric to measure your client value: Check-Ins.
Why? Because if people are showing up, they’re getting value. The reason each person might show up every day is personal and can differ - but the important part is they are showing up because they’re getting value.
Once you are tracking your check-ins you can start to dive deeper into the reasons people find value, and get deeper into the inputs.
Start asking your clients why they come to the gym and you will begin to the find the inputs you can refine your business around:
I come to the gym because I need the accountability
I come to the gym because I love my coach.
I come to the gym because I love the training style and want to learn more.
Measuring Outputs to Gauge Inputs
Don’t get me wrong - you still have to measure your outputs.
The outputs will tell you how well you are doing on the inputs.
If you are nailing the inputs, your outputs should all be moving in the right direction.
Solving for outputs is stressful and hard. Trying to “grow revenue” in a gym in a difficult problem to pinpoint.
Solving for inputs is fun and easy. You got into business because you actually want to solve for your client pain and deliver value. Put your energy there and watch your outputs move in the direction you are seeking.