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Opportunity Knocking

At this time last week, I was facing multiple challenges:

•  The City Building Department wanted to take me to court over an air exchange unit that wasn't installed;
• The engineer who designed the system wasn't returning calls;
• Both of our family's cars were broken down;
• We needed cash, both for the business and home, that we didn't have.

The short backstory: while trying to comply to the City building code, we found ourselves shooting at moving targets.  The checklist for acquiring our occupancy permit kept growing.  Worse, the engineering duo we hired created far more problems than they rectified, at enormous cost.  The bureaucrats were interested only in their checklists. The engineers wouldn't return phone calls after being asked to reconsider their ridiculous recommendations.  A year later, we were referred to the City's legal department and given a deadline of May 1st.  The deadline was impossible, both financially and logistically.

Luckily, I'm a scrambler.

Back to the wall, I began to take drastic action:

• I downloaded a copy of the Ontario Building Code, prepared to read it through the night.
• I called the City's Economic Development Committee and told them jobs were at stake.
• I called everyone on the Building Department phone tree.
• I notified my shareholders that I was ready and willing to go to Civil court; and also, that if they weren't prepared for the public battle, that I was willing to trade their share of the company for the assumption of their debt, plus one dollar;
• I test-drove every make and model in the City, came in from each test drive with a firm offer, and walked away from every counteroffer;
• I called every mechanical engineering company in town;
• I started the credit application at the Bank.  This was my worst-case scenario.  Frankly, I doubted that I'd be funded without the other shareholders on board, but....

The result, one week later:

• I own 100% of the business.  Bye-bye, shareholders!
• We have a new van, nicknamed "Hannah" Montana by my five-year-old.
• I got a lot closer to the owner of a local MMA training club...who also happens to be a mechanical engineer.
• My estimated cost, including installation, went from $12,000 to under $500, with drawings.  Heck, the unit went from $6000 to $70.

The lesson: You're better when the clock is running.  You're better when someone's keeping track.  You're better when you're smiling, but aggressive.  You're better when you HAVE to focus.  Business is not all about long and slow; sometimes, you have to METCON. 

As my now-former business partner always says, "If this were easy, everyone would do it."  It's true. There's no guaranteed happy ending.  But every hurdle you overcome is one that will trip up your less-motivated competition.

Archie Andrews, Communicator

Everything Archie Andrews ever said was important, urgent, and worth your attention right now.

How do I know?  He used lots of EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! and Question Marks???

Go into a used bookstore today.  Pick up any Archie comic.  Read the whole thing.  Try to find a single period; one little sentence that isn't short and punchy.  Every sentence ends with either an exclamation point, or a question mark.  Everything he said was important. Everything, since 1941.

Today, count how many times you finish a sentence that would end, on paper, in "!". Tomorrow, increase that number.

More proof of Archie's supreme communications skills: every point was made in 20 words or less.  Twitter is just the new speech bubble.

*this is my last Archie Andrews-related post.  Promise.*

Colin Powell's Big Rule

Back in 1998, I lucked into some tickets to a 'leadership' conference in Chicago.  I was in Illinois at the time, the tickets came to me for free, and another junior staffer offered to drive. 

Some of the speakers: Christopher Reeve.  Zig Ziglar.  Maya Angelou.  Margaret Dole (wife of Bob.) Walter Payton.  And this other guy named Colin Powell.

Now, Ziglar was already a very popular speaker.  Margaret's husband was actively campaigning for the White House at the time (he'd lose, of course, and Clinton would name Maya Angelou Poet Laureate.) Reeve was self-mobile and talking.  Payton threw footballs into the crowd.  And I can't remember what any of them said, except for Powell.

The future Secretary of State had been approached to run for President, and he'd turned the offer down; he felt he could be more effective 'behind the scenes' than he could as the first African American Commander-In-Chief.  He worried that his Presidency, were he to win, would be too much time talking about race relations, and too little "getting things done." 

Powell's big idea: never present a problem without a solution. Don't bring an issue to a leader without being ready to suggest a way forward. 

We've practiced this at Catalyst with our Trainers since the dawn of time.  On Friday, I learned how to make it an important part of the client intake process.  Here's my problem, says the client.  Here's how we're going to help, I say. 

The lesson came to me from someone far different than Colin Powell: it came from Bob, of Bob's Sheet Metal.  Bob doesn't have a business card; he wears a beaten vest and smells like cigarettes.  He has a velcro binder and had to borrow a pen.  But Bob's a helluva salesman.

I've been going back and forth with our City bureaucracy for a year on an air-exchanger issue.  Some City staff say we need one; some don't.  Some engineers agree; some don't.  Some installers insist we don't need one at all; some try to sell us a $5,000 model capable of sucking air so hard that it will turn out box inside out.  Finally, I've come to the realization that, right or wrong, I'll never outlast a bureaucrat.  I have two weeks to have a unit installed.

Bob was the third 'estimator' I met.  The other two had glossy product brochures and all sorts of CFM stats and wouldn't even ballpark a figure without the correct estimating software. In his gravelly voice, Bob said, "I'm here to make the bad man go away."  I liked him.  He drew me his idea, in pencil, with remarkably straight lines.  He offered to call a buddy at City Hall "to see what we can get away with here."  Bob's getting the job.

Talk about features vs. benefits all you like, but boiling the problem down to its most important points, and suggesting a course of action, even in pencil, is the path to greatness.  "Here's my idea, off the top of my head.  I'm going to run it by your Chiropractor to see if I've missed anything.  You'll start feeling more flexible in about two weeks, and then stronger after a month.  Then we'll start working on the weight loss stuff.  How's that?"

Outreach

My parents' church has a marketing department.  They call it the 'Outreach Committee.'

(Of course churches need marketing.  They don't buy ads, but they're better at retention than any gym.  You could argue that a gym fills a need similar to that of a church - addressing a physical need, rather than a spiritual - but they're much better at keeping people around, from infancy through death. )

The 'Outreach Committee' hosts barbecues.  They visit people who are sick, or need someone around.  They go places and invite people to come to church with them.  If someone hasn't been there for awhile, they call the guy up and tell them they're missed. They don't hand out magazines, but some other Churches do, and it appears to work for them....

It was Zig Ziglar, arguing that salesmanship is a noble calling, who introduced me to the concept of Jesus: The Ultimate Salesperson. Ziglar, one of the very devout, meant it as a compliment.  He was addressing the fear some beginner salespeople possess: a fear of seeming slimy.  Not at all, says Ziglar; you're performing a vital role as communicator, educator, and counselor.

In the fitness industry, every single big fitness chain has been built on the Industrial model: fit people into boxes, apply the correct equation, and expect a certain outcome.  The only weakness in the system is the human operator: Big Fitness believes that, if you can't make progress on Program #12, it's a sign only of your weak willpower.  You don't like Combo #3?  It's not the chicken balls - it's your tastebuds!  They're broken!

When we're looking for a model to emulate for promotion of our service, and attracting new clients, why are we looking to the standard McFit model at all?  I suggest we evaluate others who are more successful, and I suggest that the religious machine is a good place to start.

Imagine this: you bring your infant daughter to your gym.  Members welcome her to the 'family.' As she grows, she attends lessons for kids, explaining the fundamentals of your philosophy, using fun games and easy-to-remember parables.  At the age of twelve or so, she's allowed to participate in a more formal indoctrination before being celebrated as a full member, with all its rights and responsibilities.  The Gym family is strongly involved in her social scene; in her triumph and tragedy; in her wedding; in her battles and finally, a hundred years later, in her loss.

Baptism? Funny tshirts, or beanies.  Sunday school? CrossFit Kids, or at least gym immersion (we let little kids sit inside our big tires and colour them with chalk while their parents are training.)  Confirmation, or adult baptism? CrossFit Kids (graduating up the ranks) or a Junior Gym Membership.  Tithing? Monthly fee for deliverance.

Keeping these in mind, then, with your Outreach program, you may find yourself tending more toward earning a reputation, and using that as your building block, instead of spending so much time "selling."  Are these short-term fixes?  No way.  But who wouldn't want an 85-year member?

The pastor/reverend/preacher man isn't on the Outreach Committee.  The Committee is made up of social people who believe steadfastly that they're doing the right thing.  I think that's critical.  If you've ever been approached by a friend trying to sell you something, you'll know that you're more likely to trust them than any salesperson.  You want them to be right.  If they've stumbled upon something great, it confirms that you were smart to have chosen them as your buddy.

If you ask your members to recruit their friends, and they don't believe your core message, the coercion will be obvious.  Pyramid-scheme supplement companies try to use this method, but peer-to-peer only works if your peer is a) a great sales person, or b) they're completely enamored, but still sane, or c) they don't try to sell you every damn thing they try themselves.

Make your members aware of your core message.  Find reason to repeat your Elevator Pitch in front of them, without overtly 'coaching' them.  And then turn loose the Outreach Committee.

PS - megachurches have taught me something else: nothing draws a crowd like a crowd does.

Our 2010 Apprenticeship Program

As soon as I finished at University, I started learning. 

That was 1998.  Looking back, I really had no business 'training' anyone.  I was extremely fortunate to pick up an internship in Illinois two years early, as a sophomore at LSSU; I repeated the experience as a Junior; I went to Wisconsin as a Senior.  On paper, I had a two-year head start on my resume.

In the twelve years since Commencement, I've had to unlearn many of the myths propagated by well-meaning teachers at college. I read more each day now than I ever did as a paying student.  The result has been the collection of a lot of data; a few publications; a semipopular blog or two; and a couple of gyms, one a CrossFit box.

When I started Catalyst in 2005, I was lucky enough to attract Mike Watson, who's now our Head Trainer, and Jo Ann Bailey, our RMT, within the first month. In those first scrambling days, we had weekly study groups to review research and articles.  We had a 'rip and read' file for cramming stuff we literally tore from magazines, books, or the printer.  We rotated the lead in the discussion. 

That was good stuff, and though our current level (and two locations) no longer permits a scheduled get-together, we're still studying.  There have been books that have influenced our practice, and framed the picture for us.  Books like Supertraining, and The Paleo Diet, and Low Back Disorders by Stuart McGill.  Books you'd never find in college.

For this reason, we're attempting to distill a decade of research, debate, and review into a few months.  As Greg Glassman suggests, the best trainers come up from being the best clients (and now, CrossFit's Head Trainers are testament to that fact.)  Hiring former clients ensures a pick of the litter, well-schooled in CrossFit methodology.  Unfortunately, there are still big gaps in their knowledge.

CrossFit Journal is a terrific source of information; so are the forums, and even the main site.  But without context, it can appear to be all CrossFit drum-banging. Instead of a community driven by empirical evidence, we could be seen as publishing only essays supporting our position, instead of tailoring our approach to the most logical science.

Someone has to bridge that gap between the stiff world of academic Kinesiology and the trenches of CrossFit.  And we're going to make a first attempt. 

We pitched the project, just to our blog readers, here.  By the next morning, we had 5 applicants.

This is our draft Apprenticeship rubric.  Not included: the required reading list.  

Download Catalyst 2010 Residency Package

These are college students.  They won't be full-on Personal Trainers or CrossFit coaches when they finish.  They won't be certified externally.  But they'll get an immeasurable head start on their peers. 

We needed a starting point for new staff, and to feed the machine of natural attrition that comes with the territory.  This is our idea.  Comments are warmly welcomed.

By the way - interns will, generally, be bullied, harassed, dehumanized, and poked with sticks by staff.   This ain't a Gregorian monastery. 

Two Words on Great Leadership

"Follow me."

Business Virtuosity

Let's say you win the lottery on Sunday.  Monday morning, does your Box open on time?  In other words, would you do this for free? I would.  And sometimes, I do.

It seems like the more we do to help people, the more people want to pay us.  Weird?

Lately, we've decided, collectively, to deliver our message, regardless of profit.  We made up some exercise technique posters for local high schools, paid for them (about $40 per set) ourselves, and distributed them.  We wrote a book for a smoking cessation awareness group.  We ran several fundraisers at the gym, where we turned over the day's proceeds to various charities.  We're going to schools for free to talk about CrossFit.

This stuff costs us.  Our time isn't cheap. We have to staff the gym, and pay wages, every single time we leave to talk to a Rotary group, a corporate group, a church...

We've always done this type of outreach. But now it's working, because we're doing it for the right reasons.  If you walk into a classroom with the intent to make money, it's not going to work out.  But go in happy, ready to fraternize and evangelize?  The world changes.  What happens when you read the short business book, 'The Power of Nice,' instead of another book about branding?  Things go well for you, IF you're genuine.

If you haven't yet seen this video of Mikki Martin, stop reading this blog and invest your attention there instead.

This is profitable.  It sure is.  The mechanics aren't obvious, but that doesn't make them less true.  Last weekend, we held our annual Fight Gone Bad tournament.  We asked for a $10 donation to help two athletes travel to Canadian Regionals in May. Over 70 turned up, proving that not only is the CrossFit community responsive to a challenge, but they're even more responsive if somebody else benefits, too.

And last summer, in one of our very first charitable ventures, Mike went 24 hours on CrossFit.  He did a WOD every two hours, and members paid $10 to join him.  Straight through the night.  Folks still talk about the midnight 5k, or the huge group at 2am.  Mike raised $1700 for his buddy, and we reinforced bonds that will be tough to break.  Raising money for charity increases your clients' good feelings about themselves, and if they associate "I like myself" with "CrossFit," that's the kind of adherence tenacity you can't replace with freebies or advertising. Plus, you'll sleep better, too.

Most of us would coach for free, but we're worried about our bottom line: time spent away from loved ones, or the cost of missed opportunities...but I'm beginning to believe that the best opportunities come from delivery, regardless of return.  Doing this for free makes me happy.  Talking about CrossFit and coaching and sharing the Kool-Aid makes me happy.  When I'm happy, I'm 4x better as a coach.  If I'm smiling, more newbies sign up on Saturday mornings.

The key?  Intent.  If you genuinely care, your audience will pick up on your love-musk.  They'll know, even if you don't say it.  You can't fake this stuff; you can't buy it; you can't rent it. If you care, be willing to do it for free. And accept the 'thank you' when it comes.

Tammy, with a side of Marlene

I had a jolting reminder of the importance of customer relationships vs. brand loyalty this morning.

In the Industrial Park where we've built our Box, one of the biggest perks is the coffee trailer at the end of the block.  A few feet from our 400m run turnaround point, the trailer has a steady lineup from construction workers, truckers, and the industrial crew that inhabits the Park. 

Every morning, Tammy and Marlene open at 6:30am, coffee already hot.  They call everyone 'hun,' have the exact same conversation a thousand times per day (yes, it IS odd weather!) and know my order before I say it.

This morning, after opening the gym and posting the WOD, I stumbled over to the trailer.  Now,it IS a Friday, so I'm not as sharp; the WODs have been heavy and long this week; and I've put in 15-hour days four times in the last four days.  But still.....

This morning, a cardboard sign above the serving window read, 'Welcome to Rico's.'  Tammy and Marlene sometimes post little jokes and funny postcards over the window, so I barely noticed.  I assumed it was some sort of inside joke meant to cheer up a truck driver named Rico, frankly. 

I got my coffee (black and hot, to melt my coconut oil into later) and commented on the freak snowfall, just to make conversation while Tammy was pouring. Marlene rang my sale through, and they thanked me for my weekly tip as if they were genuinely surprised and touched to receive it.  Awww, thaaaaaanks, hun!  Marlene had to break a new roll of quarters, so I asked about the "Rico's" joke. 

"We've been Rico's for two weeks, hun."  I looked around at the signage: the trailer was still bright red, but the giant logo of the corporate coffee chain was gone from the side.  It's a hard logo to miss, but I'd missed it. For two weeks?

"How's the coffee been?" they asked.  Now, I love coffee.  For holidays, my wife buys me specialty coffee. I sometimes choose different types of coffee before different WODs.  I drink it too much, just because I love to drink it.  But I hadn't noticed a difference in the taste.

"Uh...the same?" I stammered, knowing that it wasn't the same; that they wouldn't be allowed to use the patented corporate blend.  Yes, the cups were different, but Tammy and Marlene frequently had to scrounge supplies.  But it tasted the same.

I'd been drinking Tammy and Marlene Blend all along, right down to the taste of the coffee.  The flavour came from the interaction.  THAT woke me up, fast.

Maybe the brand is a good rallying point.  But the brand doesn't make the customer.

The CounterCulture Element

Fitness Business Canada reports that the biggest threat to the fitness industry is the proposed 'music tariff.'  Essentially, music companies (ooooooh!)  would like to charge a few dollars ($2-$4) each time their song is played in LunchTime Spin by McFit (aaaaah!)

In this month's issue, Fitness Business Canada reports on "The Future Of Fitness."  The top 5 potential markets for the future?  1)people who don't exercise. 2) people with problems that need fixing. 3) fitness that is fun and enjoyable.  4) fitness that encourages personal relationship and shared experiences.  5) fitness using neuroscience (?) and nanotechnology (@#$%*!!!!)

One more: 'The Future of Health Clubs' - "exertainment," "specialized centres" for chronic conditions, "information hubs."  Yay sameness!  Gimme more beige!

Meanwhile, back on the outskirts, we're exploding.  Part of the reason people choose CrossFit: they recognize average.  Their tolerance for the same-old-rhetoric is at an all-time low.  Visit the GoodLife homepage, and it's as exciting as the Sears catalogue with the bra section cut out.

Part of our charm is that we're the alternative.  We're growing among the more intelligent: the early adopters, the YouTube viewers, the Twitterers, the facebookies.  Our members have tattoos and we sweat and collapse and bleed and vomit.  We rumble in concrete boxes.  We post videos of our workouts.  We treat it like a sport.  We don't stop trying to convert the mindless, madding crowd.

It would be easy to think, then, that the way to appeal to the most people is to be counter- well, whatever's popular.  If they're for it, we're against it.  If they're on BOSU, we're on bumper plates.  Anything they say is immediately wrong, just because it's them.

In their book, "Differentiate or Die," Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin offer a subtler approach: take one step to the right.  Full-on opposition usually puts your audience on the defensive.  What's more, if your message is too aggressive, you're more likely to attract the shorter-term, quick-to-move-on client.

One step to the right, in a nutshell: look at the basic message being delivered to a large mass of people.  Then change one core element - not all - and make their transition easy.  In this way are people led to your point of view: one step at a time. 

If you think this sounds a lot like the Incongruity idea from my 'Extreme Persuasion' post last week, you may be right.  The 'Incongruity' idea proposes that if you take a cliche - say, walking on a treadmill - and change one small element, people will be drawn to it.  They'll want to 'solve the puzzle': what's changed?  What effect will that have on the end result?  Can I predict the end result?  Lowenstein theorized that the draw of the small mystery almost forces people to wait for the punch line.

That's where you come in.

Take a look at some of the best marketing endeavours from a few of my favourite CrossFit boxes.  They're not "in-your-face."  They're not aggressive.  They don't try to change your opinion by 180 degrees; just get it to shift to the right.  Just a little.  Just one step.  And they're very successful:

CrossFit Virtuosity - 'Why We're Different' - no negative message about GloboGym, but a reiteration of the common message ('we train like people used to train....') 

CrossFit Evolution - "What We Do" - "We are unlike the regular gym, where you do your own thing. In our High Performance Gym, you will be coached each and every time you walk through the door." No negativity, but a point of difference.

Use of examples is your best friend, say Trout and Rivkin.  People can relate better to others than to a future version of themselves.  If they perceive equality to the people in your example, realistic or not, you're off to a solid start.

As an example, if a dew-ragged bodybuilder comes in the door, telling him that 3-4 sets of 8-12 on the pec deck is disdainful is unlikely to start his conversion.  However, pointing out that Steve Reeves, the Oak, and LaLanne trained in a way closer to CrossFit than to the modern chromey ideal may have that effect.  Different than 24 Hour Fitness, but the same as your heroes.

left: Muscle Beach in the 1960s: gymnastics, calisthenics, overhead lifts.  Oddly familiar?

I think it's wise to illustrate our point of difference, but illustrating common points of sameness is a much easier way to get people in the door.  Show them the foothills instead of Everest (they'll see the full mountain soon enough. "The same, but different" doesn't quite cover it; how about "Different, but the same?"