Another week in the books.
Before I kick off my material for the week, I want
to remind you that we've officially announced the date and details for our 6th annual CSP Fall Seminar. Check out the line up and presentation descriptions here. I'd love to see a few of you Friday-4 readers there.
Let's start this F4 edition with
my most recent blog post: - Sabotaging Your Sales Pitch - 4 Mistakes to Avoid - It turns out selling fitness services at CSP is a little bit like
being a founder pitching a VC for funding - the potential missteps in each scenario are surprisingly similar. Here's a look at four mistakes to avoid.
My Friday FOUR:
Four pieces of content I've consumed this past week that will influence my future blog material and challenge me to think differently about
how I manage Cressey Sports Performance - as always, I'm looking to bring you some business-specific information from outside of the world of fitness. Enjoy: - Being Too Busy For Friends Won't Help Your Career - How's this for a nice little wake up call: "In a recent meta-analysis of 148 studies, having strong social relationships was associated with a 50% reduction in risk of mortality." I am guilty of allowing myself to fall out of touch with a number of old friends since starting a business and a family. This HBR article was a great reminder that "Work/Life Balance" is about more than just finding ample time to play with my kids. Time to reach out to some of the people I've
been neglecting...
- 8 Tech Gadgets That Pay For Themselves Over Time - If you own a gym, you owe it to yourself to look
around from time to time and consider where you're spending in an inefficient manner. Pay special attention to the recommendations relating to your telephone, cable internet, and thermostat if you'd like to begin reducing your fitness facility's overhead immediately.
- Don't Bother Creating
A New Product If You Won't Create A Plan For Selling It - I have made this mistake on more than one occasion during my ten years of running CSP. Most recently, I worked with a few of my team members to create a transformation challenge program that was beautiful on paper. The problem, I came to learn, was that we'd designed a service that could benefit a whole bunch of people, but failed to create any anticipation or interest far enough
in advance to generate significant sign-ups. Don't forget, your plan to sell a service is just as important as the quality of the service itself.
- Career Development Has Replaced Pay as a Top Perk - This article should be a good reminder not to be afraid to hire coaches who openly discuss long-term career goals that don't involve your gym. Brian St. Pierre was the first intern and employee of CSP, and he told us from the very start that his dream was to pursue a career in nutrition. Three years later, he was headed off to
work for John Berardi at Precision Nutrition. During the 36-month window leading up to his departure, Brian helped us to firm up our expectations for an internship program, establish an alternative revenue stream by designing our Nutrition Consultation services, and find our identity as a business. He was a phenomenal hire, regardless of how quickly he moved on.
Make sure to let me know if you come across any material that you think I'd enjoy. More importantly,
have a great weekend!
- Pete
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