I was mad. No, I was angry. And most of all, I was disappointed in MYSELF.
It had been 6+ weeks since my last training session. My work schedule had been super hectic, and as a result, I had fallen back into my old habit of not going to the gym. I knew it was setting me back – after all, training was the one thing that had helped me to get better in the first place.
It then occurred to me that in all this time, I had NOT once heard from my trainer, Jay…Not a single call or text to check in with me and inquire about why I wasn’t coming to the gym and if I was okay.
I knew I was primarily responsible for my lack of attendance, but wasn’t my trainer supposed to hold me accountable, too!? How could Jay just not notice me disappearing for weeks on end?
Now, I was disappointed AND angry.
After all, I was on their premier membership paying BIG bucks on a monthly basis, so they could hold me accountable to my goals.
I had known Jay now for several months. He was also the owner of the facility, a really good person and a huge advocate of customer experience. Something was not adding up. Maybe he was busy and putting out fires in his own business…but still, he could have at least called me once.
Frustrated, I reached out to him.
Jay was very thankful for my outreach, immediately apologized, and went on to share that it was a logistical nightmare to keep a track of client’s attendance and reach out to members that were missing in action (MIA) on a weekly basis.
Knowing my operational and technology background, he opened up and shared the whole process, which easily took up 2+ hours of weekly effort. It required Jay and other trainers to:
- Comb through their scheduling system,
- Download multiple visit reports,
- Stitch together a spreadsheet to ascertain the MIA clients, and
- Reach out to them via the company’s phone, and
- Maintain yet another spreadsheet to keep a track of who all were reached out and when.
It was just TOO much!
This was definitely the staff’s least favorite task. And because everyone dreaded it, it always got pushed to the bottom of the priority list, and what was originally intended to be a weekly responsibility became AT BEST a monthly activity…and sometimes it never got done.
With Jay juggling a dozen other business owner responsibilities, he didn’t have the time or energy to fix their tedious and broken system, despite the problems it caused.
I just couldn’t believe the amount of manual energy, effort and pain it took him to do this repetitive task so members like me could reach our fitness goals.
Clearly, the impression I’d gotten was wrong…they really did care!
If only Jay had some kind of technology with reporting or tracking capabilities that could give his team the info they needed with the click of a button…
Does this story sound familiar? Maybe you have a trainer friend or fellow business owner that has the same problem as Jay did…smart, dedicated, and well-intentioned, but consistently dropping the ball with client engagement and follow-up.