I recently had the opportunity to hear from a panel of sports performance coaches at the inaugural VertiMax Summit. This panel consisted of some of the most knowledgeable and influential coaches and business owners in the sports performance industry. They touched on a topic that immediately caused the entire room to pay attention: Business strategy for a sports performance company
While seeing the close attention that was being given by the audience, I immediately knew I wanted to compile some of these thoughts.
Your facility doesn't need to have all the bells and whistles to be on the right path. But, it does need disciplined planning, organization and strategy to get you where you want to go.
Do you take note of the coaches and facilities that are training professional athletes and highlighting that on social media? It may seem that this is the bulk of their clientele, but the success of these facilities is built around the 40 weeks they don't have these athletes, not the 12 weeks they do.
Your facility can certainly have an athletic based culture and approach to training, but you must also heavily focus on the wants and needs of the general population. What are their goals? What are they most comfortable with? How do you best get them out of their comfort zone? How does your training approach and culture align with their goals?
I’m fortunate enough to work with sports performance facilities and coaches that have been in business for over 20+ years.
I also have the opportunity to work with sports performance entrepreneurs who are still putting their business model together in hopes to open their first sports performance business.
With that said, all have the ability to establish a culture in their community and implement successful business, training and marketing practices.
I’d like to share with your some areas of focus and tips in the sports performance community. My goal is that this information is valuable to you whether you’re currently implementing these or whether you’re someone in need of a fresh idea.
1. Classes & Cohorts
Sacrifice Training in Austin, TX does a great job of keeping things well organized and aligned with their culture and brand. Notice they don't have 26 different classes. It's better to do 4 things at 100% versus 10 different classes at 75% efficiency. Think about who your members are and what their goals are. What road can you put them on to get them there?
Establish a core group of classes that you want to focus on. Make sure the programming is put together well enough that anyone has the ability to run the class.
2. Social Media
Social platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook all give facilities and coaches a way to connect with their audience.
Don't allow these to be an ego booster for yourself, but a way for you to give back to the community and provide value on a number of topics.
Here are 5 coaches you need to be following on social media:
1) Eric Cressey 2) Justin Ochoa 3) Dr. Jacob Wilson 4) Todd Durkin 5) Mike Robertson
3. Website Presence
More than not, parents of athletes and potential gym members are going to do their research before joining a new facility. Make sure you have an active website that highlights who you are as a company. You have a story to tell -- Tell it! Shutout to Ryan Englebert and his team at ETS Performance.
Pictures of the facility and links to your social media platforms are also a must. Have a profile on yourself and other members of your team.
Aaron Davis and the team at Train Adapt Evolve are a great example to explore. Right away they tell you what they do, a few thoughts, social media links and information about their team.
4. Marketing To Your Community
You may be the best trainer in your community. You could advertise your facility as the #1 facility in the area. But, I'm willing to bet members won't care about that. They may think anyone can get them into shape. Give your community the opportunity to learn about you and your story. That's why they will come train with you.
What are you doing to get in touch with your community? Here are a few ideas:
- Free Class: One free session to invite the community into your facility to take a look around, meet the team and experience a great training session beside the rest of your members.
- High School Community: Get to know all of the sport heads in your area. During the off-season, you want coaches to feel comfortable with where their athletes are training and who they are training with. And vice versa! Once a month run a free training class programmed to high school athletics training. Remember, a lot of these athletes have younger brothers and sisters as well.
- Speaking: Rick Mayo is the owner of Alloy Personal Training Solutions. I had the pleasure of listening to Rick speak on a number of topics. His presentations are informative to the audience he is speaking to, but he is still representing his business. Find a local coaching clinic in your area and go speak on something your audience finds valuable!
5. Content
You're knowledgeable and passionate about speed & power development, nutrition and upper body mobility. Share that knowledge!
Travis Goyeneche is a great example of providing great insight on a multitude of topics. Not only does he provide value to his clients in the gym setting, but also on his website as well.
Do you have a class that focuses on high school athletes? This is a great opportunity to build video content that can be utilized not only for social media platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube & Instagram, but website content as well. A quality 5-6 minute video that was shot during a class can go a long way. Break it up into segments and utilize it across multiple social platforms and your website, multiple times a year.
There are many other factors that go into building the success and culture of your program, but I hope a few of these resonated with you.
I would love your feedback on what you feel is valuable and important for a sports performance business to focus on.
