Who has seen the movie Dragnet? The scene where Friday is cornered by thugs looking for money and suggests they get a paper route to build character. It makes me laugh every time. Partially since it is Dan Akroyd and partially since it is so true.
I learned everything I needed to know to be a trainer (and any other business) when I had my first paper route. Since then, I have wasted time learning about balance sheets, stochastic charts and relative market share. The basic human element of relating to a customer is lost in business school and when it was eloquently taught on the back of a bicycle carrying a load of papers. These are some observations as I remember them.
What does it take to be a successful paper boy?
- Be reliable – Before the internet, people got their news from the morning paper. Getting people their paper was important and many people depended on it. When you were late with the paper, tips suffered.
- Be consistent – When you are consistent, people can make plans based on your performance. When you are inconsistent, people stop being customers. (Less tips)
- Make it a game – Seeing how fast I could deliver my route became a quest. The faster and more effective my delivery the more customers I could handle. Better service meant more customers. (More tips or more fun time)
- When it is time to collect, collect. Ask for the money. Be direct, you have to pay for the papers you deliver and they have to pay for the papers they read. Collect when it is time, you provide a valuable service and it is worth paying for. (If you don’t collect, mom is going to have to pay for the papers and boy will she be pissed)
- Have a goal – Sign up for every contest there is. Turn growing your route into a game. Knock on doors. Talk to people, be yourself. Be interested in others. Some people will like you, some people won’t. Just keep being out there. Achieve what you set out to do, no matter what. (More tips)
- When you don’t like the customer, don’t do business with them. I thing everyone had a little old lady who bitched about everything from the cover of the paper to the time you come to collect to the stories IN the paper. It made me so uncomfortable I wanted to pay for her subscription so I didn’t have to talk to her. Cancel her subscription. As nicely a possible, but don’t do business with assholes. (No change to tips, she didn’t tip you anyway)
- Reward performance- Once you make your goal, do something nice for yourself or someone you care about. Buy the new streamers for the handle bars.
- Know your customer- Don’t try and sell a paper to a blind man. If your potential customer can’t or won’t use your product, find someone who will. If someone can’t afford it, then save them the embarrassment and stop bugging them.
- Sometimes it sucks- The tips and new bike and model airplanes are cool until it is January and you still have to deliver. On time, no questions. Doing the hard things will make the good times better. It is cool to have 100 subscriptions in June, not so in January. Suck it up and power through. Life is hard, be harder.
How does this relate to being a trainer? Start and end on time. People make their schedule based on getting a work out. Their time is valuable, treat it that way. Make the quality of the training worth paying for. Ask for the money. Make the training fun, turn hard fitness into a game (For the client). Have clients test themselves, see how fast they can do something. Keep score. Basically have them do CrossFit. Be truly interested in the lives of your people. As Coach says, know everything about your client.
If you don’t like people, don’t be a trainer.
Great Stuff!
I love that you list links to your competitors. Other topics I'd like to see you cover are : writing a buisness plan for a facility like Hyperfit USA, how YOU convey the benefit of Crossfit over tradition globo-gym bodybuilding to customers (other than actually doing a workout), and things you can do to make every client a client for life.
Posted by: Mark Harris | March 07, 2007 at 06:35 PM