The Simple Marketing Machine Behind a Breakout Year with Jeff Nagle

[00:00:00] I feel like when we first opened, I was more or less [00:00:03] just trying anything. Mm-hmm. There was no real system as [00:00:06] to why I was doing it. Yeah. No real strategy we made. Yeah. No [00:00:09] strategy. So we had one figure out [00:00:12] what we were trying to get across, our message, who we really [00:00:15] are, and then making consistent schedule of when we’re putting [00:00:18] out offers, why we’re putting them out, and then how we bring people in [00:00:21] an onboarding strategy to make it consistent with everyone.[00:00:24]

1, 2, 3, [00:00:27] 4. Welcome to The Business for [00:00:30] Unicorns podcast, where we help gym and studio owners [00:00:33] create a business and a life they love. I’m your [00:00:36] host, Michael Keeler. Join me and the business for Unicorns [00:00:39] team each week for actionable advice, [00:00:42] expert insights, and the inside scoop on what it really [00:00:45] takes to level up your gym.

Get ready to unlock your [00:00:48] potential and become a real unicorn in the fitness [00:00:51] industry.[00:00:54] [00:00:57]

Yeah. [00:01:00] Hello my friends. Before we jump into today’s [00:01:03] episode, I have an invitation for you. It’s an invitation to [00:01:06] London. Come join Mark Fisher for our Gym [00:01:09] Business Growth Day, which is gonna be a one day [00:01:12] event in London, and it’s happening on Saturday, November [00:01:15] 8th. This event is for gym owners who want an [00:01:18] injection of kind of business knowhow going into the end of the year, [00:01:21] making it a strong close to a year, and then who want [00:01:24] to be ready to make 2026 their best.

Year [00:01:27] ever. Tickets are only 99 pounds, which is great for you [00:01:30] Americans. Uh, but seating is limited. We have a pretty small venue [00:01:33] over there in London that we’re gonna be doing this in. So if you wanna learn more about [00:01:36] this event and see the full agenda, click the link in the show [00:01:39] notes. Hope to see you in London.

Hello, fitness Business nerds. [00:01:42] What’s up? Welcome to another episode of the Business v Unicorns [00:01:45] podcast. Today I’m very excited to have the podcast [00:01:48] for the. First time a Unicorn Society member for the [00:01:51] last year, the co-owner and manager of Nagel Fitness in [00:01:54] Massachusetts. It’s Jeff Nagle. Welcome to the podcast, my friend.[00:01:57]

How’s it going? Thanks for having me. So excited to have you [00:02:00] on the podcast. You’ve been absolutely crushing it as a Jimbo for the last [00:02:03] year, and you’ve joined Unicorn Society the last year. So I’ve had a front row seat [00:02:06] to watch you crush it. And all of our coaches [00:02:09] have had our front row seat to watching you crush it.

And we’ve just been [00:02:12] so excited to have you on the podcast to share your story, share your [00:02:15] successes so all of our listeners can. Chase some of your [00:02:18] wins. And so to get the party started, just tell us a little bit about [00:02:21] Nagel Fitness. Yeah. We are a small [00:02:24] gym, a little bit south of Boston. We focus [00:02:27] primarily on personal training.

We do have a style where it allows about five [00:02:30] or six people on the floor at one time, but every person in our gym has their [00:02:33] own personal plan, so we lean into the personal side [00:02:36] more than we think we might need to, but we [00:02:39] really lean into it, especially in our marketing and our sales and everything.[00:02:42]

Great. So how do you do it so that everyone has their own programs? [00:02:45] Five or six people maybe on the floor at a time? How many trainers? [00:02:48] We try to have two trainers on the floor as many times as [00:02:51] we can. Got it. And then every coach is assigned [00:02:54] a program to write. We still have our coaches [00:02:57] all reaching out and connecting with all of our members.

So everyone knows [00:03:00] everything about everyone in the gym. Sure. But one person [00:03:03] is in charge of creating that person’s programming, updating their [00:03:06] particular programs, and keeping track on how their consistency [00:03:09] is over time. Good for you. That’s great. And how long have you been [00:03:12] open? We’ve been open since July of [00:03:15] last year, so about a year and two months.

So that’s amazing. [00:03:18] That’s amazing. Let me tell our audience a little bit about how hard you’ve been [00:03:21] crushing it. For those of you who are listeners to the podcast that listen to [00:03:24] every episode, you know this already, but at Bi Unicorns we have this Slack [00:03:27] channel where we talk about all of our Unicorn Society members, that we share all, [00:03:30] all their wins.

And Jeff’s name came up just a few [00:03:33] weeks ago with Coach Chris Travis and some of the [00:03:36] things he’s accomplished over this last year. Just incredible. So over the last [00:03:39] year since joining Unicorn Society, you’ve doubled more than [00:03:42] doubled. All your active members per month. You have hired your [00:03:45] first staff and coach Chris [00:03:48] Travis has says that you’re basically, every single week we ask our [00:03:51] members if they have a most important action every single week, most important [00:03:54] next action or Amina.

And almost every single week Chris [00:03:57] says, Jeff always gets his Nina. Done, [00:04:00] which is so impressive, and all due respect to our fellow Unicorn Center [00:04:03] members. Not everyone gets their shit done every single week. [00:04:06] And so the fact that over the last year you’ve been able to more than double your [00:04:09] members, you’re always getting your action steps done, you’re able to hire [00:04:12] your first staff.

That’s a lot of great wins over the last year. [00:04:15] I know a lot of our listeners are at the same place where they’ve been open only for a [00:04:18] few years. They’re looking for real growth. So I wanna just [00:04:21] pick apart those wins so we can learn how you did it. Let’s [00:04:24] start with staff growth. What do you think is the biggest factor [00:04:27] to doubling your clients over the last year?[00:04:30]

There was a good amount, and I feel like when we first opened, I was [00:04:33] more or less just trying anything. Mm-hmm. There was no [00:04:36] real system as to why I was doing it. Yeah. No real [00:04:39] strategy we made. Yeah. No strategy. So we had [00:04:42] one, figuring out what we were trying to get across, our [00:04:45] message, who we really are, and then making a consistent [00:04:48] schedule of when we’re putting out offers, why we’re putting them out, and then [00:04:51] how we bring people in an onboarding strategy to make it consistent with [00:04:54] everyone.

Yeah, that’s so important. I think, and listen, I [00:04:57] think it’s fine early on to just throw some spaghetti against the wall, but at some [00:05:00] point you gotta be like, okay, how much spaghetti do we [00:05:03] throw? When do we throw it? What do we hope to get out [00:05:06] of it afterwards? What’s the process we’re gonna use to clean up [00:05:09] from all the spaghetti?

And so talk through what is the [00:05:12] process you land on? How often do you send out offers [00:05:15] and to whom? We originally started by splitting up my email list. I [00:05:18] had a good sized email list, even opening the space, but. Splitting it up [00:05:21] into different sectors of former clients and [00:05:24] leads and people who have ghosted us and making sure that we’re [00:05:27] targeting each one with different wording and different [00:05:30] ideas for each group each month.

Right. So we do about once a month or [00:05:33] once every other month. Yeah. And I think a big part of it too was [00:05:36] when I sat down with Chris the first time, was like, oh, what are your numbers on your marketing [00:05:39] strategy? I had none. So we actually started tracking the [00:05:42] numbers as to what we’re getting out of these things.

Yeah. And how they’re [00:05:45] working each month. Listen, that’s super normal early [00:05:48] on. People just don’t have the bandwidth to make the spreadsheets and do the [00:05:51] tracking and be consistent. But obviously you got all [00:05:54] that together and started to be consistent and it made a difference. And just [00:05:57] for, for all of our listeners out there, what Jeff is explaining is [00:06:00] basically like our.

Our email marketing playbook, which is you have [00:06:03] three segments of e on your email marketing. You have your current [00:06:06] clients, your former clients, and people who’ve never been clients. Basically, as [00:06:09] Jeff said, people who ghosted you, who, whose information you [00:06:12] have but haven’t bought anything from you yet. And then once a [00:06:15] quarter basically, or every month, you pick one of those groups to reach [00:06:18] out to.

So once a quarter they all hear from you once. So four [00:06:21] times a year each of those groups is getting some offer [00:06:24] to spend more money or come back or. Try your low [00:06:27] buyer offer, and that’s, that consistency pays [00:06:30] off, right? And you design the campaign. How are we gonna reach out to them? Is it [00:06:33] email, is it text?

Is it phone calls? Is it [00:06:36] DMing them? And you execute and track your [00:06:39] results, and that consistency really works. When you [00:06:42] think back to the last year, what are some of the campaigns that paid off the best for [00:06:45] you? Oh, we had very targeted [00:06:48] reactivation campaigns that we now run twice a year. Wow. I think [00:06:51] I was doing it loosely before, like just asking people to come [00:06:54] back.

But we set up a real. Campaign [00:06:57] for it. We had the follow up down we had when we’re reaching out. We [00:07:00] had an easy to click link just to join right in. [00:07:03] And both times we ran. That has been phenomenal and it’s great to [00:07:06] see the people that already know what we’re doing come right [00:07:09] back and they stay longer.

Yeah. Yeah. Good for you. And you’re [00:07:12] mainly doing that through your campaign as a series of emails? Yep. [00:07:15] Campaign through a series of emails, and then we do a few phone calls and a [00:07:18] few texts. We mix in all three Great. Throughout a couple [00:07:21] weeks. And then we have a complete end date of when the [00:07:24] offer’s over.

And then we also have a start by date. So it’s not super [00:07:27] stressful of like you have to join right now. Start today. You can start in a [00:07:30] couple weeks, but it worked out really well. Yeah, good for you. I [00:07:33] think that getting former member, former members to come [00:07:36] back is one of those things that we all know is so important, [00:07:39] but we, people just don’t focus on it consistently.

So the fact that you [00:07:42] have this campaign that you can basically rinse and repeat [00:07:45] twice a year or if you wanted to, is amazing, [00:07:48] right? Because you can just go ahead and change the offer, change a few words in the [00:07:51] emails and the call scripts or the text scripts, and [00:07:54] use it again and again, and it gets people to come back.

[00:07:57] Which is fantastic. Yeah, good for you. So you mentioned [00:08:00] one piece of this success was putting out regular consistent [00:08:03] offers to those groups of people, but you also mentioned that you [00:08:06] have like a real lead follow up process and you’re [00:08:09] doing better at like conversions and sales. Just kind of walk through [00:08:12] when like a general, an average person finds you on their [00:08:15] website right now.

What is the sales funnel you’re taking them through? [00:08:18] So when they find us, they reach out [00:08:21] somehow. So we do have a link to click on our [00:08:24] website. We have a spot to click on our Instagram page, a spot to click [00:08:27] on our Facebook page. So whether they, however we get their information, we [00:08:30] then reach out as fast as we can.

So we want to get a phone call [00:08:33] or an email sent out to them immediately, and then we try to get them either [00:08:36] on the phone or in person for just a quick intro to [00:08:39] learn more about them. Once we learn more about them, we try to [00:08:42] get them into a low barrier offer, something that kind of gives them [00:08:45] a feel for what the gym is like without any kind of stressful [00:08:48] situation of a long-term commitment.

And then at the end of that, we [00:08:51] basically sit down, follow up with how they did, and then [00:08:54] if they wanna continue with us. And it has been a smooth [00:08:57] process, it’s been consistent, so everyone gets the same process as they come [00:09:00] through the door. And it has been working better than we could ever [00:09:03] imagine. Yeah.

Good for you, my friend. It’s so nice to have a process [00:09:06] like that. And you just nailed the textbook sales [00:09:09] funnel that we know works. What’s your LBO been? What’s your little better [00:09:12] offer been? We trialed a lot back and [00:09:15] forth. We tried a two week, we tried a four week, we tried a [00:09:18] 30 day, we tried a lot of ’em.

So right now we’ve been landing on a [00:09:21] three week trial. That’s 1 79. Great. And [00:09:24] I think for. Our gym, our [00:09:27] style, our personal aspect of it. I think it has fits so well that [00:09:30] we haven’t changed it in about six months and great. It has been flowing [00:09:33] perfectly, right about a 72%. [00:09:36] Conversion rate off of those right now and it’s been just flowing.

Perfect. [00:09:39] Good for you my friend. That’s great. Yeah. I think most people on this [00:09:42] podcast who’ve listened for a while know that we recommend for most people, [00:09:45] like something like two weeks for under a hundred bucks. But for [00:09:48] someone like Jeff it makes sense. It might be needs a little longer and a little more [00:09:51] expensive because you do one-on-one training and I think that you need it to be [00:09:54] more expensive.

So the jump from Low Bear offer to their full [00:09:57] price that they do paying is not so extreme. So I love that you found [00:10:00] that sweet spot of 1 79 3 weeks. That’s [00:10:03] fantastic. Good for you. Alright, so that’s [00:10:06] a lot of great, that’s a lot of great tips and tricks for how to [00:10:09] get more clients in the door. And obviously I’ll say this, that the [00:10:12] reason you’ve been able to grow so much is not just because you’ve gotten, you’ve done a good [00:10:15] offense.

You had good defense. Your retention’s been [00:10:18] really high. Yeah. Did you wanna talk a little bit about that? I know it [00:10:21] wasn’t something that I mentioned bef earlier before we started recording, [00:10:24] but is there anything you’re doing that keeps your clients so long? [00:10:27] Why are they staying so long? Yeah, when we, when I [00:10:30] first talked with Chris, we were sitting around like six or [00:10:33] 7% losing per month, and that was hard to keep up with.

Yeah. This year [00:10:36] to date, we’re under 3%. That’s amazing. So [00:10:39] we’ve been sitting under 3% and I think we put together a [00:10:42] really strong process with our entire team. So it’s [00:10:45] not just myself, it’s not just our manager, my wife [00:10:48] running the back end of things. It’s our whole team [00:10:51] have a consistent way to reach out to people to stay on top of what they’re [00:10:54] doing.

And I think that’s the. We’re like we talked about earlier, [00:10:57] digging into the personal side more. Yep. So we are up to [00:11:00] date with where they’re at in their program, when they need to check in, [00:11:03] can we help anymore? And ever since starting that, we have a 90 [00:11:06] day onboarding process that we have about 40 touchpoint in [00:11:09] that first 90 days.

Yep. And it has been just spot on. [00:11:12] We’ve done small tweaks here and there just for what we hear from our members [00:11:15] when we do our sit downs or experience surveys. But [00:11:18] that onboarding process, staying on top of our members and [00:11:21] learning more about them just shows. I think that we care a [00:11:24] lot. Yeah. And when they feel that they, that we care, that they feel like they’re in [00:11:27] this place, that they need to be.

Yeah, good for you. I think that [00:11:30] they have a really great 90 day onboarding with that [00:11:33] many touch points. Really does send the message that we [00:11:36] care or we’re here to learn about you. We’re here to support you. We’re help you to build more [00:11:39] healthy habits, and the habits are not just things we want you to do, but the [00:11:42] habits are the things we do in our relationship together.

Yeah, [00:11:45] us checking in, talking about your goals, talking about what’s [00:11:48] working, talking about what’s not working, that we’re not just getting our clients to [00:11:51] develop habits in those first 90 days. We’re developing habits as a [00:11:54] relationship, right? As a team who’s helping to support them. And [00:11:57] so I think that’s fantastic that you continue those things.

So after the 90 [00:12:00] days, what are some of the things you guys do long term? You mentioned some check-ins. [00:12:03] Just walk me through that part. Yeah, so the first 90 days [00:12:06] we do three sit down check-ins. We actually sit down in [00:12:09] person after the 90 days, we do a 90 day check-in. Great. So they’ll sit [00:12:12] down with us every 90 days.

Every three months. Yep. Exactly. And then [00:12:15] on top of that, we also do a weekly check-in with members who [00:12:18] have not been. In the gym for the week, [00:12:21] so great. If someone hasn’t been in Monday to Thursday, we check in on [00:12:24] Thursday, be like, Hey, how are things going? I’m just making sure that they know that we still [00:12:27] care about them so they’re not just being lost in the dust.

And then we [00:12:30] actually have a small section of our onboarding process where we allow [00:12:33] for personal. Written cards and [00:12:36] personal gifts that we give out to a certain amount of people off of that [00:12:39] 90 day process. So we have our members that are past 90 days. [00:12:42] We kinda look at the list like who’s due for that gift or that [00:12:45] card, who needs a little bit of that little extra motivation?

And we just [00:12:48] keep that system going, make sure that everyone keeps on point [00:12:51] with it. And then on top of that, we also started doing our experience [00:12:54] surveys, which also adds in a raffle that we [00:12:57] do for a very exclusive water bottle. Everyone wants [00:13:00] at our gym, and we don’t sell them so no one can get them unless you enter the [00:13:03] raffle.

Mm-hmm. By doing our experience survey. Which gives us another reason to talk [00:13:06] to them and also listen to what they’re saying and then make the [00:13:09] changes off of those experience surveys. That’s [00:13:12] amazing, Jeff, I, I hope listeners, I hope you’re all taking notes. [00:13:15] ’cause all of that is really just a textbook [00:13:18] example of what good retention strategy looks like.

The fact [00:13:21] that you onboard them, you continue some of those onboarding things. There’s regular touch [00:13:24] points where people who are showing up, where you talk about their goals, [00:13:27] there’s, you don’t let people ghost you. When people are not [00:13:30] showing up and not using their membership, you’re reaching out proactively [00:13:33] and connecting with them.

You’re making it fun by doing fun things [00:13:36] like raffles and so good for you my friend. And I know that [00:13:39] for some of our listeners that will sound like a lot, but that’s [00:13:42] spread out over over many. It’s one check-in every three [00:13:45] months. Right? So it’s really spread out for all your people and yeah, it’s a [00:13:48] lot of work, but it’s the reason why you got your attention from six or [00:13:51] 7% down to under 3%.

Good for you. That’s amazing. [00:13:54] Alright, I wanna switch gears ’cause one of the things that I mentioned at the top was [00:13:57] that you start to hire your first staff. I know for a lot of our [00:14:00] listeners, they’re either at that point or they just, they’re thinking about [00:14:03] that hiring their first staff. It can be a little scary if you never hired [00:14:06] before to create those processes and be an HR manager [00:14:09] for the first time is, is a little bit of a learning curve.

So just walk me [00:14:12] through what it, what you learned from hiring your first staff member. [00:14:15] I learned a lot from [00:14:18] Chris ’cause I, I think I called him every week, that entire [00:14:21] process. Yes. And we made sure that we were on point with it, but. [00:14:24] It’s, it was, I think it was a lot of me just [00:14:27] letting some of the trust go.

I feel like the clients that I had, I wanted them [00:14:30] to trust that I was bringing in someone that I trusted [00:14:33] as well. So I think getting outta my own head [00:14:36] that this person’s gonna do great. They’re supposed to be [00:14:39] different from what I’m doing. They’re supposed to have their own flair on things. Yep. [00:14:42] But bringing on someone that had the personality that we [00:14:45] wanted, it wasn’t necessarily that they had 10 years of coaching experience.

[00:14:48] It was. Someone that walked in our door that kind of lightened [00:14:51] up the room, that had a smile on their face that could engage with [00:14:54] people that I wanted to engage with. Yeah. And then all the coaching sides of things that [00:14:57] we could add on over time. I, we can teach them the [00:15:00] programming, we can teach them how to interact on the gym floor, [00:15:03] but if they didn’t have that kind of interpersonal skill, reading [00:15:06] the room, meeting people where they’re at, building that community, that [00:15:09] I don’t think it would’ve worked as well as it has.

Yeah. Good for you, [00:15:12] Jeff. I think that the thing I hear you saying here is that during this first [00:15:15] hire, one of the things that you learned is what you’re looking for. Yes. [00:15:18] And you learned that for you in this moment, hiring [00:15:21] someone who comes with a little bit of those kind of character traits and [00:15:24] personality traits that, that make them, let up a room, make them be that [00:15:27] kind of sticky personality.

People can’t wait to spend more time with [00:15:30] that. To you in these first hire was more [00:15:33] important than technical skills or certifications. Yeah, [00:15:36] good for you. I think, I think there’s a lot of gyms who take that same approach. We certainly did at [00:15:39] Mark Fisher Fitness, almost all of our first few hires had [00:15:42] no training experience.

Not all, but many of our first few [00:15:45] hires had almost zero training experience. We hired for [00:15:48] personality and energy and pizazz, and that [00:15:51] worked out for us. And over time we tried to hiring people [00:15:54] who came with. Certs and personality. Once we got big [00:15:57] enough to be patient enough to find those people. But [00:16:00] good for you.

What about the actual technical process? What did you learn [00:16:03] about what makes a good hiring process? [00:16:06] I think what we did we’re doing, we’re sure [00:16:09] we’re hiring again right now. I think what we learned from the first time for the second [00:16:12] time is a little bit. More of a vetting process [00:16:15] at the beginning, I think I burned myself out a little bit with just [00:16:18] taking out many interviews.

Talking to so many people. Yeah, exactly. So [00:16:21] we did, we added in a phone screen that was just a quick 10, [00:16:24] 15 minute phone screen. We weed out who we expect to be [00:16:27] in, who we don’t expect to be in, who fits our bill, who doesn’t who, [00:16:30] and it really is more or less still they fit as in [00:16:33] the start date and the hours.

We’re looking for all those things and [00:16:36] ’cause a lot of people didn’t at the beginning. Yep. So right now in our process now is a [00:16:39] little bit deeper. And two, what we’re looking [00:16:42] for hours in the right person, [00:16:45] in the right chair, I guess that we could say. Yeah, because we’re not looking for the exact same [00:16:48] role right now.

Good for you. Yeah, I think [00:16:51] that’s fantastic. And uh, again, for listeners to the podcast who’ve [00:16:54] listened for a long time, we have a 10 step hiring process. We did a whole [00:16:57] podcast about it before. I think Jeff’s describing what is step three [00:17:00] for us, which is doing a phone screen once you’ve looked at [00:17:03] people’s resumes and or cover letters and or watch there [00:17:06] videos.

If you do videos. The first step is just to get ’em on a [00:17:09] 10, 15 minute conversation to say, okay, we need you to start at this [00:17:12] date. Can you, this is the pay. Will you work for that, right? [00:17:15] We, we need someone who worked these hours. Can you do that? You put all those [00:17:18] logistics first? ’cause if they’re a no to any of that, the [00:17:21] conversation’s over.

If they can’t meet some of that basic [00:17:24] criteria, and then to Jeff’s point here, you don’t waste your [00:17:27] time talking to all these candidates who you learn a [00:17:30] few hours into your investment, can’t start for [00:17:33] three more months, or aren’t willing to work for what you can afford [00:17:36] to pay them or, or just can’t ever work [00:17:39] weekend.

And so by putting all that logistics stuff first [00:17:42] one, it means you have to know those logistics. You have to know what the pay is. You gotta [00:17:45] know what the schedule is, you gotta know what the start date is, that kind of [00:17:48] stuff. Then you can screen for it. And then the people you spend real [00:17:51] time getting to know in group interviews or solo [00:17:54] interviews or all the rest of the things you might do next, you know that [00:17:57] they can actually fit the bill, which is critical.

[00:18:00] Yeah, that’s great. So you say you’re hiring right now. Anything you are doing [00:18:03] different aside from vetting them a little differently, anything else you’re [00:18:06] doing differently this time? I think the main thing we’re doing [00:18:09] differently, like I said, the phone screen, but also when we do the [00:18:12] first interview, we’re actually gonna be doing a group interview at the end.

Okay. Because I want [00:18:15] it to be almost like a team effort of who we all think [00:18:18] is the best role, because we all know what role we’re hiring [00:18:21] for. Mm-hmm. But I don’t want to have my blinders on to maybe missing [00:18:24] something that our other team members are already seeing. So we’re [00:18:27] gonna be adding in a group interview at the end.

It’s the last part of our hiring [00:18:30] process, and that’s gonna be the last stage of who we all can agree with that [00:18:33] fits what we’re looking for. That’s super fun. Yeah. Good for [00:18:36] you. Good for you. It’s fun. I’ve never heard anyone do a group interview at the [00:18:39] end, but I like that idea to be in our process. The group interview comes [00:18:42] first before the solo ones, but either, either way, [00:18:45] the, wherever you put it, it’s useful because a group interview lets you [00:18:48] see how a few things you could do.

You can do a group interview [00:18:51] where it’s a bunch of your team members. Interviewing them. You get a lot of [00:18:54] opinions from your team members. Or you can do a group interview like the one we recommend, [00:18:57] which is a bunch of candidates all in the same room at the time. And [00:19:00] that’s fun ’cause you get to see how they interact with each other.

And either way, [00:19:03] group interviews can be really fun ’cause you get multiple opinions and perspectives at the [00:19:06] table. So that’s exciting. Good for you. Yeah. Alright, so I want to [00:19:09] switch gears again and talk about the kind of third thing you’ve been [00:19:12] nailing lately. So we talked about more than doubling your clients.

[00:19:15] We talked about you hiring for the first time. Now I wanna talk about [00:19:18] the idea that you always get your shit done. Right. [00:19:21] So every single week we ask our clients what the most important next action [00:19:24] is, or what your meina is every single week. And [00:19:27] your coach, Chris Travis says, Jeff’s always getting it done.[00:19:30]

And I can say I’ve been doing menas with folks for a bunch of [00:19:33] years, and I would say it’s 75% of people tend to get it [00:19:36] done from week to week, but 25% seem to [00:19:39] not be able to get that thing done. How do you stay [00:19:42] focused on your most important tasks each week? [00:19:45] I think. I dunno if it’s [00:19:48] different for me from everyone else, but it, it’s more, I write them [00:19:51] down immediately when we put them out there on my [00:19:54] own notebook.

So one I can remember in my own head what I have to do. Yep. [00:19:57] And then every single week I make sure before we have our next check in, [00:20:00] that I am getting it done on a week to week basis. Mm-hmm. And I make sure to [00:20:03] perfect it by the end of the month. So I don’t just do it once, I try to [00:20:06] do it two or three times to try to perfect it, but [00:20:09] in my head it’s like how we coach.

Like I, if I had [00:20:12] everyone in the gym listening to everywhere we sit, I think they’d do [00:20:15] great things. Sure. I know Chris and all [00:20:18] the coaches know so much, so if they’re gonna give [00:20:21] me some sort of advice to do something like, Hey, do [00:20:24] this. It’s going to help. I’m going to do every single [00:20:27] thing they ask for.

And it for the last year, I’ve tried [00:20:30] to do everything and it has worked tremendously and I will not [00:20:33] stop doing those things. Good for [00:20:36] you. Good for you. Good for you. The thing that, that a lot of people experience is that [00:20:39] they just get distracted, right? They know what the most important thing is to [00:20:42] do each week, but something else comes up, some sort of shiny [00:20:45] object, some sort of putting air quotes up in, [00:20:48] in this podcast, some sort of emergency or fire pops up [00:20:51] that gets there.

So how do you avoid the distractions? [00:20:54] The distractions. I try each day of the week, [00:20:57] I try to have a certain thing that I get done. Like Mondays [00:21:00] might be when I start doing some extra programs. Tuesdays might be when I [00:21:03] start doing all of our marketing for the following week, and it’s [00:21:06] usually the end of the week where it’s on for me.

It’s on [00:21:09] Thursdays where I actually don’t go into the gym that morning. I stay home and [00:21:12] I do all of the things I’m supposed to do for. [00:21:15] The coaching side, as in what have Chris and I [00:21:18] talked about, what are the things needed done? And I focus on that almost the [00:21:21] entire morning for that day. Right? So I almost block off [00:21:24] my schedule for that.

I take no meetings that morning. I take no calls that [00:21:27] morning, and then my schedule opens back up that afternoon. So I [00:21:30] guess for me would be more just putting in a schedule. It’s [00:21:33] almost like blocking off time for a workout is for me. I, [00:21:36] if I don’t have a blocked off, I probably won’t do it. Yeah, like you said, it just gets [00:21:39] distracting.

So if I leave myself, my own devices i’ll, it just will [00:21:42] go to wherever. Same thing with anything else. Same thing with the marketing [00:21:45] aspects. If I don’t put it in my schedule to do it, it’s probably not gonna get [00:21:48] done. Yeah. Yeah. Bravo. Jeff. I think what you just [00:21:51] described is really classic, best, best [00:21:54] personal productivity hack, right?

Which is just have a schedule. [00:21:57] Have a schedule that matches your priorities. And I think [00:22:00] what you’re even describing is what we would call like a block schedule, [00:22:03] right? Where there’s like real chunks of time where you’re focused on the same [00:22:06] kind of work, so you’re not wasting energy switching gears from this [00:22:09] thing effort.

Five minutes. This thing for five minutes. You [00:22:12] have a whole blocks of time where you’re focused. For example, Thursday [00:22:15] mornings, working on the business strategy you discuss with your coach, [00:22:18] right? And I think that’s a really great example to all our listeners, which [00:22:21] is you gotta plan for the week that’s gonna set you up [00:22:24] best to win.

You gotta design your week to be in [00:22:27] line with what you, your priorities already, any given moment. [00:22:30] And not everyone has the same level of flexibility, right? Some people are still working [00:22:33] on the floor a lot. Some people got young kids, [00:22:36] some people have take care of elderly parents, right? There’s a lot of [00:22:39] priorities pulling us in different directions.

But if you’re not making a plan, [00:22:42] if you’re not setting an intention for how you want your week to go, [00:22:45] and your priorities aren’t baked into that plan, [00:22:48] it’s really easy to get distracted. But when you do it, like Jeff is here, you [00:22:51] can see that the results pay off. You have consistent time every [00:22:54] single week to work on the business and get done your [00:22:57] most important next action, which is.

So admirable. [00:23:00] So bravo, my friend. That’s huge. Thanks. Yeah, I know [00:23:03] it’s, I know we talked about all sunshiny positive things [00:23:06] over the last year, but clearly there’s also been some struggles. [00:23:09] So to make sure our listeners don’t think you’re just some sort of [00:23:12] robot who everything’s going perfectly for, tell us [00:23:15] about a struggle you’ve had over the last year.

I’d [00:23:18] say mindset is a big one, as in [00:23:21] having the confidence in myself to know that I can keep doing [00:23:24] things the way I want to do them. Especially at the beginning, we were losing [00:23:27] people, like I said, that six, 7%. It was really hard for me [00:23:30] to kinda keep my confidence up as this is the right idea, this we’re [00:23:33] doing the right things.

’cause the people that are in the gym loved it. [00:23:36] But I got really affected by every person that would cancel. So [00:23:39] I made it a goal of mine to one, reduce that. But I also. [00:23:42] Talked a lot with my wife as well, and she’s like, it’s [00:23:45] not a personal attack on you. Yeah. People’s [00:23:48] instances change. So for me, getting my mind [00:23:51] to be positive, ’cause now we have to lead a team.

So if I’m coming in with a [00:23:54] negative attitude, the team has a negative attitude. Sure. [00:23:57] So I wanna walk in the door as someone that is [00:24:00] happy, positive. I wish I was like that 24 7, but [00:24:03] I’m trying to work on just having that positivity, that confidence all the [00:24:06] time. Yeah. Yeah. That’s amazing, Jeff. ’cause now that you [00:24:09] are leading a team, we all know that the leader’s [00:24:12] actions are both loud and contagious, right?

You walk [00:24:15] into a room, you walk into the building, you walk into a meeting, you show up in [00:24:18] on the floor with your coaches. People are looking at your energy [00:24:21] and your attitude and what you spend time thinking about and talking [00:24:24] about. So if you are negative about every. [00:24:27] Client who leaves or talk shit about clients after they leave.

[00:24:30] Or a negative about getting negative about bad feedback, right? If the [00:24:33] team doesn’t see you processing that well, they’re not gonna process it well. [00:24:36] So good for you for doing the work of like really [00:24:39] finding some more positive relationship with clients [00:24:42] leaving ’cause it hurts, it feels, it can feel like a real punch in the gut and [00:24:45] that, I’ll be honest for myself, that feeling never really goes [00:24:48] completely away.

I have it all the time with business unicorns. We lose [00:24:51] about one unicorn signing member a week. [00:24:54] On average, and every time it feels like a punch in the gut. There’s some people [00:24:57] I’m working with for six years personally myself, so I’m like, [00:25:00] how is this not a personal attack, but I’ve learned to know [00:25:03] better and to treat myself differently over time?

Be like, okay, [00:25:06] Michael, have your feelings. Let’s let have the feeling. It’s okay. [00:25:09] It’s just information. The feelings just telling me that [00:25:12] this matters to me and I care. And my feelings are hurt [00:25:15] a little bit, and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with that, and let’s move on [00:25:18] and learn from it. Now let’s dig into the data.

What feedback do they give us? [00:25:21] How can we improve? How can we, so you have to more quickly [00:25:24] make that pivot to making it a lesson. And you’re doing [00:25:27] that, Jeff, you’re doing that, which is fantastic. Now your team will see [00:25:30] you doing that. Your team will see you having that positive [00:25:33] relationship with, with clients leaving and feedback.

[00:25:36] And so good for you. I know we’re, we’re running [00:25:39] over time, but I wanna cover one quick topic, if it’s okay. Yeah. [00:25:42] Do you have a few more minutes? Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So you mentioned earlier [00:25:45] that you run the gym with your wife, Catherine, who who is [00:25:48] fantastic. I’ve gotten talked to a few times, and [00:25:51] you said that she basically [00:25:54] works behind the scenes on the business.

I know a lot of our listeners, excuse [00:25:57] me, work with spouses. Can you just talk briefly about how you [00:26:00] all divide and conquer? What are your roles and responsibilities? Any [00:26:03] tips out there for people who are also working with spouses? [00:26:06] Yeah, I don’t know about tips because I think [00:26:09] everyone’s relationship’s gonna be a little different as to how they do things.

Thankfully, my [00:26:12] wife. Loves this industry. She loves this [00:26:15] business, and she gave me kind of the green light to go [00:26:18] for it, open it up, and she has been so supportive. So I don’t think [00:26:21] we’d be anywhere near this spot if she wasn’t as supportive as she [00:26:24] can be. Yeah. And that next step of support was helping with the business.

I [00:26:27] think she saw me drowning in the first few months and she’s like, [00:26:30] I’ll take over this. I’ll help this. And it’s the thing that she’s really good at. [00:26:33] She’s super organized. She loves [00:26:36] organizing people. She loves organizing schedules, so her being able to [00:26:39] handle. Our schedules as a team, when our meetings are, who needs [00:26:42] to be billed, when do we have our next meeting for this?

And [00:26:45] all of our community events, she’s just on top of it and [00:26:48] she’s very smooth, all when I am clunky [00:26:51] and just, I don’t know, put the meeting wherever. And she is just very on top of [00:26:54] it. So for her divide and conquer is just, I think [00:26:57] playing to her strength as organized, [00:27:00] composed, and just even keel most of the time.

[00:27:03] Yep. So she steers the ship as to when we need to have these big [00:27:06] meetings, when we need to have community events, and then we kinda just follow along and be like. [00:27:09] Kate said to do it, then let’s do it now. Yeah, that’s [00:27:12] great. So what’s clear about what you described is you [00:27:15] both have very different lanes that you’re running in.

She very [00:27:18] clearly is working on some of the operational stuff, scheduling, [00:27:21] billing, community events. You’re clearly focused on the [00:27:24] team and the fitness experience and the marketing and the sales. [00:27:27] Are there any decisions you’ve decided you have to make together [00:27:30] a little bit? I think [00:27:33] we made a lot of the pricing and.

[00:27:36] The membership options together because she was once a [00:27:39] client. She sees that side of things. What [00:27:42] kind of experience fits for that? So I think. [00:27:45] Membership pricing and membership options are something that we [00:27:48] collided on and in a good way where she gave me her insight as to [00:27:51] how we do it. And then whenever we need to change something or add something new and we [00:27:54] sit down and go over it together.

And thankfully she is like a [00:27:57] Canva queen, so she’ll make like all of our pricing sheets and everything, which [00:28:00] is great. We all need a Canva queen in our life. We’re king, [00:28:03] really, but. Amazing. Good for you. I think what you described [00:28:06] here, Jeff, I think is I’ve worked with hundreds of [00:28:09] partnerships. I’ve been in a partnership for a long time, as everyone knows, but what I [00:28:12] think we described is, I think really the best case scenario when it comes [00:28:15] to partnerships is that you both have very different skills and [00:28:18] experiences, very different strengths.

Your roles and responsibilities [00:28:21] are separate and aligned with those strengths. You both have [00:28:24] separate lane. You can both run in without touching base with each other. You [00:28:27] don’t need to ask permission to do your part of your job, and she doesn’t ask permission to [00:28:30] do her part of her job. And there’s a few things.

There’s a [00:28:33] handful of things where you decide you have to do them together, [00:28:36] which is really useful, and that kind of general formula is [00:28:39] one I recommend for anyone out there listening, and it’s always the [00:28:42] case, right? Sometimes you and your partner, whether it’s a [00:28:45] life partner or just a business partner, sometimes you have a lot of overlapping [00:28:48] skills and experiences that actually is tough.

That’s [00:28:51] really tough. I think you really have to find a way to carve [00:28:54] out different paths for yourselves so you each have your own lane to [00:28:57] run in. ’cause if not, you’re just constantly stepping on each other’s toes, [00:29:00] or both of you are really are focused on doing the same work. Yeah, [00:29:03] and you’re just doubling down on the work.

So the fact that you both have [00:29:06] very clear separate roles and responsibilities is [00:29:09] fantastic. Good for you, Jeff. And good for you, Catherine, when you, if [00:29:12] you’re listening, she should listen to this. Yeah. [00:29:15] Alright. I know I’ve taken you over the time I said I was going to be, so let’s [00:29:18] maybe wrap things up here.

So if you, looking back at your last [00:29:21] year, I’m just curious, Jeff, of all the successes you’ve had, what’s the [00:29:24] thing you’re most proud of? I’m most proud of [00:29:27] having a business that. I now feel that [00:29:30] I’m in control of, in a good way. Mm-hmm. I don’t feel like it’s taking [00:29:33] life away from me. I feel like it’s giving me more life to do the things I [00:29:36] wanna do.

It’s helping people in the community. It’s also giving [00:29:39] me the idea of just, this is a fun thing that [00:29:42] I enjoy. So it’s almost like enjoying work every single day. And yeah, to be honest, when [00:29:45] I first opened. I can’t say that was the case. [00:29:48] Um, in the last year, it has been just kinda a blessing. I’ve been loving it.

[00:29:51] So that’s been good for you? Good for you. That’s a great answer. [00:29:54] Just feeling like you’re in control of your destiny and this thing that [00:29:57] you’ve built and you’re continuing to build. Good for you. That’s [00:30:00] amazing. If people wanna learn more about you or about your gym, where can they find you [00:30:03] online? Yeah, we have an Instagram account, Nagle Fitness [00:30:06] Marshfield, and then my personal account, Jeffrey Nagle, 19.

They run [00:30:09] simultaneously back and forth. Love it. Love it. Friends, go [00:30:12] follow Jeff and the great work that they’re doing. Thanks so much for coming on the [00:30:15] podcast and sharing your incredible story. I’m sure I’ll have you back [00:30:18] again in another year when you’ve crushed it even harder. And [00:30:21] thank you so much for working with us.

Such an honor. Yeah, thank you. To [00:30:24] have great gym owners like you as members of Unicorn Society because [00:30:27] it helps us help you do just your best possible [00:30:30] work and there’s nothing we love doing more. So thanks Jeff [00:30:33] and listeners. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you all the next one. Have a great day [00:30:36] All. [00:30:39] [00:30:42] [00:30:45] [00:30:48] [00:30:51] [00:30:54] [00:30:57] Bye.