[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts.
[00:00:05] Josh Kennedy: Today's topic is seven essential tools that power our personal training business. Um, let's jump straight in. Number one, it's absolutely vital to our business. Uh, true coach.
[00:00:17] James Breese: Absolutely. So this is the software that we use behind the scenes here at strength matters.
[00:00:21] James Breese: Now I'm going to. Caveat this, is there other personal training software out there? Yes, 100%. Why do we use True Coach? Because that was the first company we saw and I knew the owners back in the day. And it's also the best software for our business at the moment. Is it something that we want to stay with long term?
[00:00:38] James Breese: I hope not. Because it's not got everything that we need and I think it's now lacking in a lot of features that other things are coming out with. And there's no, since they sold out. To a big corporation, they're not putting the same investment back into the company. So this is saying this, we use it. Uh, there's lots of caveats to this.
[00:00:56] James Breese: There's other kinds of software out there. I do like EverFit at the moment, which I see out [00:01:00] there being used quite a lot. It's got some great features, however, it hasn't got the features that we need to help us run our business efficiently. Maybe if they do it in the future, we'll transition over. However, at the moment, True Coach is the one that we use to make our business more professional, give us the training tools that we need to allow us to communicate with our clients and to write the training programs and assign and write programs efficiently and quickly at the same time.
[00:01:24] Josh Kennedy: As you say, it's like... It's got a good, easy, clean layout. It's not complex. I think some of the training software out there is trying to be a bit too complex. Um, simply, you know, putting programs together is very, uh, quick and simple. As you say, we've got the metrics, um, good communication, but you know, it doesn't have the, it doesn't have the ideal integrations that we want.
[00:01:45] Josh Kennedy: Uh, unfortunately, as you say, that's, you know, Something like ever fit does have better integrations, but um right now true coach is the one for us Um zoom, uh, we use zoom for not for training For consultations client [00:02:00] catch ups and stuff like that Do you want to talk a little bit more about zoom and maybe mention loom as well?
[00:02:05] James Breese: Yeah, exactly that So I think for us even though i'd say we don't use zoom for client Training sessions or assessments and stuff like that. We do use it for client catch ups because now Again, since the pandemic, it's the default, uh, online, uh, video conferencing system exactly in the world and everyone has it.
[00:02:22] James Breese: It's like, you know, it's like Google. Everyone's, everyone uses Google. Now everyone uses zoom. So it's very simple. It's very quick. Everyone's now used to using zoom as well. So it's a great way to catch up. So we use zoom for initial strategy calls where we'd like to speak to people on the phone and speak to them face to face.
[00:02:38] James Breese: We then use it for client consultations before they start trading with us and then the monthly catch ups to help try and build this relationship online. And if they're in person too, because sometimes it's rather than going to a coffee shop to meet or somewhere in the gym and bring them in. We can just do it from the comfort of the home if it works better for the clients.
[00:02:55] James Breese: So it's, it's a great way for us to have these consultations, catch ups. But also in terms [00:03:00] of, you know, sometimes you just need a catch up call with somebody during a program because something's not going quite right, or they've done a race and you want to congratulate them and say how well they've done on the race.
[00:03:09] James Breese: Whatever it is, we do use Zoom for client communication, not for training. Now, you mentioned Loom as well. Loom's a great tool. We use Zoom for doing the screen recordings though. So it's something that we do to record videos and messages to clients to explain what their program is. It's a very integral part to our business.
[00:03:27] James Breese: Zoom is or loom if you want to use it as part of the that side of things too But it's something that we can't do without in terms of running our online training business Yeah
[00:03:35] Josh Kennedy: 100 percent and when you are training people, um, you know mainly on or 100 percent online like we do with strength matters I think it is really important that You utilize, uh, video calling as much as possible to get that connection.
[00:03:49] Josh Kennedy: And also for me, I used to send, you know, long winded messages trying to explain, um, clients programs. And, uh, since then I was like, well, I should probably probably make it much easier for my. [00:04:00] for myself and for the clients if I now record videos for them. And if they're coming across any issues as well, if you can't jump onto a call with them, you can do a quick two minute video to just have a, you know, give your ideas and thoughts about what potential, you know, to get past any sort of plateaus or, or whatever it is.
[00:04:16] Josh Kennedy: If there's an issue, it's nice to have that, um, Not, not face to face, but it's, it's on a video message is more personal, isn't it? So it gives us that option as well. Um, and Excel, uh, in an ideal world. We'd have this integrated into, uh, true coach, but we can't do that at the moment. So we want to talk about what we do with Excel.
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[00:05:08] James Breese: Don't wonder? Act now. Book your free strategy call at strengthmatters. com forward slash website today. Yeah, so the first two, first one is TrueCoach, second one is Zoom, the third one is Excel. So yeah, we do use Excel spreadsheets, good old classic Microsoft, where we pull a lot of the data from TrueCoach once they've done assessments, or on ongoing assessment nutritionist type stuff.
[00:05:31] James Breese: We pull it into Excel where we've got some fancy ass calculators doing a lot of formulas for us to speed up what we're trying to do. Particularly our nutrition calculators, I think that's a really big one on deficits and our approach to nutrition coaching assessments. That's definitely what we do on here.
[00:05:48] James Breese: So we pull the data in, something as simple as Excel. Yes, we use it for our assessments, we use it for nutrition, but also there's other calculations we do too to help speed up our workflow. So, we can't do without Excel at the moment, I wish [00:06:00] we could, but we can't because it helps do all the fancy calculations that we need to be more efficient with our coaching.
[00:06:06] James Breese: to deliver the best services for our clients too. And these are some of the things we give away in the HGP with people. So if you want that nutrition calculator, we give it away. We do a lot of programming calculators and stuff. They all have it as part of that too. And the HGP members will see how we use it for the assessments there too.
[00:06:20] James Breese: So again, simple, but something we can't do without. Absolutely.
[00:06:24] Josh Kennedy: In talking about efficiency, calendar systems and scheduling, especially for you, James, who's obviously incredibly busy running the, uh, The day to day of the business outside of coaching. Um, do you want to talk a little bit about
[00:06:38] James Breese: what we use?
[00:06:38] James Breese: Yeah, so number four, integrated calendar systems. So there are multiple calendar systems out there we use. Our inbuilt default system within our CRM software within the, within the website, within the, uh, the customer relationship manager software. So I did use in the past Calendly, but we use our integrated system now, which many of other clients who've got the website stuff with us, whether it's, [00:07:00] it's just a great way to save time and hassle, all those to and fro, going back messages, times, what kind of time can you do, what time can't you do, what days, all these things get solved very quickly if you connect your calendar.
[00:07:12] James Breese: Whether it's Google Outlook or iCalendar to a system where it's set up where it can book in at a specific time. So for me... Any strategy call, any first catch up call, client call, they all have to book in through this calendar system, which then sends reminders for them to turn up. Because it's not just one thing booking people in to come and speak to you, it's another one getting them to show up.
[00:07:34] James Breese: So there's an automated system that builds it here now. Integral Parts saves us so much time and hassle just by clicking the link. Gets you doing consultations with clients. Me speaking to strategy calls or sales calls too. It's a wonderful thing and we cannot do without that. Well, I certainly can't in my business.
[00:07:49] James Breese: It would drive me bonkers if I didn't have it.
[00:07:52] Josh Kennedy: Um, as you say, because people in, you know, busy in this day and age, they would forget. So it's good to have those, uh, reminders. [00:08:00] Definitely. Uh, type form as well, or Google forms, uh, if you wish really important for, um, questionnaires. Exactly.
[00:08:07] James Breese: So we use. Type four, uh, for number five, it is more professional.
[00:08:12] James Breese: It's easy to use, a better interface. So we pay the basic plan to have that. So we use that for initial consultation calls when people come and speak to us for the first time and want to get to know about us. We also use it for in depth questionnaires to learn about our clients when they sign up to our coaching programs.
[00:08:28] James Breese: We need all the information possible about them. So they fill it out in, in there for us. So we then have it in like a PDF. Downloadable version to put in attached to their notes within True Coach. Again, absolute must. You can use Google Forms. It looks less professional. However, if you're on a budget, if you're what we call a white belt in our training system.
[00:08:47] James Breese: You know, it's a Google forms a great thing But if you're a blue belt purple belt above that 20 25 a month is worth the investment to make you look more professional To get you a better experience for your clients. So type forms [00:09:00] 100 percent a tool that we use day to day and can't do without
[00:09:04] Josh Kennedy: Number six is YouTube.
[00:09:05] Josh Kennedy: Of course, everyone has heard of YouTube. Um, we use it for content sharing for engagement. Um, and also obviously true coach has a built in video library, um, as do, uh, most of the, uh, personal training softwares. Now I imagine, um, And in an ideal world, it'd be great if you filmed your own videos, but it's not essential.
[00:09:26] Josh Kennedy: So that's what we use YouTube a lot for. Just if we need demonstration video, it takes two seconds to go on YouTube and find a million different versions and whack it into true coach. Um, would you, would you say James, anything you want to add to that?
[00:09:39] James Breese: Yeah, no, it's exactly right. So YouTube in terms of like social media and building your brand or building your.
[00:09:46] James Breese: Following. It's more of a case of we use it to save time because if there's something we want people to do, a new exercise, say they've got a shoulder rehab program and I haven't got time to film something and [00:10:00] look professionally like we normally would do, we can go to YouTube and use that video within the actual ecosystem itself.
[00:10:05] James Breese: And a lot of trainers get worried about how to film so many videos. Well, don't, I don't think there's any, I think again, I talk about this, this is more of a blue belt. Purple belt, black belt type stuff that you want to be doing where it's all about your brand and getting that whole image across. Whereas at the start, people won't care.
[00:10:21] James Breese: People don't mind. It's quicker, it's easier. There's a million videos of it out there already on YouTube. Pull a video, use it in the system, use the default ones and away you go. As long as you choose a good video, it's great. So the YouTube videos that we can use to do new exercises that we haven't got in our system already, we can plug it in and play and it saves you so much time and effort.
[00:10:40] James Breese: Yeah,
[00:10:40] Josh Kennedy: exactly. As you say, in an ideal world, we would do it, but it's so time consuming, um, that it's so much easier to just pull a good quality video from, uh, from YouTube and share it with your clients. Uh, and the last one, number seven is Slack for our day to day communication within the team.
[00:10:56] James Breese: Yeah, vital.
[00:10:57] James Breese: So again, as you've, if you heard previous episodes, we [00:11:00] talk about how we use a hybrid model and how multiple coaches can often work with the same client. This is a great way that whole team communicate if they have any issues. For example, they can go into a channel and write down. Hey, I'm having an issue with this client any thoughts on certain things or if they've worked with somebody they go Hey, let's work with such and such.
[00:11:18] James Breese: This is what I saw today had a few issues here So whoever's running his online section of his program, they can make updates here. It is imperative That if you haven't worked as part of a team, you have slack or something similar to communicate and let them know what's happening. Again, Josh, we use it day to day from clients, from marketing, from business.
[00:11:36] James Breese: We do it multiple different things throughout here for the podcast today, sharing the show notes today, as we would like, because we do actually prepare our shows, right, in what we're trying to talk about. So, it's And we also like
[00:11:46] Josh Kennedy: to share
[00:11:46] James Breese: a good gif as well. Exactly. A good gif and give it, give each other abuse every now and then on the water cooler, as we call it.
[00:11:54] James Breese: Uh, talk about Everton Football Club, Man United or Wrexham or whatever we want to talk about, but that's, that's a key point. [00:12:00] So communication is key in any team, but communication with clients is absolutely vital. So we can use that and discuss things and even jump on calls. Uh, if we need to, to discuss things too.
[00:12:09] James Breese: So again, those are the seven things that we use. So just to run them down very quickly, TrueCoach is our personal training software of choice. Uh, we use Zoom for client calls and communication. Excel for some of the data calculations. We use our own integrated calendar system, but you can use stuff like Calendly to booking calls and consultations.
[00:12:26] James Breese: Typeform instead of Google Forms, but you can use Google Forms for client data. Uh, YouTube for videos to make it quick and easy to save us building out a whole library of videos. And then Slack is the main communication channel for us within our team to help us all run our online personal training business here at Strength Matters and Cricut Matters.
[00:12:46] Josh Kennedy: Absolutely. That is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. And if you want to find out more about our hybrid coaching model and how we implement it, go to strengthmatters. com forward slash HCP.