[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts.
[00:00:05] Josh Kennedy: Today's topic is top five mistakes coaches are making right now. And I think some of these I've probably myself made in the past. I'm sure you have as well, Andrew.
[00:00:15] Andrew Wallis: Um, definitely have definitely.
[00:00:18] Josh Kennedy: So hopefully the whole point of this episode is we'll help you not make the mistakes that we have certainly made in the past.
[00:00:24] That is for sure. So let's dive straight in number one, not being the expert. And this is one I've definitely made in the past. We, you know, it's, I think it's more and more important now nowadays to be more, you know, have a more of a niche, be more specific. Can you dive into this one for us, Andrew?
[00:00:43] Andrew Wallis: Yeah, we've been around the block, both of us, me more than you.
[00:00:46] Um, so back, back when we started, you were able to get away with it a little bit more, but certainly now there's that much competition. Um, and. And that much demand for the [00:01:00] services we offer. We have to stand apart. So being a generalist, you've got to skip away from that and really decide, you know, what your area of expertise is.
[00:01:10] And then, you know, showcase that, make that your USP, your unique selling proposition so that People dive to want to work with you. Case in point is, I know somebody, uh, who's a coach, who, um, is vegan. So, um, um, um, plant based food is his, is his want. So he uses that around the plant based fitness. So that's his content.
[00:01:36] So he stands out. So anybody that is interested in that, he's their go to guy. So that's the type of thing that we ultimately want. Want to be able to do because and I think the misconception is that if we're hindering ourselves in getting clients, but that's wrong. You're going to attract the right types of client that you enjoy working with, uh, with having that [00:02:00] speciality.
[00:02:01] Josh Kennedy: Certainly. I think when I started out, I was just like, yeah, kettlebell. I kind of did kettlebells as a sort of specialism, I suppose. But, um, I got a lot of my. Clients through referrals and stuff. And like, you know, one was 60 odd years old and a male and a high flyer. Another one was a 20 year old female is there was, there was no consistency.
[00:02:20] He didn't really know who I was or what I was doing. So, yeah, I think being a specialist nowadays, it's definitely, yeah, definitely important. Another one. Mistake that I made not charging enough. I hate hated and probably still hate talking about money, but why is it important to make sure you're charging enough for your services?
[00:02:37] Andrew Wallis: Well, we've got to pay ourselves. Um, and if we've got facility, we've got to have enough money left in the bank to be able to pay the rates, the rent, the heating. Staff as we bring in staff. Yeah, my
[00:02:50] Josh Kennedy: God, the cost of things
[00:02:51] Andrew Wallis: nowadays. I know, terrible. But, similar mistake. I wasn't charging enough. I didn't have my margins right.
[00:02:59] I [00:03:00] was, I was, I'd taken on staff and I was, I was paying them, um, more than what I should have been. So they were happy, but I was struggling then to survive as a business. Until I made the, the hard decision then to really have the Hard conversations toe to address that issue. Um, so if you start out the gate by realizing that you're pricing your packaging and it needs to be spot on that, you've got enough money then to then invest into the into the business.
[00:03:34] But equally. If we're charging too little, then we're going to be attracting, again, the wrong types of clients.
[00:03:40] Josh Kennedy: I was going to say, you don't want to be in a race to the bottom, do you? You
[00:03:43] Andrew Wallis: don't. So conversely, if we're charging premium rates, then by perception, you know, we're deemed to be, you know, higher quality.
[00:03:52] service provider than those cheaper. So then we can attract that right type of person into into the mix [00:04:00] and that person paying a higher rate generally is going to be a better, a better type of clients that you're going to have longer term.
[00:04:06] Josh Kennedy: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, next one, not targeting the right people. And I think this kind of refers back to the first one of not being an expert and not having your, your niche, I suppose.
[00:04:15] Andrew Wallis: Yeah. And again, when we start out, we're, we're passionate about what, and we, but we need clients and it's like. I need I need to be training someone. I'll train everybody. But if we put again, that's where we bring in those people that we were maybe not an expert in that particular area. You know, I remember in the early days I had people that wanted to train for the London Marathon.
[00:04:41] I like to run, but I'm not a running expert. Um, you know, that's not my passion. That's not my background. So I could have learned how to do that, and I probably could have helped them. But I knew a coach who was much better at that. That was his forte, so I referred them to him. Um, so that's why if we [00:05:00] focus on going back to the very basic, knowing who your target client is.
[00:05:04] The types of clients you want to work with, then you're going to be much more able to focus in on their desires and what their specific needs are, and that's going to attract then the right types of clients you get. So making sure you're Then got that right audience in
[00:05:19] Josh Kennedy: play. Absolutely. Absolutely. Next one.
[00:05:22] Having too many offers. What are the pitfalls of offering too much
[00:05:27] Andrew Wallis: choice? I haven't made this mistake, but I have seen clients. I've worked with clients who have, and it reminds me of when you see Gordon Ramsay going to the restaurants and they've got a brochure of a menu and you're flicking through.
[00:05:42] And I know I've been to places like that, and I think, well, I like that. Oh, I like that. Oh, that looks nice. And then then you get it stuck. The server comes up and ask what you want. Oh, can we can you give us a few more minutes? What's similar in fitness? Um, so you were going to say,
[00:05:59] Josh Kennedy: yeah, you know, I was [00:06:00] going to say, man, as, as someone who loves cooking, well, as someone who loves cooking, if I saw that, I'd be like questioning.
[00:06:05] Yeah, it's great to have choice, but it's like, how could you possibly do things quality when you in that kitchen back there when there is so many things on this menu should inevitably the quality is going to go down. You would think
[00:06:19] Andrew Wallis: exactly. And I love the Gordon Ramsay shows. I haven't watched them for a while, but there's a familiar theme.
[00:06:26] You know, he goes in. Yeah. Shocking service. Too much choice. And as you say, the quality of service and the food is, is poor. So he reduces the number of items on offer and they get good at, at, uh, at cooking, uh, you know, what's on that menu. Same in, in fitness. If we keep it to an, our skillset into a, a, a, a choice of maybe three.
[00:06:51] Elements that you offer. It becomes so much more easier than to have systems and processes in place to deliver. [00:07:00] A similar service, you know, you're going to excel in what you offer. And that, and that's key. We can't do that when, when we're trying to offer too much.
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[00:07:47] Josh Kennedy: Power of three. Power of three, guys. And finally, number five, not in, yeah, not investing in themselves. I've, I've,
[00:07:54] Andrew Wallis: there's a lot of cases where, certainly I'm thinking over recent times, there's a lot [00:08:00] of coaches I know that do invest in themselves. Um, actually, they swing too far, and they're investing so much in themselves that they're, they're not.
[00:08:10] Josh Kennedy: I was going to say, it's a fine line, this one, isn't it? It's a fine balance. It is.
[00:08:15] Andrew Wallis: But on the switch side, I've worked with with coaches who are depending on the qualifications from 25 years ago, and they're still set back in 1990 in their mindset and their and their traineology. And the like. So it's important to stay abreast of things.
[00:08:36] But as you say, not getting that fine line that you did too far over that you're doing too much and not focusing on on on your business. But as I say, it's getting that fine line, but staying ahead of the curve. Listening to the training, um, episodes we do in the podcast is a great way of, you know, keeping track, um, and, and, and [00:09:00] investing in maybe one or two quality courses each year to, to stay abreast of things would be a, a good rule of thumb.
[00:09:07] In my book,
[00:09:08] Josh Kennedy: definitely. If you're going to invest, make sure you're investing in the right courses for sure, because it's important to keep learning, but make sure it's something that you, something that you love, something that you're going to use and not just, you know, flushing your money down the drain, essentially.
[00:09:20] Um, that is it for today. I hope this was helpful. Uh, try not to make them some of the mistakes that me and Andrew have made. Uh, just a quick recap, be the expert. It's important to niche down. Make sure you're charging enough value, your services, and that way, then you can target the right people. Don't have too many offers.
[00:09:37] Distill your offers down to three, ideally, and invest in yourself. As I said, that is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. And if you wanna find out what's holding you back from growing your fitness business and get yourself a free website audit, go to strengthmatters. com forward slash audit.