HOW CROSSFIT AUSTIN TRANSFORMED THEIR BUSINESS WITH MADLAB
After coaching at their gym for three and four years respectively, Tim Garland and Genevieve Rounkles bought CrossFit Austin in Texas at the end of 2017, a gym that was fairly new to Madlab at the time.
There was a lot of work they needed to do, and they turned to Madlab to help them implement step-by-step changes to improve client retention, average client value (ACV), develop their coaches, increase their coach pay, and, of course, increase business revenue and profit.
But Garland said the biggest difference Madlab has provided has been to change the way they take care of their clients.
- “It has definitely changed the culture in our gym to being about putting relationships first. It has definitely brought us together as a tighter knit group, and allowed us to make sure folks are the right fit for our community,” Garland said.
One early piece of this puzzle involved switching their client onboarding system. At one point, they put new clients straight into classes—classes that had two coaches, so one coach could focus on the veterans and another on the newbies. This system, however, never allowed one-on-one relationships to develop between coach and client. Later, they tried a small group, semi-private prep program, but still, something was missing.
The moment Garland and Rounkles switched to personal training for new clients, relationships blossomed, they said. Not to mention personal training revenue increased considerably.
- “The time we get to spend with people from the beginning, as we go through the consultation and through their fundamentals sessions, allows us to really connect with them on a level that you just can’t get when someone jumps straight into group sessions,” Rounkles said.
The addition of hybrid memberships, where clients do a combination of group classes and personal training, has also played a role in maintaining these relationships, all the while creating additional revenue. Further, it has contributed to increased client retention, they said.
Finally, the mentorship they receive from Audrey Patterson has been an integral key to their success, and it has also been key in developing their coaches.
- “There’s a format and the format seems to be working for our coaches,” Garland said.
- Rounkles agrees: “Having a program available to the coaches coming up under us has been extremely helpful as well. Everyone on our team is on the same page and it makes the path to our bigger goals much smoother.”
Ultimately, Garland and Rounkles now have the luxury of being able to focus on the smaller things in the business to make it shine even more.
- “Audrey (Patterson, Madlab mentor) now helps us with where we can cut things, or how we can better use our funds. Just chipping away at small things,” Garland said.
- “I’m a systems person, so I really appreciate the systems, but also just the connection and being able to bounce ideas around with other people in the Madlab network who have had different experiences. It allows us to hone in the learning curve and learn from others,” Garland said.
Rounkles added: “Becoming a Madlab system gym is what set us on the path to be able to take over as owners. Without having a long-term structure in place, I’m not sure that it would have been as realistic for us, but the support and guidance we’ve received…has been monumental.”
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