The Gym Owners' Manual

George & Viv
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Fitness
  • Updated weekly

The Gym Owners Manual is a podcast for gym owners who want practical, no-nonsense advice to grow a more profitable, better-run business. Each short episode delivers actionable lessons on sales, marketing, retention, operations, and leadership, drawn from real experiences working with thousands of gyms.

Episodes

  1. 3 days ago ·  Video

    #8 - Sales Funnels Every Gym Owner Needs

    In month one, you remember every person who walks through your door. By month six, leads are slipping through the cracks and you don't even know it. In this episode, we break down how to build a sales funnel that shows you where every lead is, what happens next, and where you're losing people. You'll learn: Why you can't keep your leads in your head, and what it costs you when you tryWhat a sales funnel actually looks like, and how to picture it as columns on a whiteboardThe typical funnel stages for a gym, from first enquiry to paying memberHow to progress from a whiteboard to a spreadsheet to a CRM as you growSimple ways to capture walk-ins, like a QR code or a guest bookWhat to send at each stage: a phone-first reply to enquiries, SMS reminders, a light-hearted message for no-shows, and a next-steps email after sign-upHow to nurture the "not right now" leads over the long termWhy a "no" is better than a ghost, and how to follow up 3 to 5 times at different times of dayPlus, the numbers worth tracking, including show-up rate and free versus paid trials, and what it takes to lift your conversion rate from 20% to 30%. Whether you're running your first gym or your fifth, a simple funnel means no lead gets forgotten and every enquiry gets a proper follow-up. New episodes weekly.

  2. 30 Sept ·  Video

    #7 - Sales vs Marketing: What's the Difference?

    Loads of inquiries but hardly any of them turning into paying members? Or the opposite: barely any inquiries, but nearly everyone who reaches out signs up? In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry pull sales and marketing apart and show gym owners exactly how to measure and improve both. You'll learn: The one-line test for telling sales and marketing apart: everything up to the point someone inquires is marketing, everything from inquiry to payment is salesReal-world marketing examples gyms are already using, from signs and QR-code referrals to run clubs, local sponsorship, and community events, including a shout-out to Paisley's PAC Performance and their matching-t-shirt run clubWhy an old marketing rule (half of what you spend is wasted, you just don't know which half) still holds up, and how to measure what you can instead of guessingGeorge's real experiment from his first business: turning Facebook ads off and on for a month to find out why almost nobody credits ads when asked how they found the gymWhy ad effectiveness fades over time, and what that means for planning a year-round marketing calendar instead of scrambling for ideas each monthSales ranked in order of effectiveness, from in-person consultations and gym tours down to phone calls, messaging, and self-serve website sign-upsWhy the coach isn't always the right person to sell memberships, and how to build a simple, consultative sales process using a needs analysisThe only two metrics you need for sales and marketing (number of inquiries, and percentage of inquiries that convert) and how to use them to spot exactly where your weakest link isWhether you're bringing in plenty of inquiries but struggling to close them, or converting almost everyone who reaches out but can't get enough people through the door in the first place, this episode gives you a simple framework for diagnosing and fixing whichever side needs the work. New episodes weekly.

  3. 23 Sept ·  Video

    #6 - Metrics That Matter for Gym Owners

    What gets measured gets managed, but only if you're measuring the right things. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry explain why the numbers behind your gym matter more than the likes on your latest post, and work through every metric a gym owner should actually be tracking. You'll learn: Why "what gets measured gets managed" is one of the most powerful tools a gym owner has, and the vanity-metric trap (like social media likes) that can quietly derail itWhy customer numbers are trickier than they sound, and how to lock down a tight definition of a "customer" before it skews everything downstreamHow splitting your customer count into joiners and leavers reveals whether you've actually got a retention problem or a sales and marketing problem, even when your headline number is growingWhy tracking member activity (average sessions per week, or simple active, semi-active, and non-active bands) gives you an early warning sign of who's about to churnHow to calculate average revenue per customer, why it matters for forecasting and pricing decisions, and the one thing that can silently distort itWhy average membership length (around 18 months for a typical class-based gym) is one of the best measures of how "sticky" your gym really isWhy profit and take-home pay is the metric that matters most to many owners, why it usually lives with your accountant rather than your gym software, and why it's rarely a smooth lineA simple system for putting metrics into practice: reviewing them as a team the moment the month closes, and changing one thing at a time rather than overhauling everything at onceIf you've ever had a gut feeling about how your gym is doing, this episode gives you the numbers to back it up, and a straightforward system for turning them into action without overwhelming your team. New episodes weekly.

  4. 16 Sept ·  Video

    #5 - Member Check-Ins as a Retention Tool

    It's always easier to keep an existing member than to go out and find a new one, but most gyms only ever speak to members in passing, between reps or on the way out the door. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry break down how a proper member check-in, done consistently, becomes one of the simplest retention tools a gym has. You'll learn: Why new members and long-term members need completely different check-in conversations, and what each group is actually looking forHow to structure a check-in call: 10-15 minutes, phone or in person, in a dedicated and confidential slot rather than a rushed chat after classA simple drip-feed education plan for new members (five to ten topics, sent out before their first call) that gives you a natural way into the conversationWhy open questions beat closed ones every time, and the exact phrasing that opens a conversation up instead of shutting it downHow to reframe long-term members' progress using their own starting point, and the psychological trap (sometimes called "progression amnesia") that stops experienced athletes from noticing how far they've comeHow often to actually run these calls: the two-week and three-month checkpoints for new members, versus a few times a year for long-term membersHow to use check-ins as a trend-spotting tool across your whole membership, and why the real reason someone joined your gym is rarely the reason they say out loudSimple ways to manage the logistics without expensive software: a spreadsheet system that tracks who's due a check-in and whenWhether you're trying to stop new members quietly disappearing in their first month, or keep long-term members engaged for years, this episode gives you a practical, repeatable system for checking in that doesn't take over your week. New episodes weekly.

  5. 9 Sept ·  Video

    #4 - Consistency Clubs as a Retention Tool

    The gym owners who retain members longest aren't the ones with the flashiest kit or the biggest space. They're the ones who get people into the habit of just turning up. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry break down how to turn consistency itself into a retention tool, using a feature WodBoard calls the Consistency Club. You'll learn: Why the most consistent athletes are almost always the ones who stick around longest, and how to help new members build that habit before they drop offHow to set up a Consistency Club based on attendance (not bookings), with monthly targets tailored to each membership typeThe gamification tricks that actually work: levels, colours, streaks, and lifetime milestones like 100, 250, or 500 classesWhy hidden levels for new members (so they don't see an "unachievable" target) make early consistency feel achievable instead of scaryThe story behind WodBoard's infamous "red bar of shame," and why members hated it enough to email in complaints, and why that reaction matteredReal-world ways to reward consistency beyond the app: shout-outs, prizes, badges, discounts, and one gym's annual red carpet Christmas event for their most consistent membersWhy keeping members' attendance history matters more than most gyms realise, especially when they're switching softwareWhether you're trying to get January's new faces past their mid-February drop-off point, or keep your long-term members engaged for years, this episode gives you a practical way to make consistency the thing people show up for. New episodes weekly.

  6. 2 Sept ·  Video

    #3 - To Pause or Not to Pause

    Every gym owner has faced this one: a member wants to pause instead of cancel. Say yes and you might be waving goodbye to a soft cancel in disguise. Say no and you risk losing a genuine member over a rigid policy. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry break down how to handle membership pauses fairly, without leaving money or members on the table. You'll learn: The difference between a genuine pause and a "soft cancel," and the warning-sign months to watch forFour practical strategies for managing pauses, from pause fees to minimum pause periods to capped annual allowances, and which situations call for whichReal data pulled from the Wobble database on the most popular months for pauses and the longest pause on record before a member actually came backHow to turn your pause policy into a proper legal document your members sign, so everyone knows where they stand from day oneWhether you accept pauses freely, ban them outright, or land somewhere in between, this episode gives you a framework to make the policy fair for members and workable for your business. New episodes weekly.

  7. 26 Aug ·  Video

    #2 - Seven ways to fight the summer slump

    It's been a brutal summer for enquiries. Hot weather, the World Cup, everyone on holiday, across gyms in Europe, enquiries are down, and the ones that do come in are taking longer to convert. In this episode, George Palmer and Viv Henry run through seven summer marketing plays gym owners can actually pull off, no big budget or agency required. You'll learn: Seven summer marketing ideas, from Bring a Friend Day to a Community Run Club, and how to time each one for maximum impactThe one idea on the list that costs nothing to runWhy you shouldn't try all seven at once and the simple habit that turns your first attempt at any event into a reusable playbook for next yearOne thing you can action this week to get a campaign moving before summer's overWhether you're chasing a quiet enquiry pipeline or just want a fresh idea that doesn't need a marketing degree, this episode gives you seven to choose from. New episodes weekly.

  8. 20 Aug ·  Video

    #1 - The 3 Pillars Every Gym Is Built On

    You started your gym to coach. Somehow you also became the cleaner, the receptionist, the social media manager, and the accountant. In the first episode of The Gym Owner's Manual, WodBoard founder George Palmer sits down with Viv Henry (WodBoard's head of lots of things) to unpack why trying to do everything yourself is holding your gym back, and what to do about it. You'll learn: The 3-pillar framework every gym is built on (Product, Sales & Marketing, Operations), and how figuring out which one is yours makes the other two an obvious hireWhy the traits that make someone great at sales and marketing are usually the opposite of what makes someone great at operations, and why trying to be both burns you outThe member count where most class-based gyms need to bring in dedicated admin help (it's earlier than you think)One thing you can do this week to work out what to hand off nextIf you've ever ended a day having coached, cleaned, invoiced, and posted on Instagram, and done none of them well, this one's for you. New episodes weekly.

  • 8 Episodes

About

The Gym Owners Manual is a podcast for gym owners who want practical, no-nonsense advice to grow a more profitable, better-run business. Each short episode delivers actionable lessons on sales, marketing, retention, operations, and leadership, drawn from real experiences working with thousands of gyms.

Information

  • Creator
    George & Viv
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Gym Owners' Manual
  • Show Website
    The Gym Owners' Manual