The 7 Must Dos To Fully Book Your Dojo

THE 7 MUST DO’S

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Gordon has been a business owner since 1998, running and developing G Force Martial
Arts from a part time ‘hall-hire’ business into a 500 member strong ‘super centre’,
offering franchise opportunities throughout the UK. The history of G Force has
included the training of competitive teams and the production of world champion
kickboxers, as well as fitness training, family sports, and children classes. Today, the
focus of the G Force service and provision is to fulfil the clubs mission of ‘developing
champions for life’. In alignment with Gordon’s values, vision and mission, G Force aims
to offer the support and development of Martial Arts and associated life skills to as
many people in the Warwickshire area as possible, including the provision of character
development skills and curriculum programmes for children, and fitness, skills and
curriculum programmes for adults. The business is built on a foundation of community
and of family, and is an entirely all-inclusive membership based club that welcomes
anyone wishing to embark upon a journey in Martial Arts, no matter their background,
abilities or challenges. It also employs a team of instructors and support staff, and runs
both a youth leadership training and development and an adult instructor training
programme.
Gordon has been coaching and providing business support for Martial Arts school
owners since 2015. Martial Arts Business Mastery (part of Business Mastery Success
Limited) was officially formed in 2017, offering coaching services, products, business
mastermind programmes and business training courses and events, including the
annual Martial Arts business conference, Martial Arts Business Extreme (MABX). The
services and products offered by the team at Martial Arts Business Mastery are now
utilised worldwide, with electronic products and hybrid online and in house events
supporting the industry, for all sizes and styles of Martial Arts clubs around the globe.
In addition to these businesses, Gordon is on a mission to help as many people as
possible. He is a published author, including his publication ‘The Business of Martial
Arts’, an experienced business and motivational speaker, and a personal development
coach.

Welcome, and thanks for requesting my ‘7 pillars for Martial Arts business success’.
There is of course so much beyond teaching to consider when it comes to running a
Martial Arts business, and this can be especially challenging for those of us who are
what I like to refer to as Black Belts in Martial Arts but White Belts in business. So I
decided to put together this resource which is intended to give you an overview of the
key areas that I believe need your focus to get you on a path towards growing your
business, credibly and sustainably. Whilst it may only scratch the surface of what
actions are needed for long term business progression and growth, it will hopefully
give you some new ideas, hints and tips, serve as a reminder in certain areas, and give
you a little, and often much needed motivation. And if you are already a successful
business owner, well, we could all do with a refresher from time to time, so perhaps
you’ll find something useful here too!
All the best,
Gordon Burcham

PILLAR 1 - MINDSET FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

Everything is mindset. And I love this subject, massively. I started my personal
development journey many, many years ago. And when I look back at my progress,
from where I was when I started in each of the different phases of my adult life to
where I am now, I realise that the biggest fundamental shift in any success for myself
as a Martial Artist, business owner, speaker, author, etcetera, has always been mindset.
Where I perceived barriers, where I foresaw failures, where I had doubt in my
capabilities, it was mindset that was stopping me.
What holds us back more than anything else? It's all to do with the mind.
When you look at some of the most successful people in the world, sports athletes,
business professionals, you must consider what their mindset is. I guarantee that the
likes of Elon Musk and Richard Branson are not spending their days constantly
thinking about the minutiae; worrying about whether a Facebook ad is working or if a
delivery will arrive as scheduled. Instead they are being active and taking action,
creating possibility, building and growing. Seriously, it’s got to take the right mindset to
consider the reality of space programmes as a realistic business venture, right?!
What’s the difference between the successful and the want-to-be-successful? We are
all human beings. We all breathe the same air. We all have 24 hours in a day. The
difference is mindset and how some of us allow ourselves to be held back. And if you
are a Martial Artist, you will likely have experienced this in your own training. The same
indeed applies in business.
So now, if you are reading this, I am going to guess that you are thinking you are
wanting to get to the next level of growth, whether this is for your Martial Arts
business, or in other areas professionally or personally. Well you need to thread
mindset training through every area of your development, to grow and thrive with
maximum effect. The great news is that we all have the capability to learn, grow and
evolve into the person we were born to be. We all have the ability to achieve anything
we choose, be whoever we want to be. It’s all about success mindset.

There are two things that hold us back in anything; belief and fear. It’s important to
remember this, so you can recognise these as triggers and actively work to overcome
them. Only then will you be able to move your Martial Arts business to the next level of
growth. Or you can use them as an excuse for staying exactly where you are, or worst
still, allow yourself to give up on your dreams and the chance to live a life you love.
Not to sound dramatic, but a shift in mindset can really make that much difference. I’m
not saying it’s easy - like any other muscle, the brain needs constant training, and
mindset needs to be an active daily practice. We can train our mind to become more
resilient to withstand the experiences and challenges that we face every single day. It’s
not the challenges that we face but rather the way we react to them that matters. We
are in far more control of our mind, reactions and emotions than we give ourselves
credit for.

BELIEF

In our Martial Arts training, we are taught to believe in our capabilities and potential on
the mats. We learn through repetition until we are skilled. We learn that we have a
journey to take from white belt to black, and beyond, to becoming competitors and
even World champions. We learn to believe in what is possible for us to achieve right
from day one. And now, when we recruit students into our Martial Arts schools, we
map out their journey and encourage them to believe in their potential right from day
one.
So why do we not do the same with ourselves in our own businesses? Believe more
affirmatively in our own potential for success? Think bigger? We lack belief.
We know from past successful experiences that repetition breeds success. If you do
something often enough, you will learn from it. You will learn how to do it better, you
will learn where you are perhaps going wrong, and you will learn just how capable you
really are. Then you believe in yourself. This success is in your mind as much as any
physical skill.
Simply… we have the power to form our own beliefs. We don’t need to borrow them
from others.

FEAR

Let me start by saying that for the most part, fear is not real. We are born with only two
fears - of loud noises and of falling. Every other fear we create for ourselves through
experiences, as we grow up through childhood and from the influences of those who
are around us. We learn fears.
Let’s say I know that I need to recruit a new member of staff. But I fear that the
business cannot afford it. That they won’t be a good fit with the team. That I’m not that
good at training people. That it won’t work out. So I avoid the issue, do not recruit the
member of staff, and the result is that the business suffers, the team suffers, and I
suffer. Yes, there is the chance that recruiting a member of staff may not work out. But
I will learn from this, and continue to grow. There is also the chance that, if I plan my
recruitment well, write a good job description, arrange proper training and take the
time to find the best person for the job, this new member of staff will turn out to be an
amazing asset, earning far more for business than they cost, becoming an inspiration
to the team and allowing me as a business owner to take another small step back from
the responsibilities within the business. It’s worth facing the fear!
Don’t give fear your energy, you have enough to do already!
Now take learning to drive as an example of belief and fear. It’s not something we are
born to do instinctively, and often not something we just assume that we can do. We
start without belief, and we have given ourselves a fear that we cannot drive. That we
fear we will be incapable, suffer from nerves, worry that we may have an accident, that
we will not pass the test. And so you delay and even sabotage your own success. It’s so
often we have so many thoughts about failing that we forget to flip the narrative.
Consider how much quicker the success might be if we instead believed that we were
capable, assumed that safety is our driving instructors number one priority, and that
we are more than capable of nailing the test first time because we have allowed
ourselves to be taught well, made a good choice of instructor and learned successfully
through repetition.

All of this is just the story you tell yourself. The idea is not the truth, but the outcome is.
And you can influence the outcome by telling yourself the story you want to hear.
Believe in your potential and learn to disregard the fear you feel.
I’d like you to take a little time now to look back on your life and reflect, really think,
about how you relate to this. What situations have you found yourself in where you
have allowed fear to get in the way of any success? Where have you lacked self belief
and given up as a consequence? And where have you succeeded and achieved in
situations where you have believed in yourself and your abilities?
So what can you do about all of this? How can you build your belief and overcome fears
more easily? I urge you to do something every day that scares you. This is not a new
concept - there is heaps of literature on ‘feeling the fear’, and for good reason. It works.
You need to practice this by challenging yourself, personally or in business.
It’s not that you can’t do something, it’s just that you haven’t learned to yet.
Remember, you never fail. You either win or you learn.
Progress or procrastination. Ultimately, it’s your choice.
Something I learned on my journey was that I was letting fear and a lack of self belief
get in the way of my own success. I didn’t believe I could build a highly successful
Martial Arts business the way I wanted it, with the vision I had for it. It took me a lot of
development with mindset to realise and understand that I was more than capable. I
just needed to think a better way, to learn, to be educated in the areas in which I
wanted to grow and previously believed that I would simply fail. Don’t misunderstand
me here, I don’t claim to be perfect. I got it wrong plenty of times. But I didn’t fail, I
learned and I improved.
I’d like to share with you now my personal concept for developing a success mindset…
M.I.N.D.

M - MENTORSHIP

This is surrounding yourself with people and engaging with services and resources
that will help you to grow, support you and lift you up. This doesn’t have to be with a
one-to-one coach or mentor, though that may be your preferred approach.
It could be a book you are reading or a podcast you are listening to. Tony Robbins is
one of my mentors. I don’t pay him on a personal level, but I go to his events, engage
with his content. He is a virtual mentor that helps me to think differently.
I take in content from Jim Rohn and Les Brown. And I am always seeking new
inspiration from others that can help me step up every single day to become a better
version of myself, as I know this will help me with my personal and business mindset.
And then I have my mentors, coaches, and mastermind groups, for myself personally
and for my business development. They help me to assess my needs and overcome
any fears and lack of belief and help me step back into my genius zone. I can’t stress
enough that the people you surround yourself with are so important in helping you to
move forward and reach your goals.
You may even consider this document as a resource a mentor, if it helps you to raise
your game and overcome your challenges!
Finally, you can be your own mentor. The story you tell yourself in your own head is
your main narrative, so really think about what you are saying to yourself, and the
language you use with yourself. Consider; would you speak to someone else the way
you speak to yourself? Be your own biggest fan, not your own worst enemy.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” - Theodore Roosavelt.

I - INSPIRATION

Do you inspire yourself? So much of our inspiration can come from within, through self
reflection, evaluation and praise. Look at where you were when you started your
journey, how far you have come, and what you have been through to get there.
Everyone has a unique journey, and you have every right to take pride in yours. Then
look to where you want to go, and use this internal inspiration to keep driving you
forward, reminding yourself of your capabilities and (possibly as yet untapped)
potential.
Do you allow yourself to be inspired by others? This is known as ‘borrowed’ inspiration.
We feel uplifted by the success and positivity of others and it has a positive effect on
our own actions. Those who inspire us may be people we consider successful in
business, have overcome adversity, have incredible self belief and the ability to
empower others.
So go ahead and actively seek out that inspiration. Allow yourself to be uplifted and
consume all that light and positivity. It feels truly wonderful.

N - NEW LEARNING

Every. Single. Day. Learn something new.
It can be about self, it can be about business, it can be about a relationship, it can be
something academic. And it doesn’t have to be big. But this learning must be a
constant and consistent effort. By learning we grow, and by growing we evolve. And
this gives us so much energy and passion.
This new learning will allow you to reshape your mind. You will be able to look at things
differently, consider outcomes that were not there before, form an alternative (and
sometimes quite enlightening) point of view. And it will help you massively when the
external winds and rain of life come and try to knock you down.
Be inspired by the new things you learn, then go and create, have some adventures,
and feel alive! That is what growth is all about.

D - DECISIONS

This one may sound simplistic, but for some it causes massive hurdles. It’s in the
moments of decision that you create your destiny.
How many decisions are you pondering over, delaying, procrastinating, even hoping
that if you leave it long enough, someone else will make the decision for you? We
ponder for so long, years even, and in all that time all we create is missed opportunities,
failed connections, delayed growth. But making decisions creates such belief in
ourselves. Once we make a decision, we have direction, we make a commitment, and
we can take action. We are in, regardless of the fear and uncertainty. Making a decision
is fundamental to our growth, to building on our own belief systems, and for us to
move forward to the next level in our lives.
So take action and stop wasting your valuable time. And you will feel lighter for it. You
won’t feel the chains of procrastination restricting your movement.
If we can keep moving forward with our mindset development and we can keep
growing, learning and evolving, we will every single day become a better version of
ourselves. We can go forth and create all the things that we desire. Create the next
success. That’s what life is all about.

PILLAR 2 - ATTRACTION & BRANDING

When most people think about business promotion, they think about marketing as a
holistic concept. And it is of course a massive subject area. So here I want to drill down
to a key, very important part of marketing, a part that you must get absolutely right if
you want the rest of your marketing efforts to be successful.
We are going to be looking at being an attractive business, and attracting people to
your Martial Arts school. I am talking about attraction and branding, and indeed the
importance of understanding the difference between the two.
Attraction is everything. We live in a very visual world, where our business needs to be
attractive. Needs to be attracting prospective new members in order to generate the
desired income. You also have to consider that there are others around you, competing
for attention… dance schools, activities for kids activities, activities for adults, gyms,
personal trainers, personal development gurus, etc, all trying to get attention, get
customers, clients, business.
And there is so much noise out there, especially with online activity and social media,
that can make getting your brand and your business message out there quite complex
and difficult at times. But it can also be very simple, when you make the effort and get
it right.
Brand then is how you are recognised. This is what you should become known by.
Think of all of the brands out there that you are familiar with, just by sight, sound, or a
flagship service or product; McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Virgin, Apple, etc. Then think about
why you know them and what comes to mind? And how do they do this? It’s branding,
and it’s visual, it’s what people can connect with and easily identify.
Yes, these are global companies, but the same principle applies in local areas too. Your
aim is to make your Martial Arts brand well known and instantly recognisable in your
local area. You want anyone thinking of Martial Arts, fitness, hobbies, after school
activities to think of you before anyone else.

Constantly getting your brand out there is the start of building a relationship with your
prospective new customer. You see, before anyone commits to trying your service, they
go through a process where they need to know, like and trust you. To do this, your
brand must be strong.
You must also consider customer service as part of your brand. To quote Jeff Bezos,
“your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room”. This is a
great, very powerful concept because if you think about it, how many times have you
been to a restaurant or received a service of any kind where, when it's a brilliant service
or brilliant food or whatever your positive experience is, and told people about it. And
the same goes if you have a bad experience. However the number of people you will
tell about a bad experience will far outweigh the number of people you tell about a
good experience.
So how we serve our customers, our students is massively important to our brand. But
also bear in mind that this means more than word of mouth. What people are saying
about you consistently on social media and other online platforms is really, really
powerful. Customer service is your brand.
When people come into contact with you, by phone or email, the speed at which you
get back to them is important. Whatever the method, the experience they have of you
should encourage them to talk about you (in a positive way of course!).
Also, consider how your brand is perceived, and does this match what you want people
to think, how you want them to feel?
What kind of brand is it? Is it a family brand? A fighter’s brand? You’ve got to know
who you want to attract and that's really, really important in branding.
Once you are confident your brand is on point, how do you go about attracting people
to your brand and your business? This is strategy.
You need to be firing out ads, raising your brand awareness, making sure you are
recognisable and people know who you are and what you do. People are attracted to
promotional ads, whether it's a leaflet, whether it's a Facebook ad, whether it's an
Instagram ad, or email marketing campaign.
They need to see you enough. They get to understand the brand, they begin to know,
like and trust you… and then you're going to knock them over with your offer and
service.
Now I call this pull or push marketing, and we need an element of both, in whatever
marketing method being used. And I think that what we need is the 80/20 rule, a
careful balance for promotional success.
80% of your marketing should be pull marketing. This is getting your brand message
out there, using your marketing mix. Share what you do, share your stories, inspire with
content, successes, and journeys of your members. Give your audience something to
enjoy, create that ‘feel good’ factor. There is no sales element to this element of
marketing, instead you are pulling them in via your content strategy,

your email strategy and your social media strategies, constantly educating them on
what you are about. This will attract, and some people will even make contact with you
at this point, but for the most part this is just informative marketing, no sales.
20% of your marketing is then push marketing. This is the promotional style ads, trial
session offers, seasonal discounts, or whatever your offer is. This will catch the rest of
your audience who want what you offer but need that extra nudge.
And I look at this as the jab cross. It's a very simple analogy. Lots of jabbing (pull
marketing), and then the knockout (push marketing).
Remember when you are planning your push marketing, that you need to include an
element of offline marketing in your mix. Investigate what methods will work in your
area; business to business, leafleting, events, whatever that is for you. But a mix is
important for raising your awareness – it can take as many as 7 ‘touches’ for someone
to become brand aware and take action.

Hint: my top three ways to promote online and capture new leads are social media
marketing, having a website that converts, and good email marketing. In addition,
you need a robust referral marketing system, allowing your members to easily
promote on your behalf. These are essential parts of your marketing mix, so make
them your priority.

I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t mention here a reminder that you need
targets and tracking. You need to know what you want to get out of your marketing,
you need to know where your leads are coming from, and you need to monitor what
works and what doesn’t. Don’t just wing it – you will be wasting time and money.
Monitor, track and adjust your strategy on a regular basis.
And that's all just the start of it. Getting enquiries is one thing, getting leads becomes a
systematic activity. But converting them to trials is a whole other subject, which I am
sure I will come to later! However I mention it now, as you need to remember that not
all reach turns into leads, and not all enquiries will convert. So again, you need to know
your numbers. For your marketing, you need to calculate figures like how many people
you reach actually turn into enquiries, and how many of your enquiries actually convert
to paying members, in order to make sure your marketing efforts are big enough and
that you are focusing your time, energy and money in the right areas.
Target, track and measure every activity, every result, every campaign.
So before you start your next marketing campaign, schedule in some time to review
your brand, to ensure that it is fit for purpose; that it is recognisable both visually and in
the service level that it is associated with. And work on your marketing system to make
sure it is effective enough to attract an audience. Do that and you will start to see a
noticeable increase in the number of quality new leads that come in. Or simply ignore
your branding and attraction needs and your Martial Arts business will stagnate.

PILLAR 3 - SALES

This section is about making money. You work hard to build a business, you have
mountains of experience, and you deserve to be able to do what you love, create an
income, and even be able to offer employment opportunities to others through the
income you generate from sales.
There are so many people who seem to think that money should not be made in the
Martial Arts industry. But this is such an outdated viewpoint. In order for us to be able
to deliver a quality service and continue to support our communities, we need to
generate an income. And we need to be able to feel ok about that, just like any other
business. Let me help you here. It’s ok to make money! It is not selling out, and Martial
Arts does not have to be a ‘hobby’ business. And selling this service does not have to
discredit our service, skill or discipline, as long as we are selling and serving with
transparency and integrity.
We know we offer something that can benefit so many people, and we have the
absolute right to share that. But we can only do that by selling to those who we reach
through marketing, and selling to our existing members also. And if we are
representing our industry from a service approach, then our message will be well
received - there is not a need for hard sales and cold calling. So let’s remove that
misunderstanding right now. We are here to SERVE those who need us, and to do that,
we need to be able to sell.
When I started my Martial Arts business many, many years ago, I really struggled with
the concept of ‘selling’. I didn’t know what I was doing. I used to wear the fact that I
didn’t sell anything to anyone as a badge of honour, believing that people came to me
when they needed me. That was an absolute delusion. What I was actually doing was
waiting and hoping people would find me and make decisions for themselves, and
losing out on a lot of potential members in the process. I also realise now that I was in
fact selling to them from the moment they walked through the door, even though I
didn’t recognise it at the time. You see, selling is far more than telling them the price
and taking their money. It is demonstrating to them the quality of the service, the
appearance of the dojo, the pain that will be solved.
There are two main reasons for why people are not good at selling their Martial Arts
service:

1. FEAR

A fear that we will be rejected is common among those who do sales because they
have to, not because they love to. We hate feeling awkward, we hate any
uncomfortable silences, and we hate feeling like we might be pressuring someone.
And we seem to forget that the person we are talking to has likely approached us
because they are already pretty sure that they want what we can offer. We find
ourselves throwing an enrolment form in their general direction and hoping that they
sign, or rushing through the process to get an uncomfortable situation out of the way.
We need to realise and accept that not everyone will be receptive to what we have to
say, and move on, in the knowledge that we made them fully informed of what we
could offer them should they be in the position to take it.
If however you can have courage and overcome that fear by having a belief in what you
offer and the value of your service, your communications will become more confident
and this will be apparent in the conversation you have with prospective new members.
You will find that your discussions become more natural and you will feel like you are
serving rather than selling. You will realise that the sales happen almost organically,
and that by the time you come to that difficult discussion of price, they will already be
bought into what you offer and will have sold themselves by having loved the
experience they have already had - this is especially true if you have pre-framed them
throughout the enquiry and trial process to a point where they are primed and ready
to hear the ‘pitch’. Much of this works in conjunction with effective systems and
processes… more on that later!
“I just need to go away and think about it”
“It seems a bit expensive”
“I should ask my husband/wife/partner/dog before I commit to anything”
I’ll bet these sound familiar! Overcome your fear around selling and you will be able to
better handle these typical situations and overcome objections that stand in the way of
signing up new members, without being pushy or feeling uncomfortable. When you
are in a selling situation, your energy is massively important. If you are cautious, your
audience will be too. If you are confident, they will be more likely to convert.

2. SELLING OUT

The misconception that to make money from Martial Arts is ‘selling out’. That it’s a sin
to benefit financially from teaching Martial Arts, and that it will change how others
perceive me as an instructor. This is an outdated point of view, and though there may
be some who still see it this way, that is simply their opinion and nothing more. As long
as the service that is being sold is quality and credible, it is perfectly acceptable to
charge for it, and to charge what it is really worth. Just like any other service in any
other industry.
And sometimes, you are making an assumption that this is what people think! As the
industry has evolved over the past few years, so too has its reputation and its value. By
treating Martial Arts as a legitimate business sector, we are able to increase the
opportunity for reaching those who need it.
The definition of ‘selling out’ for me is offering substandard quality of Martial Arts
training and service, making promises to students and parents that cannot be kept.
So how can we become more confident in selling? Well this shift starts in how we
communicate. How interested we are in the person we are communicating with. How
we obtain information from them and how we respond. Once you can break down
their message to you and understand what they want and need, you will be able to
serve them with the very best solution for them.
Whether you are in initial discussions of booking trial sessions or closing the sale to
sign them up for membership, you can get to this information in two ways - adjusting
your language to make sure you are asking great questions and really listening to the
answers. There are techniques you can apply that will make this sales process so much
easier, and much more comfortable for you.

1) High quality questioning
Make sure the questions you are asking are relevant to the conversation and
open-ended. Avoid giving the person you are talking to the opportunity to
answer with only ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Once you open up a discussion you can begin to
serve them by finding out more about their desires and discussing solutions.

2) The power of the pause
Once you have asked a question, give them adequate time to respond. Even
when they think they have finished talking, stay silent for just a few seconds
longer, and the chances are they will offer up more information. This will both
help you to obtain as much detail about their situation as possible and will
also make them feel validated and heard.

What are they trying to achieve in life? What was the reason for their enquiry? Why do
they think Martial Arts is the answer? Then shut up! Really listen to their answer and
respond appropriately.
You are aiming to find out what they need and offer them an appropriate solution. Do
not tell them what you have and try to convince them this is what they want. Instead,
be responsive to their needs, and even to their objections. Let them know you
understand by affirming how your service will help.
And remember, in most of your sales situations, they approached you. They have seen
your promotions and sent you their details. They have a pain that they want and need
solving, they have taken the time to fill out a form on your website, respond to your
social media ad, drop you an email, or perhaps even called you. Through your
attraction and branding, they have already begun to know, like and trust you. This
‘sales’ step now is simply building on that relationship, letting them know how they
can be served.
Remember that for Martial Arts member recruitment, the real sale and close is not in a
conversation but in the experience they have in your facility and on the mats. Meet and
greet, be prepared, know their name, remember your booking conversation, know
their pains. Then provide a knock out experience during a trial session that responds to
their needs, and they will already have decided that your school is the place they need
to be before the session even finishes.
If a child finishes a trial session with a huge smile on their face, looking like they have
had the best time ever, and the parent is happy and content (free coffee in hand!), they
are going to sign up.
Now ask the child what they enjoyed about the class, then ask the parent how much
improvement they think they will see in the next 12 months, and let them see how
amazing that will be. Now comes the close… let them know your payment structure,
and give the two options; pay in full or monthly payments. Then ask which one suits
them best? And how would they like to pay? That’s it.

A similar structure applies to adults, just with different questions of course. But the
same kind of experience and conversation style is essential.
And you will continue to serve your members through sales throughout their journey
with you. People naturally want the next thing, they need to make progress, they need
to know the next logical step; workshops, seminars, equipment, merchandise,
upgrades. If you are consistently serving at a high level, communicating the purpose of
your products and services, and offering what they need to respond to their pains and
support their progress, the sales will come naturally and you will be able to maximise
the value of each of your students without pushy sales tactics or the false appearance
of greed.
Let me give you an example of selling without selling. Our club is now in a position
where our high quality service is so consistent and our members are so well framed,
that our monthly skills workshops typically sell out within 30 minutes of being
launched. What does that tell you? Our members are engaged, supported, excited and
informed. They know we will provide what they need for their progress and there is
very little ‘sales’ required at point of booking. However, we will already have sold the
concept of workshops to them during their enquiry, at induction, in class
announcements and demos, through social media member group posts, and with
many more touch points, so that by the time they are eligible to attend they cannot
wait.
Once you have fine tuned this skill for your business as it currently stands, you can
begin to invest more into your business, your team, and the service provision you can
make available to you members, which in turn creates further income generation.
Think online shop, merchandise product lines, birthday parties, holiday clubs, after
school provision, specialist courses, community activities, charity support. Begin to
build your infrastructure so your Martial Arts club can become whatever is your vision.
It’s time for us all to see sales differently and instead get excited about the income
potential and what you can do with that income to make your infrastructure and
provision even better for your students, your team, and yourself. Gone are the days
where the word ‘sales’ is associated with the stereotypical pushy salesperson, out to
pretend they have a bargain or special offer just for us, wearing us down until we agree
to sign the paperwork, when really we all know it’s a tactic to pressure us into buying.
You can sell and provide a great offer AND be honest and transparent. It’s part of
building an ongoing trusting relationship with your customer. For our industry, to sell
is to serve, so start reframing that in your mind and enjoy the conversation and
process. Start to look forward to picking up that phone and having a beautiful
conversation, knowing that you are going to help someone.
Learning the art of sales actually enhances so much in your life and business. It will set
you apart from the crowd, help you and your business grow, increase your confidence,
and allow you to better support others. Sell from the heart, with a true belief in your
offering, and you will succeed in this area.

PILLAR 4 - TRAINING PROGRAMMES

No matter how great your marketing, sales and service, if you don’t have your training
programmes well balanced, your efforts are going to be wasted. A good programme
offering will no doubt enhance what you do in your Martial Arts school. So I will share a
little about what we do in my club, G Force Martial Arts, and how you can apply
something similar to yours, simply and effectively.
Some Martial Arts schools state simply that they charge ‘x’ amount per month and that
equates to ‘x’ amount per class. Here’s what I have found. Selling classes in the
traditional sense has become restrictive for our style of business. It gives people the
impression that it is ok to come and go, pick up and drop their training, with a
pay-as-you-go casual mindset. But we know that to progress and succeed in Martial
Arts training and reap the benefits, students need to commit to regular and consistent
training, buying into the ethos of our full service provision. So we need to educate
them on this right from the start. And, if we are being honest with ourselves, a regular
and consistent income is what we need for the sustainability of a Martial Arts school as
a business model.
So we need to encourage people to stay, and there are a couple of things you can do to
help with this; ditch the pay-as-you-go option in favour of monthly direct debit
structures (Feeling fearful about the concept of changing to monthly payments?
Re-read pillar one then come back to me here!). And promote, sell and talk about
‘programmes’ rather than ‘classes’. Monthly payments will enhance your students'
commitment to their training. And creating and selling programmes will reframe their
impression of your service.
People like to buy ‘programmes’ because there is structure and a clear progression
path. It allows them to visualise their success potential. And I am not only talking about
a ‘beginners’ programme here (though that is great for promotion and recruitment of
new members). I am talking about the way you approach the structure of the entire
pathway that your members follow, from white belt to black and beyond. Trust me, this
is very powerful. Once a member commits to a programme, they create themselves a
need to keep training, to progress, and to achieve, whether this achievement is grades
or meeting personal goals such as weight loss, fitness or confidence. And when they
reach these goals, they will continue on the programme to make sure that they
maintain where they are at.

So when you are talking to a parent, it is important to find out what they need for their
child. Find out what is important and what drew them to Martial Arts, like we covered
in the previous pillar. Once you have this information, you can quite comfortably and
confidently let them know what programme you offer will meet that need and get
them results. Not what classes or courses, as these are too short term. By offering a
programme, you are both reassuring the parent that you can make a longer term
commitment to helping and supporting their child in meeting their needs, and also
pre-framing them that your service is one that they will need to commit to, inviting
them into your community and starting them on a journey rather than taking up a
hobby.
And remember here that your programmes can still end. But they must have levels
and opportunities for progression.
Here’s an example of our programmes structure:

A new junior age member would join our KICKSTART 12 month programme -
our beginners level. This gives them the basic skills, introductory level
workshops, and gets them through their first gradings. And this starts to
answer the pains, the needs, the reasons why they joined. And they get a
programme completion certificate and are now eligible to join the next
programme.
They progress onto our ACCELERATOR 18 month programme - our
intermediate level. They complete the necessary gradings and intermediate
level workshops, or demonstrate the necessary standards and skills. Then they
get a programme completion certificate and are now eligible to join the next
programme.
Now they progress onto BLACK BELT DEVELOPMENT programme - our
advanced level. They complete the necessary gradings and workshops, or
demonstrate the necessary standards and skills, and work towards their black
belt assessment.
Please don’t think that by offering programmes I am encouraging you to compromise
on your standards or service. It’s all about how you communicate how your
programmes work. The timescale is purely guidance, based on minimum attendance
and progress. Upon completion of their programme, members will be assessed and
invited to move up if they are ready, and they will still pay monthly or annual / pay in
full subscriptions throughout their programme. If their attendance is low, they miss
gradings, or their skills are not up to standard, then they can take longer in each
programme. It would be doing members a disservice to move them up before they are
ready, just because a certain period of time has passed, and we are certainly not in the
business of setting anyone up to fail.
And being on any of the programmes does not guarantee passing gradings or
progression; they still need to work for it and earn it. This structure is about gaining
commitment from your members (and parents) and giving them a clear pathway to
work through, that allows them to see the possibilities and reality of earning their
grades in a reasonable yet realistic timeframe (subject to their commitment and
attendance of course).

It breaks their journey down into manageable sections, gaining them reward and
recognition along the way with certification for life skills, workshops, gradings, effort
and achievement - more about that later on!
With this structure in place, you will take your members on a journey and give them
constant reasons to stay committed and meet their needs. Of course from time to
time, members will still say they want to leave. Some with reasons that you cannot
respond to; they are moving away or medical restrictions for example. But when they
start to hinder, you can simply ask them again what their purpose was for becoming
involved in Martial Arts and remind them how your programmes respond to them. It’s
a powerful tool to have.
A programme structure also has business benefits. By having the opportunity to
upgrade onto new programmes, you can implement an upgrade fee, just like a joining
fee when they first start. As our members move up through the programmes, and as
the juniors members grow, they need new stuff. So we have a different uniform for
each programme, and different kit requirements. For the Accelerator programme they
need their sparring gear, and for the Black Belt Development programme, they need a
weapons pack.
Now experience has shown me that just telling parents that their child needs the kit
does not encourage them to buy it. Then their child is the one without the kit when
they need it, or wearing an old, ill fitting uniform. So by making this part of the
requirement to move up to the next programme, they have all of the kit and uniform
they need to train effectively, and the business also benefits from the sale of the
programme sign up pack.(Plus you will also find that the photos and videos you
capture for your marketing will look so much better when all of your students are in
the correct uniform!). And as for workshops, yes we make them a compulsory part of
the programmes. It makes sure that as they progress through the programmes, they
have the same level of training and a better understanding of the skills and techniques
at the most appropriate point in their training journey.
And don’t worry about getting resistance from your parents about this - if you are
doing your new member inductions well and including this information in your
welcome brochures and communications, then not only will they be expecting it but
they will also be looking forward to it! It’s new and exciting for them, it keeps them
interested. It’s part of their journey and confirms to them that they are making
progress.
I cannot stress enough, people get bored. Your main aim is to keep things interesting,
and well structured programmes will do this. So think carefully about what your
programmes should include; which grades, which curriculum, workshops, equipment,
life skills requirements, and anything else you deliver. If you already run your club with
a structure of programmes, now may be a good time to review them and see if they
include everything you need to keep your members interested, learning and evolving.
You must make sure that what you include in your programmes is necessary, relevant
and purposeful; don’t make things complicated for yourself, your team or your
members, and make sure there is value without overstacking the programme.
Achievement must be realistic for your members. And don’t include so many paid
compulsory extras that you appear greedy! You need to find a harmonious balance.

If you follow this programme structure, you are going to notice an increase in both
prospect conversions and sales income. Because it is logical. Members will sign up and
upgrade programmes because they see the need and the progression opportunity.
Your workshops will book up and sell out because your members are educated in the
process and want to upskill and try something different, outside of the standard
curriculum.
All of this keeps them engaged, interested and a committed member of your school.
And a committed member gets more involved and invests more with you as they
progress. They attend seminars, book birthday parties with you, help with your events,
become part of your leadership or instructor programmes. The knock on effect to your
student value and potential for additional revenue is clearly so important to consider
when you are planning your programmes.
When you consider training programmes, you need to think about more than just your
curriculum. As your business grows, so too does your team. You need more help on the
mats, but we know that great instructors don’t grow on trees. Guess what? You need
more training programmes! This will allow you to recognise the talent that is already
within your member community, and offer an additional opportunity for progression
for your members.
To get help in classes, you need a STRUCTURED and CREDIBLE junior leadership
programme. Something that allows your junior members to provide assistance in
classes, through learning, training and development and that the parents will
recognise as valuable to their child's personal and Martial Arts progress. Using a great
junior leadership programme will further secure their commitment to the club and
provide you with that crucial extra support on the mats. You can make this exclusive
with limited cohort intakes, provide a t-shirt or uniform, and create an application only
programme that your junior members want to be a part of.
Then of course, there needs to be a progression opportunity for your junior leaders and
a programme for your adult members to apply for. You need an effective Instructor
training programme that will allow you to request commitment from your trainee
instructors as they work through a 12 month development programme with a
combination of theory and practical elements.
Progression opportunities will of course depend on their successful completion of the
programme, their desires, and what you are able to offer in terms of employment
opportunities. So you should always be assessing your business needs and forward
planning to ensure that you make the most of the potential personnel resources in
training. Remember, people need to see their potential end goal as they progress and
know what they might be working towards.
I guarantee, having programme structures like these will make you stand out from the
crowd. Look at other clubs and activities in your local area - do they offer such
structure, progression opportunities, training and development, activities that can
support CV’s and job applications, or even the start of a career path with instructing,
teaching, even future franchise owners? This can be as big as you want to make it!

PILLAR 5 - EMPLOYMENT

So we have touched on this subject slightly when we lightly covered the possibility of
junior leadership and instructor training programmes to help build your instructor
team. But in a growing Martial Arts business, you need to consider what recruitment
you require beyond the mats, and be clear on the different needs of an instructor
coaching team and a business support team. Team development in a Martial Arts
school can absolutely revolutionise your business and improve your life!
What I want to share with you in this pillar is something I wish I had been advised of
way back when I started teaching Martial Arts in my own school. My professional
progress and business growth would have been so much quicker.
For most instructors who open their own school, it is because they have a passion for
Martial Arts, and they want to teach. They want to share that passion and the benefits
of Martial Arts with their students. So they want to spend their time on the mats. And
quite often this is done as a ‘hobby’ business, instructing an evening or two from a
rented space, juggling the time between teaching, the day job, family and other
commitments. Which is fine for most. For a while.
But some want more. Which leads to more students, more classes, more responsibility.
And you can’t do it all, although many will try for a while (me included!). And our ego
will let us continue to try. We know our business, we know our students, we have a
vision of how we want our school to be run, and we fully believe that no one else can
do it as well as us.
The reality is though that when all we want to do is teach, we are going to either
neglect other duties to the detriment of our business progress, or do them and resent
them. This is when what started as a passion becomes a burden. You become the
Martial Arts instructor, who is also dealing with HR, payroll, marketing, sales, cleaner,
etcetera. And this is a dangerous position to stay in, especially when you go all in to
make your business a success without accepting the human resources that your
business needs to grow successfully and sustainably. I learned that the hard way, losing
my house in the process.

So here is where you need to decide what operational support you need to help your
business grow. Figure out the things you love, the things you are not so good at, and
the things you would rather someone else do for you, and create some support roles.
The options are varied; administration, prospecting calls, accounting, marketing, any of
the many things that make up your business. Go ahead, write everything down that
you do in your business. Then put a tick, or even a love heart, next to the things you
enjoy and that you are good at. They cross by the things you don’t enjoy or the areas in
which you are weaker. That right there is where you need to look to recruit for as a
priority. Then as you grow, so will your support team, possibly to the point that you
require an Operations Managers to coordinate the structure and people for you.
Aside from the operational aspects of your business, you of course need to build a
coaching support team. For me, this is made up of a Head Instructor, Senior Instructor,
a team of Instructors, Assistant Instructors, Junior Instructors, and Junior Leaders and
Class Assistants. We have implemented a clear and simple programme structure,
training schedule and progression pathway, and the team are timetabled in for the
classes they lead and support. We use the training programmes as mentioned in pillar
4 and our Instructor team are always looking out for instructor potential within our
students base, with a rolling recruitment programme.
I have recognised four main barriers that we as Martial Arts business owners create for
ourselves when it comes to the need for team member recruitment:

1. THE COST

There is usually huge concern over both how much it costs to recruit a member of staff,
and how much it will cost to pay them a salary. The thing to consider here is what will it
cost you if you don’t. Taking a little time to recruit well will save you a lot of time down
the road, and if you recruit the right member into your team and pay them a
reasonable wage then they will more than earn their money back and start making
you money too. And they will free up so much of your time. It is important to start
thinking differently about staff as being a cost and start realising that they are your
most important asset if you want to increase your revenue and grow your student
numbers.
As an aside here, please consider carefully the salary you offer when recruiting. Look at
what your business can afford, investigate rates of pay for similar roles in your local
area, recognise the experience of the person you are recruiting, and value the position
for what it is worth. If you pay low, you will likely recruit someone who looks good for
the job, possibly even over qualified, and you think it is almost too good to be true.
Then you realise that they are using you as a stepping stone to a better position or only
took the job while they find what they are really looking for. And please, no more job
advertisements that ask for all of the experience under the sun, outlining the skills of
the ideal candidate, then offering ‘minimum wage plus bonuses’. You will get a lot of
your time wasted that way.

2. THE ABILITY

Feeling like you don’t know how to employ staff is an easy barrier to create. The reality
is you are probably overcomplicating the process and allowing it to become confusing.
So if you know you need to recruit a member of staff, but you don’t know how, ask for
help! There are employment forums, there are mentors, there are other Martial Arts
club owners who will gladly help guide you. Clarity will encourage action.

3. THE FEAR

Fear that the person you recruit will be no good at the job. Fear that you will be let
down. Fear that it just won’t work out, and all of the other reasons that you make up in
your head. So someone gives a good interview then turns out not to be up to the job.
That’s ok. Better to try anyway, there’s a lot of people out there who are ideal
employees too, those who will absolutely love to do the tasks that you don’t want to be
doing yourself. So don’t expect the worst and instead try to attract the best.

4. THE CONTROL

It’s our business and it’s our baby. We can’t seem to let go and we believe that if we do,
someone else is going to screw things up. Again, this is not a real issue, it is something
we have made up. If we can start to let go of that control, put our trust in others, and
make an effort to train them well in how we want the role to be undertaken, then we
can get ourselves more freedom to grow.
Once you can recognise and overcome these barriers, you can start to assess your
business, understand the roles you need, the hours those roles require, the people you
need in them, and how flexible you may need to be with the role to recruit the right
person. You want to be known as a business that people want to work for, and to do
that you need to learn how to be a great employer.
So forget about the traditional working hours, the typical part-time or full-time
scenarios; you are not a traditional business! The hours alone speak to that. Find the
right person for the right role in the best hours possible. Consider job sharing, flexible
working, and how you can support your employees needs outside of their job.
Permission to switch hours around to go and watch a school play can mean the world.
Perhaps all they need is to adjust the hours slightly so they can work around their
family commitments - if it doesn’t make a great difference to your business or how
they do their job, but it makes the difference to them between earning an income or
not, then make this work for your ideal candidate and they will be more committed for
it. Don’t rule out a great person for the job because they don’t fit your initial thoughts
on the job role or structure.

And once you recruit, put the basics in place - get support on this if you need to. Have a
basic employment contract agreed, so you and your employee are clear on both the
terms of employment and their role and responsibilities. This clarity at the start avoids
much conflict and confusion later on. Then commit to training them properly so they
have the independence to go ahead and do a great job. Allow them regular training,
inspire them through leadership, but don’t micromanage them. If you have chosen the
right person for the job and your business, then you should not need to watch their
every move. You need to recruit people you can put your trust in, and the results
should demonstrate whether they are fulfilling their job role or not.
Then keep your team engaged in their work. Respect them, value them and get to
know and understand them and how they work best. Don’t take them for granted,
instead push them to succeed, for their success is your success. And reward them too.
Find out what makes them tick, and use this as the proverbial carrot. Remember, what
drives one person will not drive another; some will value time over money. And
bringing in the occasional tray of donuts doesn’t hurt either!
My final tip on this matter is a word of caution; do not exchange service for service.
Whilst it might be tempting to find a parent who might be good on your front desk a
week and say “hey, if you do a few hours for me, your child can train for free”. The
theory is good, but in practice what happens is you likely recruit someone who views
the work like a hobby and they don’t really commit or do the job well. They feel like
they can pick and choose the work and the hours. And now they feel like their child is
training for free, so they haven;t made that financial commitment that makes them
take their child’s Martial Arts seriously. If you do recognise that you have a parent who
can work for you, fantastic. But offer them formal paid work and continue to charge
fees for their child’s training. Separate the work from the training so that there are no
ties if and when they leave their job with you, or the child stops training.
Staff make you money or they make you time, but if you believe that staff are a
hindrance, that they are a pain, or that you cannot afford them, then you are never
really going to run or grow a business. You are always going to be a slave to your
business, trying to do it all, and honestly, probably spreading yourself too thin and not
doing it well at all. So when you want to take a little time away, go on holiday, there’s no
one to run your classes or keep an eye on your customer service. You become ill and
have to cancel your classes, you lose members and you lose money. If you want to build
a business where you can have time off and it continues to run without you, then you
can’t afford not to start building a team around you. Imagine having such a great team
that your business grows while you are not there! That’s the situation I am in these
days, and I love it! Because I have built a wonderful team infrastructure.

PILLAR 6 - RETENTION

Your marketing and recruitment could be amazing, and that’s great. But if you are not
paying some attention to how you actively retain your existing members, then your
recruitment efforts are only going to be replacing lost members. And you won’t grow
without unnecessary expense. I’ve mentioned that training programmes go a long way
towards boosting member commitment, but when you back that up with a retention
strategy, you are winning.
When you have a smaller Martial Arts school, retention is a little easier, as you have a
more personal touch with your members. You know them by name, and it’s like a
family. But as you grow, this becomes more of a challenge, and to maintain that family
feel, you need to build on a sense of community. And you need to nurture your existing
members as you grow so that they grow with you rather than dwelling on ‘the way it
used to be’.
During growth though, it is essentially that you accept that not everyone will stay. It
doesn’t matter how great you are - you might be Bruce Lee come back from the dead,
with a gold plated dojo - people will still leave. Some people don’t like change, or they
have their own reasons for leaving that are beyond your control. Don’t take it
personally, just continue to do what you can to nurture those who do stay.
Member retention starts at the very beginning of their journey with you, and many get
this wrong. They think it starts later down the line, when you are trying to keep them,
but this is in fact too late for most. Pre-framing during onboarding is a key moment for
retention, managing members expectations and providing guidance on what their
journey will be. For instance, when a child joins we need to educate the parents who
believe that Martial Arts is like any other activity that they can do; football, swimming,
dancing. This is the moment when we can help them realise that they will also embark
upon a character education programme, developing life skills, meeting their needs
and responding to their pains, remember?! This is when they need reassurance that
they have made the best decision for their child and they need to commit.
So we do a member onboarding session every week, and we make it a compulsory part
of their enrolment. They get their uniform and their welcome pack at this meeting -
professionally printed - and we talk them through their journey; what’s involved in
their programme, how gradings work, progression and even career opportunities,

and how we are ready to support them when they reach that moment where their
child says they want to leave! They want their child to be more disciplined, stronger,
more confident, able to defend themselves. So we remind them why they came to us
and help them understand that there is so much more to Martial Arts than kicking and
punching for an hour a week.
Another surprising retention tool that is so easy to implement is customer service and
the personal touch. People will buy into a good service, they will sign up based on the
way they are treated. And believe me, they will also spread the word about you if they
are not treated the way they expect to be! As our industry has become more
commercial in recent years, being good on the mats is not good enough to recruit any
more, and you have to go above and beyond with your service levels. People will join
you for the whole experience. They don’t want to feel like a member number - that’s
when people leave.
So what can you do about that? Depending on the size of your school, for new starters
it can be as simple as making sure you know their names when they walk through the
door, or a courtesy call to make sure they have all of the information they need before
they arrive, to offering a complimentary drink in your cafe while their child does a trial
session.
And for your existing members you could be adding in some reward and recognition
as part of your service. Here’s a couple of easy ideas…

STICKERS

So simple for kids. Quick recognition for completing a great technique, paying extra
concentration, or setting a good example.

CERTIFICATES

Whether this is awarding them for being star of the session, completing their
programme, or achieving part of their life skills programme, presenting certificates is a
great way for members to feel recognised and parents to notice that their child is
noticed. A variety of certificates that can be presented along their journey is ideal.(Plus
you can get some great images that you can then use for marketing content!)
None of this means reward for the sake of it. Done well, your rewards will still be
credible, and if you are recognising that there is a student who never gets rewarded,
well perhaps this has just highlighted that they need a little more support or
alternative attention or training. A reward system can work in your favour in that way
too.

During your members journey, you need to be building a relationship through
communication. Birthdays are a great occasion for this. A birthday card in the post
with a gift voucher for your shop,or a personalised message or video. These simple,
often surprising gestures are unbelievable for keeping their attention and
engagement.
Retention is also achieved through progression, typically in the form of gradings.
However we know that all members are not ready to grade every time, so you must
find another way of keeping them engaged. As mentioned in the Training
Programmes pillar, workshops and seminars are an excellent tool for your business.
Allow your members opportunities to follow a training programme that gives them a
clear pathway to upskill and progress, and feel like they are always achieving.
Sure, some of this might sound a bit cheesy. There are many Martial Arts instructors
who just want to teach and believe that they don’t have the time, or indeed the
patience, for such seemingly trivial activities. But the reality is, if you want a student
base to teach, you have to accept that customer requirements have changed, and you
need to adapt accordingly. If having more students to teach means you have to give a
few high fives, then just do it!
When it comes to service for retention, automation is your very best friend. Have a
system that:

Notifies you when a birthday is coming up
Tells you when a member has not been attending so you can give them a call
Will thank them for booking a trial session with you
Can personalise your communications
Tracks your members progress and activities so that your communications are
accurate
Identifies loyalty and offers rewards
All these little touches, consistently, will make all the difference to your members and
parents. It is part of what makes them feel connected.
Of course all this is to support the heart of what you do - delivering great classes. Once
your students are on the mats, it’s so important for retention that you keep them
engaged. I don’t mean to patronise here, this is more to serve as a brief reminder for
those who need it. We can so easily get into habits when it comes to Martial Arts
delivery that we forget to keep things fresh; to change up the classes, to make them
exciting, to introduce new equipment, switch around the content. Check in on your
lesson plans from time to time.
So the message from this pillar is; if you want to retain your student base and add new
members for growth, then work on what activities take place outside of the dojo as
well as inside. Paying that little extra attention to the details will allow your members to
see the FULL VALUE of your service. They lose the value, and they leave. And there is
always room for improvement. So where can you improve? What value can you add?
How can you serve your members even better? The alternative is to do nothing, risk
your growth and struggle on as you were with that constant battle of losing as much
as you gain. It’s up to you.

PILLAR 7 - SYSTEMISATION

Some love it, some hate it. But if you want to run a successful, credible, growing
business, then you can’t escape it. You need to systemise your business. Every bit of it.
You’ll thank me later.
Implementing effective systems can save you time and money, and give you more
freedom from your business. Most people, especially when they are starting out in
business, think they have a system. But what they really have is just information rolling
around in their head. Or perhaps your system is a spreadsheet, tracking names and
payments, and that’s about it. Then before you know it, it’s several spreadsheets that
you can’t quite keep track of, and a paper diary that you hope you have remembered
to keep up to date. And absolutely no structure to how you operate these ‘systems’.
I learned a few years ago the power of a good system, and saw the massive impact that
systemisation had on my business. And I learned that systems run businesses and
people run systems.
Having a system means things run much quicker, in an organised fashion. And
everyone involved knows exactly what is happening and how things should be done.
Look at any franchised business. You can step into any McDonald’s for example, and
you know what you are going to get. And the staff know exactly what to deliver and
how to deliver it. Because they have a set system that anyone employed is able to
follow, from the food, to the tills, to the toilet checking schedule. It’s all systemised. And
it’s successful.
So what systems does a Martial Arts business need to have things running like
clockwork? Here’s a few suggestions:

SALES SYSTEM

You need a process that your team follows as standard, that guides your leads through
from enquiry, to trial session, all the way through to close of sale. This system must be
free from any confusion, with all the current information available to your relevant
team members. Your team must have the knowledge of all actions that are required on
any electronic systems that you use for member tracking.

CUSTOMER SERVICE SYSTEM

You must have your system from pillar 6 in place to ensure retention. Have a clear
customer journey and a way of tracking that progress.

MARKETING & LEAD SYSTEM

For your recruitment process, you need a system for how you generate leads. Consider
your system for planning, budgeting for and executing your marketing. Don’t waste
money by winging it.

RECRUITMENT SYSTEMS

When you recruit a new member of staff, have an onboarding process. A checklist of all
of the information you need, documentation to sign, training to be considered.
I’m sure you get the jist. Every activity that the business undertakes should have a
documented systemised process. So if you don’t already systemise then from now,
each time you take an action for your business, I encourage you to document it, and if
it needs a system, create one. And this doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking, it just
requires a little discipline to get started. Create quick videos, voice recordings,
recording of the activity, screenshots or checklists. Free yourself from just some of
what is in your head! Then once you start to get these systems down, compile them
somewhere your team can access, and update whenever needed.
Systems only need to be, and in fact should be simple. They need to be easily picked up
and followed by anyone who needs to become involved in your business activities.
Think how much easier this would make things as your business grows and you recruit
new team members who require training, or when roles need covering. And think how
much more time you will have once everything is in order.

A crucial system for any business is a Customer Relationship Management System
(CRM). This system should be the hub of your school, handling your member details,
payment tracking and failures, attendance, communications, automations, messaging,
and so much more. It should be all of your member business activities in one place.
And these systems can manage and automate your external systems too! It’s amazing
to be able to pull enquiries through from places like Facebook and websites straight
into the CRM for the sales system to be activated, without having to do a thing. Ditch
the spreadsheets is what I say!
And the great thing about a good CRM system, if it is administered properly, is that it
will give you the true information about your business income and projections,
allowing you to plan most effectively. You should be able to see statistics such as where
your leads come from, when your trials are booked in, what your conversion rates are.
This knowledge means you can staff appropriately, adjust your marketing strategies,
fine tune your sales processes. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
So please, for the growth of your business, take some time to review your systems and
decide where you could spend some time and effort to create new systems or develop
what you have. And if the fear of learning a system is overwhelming, or if you are
already feeling the burden of learning something new, know that the benefits of
systemising far outweigh the pains and it will be so worth it in the long run as your
business grows - more time, more freedom, and more money.

Gordon began his Martial Arts journey as a child, with a desperate need to increase his
confidence and strength. The very start of his journey gave him not only the
foundations he needed to one day become a multi world champion kickboxer, but also
a unique insight into what is needed to build an incredibly successful Martial Arts
business. His passion for and need to serve and support others has always been part of
his values, personally and in business.
Through his journey, Gordon has most certainly faced challenges. His ambition for
achieving his dream almost cost him and his family their home. But his drive, his
determination, and his willingness to seek out and accept support made this a
defining moment in his professional career. Through hard work and with business and
personal coaching, he turned his fortune around, and is now one of the most respected
authority figures in the Martial Arts industry in the UK.

BOOK A CONSULTATION CALL WITH GORDON