The Founder Success Formula by Ross Franklin - HTML preview

Chapter 1 – Be Pro-Active

For: All Team Members & Managers

All Team Members must read and master Chapter 1 of Stephen

Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People. Learning

the skill of being pro-active has an incredible impact on company

culture, and when team members embrace pro-activity, there is

a massive positive impact on the guest experience.

• Goals How to Get Everything You Want – Faster Than You Ever

Though Possible by Brian Tracy For: All Managers

In this book, author Brian Tracy walks through the science of goal

achievement. This book helps Managers learn the art of goal

setting.

• One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

For: All Managers

This book lays the foundation for management technique. The

Coaching Session was developed from the techniques within this

book.

 

3.1.8. The Art of the STP

Not to be confused with SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), the STP is a training tool that helps leaders carefully think through their actions to achieve a goal and communicate the action process to the team. In any organization, there is a place for both SOPs and STPs. As SOPs tend to be commonplace within most organizations, here is a guide to the STP process and how this tool can be used:

STP Training Guide

STP’s are one of our most powerful tools for communication. This acronym allows us to identify defects and develop actionable plans through critical thinking to cure the defects.

S-situation: What is the current situation?

T-target: What is the desired situation?

P-process: What is the proposed process to achieve this target?

Make the STP thorough yet concise. Always avoid telling a "story." Make sure the process is actionable and real. The process should contain specific steps to take to achieve the target.

When creating an STP this acronym is also helpful:

S-specific

M-measurable

A-actionable

R-real

T-time-oriented

Remember, you have the gift of imagination! If you can see it, you can create it!

Here is an example of an STP that I executed for a health club I consulted:

Situation: Our current membership sales closing ratio month-to-date is 49% with our goal at a closing ratio of 75%. With an aggressive flyer team in place, many of our leads come from guest passes. For example, yesterday alone, 14 out of our 31 leads were from guest passes.

Target: Close all prospects at 75%. Focus especially on the guest pass process to ensure these prospects are closed at minimum of 75%.

Proposal:

1. Guest Pass Process

Situation: Currently, every prospect that comes in on a guest pass presents their ID at the desk and meets with an advisor, but they are not always toured and given membership pricing before they use the club.

New Standard:

A. Every prospect that comes in on a guest pass MUST be toured

and priced before they use the pass.

B. Every guest pass must be treated as a walk-in lead in the advisor

sales system

C. Advisors must personally hold the ID of the prospect on the

guest pass. If they do not join on the spot, this gives the advisor

another chance to close them after their workout.

2. Takeover by Manager

A. If prospect does not join after advisor’s price presentation, they

must be introduced to a Manager (most appropriate Manager

based on needs assessment) to help convince them to join.

B. This introduction must be seamless and seem natural. A second

person adds credibility and validates the advisor.

3. Training

A. Daily one-on-one training on objections with General Manager

B. Role playing on objections

C. All advisors must listen to and apply Brian Tracy’s Psychology of

Sales.

4. Same-day Guided Workout

A. If the prospect does not join on the spot, they must be offered a

same-day guided workout with a trainer. This will give advisor a

second chance to close them.

B. If the prospect accepts the guided workout, they must meet the

Personal Training Manager to be set-up. The Personal Training

Manager can reemphasize the value of Personal Training.

5. More face time with prospects

A. By spending more face time with prospects, advisors will create a

better and more meaningful relationship with prospects and will

increase their closing ratio.

STP Process for Missed Goals The STP process can also be used as a tool for addressing missed goals and rethinking how to achieve better outcomes:

Objectives:

• Establish a recommitment towards the goal through

preparation of an STP within 24 hours from the time of any missed goal in any department; the result is the enhanced focus and accountability of each team member through a redirection of thinking, resulting in immediate change in strategic action or enhanced execution.

• To stimulate the best thinking of each member of the

team by establishing the expectation of excellence and producing a collaborative environment between the entire team and the GM

• Full engagement resulting in an operational culture

committed to continuous improvement

Procedure:

A. If you miss a goal by even 1%, you must produce an STP and

submit your STP within 24 hours.

B. Identify and develop the following:

o Situation: what happened?

o Target: objective o Process: overview of action plan with accountability

C. Action Plan:

o An instructive, methodical series of measurable steps

designed to create the desired result

When you hold the team fully accountable for their goals and they miss a goal, they will redirect their thinking and try new actions to put them in a better position moving forward.

 

3.1.9. Weekly Success Agenda

To exceed our goals, I believe in structuring our week with specific actions and targets. Weekly success plans are a tool that helps to condition your team to plan for success. Here is an example of a weekly success agenda from a health club that I operated:

Weekly Success Agenda Example

Weekly Goals

1. Focus on Vital Behavior actions to consistently drive 200 leads

per week

2. Develop team to consistently close at 75% or higher

3. Schedule 3 events and close one corporate account

4. Keep Operations Manager focused on vital behaviors and

building and managing the street team

5. Focus all department heads on hitting weekly goals

Day 1

1. One-on-one with Operations Manager to review vital behaviors

and review his agenda for the week

2. Sales meeting with membership advisors to review Chapters 15

and 16 of Brian Tracy’s Goals

3. 1pm to 4pm - Only revenue driving activities. Development work

with Front Desk Manager

4. Review PT Productivity Report with Personal Training Director

and Fitness Manager

Day 2

1. Manager Meeting and discussion of Chapters 15 and 16 of Brian

Tracy’s Goals and distribution of The 7 Habits of Highly Successful

People with the assignment of reading Chapter 1

2. Check all Outreach accounts with Operations Manager to ensure

they are "active"

3. 1pm to 4pm - Only revenue driving activities. Development work

with membership advisors.

4. Review with Admin Coordinator: ensure we are up to date on

contracts, paperwork, refunds, member issues etc.

Day 3

1. Massive street team focus: continue to schedule interviews and

work referrals to build street team guest pass generation

2. One-on-ones with Spa Practitioners

3. 1pm to 4pm - Only Revenue Driving Activities. Development

work with membership advisors.

Day 4

1. One-on-one with Spa Director. Review Spa Productivity Report.

Review external Relationships and Weekly Success Plan

2. High Rise Focus - review high rise list with advisors to schedule

building events. Each advisor must schedule one building

3. One-on-one with Personal Training Director & Manager. Review

PT Productivity Report. Weekly Success Plan.

Day 5

1. Review advisor's following Week's Success Agenda

2. Work with advisors on growing our real-estate and health

practitioner network

3. Review Operation Manager’s following week Success Plan

Prior Week Goal Recap

1. Hit weekly lead goals

2. Executed 3 successful events

3. Fully ramped up new membership advisor and put him into sales

action

4. Worked with advisor team on expanding their external network

Planning your week with vital behaviors to accomplish your goals is a key part of planning for success. Throughout my career, not only have I done this for myself, but I’ve trained my team members to plan and recap their weeks so every key player in the organization is driving toward success.

3.1.10. Quarterly Reviews

Providing feedback to key team members is a critical part of the leadership role. Having structured, quarterly sit-down meetings with full performance reviews is crucial so key members within the organization know where they stand.

Here is an actual quarterly review I gave to one of my former employees:

Quarterly Review Example

Dear Marc,

Your contribution since joining us has been excellent. You have shown loyalty, drive, dedication, and you have brought wonderful, positive energy to the team. Your effort has certainly already made a positive impact on Front Desk Operations and is expanding to the rest of the club. Your can-do attitude is very much appreciated, and we are thrilled to have you on the team!

Opportunity for improvement:

Our company has a culture where we always offer candid, open, direct, and honest feedback. We are committed to your success, growth, and development within the company. The following areas are those we believe, when improved, will help you become a more effective and complete leader:

Execution & Full Engagement

Execution is where the rubber meets the road in world-class

companies. As such, you must make this area of your management

style world-class. Flawless execution is the key component here; we

know the precise targets and metrics we are looking for that make our

jobs easier. Keeping your commitments and having the highest level

of integrity within our processes is what is expected from you.

Moreover, we expect you to be a role model in relation to “results

over reasons.” Our company is focused on:

Fully Engaged Leaders. These are leaders that fully participate in the

“process of success.” You have great experience, and it is time for you

to take the lead and drive all our processes with passion and to

innovate where possible.

Discipline:

There are no short cuts to excellence. We are evolving into the finest

fitness experience anywhere. As such, leadership must be focused

and disciplined.

Great leaders understand they must do what they have to do to

become successful, not what they want to do. Knowing what to do is

not enough – doing what you know is the highest level of leadership

integrity. Self-discipline refers to the training that you give to yourself

to accomplish a certain task or to adopt a particular pattern of

behavior, even though you would rather be doing something else.

Self-discipline is the assertion of willpower. Self-discipline is, to some

extent, a substitute for motivation and is when one uses reason to

determine the best course of action that opposes one's desires.

Success Structure:

We never want to live in a reactive state. It only causes undue stress

and is counterproductive. To become pro-active, you must master the

art of planning and anticipating the future. This will make your job a

seamless one and will affect everyone around you. Planning and being

organized are the keys to our success. Structure is the first step and

is the solution to your success. Committing to living by structure is the

secret to success and allows you to be truly proactive and reach your

full potential. Highly successful people control time. Time does not

control them.

Organization, Prioritization & Consistency:

This is another key point for your success. To be effective, you must

organize your priorities by establishing what is important and

ensuring all projects and administration are completed well ahead of

time with focus and care. This will give you the space to develop your

best work. Chunking your responsibilities and using critical planning,

as opposed to cramming, is what we are looking for. This is realized

by breaking down monthly goals, creating weekly priorities and being

totally focused on daily execution. Consistency is key and where the

power is. You must “create” the required time each week to plan your

strategy for the next week. This ensures that you are acting

congruently with your plan and our company vision.

Adherence to our Standards

Our company standards are not optional. All standards are to be

adhered to. All not some.

Summary:

Marc, we are grateful that you are on the team and we look forward

to great long-term success together.

We are experiencing a very robust growth curve; this is an exciting

time for us all and your focus and contribution is critical. To be

successful, we all must raise our level of game. Please review your

opportunities for improvement and take the lead in helping the team

reach our most important targets.

Performance Objectives:

Ensure the Front Desk delivers 5-star hospitality everyday

• Desk welcomes and greets every member by first name

• Desk masters the language vocabulary and only uses our

approved language

• Desk eliminates can’t, try, wish, won’t from vocabulary

• Sales process is impeccable

Maintenance experience is 5-star everyday

• Club is always impeccably clean

• Never short on any supplies

• Daily facility reviews to ensure standards are met

Execute the “Success Structure” and the “Vital Behaviors” to build a robust flyer team that:

Drives 150 leads per week by X.XX.XX:

• Ensure flyer team tracking sheet standards are being maintained

• Ensure we only have quality outreach players on team

• Constantly recruiting and hiring the best outreach players

• Checking on outreach team player work to ensure integrity and

consistency

Maintain a detailed and accurate Regional Data Sheet of “active relationships”:

• Every week check every active relationship to ensure they are

“active”

• Send marking the updated outreach sheet on the 1st and 3rd

Friday of every month to keep us updated

• Flawless execution with all our standards and processes

• Master the success structure process

• Hit all administration deadlines

• Consistently hit due date with projects and submission reports

• Develop our training program to be a meaningful and effective

element at our club

Master:

Brian Tracy – Goals! Book

Steven Covey – Habit 1

Complete your Staff Q2 - Reviews on or before: X.XX.XX 3.1.11. The Success Road Map

It is critical to identify the key metrics for your business that drive success. By creating a Road Map and identifying the specific actions needed for achievement, you work to close the gap between where you are and success.

In the health club business, the most important component of revenue is membership sales. The driving force behind membership sales is leads. Here is a road map that I created to drive 1,000 leads per month to a health club that I consulted:

The Road to 1,000 Leads a Month

1. Outreach

A. Outreach Program – high-end market saturation

Goal: Create 300 new outreach relationships each month. Build and maintain a network of 1,000 outreach relationships within a five-block radius of the club

Process: Create five new internal relationships and five new external relationships every day.

Supplies:

• 300 outreach decal stickers each month • 300 plastic brochure holders each month • 22,500 pieces of collateral

B. Flyer Team

Goal: Hire and manage flyer team of 25 quality players Process: Flyer Team shifts: Monday to Friday: 7:30am – 10am, 11:30am – 1:30pm, 5pm - 8pm Saturday to Sunday: 9am - 11:30am, 1pm - 4pm

Supplies:

• 25 hats and tee shirts

• 14 hours each month required = 350 total flyer team hours = flyer team budget of 3.5K

• 100 pieces of collateral distributed each hour X 350 hours = 35K pieces of collateral

2. Mailers

A. Competitive Mailer

High-end mailer to local competitors – 2K mailers

B. Advisor Mailers Goal: Advisors must each target and execute mailers to five high-rise buildings each month. Deadline for the mailers to be sent each month is by the 7th of each month.

Process: 5 high-rise buildings with average of 200 units = 3K mailers

3. Referral Calls

Every month, each advisor must call every new sale from the previous month to maintain the relationship and work the referral system. Once the club opens, 30-day, 60-day and 90-day follow-up referral call process will be implemented.

4. Corporate Emails

A. Emails blasts from corporate

• Member referral email blasts • Invitation to opening party

• Guest pass emails to members once club opens

5. Attraction: Celebrity Event – target date: XX.XX.XX

Goal: Build excitement for star-studded opening party on XX.XX.XX. Find celebrity to host the event and high-end liquor company to sponsor the event.

A. Velvet ropes outside presale office up until opening B. Large red carpet outside pre-sale office until opening C. Lighting along velvet ropes at night up until opening D. Celebrity event poster wallboard with posters out presale office up until opening

E. Advisors should start the guest list for the party to build excitement: must join club during presale to get on the guest list for the party.

 

3.1.12. The Pre-Shift Huddle

The pre-shift huddle is a practice adopted from the restaurant industry where the restaurant manager would prep all the servers on the specials of the day. We’ve adopted this pre-shift huddle at Pure Green to get the team at each store prepped and amped up for each shift. Here is our pre-shift huddle guide that we use at Pure Green:

Guide to Team Huddles

Team huddles before each shift are a standard at Pure Green. Supervisors are required to conduct a team huddle before the beginning of the AM and PM shift each day, no exceptions.

Supervisors should always arrive 15 minutes before their shift begins so they can mobilize the team and lead a huddle. Huddles should last no longer than 3-5 minutes, max. Each huddle should follow this specific format:

1. Proximity - Gather the team in a tight-knit circle with each player

near the other. Start off with a greeting that’s appropriate for

that time of day. Always fill the air with positive energy. Smiling

goes a long way to accomplishing that.

2. Public Acknowledgement- Dive right into one or two public

acknowledgements for team players that are present. Ideally,

you should have your targets in mind already. Always look at the

schedule a day in advance so you know who will be working

during your shift. Public acknowledgements help you to build

rapport with the staff and makes the staff feel appreciated for

their hard work.

3. Set the Standard – At Pure Green, we have high standards, and it

is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that those

standards are met and exceeded. Our goals are divided into

three categories:

1. Financial: We review our financial goals. How much

money we want the store to make before the end of our shift (i.e., $3,000 by 2PM). We also review other benchmarks we want to hit, such as the number of cleanses we’d like to sell by the end of the shift.

2. Guest Experience: We also set the standard for what our

guest experience should be like. Our motto, in no uncertain terms, is to provide our guests with an exceptional experience. Review hospitality tips such as the 5ft/10ft Rule and the expectation for how staff are to communicate and interact with guests.

3. Staff Experience: Lastly, we want to set the standard for

what’s expected of each team player when it comes to developing an environment where the staff experience is top notch. This includes creating a happy, fun-loving environment where team players look out for the needs of their teammates. One team working toward one goal!

4. Positions - Go over which positions team players will be assigned

to. Always ensure that each player is assigned to an area where

they excel. Constantly develop each team player’s skill set to

ensure our staff is flexible, able to serve as both a cashier and

smoothie technician.

5. New Announcements – Go over any new announcements or

initiatives that are set to be implemented.

 

6. Hospitality Standard of the day – Quiz the team on a standard

from our hospitality guide. Make sure you get this point across

daily. Our growth as a company is directly correlated to the level

of staff engagement. Successful guest interactions are

dependent on staff’s product knowledge, which is why it is

crucial to ensure all team members are up to speed on the

benefits of our amazing products.

 

7. Around the Horn – Go around the horn quickly and ask each

player what they’re going to do today to ensure we achieve our

financial objectives as well as our hospitality experience

standards.

 

8. HANDS IN! – Get all the players to put hands in and say PURE

GREEN on THREE!

 

3.1.13. Meeting Minutes

It is a critical skill to send out meeting minutes directly after every team meeting. Too often, companies have meetings, and nothing gets done afterward. It is vital to send out action-oriented meeting minutes directly after meetings to everyone that attended. Here is my template for meeting minutes:

Manager Meeting Minutes Template Example

(Date)

In attendance:

(List all in attendance)

Items Discussed:

o Punch Lists

o Company Vision

o Management Schedule

o 5-Foot Rule

o Effective Coaching through feedback

 

Action Items:

Department Action Who Due All Email facility All XX.XX.XX Managers punch list and Managers

wish list

All Be prepared to All XX.XX.XX Managers recite our Managers

company

mission for our

Manager

Meeting

Monday at 1pm

All Update stores X XX.XX.XX Managers with the latest

promotional

materials

All Improve Make a X XX.XX.XX Managers Friend Program

– behavior

change

All Improve 5-Foot All XX.XX.XX Managers Rule – behavior Managers

change

All Schedule X, X & X XX.XX.XX Managers individual

Quality Circle

meetings with

all team

members

All Send your All XX.XX.XX Managers Franchise Owner Managers

your proposed

Management

schedule. They

will review,

organize and

revise

 

3.1.14. Full Engagement

As a leader, one of the most important actions you can take is being fully engaged in your company. All too often, I find that leaders lose touch with the nuts and bolts of their business. One of the dangers with the Millennial generation is they tend to be over-delegators, and they delegate almost every component of their business to the point they are not able to make the right high-level decisions for their business. This is because they lack a clear understanding of what is happening at the ground level.

The front-line workers of an organization are the ones who are directly interacting with guests. When leaders rely on their executive team to find out front-line information, there is much that can get lost in translation. A fully engaged leader knows exactly what is happening on the front line of their company and doesn’t hide in their ivory tower and rely on others to get a pulse for their business. To be fully engaged in your company requires discipline as well as humility. A fully engaged CEO is one that regularly communicates directly to the front-line workers and listens carefully. Great questions to ask front line workers are “Do you feel supported?” and “What can we do to improve and provide you with more support?”

A regular practice that I perform to gain insights from front-line team members is called Quality Circles. Quality Circles are informal check-ins with front-line team members. I perform a Quality Circle at times when our stores are not busy. When visiting our Pure Green locations (both company-owned stores and franchise stores), I’ll ask team members individually if they have a minute to chat, and I’ll invite them to sit down with me. Sometimes I’ll buy them a juice or a smoothie to help break the ice as a sit down with the CEO of a national company can be rather intimidating for some people.

I’ll usually start out the Quality Circle by asking the team member how they are enjoying working at Pure Green. Having already reviewed the weekly product mix report (detailed list of top selling products), I’ll test the team member’s understanding of the business and causally ask them if they know what the top selling products are. The level of detail they describe in their response usually gives me an idea of their understanding of the business.

At Pure Green, hospitality is at our core, I’ll usually ask about how they have created legendary experiences for our guests in the past week. In some cases where I’m highly impressed with their response, I’ve been known to hand them a crisp $50 bill. I usually carry around a stack of $50 bills when visiting Pure Green stores specifically for this purpose. We call this practice of looking for good and instantly rewarding legendary hospitality a Lightning Strike, as I mentioned earlier in the book.

Sometimes I’ll ask the team members how they would rate their level of support from their General Manager or Franchise Owner on a scale of 1 to 10. I’ll ask them what can be improved within our operation, and I’ll pick their brains for any innovative ideas.

Quality Circles are an effective way of extracting what is really going on. I usually receive a great deal of intel on the business from talking with the team members, and in some cases, the information that I receive from them is even more insightful than my conversations with Franchise Owners. With the information I receive, I’m usually able to provide more insightful and focused advice to Franchise Owners on the opportunities to improve their stores.

3.1.15. The Make a Friend Program

With the rise of technology and most correspondence taking place through email, snail mail has almost become a thing of the past. When receiving actual mail, we mostly receive bills, junk mail and occasionally formal invites like wedding invitations and invites to special events.

Our reliance on email for communication makes The Make a Friend Program even more powerful. Imagine walking into a Pure Green location, having a friendly conversation with the manager and then days later, you receive a beautiful handwritten card IN THE MAIL from that manager. When you open the beautiful Pure Green stationary, you read a warm and friendly letter about what a pleasure it was meeting you as well as an offer for a complimentary smoothie.

This experience is helpful for turning our guests into brand evangelists. Because this experience is so unique and rare, it leaves an impression on our guests at Pure Green. This is what we call The Make Friend Program, and here is the protocol:

The Make a Friend Program Protocol

At Pure Green, General Managers are required to make a least five friends per day. We encourage our General Managers to spend as much time as possible on the guest side of the counter, where they can spend time getting to know our guests. After a General Manager has a meaningful conversation with a guest, we instruct them to ask for a business card or their email (if they don’t have a business card on them). If the General Manager receives a business card, they already have the guest’s address. If they only receive an email, after the guest leaves the General Manager will send a friendly email telling the guest what a pleasure it was to meet them and asking for a mailing address so that the guest can receive exclusive invites to special events.

The General Manager then writes a handwritten card referencing the interaction they had in the store, thanking the guest for their loyalty, and letting the guest know if they need anything to contact the General Manager directly. Within the card, the General Manager includes their business card along with a special “golden ticket” for a complementary handcrafted smoothie that they can use at their next visit.

Every week, the Regional Director or the Franchise Owner from every Pure Green store collects all the handwritten cards and mails them out. The collection process is an accountability practice to ensure the General Managers are flawlessly executing The Make a Friend Program.

 

Conclusion My hope is that some of the content in this book resonates with you and will inspire you to take massive action. I encourage you to adopt the practices in the book and integrate them into your company. Whether you own your own company, are a franchisee or work for a company, many of the strategies that I discussed in this book can help you to take your company to new heights.