Are You Busy Today?

The “Busy” Factor Is Killing Your Business
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

I come across the word of “busy” constantly and it really bugs me. Every business I walk into – it seems like the people in the store are too busy to help me. And in fitness health clubs, the problem is just as bad and it’s absolutely murdering your profitability.
The reason I get so fed up with this isn’t because being busy is a bad thing, it’s simply because most people think they ARE busy when they’re honestly not. And if they are doing “busy” work, usually it’s the type of work that’s completely unnecessary and is simply just wasting time.
Let me give you an example.
If Mark is out on the floor doing something like wiping down machines in the back of the room, he really isn’t “busy”. That time could be much better spent helping a club members needs or simply even walking around the room making sure everybody is taken care of. Most members of a health club are a little reluctant to ask if they need something, yet if you ask them how everything is going – I bet they’ll ask for something.
Also, how long are seemingly simple tasks being taken to get completed? If you have an employee that’s wiping down the machines, is it taking him 3 hours to do it? A great thing to do would be to figure out roughly how long each task takes in your health club and make an expectation within the club that it should be done within that amount of time. People are natural procrastinators, as well as lazy, so don’t be too harsh on them the first time – but make sure they know you’ll be watching.
By the way, this applies to you as well. Are simple tasks taking you longer than necessary? You might want to do the same thing to yourself that you’re putting your employees through. Just think, if you can reduce each task by just 10% you can save yourself hours each day, per person, and probably double the productivity in your business!
The last thing I want to talk to you about today is how the word “busy” kind of has a negative overtone to it. When people say the word “busy” it sounds like a negative thing, doesn’t it?
One thing you might consider doing is changing the word busy in your business to something else – such as “active” or “popular”.
So if a potential club member walks in asking when you’re busy times are, you can respond by saying something like “oh well the most popular times of the day are from about 5-7 when most people are getting out of work and get a chance to come”.
Busy is a word you should throw out of your vocabulary. It’s also something you need to think about in terms of productivity and how much you’re getting done. Just because you’re “busy” doesn’t mean you’re getting real work done – so from now on make sure the work you and your employees is doing is productive, and watch your productivity soar instantly!