Are You the Junior CEO

The Case Of The Invisible Junior CEO – Are You Guilty Of This?
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

I used to be guilty of this syndrome, and I know dozens of other health clubs who are still guilty of it. And by doing it, they’re ruining their business and killing the profitability of the health club.
So what is the case of the invisible junior CEO?
What I’m talking about is your unwillingness to simply get things done.
Let me give you some examples.
When the phone rings, do you screen the call or do you answer the phone willing to help out whoever is on the other line?
Are you pushing aside problems that need to be dealt with immediately and procrastinating on them for so long that eventually the problem turns into a disaster and ends up with you losing clients?
I think you get what I mean.
This is all caused by pretending to be someone with a big ego. Unfortunately most business owners think that since they’re the owner, they don’t need to do things like deal with customers, solve “small” problems, or do the kinds of things that their employees are doing.
But you do!
Unless you already have a hired position to be doing these things, you should be the one interacting with your angry customers.
Why?
Because when they see that the owner of the health club is addressing these issues, and not some random employee, they’ll feel like you actually care about them (which you should anyway). Plus, for whatever reason many people have kind of a fear of business owners. I’m not sure whether they look up to them or see them as powerful or what, but I’ve witnessed in many cases that people will let their guard down when they’re talking to the owner of a business as compared to a regular employee.
Being personal with your clients and acting like you’re NOT the owner (i.e. not thinking in terms of having titles and being “better” than everyone else) will not only make people feel more comfortable with coming to you if they do have a problem that needs to be solved, it’s going to help keep people at your business longer because they’ll feel they’re at a place that honestly cares about them.
What you need to do is learn to “take problems by the horns” and run with them. Don’t screen calls, don’t put problems onto other people in the business, just handle them yourself. Remember, you’re the only owner and if you don’t set a great example, your employees can’t follow. Set the bar incredibly high and show your employees how things are supposed to be handled and you’ll be amazed at how they can literally change the way they work each day by simply watching what you do and trying to make sure they live up to your standards.