I Drank The Purple Coolaide At The Anytime Fitness Conference – Part 2
Don’t worry I am not going to bore you with a day by day or blow by blow description of the conference. Although, I did have to work as I facilitated 3 panels: MCOs, club owners and club managers.
I don’t write these blogs to impress you on Anytime Fitness but rather impress upon you how critical a corporate culture is to your success.
Many of you may be thinking that with the scale of this company and the resources it is “easy” to build a cult like culture. From my experience it has NOTHING to do with resources or size. It is 100% about the people.
DNA is what makes each of us different – it is our uniqueness. You can not see it, feel it, hear it or touch it and yet it is in all of us! Companies have their own DNA, your business has it’s own DNA and if you are a single PT your service level has it’s own DNA.
In business, you are not given this DNA, you shape this DNA yourself.
I would sum up the DNA of Anytime Fitness as that of respect, support, love and passion. This DNA is exemplified by the ‘zees’ – what they call their franchisees; their staff and the Leaders.
I am 100% sure the 3 key people I know at Corporate must have thought I was a stalker as I watched them over the 3 days. I watched how they engaged with everyone. They set the ‘behaviour’ standard and everyone filed in behind them.
The ‘Conference Queen’ is Libby Crooker. I have known Libby for many years but never seen her in action. And OMG she is a dynamo with energy to burn and a desire to create an unforgettable experience for everyone, including people she bumped into in the street. Libby’s consistent engagement and acknowledgement with staff and franchisees is a credit to her core values. Despite everything going on, she was present when speaking with anyone – a true leadership quality. She showed her Team and the franchisees that whatever was happening ‘behind the curtain’, they were in front of the curtain and they needed to feel special.
The owners Chuck & Dave were/are true leaders. I am sure they have read Simon Sinek’s book ‘Leaders Eat Last’ where Sinek says you cannot replace time with the boss with money. They were the everywhere guys over the 3 days. If there was a conference event on, they were front and centre!
Sure they had their job as leaders to bang the purple drum but it was the method in which they banged that drum that engaged their franchisees. It was the human element, the authenticity of them and the obvious passion not just for the brand (which is not surprising as it’s their company) but for what each person in the company does for people: changes their life.
And the 2200+ attendees all wanted a piece of Chuck & Dave. They were like rock stars with people wanting photos with them and posting on the conference app or their own social media feeds. They walked the corridors between sessions with their zees to tap into what they learned. And they were sometimes the ones who were the last to leave the bars.
No matter the size of your business, you set the standards, behaviour, passion levels and the DNA. And in the hyper competitive fitness industry on the planet, the reality is that DNA is a key factor to the success of your business.
The leaders of Anytime Fitness reinforce what their brand stands for consistently in their actions.
Summing Up
No I didn’t hit this booth and get a tatt.
No I didn’t buy any clothing – although I wanted to but the line was still too long in the merch stores even on the last day!
But yes Anytime Fitness I felt part of your family and thank you for welcoming a stranger into your brand and family.
Attending an Anytime Fitness International Conference may or may not be a once a lifetime experience for me, I don’t know what the future holds. What I saw and felt showed me what is possible in any company and for that I am grateful.
Kudos Anytime Fitness – #bleedpurple #itsourtime #G2HP
Also check out:
I Drank The Purple Coolaide At The Anytime Fitness Conference – Part 1
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.