When a child is doing a trial, who do you think is actually watching? The child? Yes. But the parent is watching too. MAIN POINT: And they're watching a lot more than you might realise. They're watching how the coach speaks to their child. Are they welcoming? Are they encouraging? Do they learn their name? Do they make their child feel included? They're watching how the coach manages the group. They're watching how confident and professional the coach is. They're watching whether their child is having fun. And they're making a judgement about your entire business based on that one experience. That's why a trial isn't simply: "Let's put the child in a class and see if they like gymnastics." It's an opportunity to demonstrate the value of your business. The coach is one of the biggest touchpoints in your customer journey. And this is why coaching quality matters so much. Because the parent might not know anything about gymnastics. They might not understand the technical skills being taught. But they absolutely understand how their child feels. So ask yourself: If I was a parent watching one of my coaches run a trial, would I be thinking, "I want my child to be taught by this person every week"? Because that's the standard we should be aiming for.

What happens when a new parent walks through your doors for the very first time? Because they're not just watching the gymnastics. They're experiencing your business. MAIN POINT: Imagine you've never been to your gym before. You walk through the door with your child. Do you know where you're supposed to go? Does anyone greet you? Does someone introduce themselves? Does someone explain what's going to happen? Do you feel like you're expected? Or do you find yourself standing around wondering what you're supposed to do? These things might seem small to us because we're there every week. But they're not small to a brand-new customer. And here's the important part: The parent is judging your gym before their child even starts gymnastics. They're looking at the coaches. They're looking at the environment. They're watching how your team interacts with the children. They're noticing how organised you are. They're asking themselves: "Is this somewhere I want my child to come every week?" So don't just think about the gymnastics experience. Think about the customer experience. Walk into your gym as if you've never been there before. What would you notice? And would you be impressed?

Your customer's trial doesn't start when they walk through the door. It starts the moment they book. MAIN POINT: Think about the experience from the parent's perspective. They've just booked their child's first gymnastics class. Do they know exactly where they're going? Do they know where to park? Do they know what their child needs to wear? Do they know what time to arrive? Do they know who they're looking for when they get there? Or are they left trying to figure it all out themselves? Because the trial experience isn't just about what happens during the gymnastics class. It's about everything that happens before, during and after it. And this is something I think a lot of gymnastics clubs overlook. We spend so much time trying to generate leads and get people to book trials... But once they've booked, we sometimes assume the hard work is done. Actually, that's when the customer journey really begins. The better you make those first few interactions, the more confident the parent feels about choosing your gym. So ask yourself: What does your customer experience between clicking "Book a Trial" and walking through your doors? And more importantly... Is that experience good enough to make them want to come back?

The Warm-Up Library is now live in the classroom! Inside, you’ll find videos demonstrating five different warm-up games: - The Bean Game 🫘 - The Everything Game 🌈 - Hungry Hippos 🦛 - The Memory Game🧠 - The Four-Coloured Hoop Game ⭕️ Each video shows you how to play the game, alongside written instructions and ideas for adapting it to suit the age, ability and needs of your gymnasts. You can even show these to your team to use as training videos! We believe a great warm-up sets the tone for the whole class. These games will help your gymnasts get moving, feel focused and practise useful gymnastics shapes and skills. I'm really proud these resources and look, over time, we’ll continue adding more ideas to the library... Leave us comments below sharing things you would love to see in the future 👀

So far we've talked about where your customers come from and starting to understand which sources are actually bringing people into your gym. Now let's move to the next step. Someone has seen your Instagram post. Or they've clicked your advert. Or a friend has recommended you. Maybe they've filled in a form, sent you a message or asked about classes. What happens next? Because getting someone interested in your gym is one thing. Getting them to actually book a trial is another. I'd be interested to know how everyone currently handles this. When someone makes an enquiry, what happens? Does someone reply straight away? Do you send them a link to book? Do you have someone who follows up with them? Do you call them? Do you WhatsApp them? Or does someone simply reply to their message and wait for them to decide what to do? And what happens if they don't book? Do you follow up with them again, or do you leave it? I think this is an area where a lot of potential customers can get lost without us even realising it. Someone can be genuinely interested in your gymnastics club, but if it's difficult to find out the information they need or actually book a trial, they might simply move on to another gym. This is where I'll introduce another term we'll use throughout the series: Lead → Trial A lead is someone who has shown an interest in your business. The next step we want that person to take is usually to book a trial. So one of the things we can start thinking about is: How good are we at turning people who are interested into people who actually book? And you don't need to know your numbers yet. But if you do know them, this is a really interesting one to look at. If you had 20 people enquire last month, how many actually booked a trial? And if you don't know, maybe that's something worth starting to track. I'd love to hear how you currently handle this in your gym. When someone enquires about gymnastics, what happens from that moment until they book their trial?