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.

Head to the 'Classroom' for new content called 'Having hard conversations' 👀 Addressing problems with your coaching team can feel uncomfortable. But avoiding the conversation allows those problems to continue. In this classroom, Geoff and I talk through how to handle three situations that regularly happen in the gym: 🫣 Coaches being unprepared for their sessions ⚠️ Coaches doing something unsafe ⏰ Coaches regularly arriving late The aim is to help you feel more confident having constructive conversations that encourage your coaches to think for themselves in the future!

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 👀