Mentorship calls are one of the most effective ways to gain perspective and make difficult decisions. Over the years, we’ve worked with a variety of people and a variety of personalities. There have been a few standouts that have really caught my eye, because you know they prepare for their calls and really put some time into mentorship. 

My gym, while it might be similar to your’s, isn’t an exact replica. For that reason, your trial program may be best served with a few tweaks – things you’ve changed a tad that work better for you. Your birthday parties may need to be run differently because of the layout of your gym or your available staff. Those are a lot of the things we go over in our calls with clients. 

Note: If you’re someone currently on a non-call package, feel free to PM me, and we can chat about what it looks like to add the group call or one-one-one call option. I highly recommend it. We currently grandfathered in clients with no calls and have eliminated that package option for the time being as we believe the call packages are the most effective form of mentorship.

So, here are my top tips for making sure you’re getting the most out of every call: 

1. 1. Put it on your calendar immediately when you book it (and use that calendar). There’s nothing worse than having questions and finding out you’ve missed a call. Unfortunately, we can’t make up every missed call, but if you enter your phone number and email into the form when you book your call, you’ll get a text and email reminder. Prioritize this as an “important meeting” and schedule other stuff around it. Calls release on the 15th of the month at noon. If you’re someone with a lot of regular daily obligations and minimal flexibility, book right away when they open.

• Prepare for your call. Make sure you’re in a quiet room with your computer set up in a place where you can also take notes. Remember – as soon as you get off that call, there is likely something that will draw your attention away from your to-do’s and your goals, so you need to write them down. For most people, the better notes they take, the more they remember the information. 

• Look back at your previous notes and to-do’s. It’s likely your coach gave you some stuff to do at the end of your last call. Make sure those things are done or that you’ve got a current update on where you’re at in the process. 

• If you’ve got big stuff, let your coach know in advance. We review our notes from the previous call just like we ask you to do. So, sometimes we’ve sort of got an agenda of where we think the conversation will go and what you’ll need to do next. If you have something more pressing or a cheer-emergency we need to discuss, send a quick email that morning or a message to your coach so they know. That can help us reframe the direction of the call so you get the most out of your time.

• Prioritize information and stay on time. We almost always book calls back to back and hold tight schedules throughout the day. (This is batch processing that we ask you all to do!) We know you do too. Sometimes I have people who have something very exciting to talk about or a big question they ask with one minute left. Make sure all important things are written down and addressed early in the call so we can give you 100% attention in those things without losing track of time for the next client. 

• Ask questions. This is actually the most important one for me. I love hearing how amazing everything is going. I also understand sometimes we need to vent. We are here for whatever you need. Most of all, we’re here to help you learn how to troubleshoot your gym. The best way to do that is if you’ve spent 15-20 minutes reviewing notes, preparing for our call and prepping some questions. There is a client I work with every so often that I love seeing pop through my calendar. She writes down her questions in the weeks leading up to the call. When I say, “How is everything going?” She’ll give a quick recap – whether it’s good or bad, and then dive right into her questions. Sometimes I can answer easily, and sometimes we have to talk through a situation. We always come up with a solution and path forward for her – even if it’s a series of things I want her to try. She’s super smart and has been in our program for awhile. I’ve also seen her grow immensely, and I believe her question-asking nature and preparation for calls is the #1 reason for her growth. 

• Tell your coach exactly what you need. If you’re someone who needs to be held accountable, let us know! If you just need to vent today, that’s OK too. As much as I love questions, I also know that it’s important for you to know you’re not in this alone. That means you may just need to tell me all about a situation in your gym and get it out. Then – we can move on and focus on other stuff. All of that is fine – but let us know what you need. If you are in a position where you’re not really sure what you should be doing every day, let us know so we can do an assessment of your business over the course of a couple calls. We also have some assessment tools we can send you so you know what direction to go. 

• Take those group calls seriously. I love group calls. I, myself, get so many ideas on them. It’s hard to do those when half the people have their video off and are multitasking. I promise, you’re not getting anything out of it if someone else is throwing out tons of ideas and you’re cleaning your house. Get out a notebook and write stuff down. Even if the idea isn’t right for you right now, it might be in the future. 

• Pick a primary coach. We offer the chance to meet with a variety of coaches so you can get perspective and to allow your schedule some flexibility. That said, it’s important you pick a primary coach. You can learn more about our coaches at nextgenowners.com/about-us. Send messages, interview coaches, do a round-robin of calls the first couple months – but then stick to one primary coach. We all do things a little differently, and it’s important you’re not picking the best of this and the best of that, because you’ll often find the strategies to be quite different. Over the next few weeks, we’ll do an “about us” video where you can get to know each of us a bit better. Find someone you connect with virtually and start connecting personally!

• Follow up after a call. Put to-do items on a list. Look when your next call is – that’s your due date. Use the same notebook or document for all calls so you can quickly refer to something your mentor said. This is information you’re paying for – so get the most out of it by keeping it all in one place.

I hope you found these helpful. Calls are the #1 way to connect with your mentors, other Academy members and really grow your business in a personal way. If you’re thinking, “It’s been a while since I’ve had a call and I wouldn’t even know what to talk about,” that’s OK. Do a quick check-in call. I have a client who will message me, “Hey, we probably just need 10-15 minutes today. I just wanted to check in since it’s been a while.” That’s perfect. I love that they know what they need and they’re staying accountable.

We look forward to chatting with you, and can’t wait to see all the growth in your business on our monthly calls!