Set up Systems, or Say Sayonara to Success

by Cris Rodriguez

There are two aspects of owning a martial arts business in which we, as an industry, need to focus on, level up and improve our skill set: marketing strategies and sales systems.

After all, sales are the lifeblood of our businesses. Our schools live and die by the number of new members we can attract.

Here’s a fact: People are always going to quit.

And I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the reasons they quit doesn’t matter. Your school needs to bring in new people. Without leads walking through your doors, those doors will soon close and your opportunity to have an impact on your community will fade.

It seems silly to see posts in martial arts–related Facebook groups that treat “sales” like a dirty word. Or that martial arts training should be free. Or that if you charge for your classes, you’re a sellout. Give me a break!

The word “salesman” presents a negative image for a lot of people in our industry. If it truly bothers you, just replace the notion of selling with that of serving because when you make a sale, that’s exactly what you’re doing — serving a new client.

Here’s the bottom line: If you want to own a successful school, you have to have a successful salesperson on your team. More important, you need to have a sales system in place.

When I met Mike Metzger five years ago, I already had what I considered a successful school. We had 300 active paying members and were grossing half a million dollars in one location. But my wife and I were doing all the work. I was in charge of the marketing, and she was in charge of sales.

Now, let me tell you something about me wife: She is an amazing saleswoman, but she was hindered by the fact that we didn’t have a system in place. Having one person doing a job — even a great person — isn’t exactly scalable.

During our first meeting, Metzger looked at our sales system (or lack thereof) and broke down step-by-step the ways we weren’t maximizing profitability in our school. He explained MAIA’s Four-Step Enrollment Process and The Flip Book System.

From that day forward, we had a system that would allow us to maximize our profit. Our gross revenue skyrocketed over the next few months simply because we had implemented these two MAIA systems.

And the cherry on top? It was all scalable! With my marketing skill set, we enjoyed a steady flow of leads, and now we had a sales system that could convert those leads.

So how did we get that steady flow of leads? We had variable and recurring marketing strategies each and every month. Some were online and some were offline, but we were always consistent when it came to having our marketing efforts on the calendar.

Many of you know that I love digital marketing. The fact that I can open my laptop, create an ad targeted to my exact customer avatar in less than 10 minutes and have leads start pouring in within a few hours has always been a thing of beauty to me.

I believe one of the absolute best skill sets any business owner/entrepreneur can have is the ability to bring traffic to his or her business. That I can do this with a few keystrokes is game-changing.

But here is the cold, hard truth: To be successful with Facebook ads, knowing the technical button-pushing aspect of setting them up is not enough. You need a strategy, a system in place so the ads actually provide results. Otherwise, you’re just lighting your marketing budget on fire.

Many courses and videos promise to teach you how to run a Facebook ad campaign, but how many of them were created by a martial arts school owner for other martial arts school owners? Not many.

But that’s not to say a need doesn’t exist. If you’re offering great services on the mats, you need a smart marketing strategy and a strong sales system in place to help you reach your goals and take your product to the masses.

This is precisely why Mike Metzger, Shane Tassoul and I created MAIA Foundations: an affordable group-coaching program in which you learn online-marketing strategies that work and sales systems that convert. Our biweekly group-coaching calls allow us to teach you in an environment where you can ask questions live and obtain the help you need to get results.

Our monthly Accountability Assignments help you stay accountable with respect to what you’ve committed to. And our Facebook group provides you with immediate, unmatched customer service to get your questions answered fast.

If you’re a martial arts school owner who’s ready to bring in more traffic with marketing strategies that work and sign up more students with a sales system that converts, then MAIA Foundations was made for you.

Click here to Learn More About the Newly Updated MAIA Foundations Program

To schedule a consulting call with Cris Rodriguez, visit MAIAHub.com/connect.