Eat the Frog Fitness: Five Fast Takeaways from this Innovative Franchise Organization
Eat the Frog Fitness: Five Fast Takeaways from this Innovative Franchise Organization
Leadership Perspectives Blog by John Ragsdale
My morning motivation usually begins with some sort of fitness routine. I was thrilled to see a new fitness location open up near my home in Keller and even more excited to learn how Eat The Frog Fitness would help me achieve my personal fitness goals. From the moment I walked in, I knew this was a different type of facility. Technology is incorporated from the get-go, and I was hooked!
I recently sat down with Mike Lusky, who opened the Keller franchise location, along with his wife, Heidi. Our chat addressed 5 areas: work history, franchise commitment, business challenges, technology, and the future of Eat the Frog Fitness. Here are my Fast Five Takeaways on what makes this franchise unique to the fitness market and how they welcome the rapidly growing Keller #frogsquad.
1. History: Building a business centered around passion for a fun and engaging workplace culture motivates others to succeed.
Mike Lusky has experience a mile long in operations and accounting functions across the hospitality industry. He held many positions with Six Flags and Great Wolf Lodge in both operations and administrative disciplines. Heidi Lusky has a degree in marketing with similar work in theme park businesses. Together they are a powerhouse as business owners and collaborators. They were motivated to transition to owning their own business by their depth of hospitality and franchise industry knowledge, which made Eat The Frog Fitness a perfect fit to complement their management and lifestyle.
A positive culture and environment are important to Mike and Heidi. They extend their values into hiring and keeping the right people serving their customers every day. Throw in its emphasis on high-tech and amazing health results, and you’ll be blown away when you visit their Keller studio.
2. Commitment: Technology, culture, and health are three components of a franchise brand that stand out to investors.
Eat the Frog Fitness is a training program co-founded by Olympic Gold Medalist Bryan Clay based on science and backed with the latest technology. The brand is different from others in the market by unlocking the chemistry of the body with technology for a planned and structured workout.
Several core values are important to Mike and Heidi, like innovation, results-oriented processes, and hiring likable people who can encourage others to do well and stay engaged. Motivating employees to live and breathe the ETF Fitness brand is easy when you love what you do! Mike and Heidi are able to tap into a phenomenal referral network of coaches and fitness instructors that connect them with other high-quality talent to build high-performing teams.
Fitness challenges and group activities give me that extra push, and I love seeing our photos and progress on their social media pages.
3. Challenges: Know how to eliminate manual processes and overcome business roadblocks.
The Luskys are still fine-tuning their business processes to make operations more cost-effective and efficient. They are working to overcome three main business challenges.
- Construction. Mike and Heidi lacked a five-star experience from their general contractor as they faced supply chain issues, delays, and rising building costs.
- Understanding vendor contracts and billing. This is a learning curve and point of frustration that can take away from interacting with customers or training employees.
- Less traditional marketing materials. They turn to social media and word of mouth to gain new members and strive to convert every person who walks through the door.
4. Technology: Innovation matters to customers and managing a successful business.
Eat the Frog Fitness is marketing itself as the world’s first 24/7 “Fit Tech” Studio. One of the market differentiators for Eat the Frog Fitness is its integrated heart rate monitor. The monitor is used to assess fitness levels and design programs that are unique to each person. There is system-to-system communication in place to capture and exchange customer heart data for a better onboarding experience.
Knowing how to correct or eliminate manual efforts and spreadsheets is critical to success. Mike and Heidi were able to convert the manual process of pen and paper to complete the client intake forms into an automated process through Docusign. That is a big win for their business and helps them achieve their 85% targeted conversion rate!
5. Future: Prepare your business for success by investing in people, culture, and technology.
At Eat the Frog Fitness Keller, friendly and outgoing sales associates often provide the first impression to potential customers. They work closely with the coaches to continue the purchasing experience with the heart rate monitor test, workout assessment, and program recommendation. Making sure the right people represent your brand will impact business performance, and in this case, the hand-offs between employees are smooth and benefit the customer in many ways.
Salaries, rent, and marketing are the three biggest costs for Eat the Frog Fitness, so managing these most efficiently will help drive profitability goals. Similar to TAP Innovations, Eat the Frog Fitness is turning to larger organizations throughout the community to increase brand awareness through promotion and relationship-building.
I love the variety, technology, and uniqueness of the Eat the Frog Fitness Keller studio. Thank you to Mike, Heidi, and the entire team, who make each workout enjoyable! Here’s how you can get connected.
KELLER STUDIO OPEN 24/7
861 N. Tarrant Parkway, Keller, TX 76248
Call or stop by today!
817-886-3764
If you’d like to be interviewed for my next Franchise Fast Five Perspectives blog, send me an email or message on LinkedIn!