About Bill McBride

Showing 1 - 18 of 18 Articles

Are We Asking The Right Question?
February 2015 - I read an interesting article on Zite last week from Business Insider that highlighted Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' advice for anyone running a business. The advice was simple yet profound, even brilliant. Read Article...

Balancing Customer Service, Customer Loyalty & Business Profit Optimization
"Unused Resources to Create Wow & Build Loyalty"
September 2018 - I recently presented at the FitLife 2018 Conference in Bend, Oregon. It is an amazing conference with participants from throughout the Pacific Northwest. These are undoubtedly some of the best operators in the country. They have true values and a genuine authenticity. They care about doing it the right way and give their members the benefit of the doubt as their members are truly their friends and neighbors. We should all follow FitLife's example on authenticity. These club operators are the real deal, and I've seen a lot of clubs and operators over the years. In this article, I want to share my experience from the airline trip back from Bend, Oregon to Phoenix, Arizona. Read Article...

Be - Do - Have
February 2017 - What does it mean to change the paradigm in which we typically look at our life? Throughout life, many of us at some point in time have decided what it is we want in life and set out on a path to get it. It's an easy logic drill to figure out: If I want this, I need to do that, and I will have it. But, we have seen on occasion after occasion the failure of this approach, individuals succumbing to "now" without regard to the prize they hold dear. This seems to occur on a long-term basis all too often. So, how do we "re-direct" the paradigm of what seems like a logical approach? Read Article...

Bill McBride's Club Industry Leadership Track Update
November 2015 - Club Industry 2015, October 7-9, was the best Club Industry Show I've attended in recent memory. The energy and buzz were palatable, and I, personally, was thrilled for Club Industry as an organization and our industry at large. Everyone who knows me knows that I bleed IHRSA in every way, yet I also love Club Industry as the show I started with in my career as an attendee working at a small club in Fayetteville, North Carolina and the first show I presented at on a national basis. Read Article...

Bill McBride, Departing IHRSA Chairman of the Board, On IHRSA San Diego and Active Sports Clubs
April 2014 - Wow, what a convention and tradeshow! I've probably been to 20 or so IHRSA conferences and trade shows in my career (thus far). This year's event seemed to be the best I've ever experienced. Granted, there is some bias here for me. This was my last IHRSA conference as an IHRSA Board Member. After having the privilege of serving as a Board Member, Committee Chair, Chairman and Ex-Officio over five wonderful years, I'm more attached emotionally and purposefully to this industry and Association than ever before, especially cognizant of the important public policy work and industry community/family. Read Article...

Creation Vs. Evolution
The Religion of Programming
May 2016 - We are facing disruption in our industry with increased segmentation and specialization. Our challenge as operators is to discern trends that have longevity with fads that will be a "flash in the pan." Studios and specialization are now everywhere! What should we do? Should we create a program or programs that attempt to compete directly with the studios with specialized offerings that are popular today? When it comes to trends and programming, this is the fundamental question we operators are asking ourselves... or need to be. Do we CREATE completely new programs to follow trends (and possibly fads), or do we stay fresh on our current traditional offering while EVOLVING with elements of efficacy from new technologies and consumer-adopted preferences? Read Article...

Details Matter
July 2016 - A Life Well Lived is about each Moment in Life. Just like life moments, success is a matter of each detail. Vision and Strategy are critical to success, but it's the execution of operational and logistic details that win the day. In our business of member experience, safety, results and delivering service excellence, mastering the details is the difference between well-intentioned and actual stellar outcomes. I'd like to share some of the details that may seem individually small in nature but have a great combined impact on being excellent. The great news is this approach doesn't cost anything (or very little) to implement. It does, however, require your commitment to being great at delivering the best experience for your members. Read Article...

Hiring, Training and Recognizing... Humans
December 2017 - I know there is a lot of talk about Millennials (more now as they are the major force in the marketplace), Boomers, Generation X and every other classification demographers can come up with. There are currently five (Yes - FIVE) generations in the current workforce: Generation Z: born 1996 and after; Millennials: born 1977 - 1995; Generation X: born 1965 - 1976; Baby Boomers: born 1946 - 1964; Traditionalists: born 1945 and before Read Article...

Human Talent
June 2015 - While it has been reported that our ancestors have been on earth for approximately six million years, the human form in its modern capacity only evolved about 200,000 years ago. Our more modern day civilization is really only about 6,000 years old, with the 1800s bringing in industrialization. In the scope of things, that's a relatively short amount of time to really get ourselves sorted out with business productivity, work place relationships, handling dysfunction, etc. all while producing results in a dynamically changing environment. Read Article...

Innovation - Disruption - Progression
June 2017 - I love listening to all of the discussion about "disruption" in our industry. In my opinion, much of it is conjecture, but I also believe there are many disruptive forces that are affecting our industry. We need to adopt new technologies to better serve our clients and remain a sustainable and viable option for our consumers. We must also be careful not to mistake change for growth. We all know the history of innovation creating obsolescence: the horse and buggy, travel agencies, video stores, pay phones and the list goes on and on. Read Article...

Leadership and Our Stress Response
August 2013 - There is a common belief that leadership positions carry lower levels of stress than non-leadership positions based on measured lower Cortisol Hormone levels as well as self-reported anxiety levels. This premise was confirmed by an article titled, Leadership is Associated With Lower Levels of Stress, written by Gary D. Shermana, Jooa J. Leea, Amy J. C. Cuddyb, Jonathan Renshonc, Christopher Oveisd, James J. Grosse and Jennifer S. Lerner - Harvard. Read Article...

Our Industry Needs More "Social Scientists"
October 2013 - Life has a funny way of having the pendulum swing. We go from Republican to Democrat-led Administrations and Congress, and more times than not, when things are running most smoothly (optimally), we land somewhere more in the middle. In today's political climate, the polarization is causing "shut downs," where little productive legislation (production) gets accomplished. Read Article...

Panic - Pain - Suffering - Optimization - Opportunity
January 2021 - Hello Industry Colleagues. We are all colleagues on the same team in so many ways. We've all been in this pandemic together dealing with very similar realities, perceptions and challenges. One might say that everyone in the world has had to go through this together. But, just like other industries, ours has its particular nuances. As an industry, we have fought most government regulation and licensure. We have catered to the top income and education levels of society. We have taken pride in our missions of helping others reach levels of beauty, physicality, performance, fitness, health and wellness. We know fitness is essential. Read Article...

People Management Begins Before Your People Are Hired
November 2016 - What is most important in people management? Finding the right people to manage. It seems obvious, but we don't always spend the time attracting the right people for our business objectives and ensuring the people we hire are set up for success. In this article, I'm going to share an approach to People Management we use at Active Wellness: Authenticity, Selecting, Interviewing, Hiring, On-Boarding, Training and Managing People. Before we get into the details of process, let's discuss some personal experiences I've had. Read Article...

Retail Relationships: Service & Perks
December 2019 - In this article, I'm going to share two very recent experiences I have had with a couple of well-known brands, Ruby Tuesday and a Hilton Property. I will foreshadow these examples with the caveat that these are MY perceptions on how I felt during the interactions. Many may say both of these are very reasonable and that I shouldn't have been irked. That very well may be true, but in the moment, I felt disappointment and was made to feel "wrong." I believe in the mantra, "even when a customer isn't right, you shouldn't make them wrong." So, here we go... Read Article...

Revenue-cycle Management Within the Health Club/Gym Space
July 2021 - The original use and description of Revenue-cycle Management (RCM) has been in the healthcare space; yet, the same principles are so critical in our space, fitness facility management. I view our space as a continuum of Healthcare: Fitness + Wellness + Medical Integration, a holistic approach that includes Mental Wellness, Recovery, Surgery Preparation, Post Clinical Rehabilitation, Hydration, Sleep, Weight Management / Nutrition, Nutraceuticals and Happiness. Revenue-cycle Management is the process of tracking revenue from patients, clients, members and customers from their initial appointment or encounter with the organization to their final payment of the balance or the end of their relationship with the organization/business. Read Article...

The Ecosystem of Technology
September 2021 - Technology is critical and ever-present. Before the shutdown, technology was part of a gym owners' strategy, but COVID pushed us to use technology more than we ever have in the past. As we reset and get ready to thrive in 2022, now provides a good opportunity to review your tech stack. What do you have, what do you need, what do you want and what is the return on investment? I believe in a "high tech and high touch" model for health clubs. Our members come to us sometimes 2 - 5 times per week, if not every day. So, we sometimes resist new technology adoption because we are not just changing a system or process for our internal staff but also for the hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals that interface with our brand regularly. Read Article...

Why We Do What We Do...
and Who Cares?
April 2019 - I have my own perspective on this wonderful industry of ours. I'm not a wealthy independent club operator who owns his own club and land and dominates the local market. I'm not a mega franchisor/franchisee. I'm not affiliated with a national or large regional chain of clubs. I've been involved in two large regional club companies (Sport&Health and Club One), I know and have consulted with some of the top independents in our space as well as two large franchisee groups. And, I'm close to some of the major leaders of many regional and national club companies, franchisors and franchisees. Now, I'm heavily involved in the management space of fitness facilities of a multitude of models: Corporate, Medical, Community, Commercial and Multi-Tenant. I also have some limited experience in one studio model. So, as I travel domestically and internationally, I'm always trying to learn about the various models, business practices and consumer consumption behaviors surrounding fitness delivery and what makes companies successful. I've drawn some perceptions along the way... Read Article...

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Showing 1 - 18 of 18 Articles