The Coach You're About to Lose

Last month a gym owner told me he got blindsided. His best coach - five years on staff, the one members asked for by name - handed in two weeks' notice on a Tuesday. "No warning," he said.

Except there was. There always is. He just never asked.

Here's the part owners underrate: when a coach walks, they don't leave alone. Around 45% of members stick around because of their relationship with staff, not the equipment or the programming. So losing a coach isn't just another expensive hiring expense, it's a quiet hit to retention as their clients start drifting too.

And exit interviews won't save you, because by then the decision's made. You find out why exactly when you can no longer do anything about it.

So flip it. This week, sit down with your top two or three coaches for 15 minutes each — call it a stay interview — and ask three questions:

1. What would make you start looking elsewhere?
2. What's one thing here you'd change if you could?
3. Where do you want to be in two years, and can we build part of that here?

Then shut up and listen. Don't defend, don't fix it on the spot. Most "I quit" moments are really six months of small, unspoken frustrations nobody bothered to ask about.

One more thing. Even done right, you'll still lose people - relocations, babies, life. The owners who weather it aren't the ones who never lose a coach. They're the ones who never hire in a panic. Keep a posting live so when it happens, you're choosing from a pipeline instead of grabbing the first résumé that lands.

That's it for today. Short, actionable advice to help you build a better gym. We're rooting for you!

Until next time!

Team Barbell Jobs

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
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