Packard’s Law states: "No company can consistently grow (clients or revenue) faster than its ability to get the right team to implement that growth. If the company consistently grows faster than its ability to get enough of the right people to implement that growth, it will not simply stagnate; it will fail."
There are always 'experts' trying to sell us better ways to grow our businesses:
- Get 10 new clients by midnight.
- Gain 100 new members by the end of the week.
- Book yourself solid in three weeks.
What if that really happened? Does your club have the ability to handle the new work load? If you own a gym, do you have the right team and right systems in place?
If all these new clients come knocking, what happens if they have a bad experience? How many people will they tell about their bad experience? What does that do to your reputation within your community?
There's a lot of truth to Packard's Law, and here's why:
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The Right People: That doesn’t mean we need the best people; we just need the right people for the specific task.
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Money: An unfilled trainer position inside a growing training facility can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 in lost revenue. This leads to a big drop in your profits (take-home money after taxes).
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Leadership: To become a great training facility, leaders must lead by example. We must put the right people on the right opportunities, which means we have to be willing to have tough conversations, hold staff accountable and spend time personally leading these individuals.
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Drive and Grit: The willingness to see difficult tasks through to the end, along with infectious enthusiasm, will help you spot the right person for the role.
- Quality: Steve Jobs said: "Make sure you're hiring only 'A' players. A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players." And remember that "A" players are not necessarily the best people, but they are the right people for specific tasks.
Great leaders, like you, are constantly searching for growth in number of clients and year-end revenues. The key distinguishing step that great leaders take is that they don't chase trendy short-term goals that undermine long-term brand growth.
If you build a team with the'right people who accept personal responsibility for making the facility great, you can throw out all the senseless rules and mindless bureaucracy, and spend time doing what you do best: Leading the community you serve to live a fit and healthy life.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.