Have you ever noticed when you get an email from Burch or see a post on his Facebook it always includes a lot of “…”?

No? Go back and read your latest email from The BIZ.

Ellipses (…) are meant to plant a pregnant pause in emails, statements, comments, posts, rants or thought provoking questions. But why? Why not just end those thoughts with a period, question mark, or explanation point?

Because everything starts with the “dot dot dot.”

I’ll give you an example.

Lately, I’ve been spending some time traveling to other boxes, invited into people’s second homes for a day or so, to get a birdseye view of their business. I freaking love it. I’m in an environment that I’m passionate about, with people I’m crazy about, teaching this business that I’m educated about. What’s not to love?  (PS – Don’t know about on-site consulting with SMEs?  #getonmylevel  and shoot me an email at meghan@cfjax.com).

At these on-sites, I hear a lot of the same problems, questions and concerns from affiliate owners:

“What do I do when my members resist packages?”

“A certain member of my team is not pulling their weight and it’s bringing the rest of us down.”

My personal favorite: “So and so did an outstanding job and they are hungry for more, what should I give them?”

These are easy questions for me to answer for you, super easy. And if I weren’t into the “dot dot dot,” my answers would look something like this :

“Tell them to take it or leave it.”

“Just hire them if they’re right for you.”

“Just fire them if they’re not right for you.”

But I’m not here to just give you information and go on my way. I’m not here just to answer questions and confirm correct calendar appointments. My job is to inspire, educate and entertain you into being the most successful CrossFit gym in the world.

That’s right, to make sure that YOUR box is more successful than mine, Chris’ or Tim’s.

Know how that’s going to happen? Everything starts with … a conversation.

If that seems like an easy answer, go back and reread that sentence really noticing the pause. Does the ellipse force you to slow down a bit and take in what I’m saying?

Think about the role of your phone script in your business. It’s the beginning of EVERYTHING that is important with what we’re doing. My associate Katie got spy called by another associate from Surf City last week, as an assignment. Unbeknownst to her, the guy on the other end was testing her ability to make him answer the right questions. To screen him to the point of knowing whether or not he’s a good fit for our box.

Guess what?  He emailed Katie a couple of days ago admitting his assignment and told her that she had crushed it and beat out every other associate at the boxes he called. Do you know why? Because she took the time to ask questions that made him think. It became a more casual but personal setting in which there was an opportunity to create trust and relationship.

Did Katie follow the phone script that is all guided by periods and question marks? Yes. Did she read it and cover the guidelines word for word? No. She slowed down, took her time and let the conversation BREATHE.

This small difference makes a huge impact! The opportunity for people to realize that this is not a Bailey’s sales call is the first of MANY glimpses into the unique experience they will have with your gym and in your community.

Your ability to create genuine rapport with clients (and your team) is induced by pausing to ask the right questions and give the thoughtful answers. You can be intentional with your conversations while still engaging in your purpose. We aren’t in the business of just following the rules – in fitness, grammar or in our boxes – we are creating our own rules and our own ways of changing people’s lives and leading them to the well.

Try the dot dot dot next time you talk to a member in your gym… see what opportunities are created and where the dot dot dot leads you…

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Want more advice and insight from Meghan Russell?

Join Meghan, Tim and Chris for their free, one-hour webinar tomorrow, Thursday, November 29th, at 2 pm PST / 5 pm EST.

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