In the Gym Secrets podcast, the host emphasizes the critical distinction between tactics and execution in entrepreneurship. They argue that while most tactics are sound, the frequent failure to achieve desired outcomes is due to poor execution, not flawed strategy. The discussion highlights the importance of consistent training, communication, and quality assurance in ensuring that teams execute tactics as intended. The host stresses that the key to scaling a business lies in the ability to replicate success through others, and that before changing strategies, entrepreneurs should verify that existing processes are being followed correctly. The episode concludes with a call for attention to the often overlooked, yet essential, operational aspects of business growth.
"99% of the time, most tactics work. It's just that the execution is where it gets lost."
This quote emphasizes that the majority of tactics are effective in theory, but the breakdown occurs during the execution phase. The importance of this idea is in understanding that changing tactics may not be necessary; instead, focusing on better execution could be the solution.
"The reason that you're not getting the outcome from the tactics that you employed for whatever the goal was... the strategy is usually not wrong... What you're going about, your idea most of the time is pretty sound."
This quote suggests that when the desired outcome is not achieved, the initial reaction might be to question the strategy or tactic. However, the speaker argues that often, the fundamental idea or strategy is not at fault but rather the way it's being executed.
"And so then what do you do? You change it, right? And the thing is, and this is the hardest part. Like, this is so hard. I struggle with this all the time."
In this quote, the speaker is reflecting on the common entrepreneurial response to a lack of immediate success, which is to change tactics. The speaker admits to struggling with this issue, highlighting the difficulty entrepreneurs face in resisting the urge to switch tactics instead of focusing on improving execution.
"That's why I wanted to make this video. I was really pumped about it."
The enthusiasm in creating the video stems from the speaker's realization of the importance of execution over tactics. This quote indicates the speaker's desire to share this critical insight with other entrepreneurs, emphasizing the value of focusing on execution.
"Here 90%, 95%, 99% of the errors that happen in my business are things that are not executed properly."
This quote emphasizes the high percentage of business errors that stem from execution issues rather than strategy or planning problems.
"A sales script that's not done. It's not done with the correct tonality, it's not executed in a timely manner."
The quote highlights specific examples of execution errors, such as failing to use a sales script properly, not using the correct tone, and not being timely.
"The right questions are not being asked to the same degree."
This quote points out the importance of consistency in asking the right questions to maintain customer engagement and retention.
"The hardest part of business stuff, especially as you scale, is people, right. It's operations."
This quote identifies people and operations as the most challenging aspects of scaling a business.
"Being able to scale the business comes down to your ability to repeat that result in other people."
The quote stresses the importance of replicating an entrepreneur's success in their team members to scale the business effectively.
"Which is why it's so essential for most entrepreneurs to acquire so many skills so that we know how to operate it correctly."
This quote underscores the need for entrepreneurs to be skilled in various areas to ensure they can operate their business effectively and teach others.
"How do I QA, right. How do I quality assurance, how do I double check that each of these aspects of my business are being executed properly, right?"
This quote questions the methods for ensuring that all aspects of a business are being executed correctly.
"If you're not drilling your team on the things that they need to be learning and repeating on a consistent basis, they will forget, they will stop thinking about it."
The quote discusses the importance of continuous training and repetition to keep the team's skills sharp and focused.
"When you are just assuming it's being done, right. And they're assuming it's no longer important, which is why you're not talking about it."
This quote reflects the disconnect that can occur when there is an assumption of completion without communication, leading to a de-prioritization of tasks.
"But the thing that gets you from zero to one is not the thing that gets you from one to ten, right?"
The quote differentiates the skills and actions needed to start a business versus those required to scale it successfully.
"And getting from one to ten is getting ten people to do the same thing consistently over and over again. And that is hard."
This quote emphasizes the difficulty in scaling a business, which involves ensuring consistent execution by the team.
And so then you assume that you have to change your strategy. You have to change how you're doing things, right. When in fact, you just have to get back in, roll up your sleeves, do the boring work, repeat yourself again, make sure that the process is being followed as intended as you wanted it to be done.
This quote emphasizes that instead of changing strategies, businesses should focus on the diligent execution of existing processes and ensure that employees are following them as intended.
And what happens is then they create this consistent cadence, and they know that you're paying attention.
The speaker suggests that creating a consistent work rhythm and monitoring by management leads to employees understanding their accountability and maintaining process standards.
And these are the little systems that have to happen in order to maintain excellence on a consistent basis.
The quote highlights the importance of small, systematic actions in achieving and sustaining high performance within a business.
And most times, you don't need to change anything at all. You just need to go in and put attention on the process, make sure it's being adhered to.
Here, the speaker points out that often no changes are needed to the business strategy, but rather a focused effort on ensuring that the existing processes are being correctly executed.
Like, I can't tell you the amount of times we've made no changes to sales scripts. And then we just make sure it's being followed or really just read through testimonials again, reconvict the team, and then sales picks up overnight.
This quote provides a specific example of how reinforcing adherence to existing sales scripts and re-motivating the team can lead to immediate improvements in sales performance, illustrating the power of execution over changing strategies.
"And so Andy Grover, I don't have his book around me, but high output management. He says the job of the boss is motivation and training. That's it. That's how he defined it. The only thing I added was communication, because they need to know what you want them to do."
This quote summarizes Andy Grover's perspective on the role of a boss, highlighting motivation and training as key responsibilities, with the speaker adding communication as a critical element.
"And typically, you don't need to change anything. You just need to make sure that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. And that just takes the boring work of looking and examining and listening to call recordings and listening to onboardings and watching the footage that you have from your cameras for the workouts inside of your facility to see if the energy of the workouts is there, to see if they're making sure they're doing the announcements every day, to make sure they're doing all the stuff you need them to do, following the checklist."
This quote emphasizes the importance of ensuring that employees are performing their tasks as expected, which involves monitoring and reviewing their work.
"And I want to save you so much pain and suffering for you and for your team from you having the whiplash or them having whiplash from you constantly changing because you're like, man, he's always trying to change stuff and it's usually just because it's not being executed right."
This quote advises against making frequent changes and suggests that many issues may stem from improper execution rather than flawed strategies or plans.
"So anyways, I know that's not the sexy stuff, but that's the real stuff of how businesses scale and I hope you found value in that. And if you did, drop a like or a comment, and if you did not, then sorry, but otherwise have an amazing Thursday and I'll catch you guys on the flip side. Keep executing and I'll catch you guys soon. Bye."
This quote concludes the discussion, highlighting the importance of execution in business scaling and encouraging the audience to engage with the content.