There is something powerful about the calendar flipping to a new year and the feeling of a “fresh start”. But before we set our goals and New Year’s resolutions, we should first reflect on the year that has passed.

It’s something that most coaches can get on board with from an ideological standpoint, but is undeniably a scary concept when speaking to coaches that have been told “retain retain retain” their entire professional coaching careers.

Fitness Coaching is unique, unlike other industries, the customer relationship does not end after the marketed good or service is sold. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Successful coaching businesses are dependent on the long term health of the relationship with the client. The ability to build these long term client relationships is the differentiator between professional coaches and group class instructors.

If you came directly to this article, please make sure you’ve already boned up on “How To Measure Your Retention Rate” so that you have great context as you read this article. If you’re good to go on that math and what retention even is, let’s press forward.

But if you’re a small gym owner, January isn’t always the best time for attracting those long-term minded clients we value so much. And contrary to what many small gym owners have tried, running a 6-week transformation challenge is probably the worst thing you can do, not just for the business and the coach, but also for the client.