What are your Debts vs. your Obligations?

January 19, 2012
Categories: Customer Service

If you look up debt in the thesaurus, one of the synonyms is obligations. But I don’t think that is necessarily right. In my mind a debt is a business term, while obligations have a higher meaning. So as professionals in health and wellness, what are our debts and what are our obligations? And how do you prioritize? That’s not an easy question to answer but one you need to think about.

I wish I could say every decision I make at Motionsoft puts people ahead of profits. But that’s not true. And any business owner who tells you otherwise, probably isn’t being as forthright and honest as they should be. But I think we have a good balance. But for us it’s a bit different then for you. Our interaction is almost exclusively with other business owners (more on this later).

But for most of you, your interactions are with consumers. Finicky, difficult, and persnickety (let me mention one of my all-time favorite words right behind esoteric!), your members are all over the place. Even if you are a small club, gym, studio, or wellness center, you can still have 200 members. That’s 200 different personalities. 200 people who have good and bad days. And I can only imagine how difficult that can be.

But you have to walk a fine line. I know I have said this before – most people who work in this industry really do care about helping their members get healthy. But how far do you really need to go? When does helping people start hurting your business? Put another way, how do you balance your obligation to a person who wants and needs your help to get healthy vs. your real debts that you carry in your business?? It’s an impossible question to answer and one that, I’m sure, each one of you struggles with every day.

So why write about this today? Well, this week in the fillmygym we are highlighting a new partner, Ginger Lily Farms, that sells environmentally-friendly, and better for you, shampoos and soaps. They are giving away (FREE FREE) product that you can “Try it before you buy it” (side note: other then “Set it and forget it”, this is my second favorite info-poetry term). This is a rare case where obligations and debts seem to line up.

In it’s most simple form, I believe you are obligated to explore new things for the benefit of your customers, and then determine where it fits into your debt profile. Here, I am just saying try a free sample of shower formulas. A true win-win-win (member-business-environment.) If only all decisions were that simple. But it also means constantly evaluating whether you need to invest in what your members can see, touch, feel and smell, especially when, as we say in this FMG, it’s the last thing they do before they walk out your door. If you are investing in making them want to return, then that is incurred debt, that not only matches your obligation, but will soon no longer be debt. That’s a true win-win-win.

And all this talk of winning got me thinking about two things. 1) Charlie Sheen and how entirely irrelevant he has become. And 2) how do we create a business that is a win-win for both Motionsoft and our clients? In the next few months, we will be making a major announcement. One that will change the industry. It has nothing to do with MoSo, our membership management software. It has to do with aligning our interests and yours. About bringing debts and obligations in-line. So you no longer need to choose between people and profits.

This isn’t just another deal. This will permanently change how we do business in this industry. If I haven’t peaked your interest, then you must just be an extremely esoteric and persnickety person. And that’s all I have to say about that!