Over many years in business I have spoken to many business managers or owners who have chosen to moderate some aspect of their business efforts (usually to apply efforts elsewhere) and we have indeed made the same erroneous decision once or twice at Advance. In our own business in the past we have chosen to moderate our efforts in one area of our business to allow us to increase development of another new area. 

The result - whilst we would never compromise the quality of our work, the growth of our core business definitely lagged.  Furthermore, when it needed to be fixed our efforts had to be pulled back from the new initiatives, which in turn suffered too.

In terms of fitness business we often hear the following:  We want to take it easy on new membership sales because:

…we are doing improvements to our club. 

... we are focussing on our PT sales. 

...we want to focus on customer service.

... we are doing OK at the moment. 

The last one freaks me out the most.  Hmmm... You're planning to not doing anything extra until you are NOT OK.  If you are doing OK, you should be capitalising on that and set yourself up to do GREAT!
 
In terms of sales, you should be actively chasing new clients to the full extent of your ability all of the time.  If you are not, your competitors will - if not now, then soon...  If you aren't capturing market share, then someone soon will.  It is very, very difficult to get members/clients back once they have gone elsewhere.   

When you are saying, or thinking, moderation what you probably need is "balance".  Moderation implies choosing to do something with lesser intensity or effort than you could.  Moderation is like losing weight by dieting alone -  cutting out food - giving up what you love.  "Balance" is exercise and a healthy eating plan and occasional treats.  Want more treats? Do more exercise... Moderation is missing out, balance is having more of everything you want.

How might this apply to membership sales?  Sell more memberships - as many as you can!  Then use the money to put more trainers on, buy more equipment, add another facility, add more classes.  Aim to create "MEGA ABUNDANCE" (more on this next week).  If you have mega abundance in what you do and what you have, you have room to move and the ability to adjust the balance.  If you have more than you "need", more than just "doing OK", then a small downturn might take you from really profitable to just profitable.  As you are still profitable, it is usually just a case of adjusting the balance (more sales and marketing activity) to get you back to really profitable.

If you are operating at "just OK" and you have a small downturn, you go to "not OK".  It is often hard to do anything to fix "not OK" as you are usually out of money by this time.  (...to get more money I should hire a sales person or do more advertising, but I don't have the money to  hire a sales person or do more advertising... uh oh!)

It could be semantics, but the language you use with yourself and others ultimately drives what you DO and what you HAVE.  If you find yourself thinking about moderating some part of your business efforts, stop and consider whether that is really the right decision.  Look to maintain "balance" by doing MORE of EVERYTHING that is needed to create success in your business. 

What is the difference between balance and moderation in an operational sense?  If you are choosing to do less of some part of your core business function than you could (just because if feels like you should) then it is likely to be a decision of moderation.  If one part of the your business function is genuinely limited or constrained by another then, it is likely to be a case of balance. 

You should constantly be seeking out the “bottlenecks” in your business.  For example, sell as much as you can.  If your sales activity fills your classes, avoid slowing down your sales activity, seek to add more classes.    Keep adding more classes, until there is no more room on the timetable, then add another facility to your club, and keep building… and so on…  To ensure success, if you have an imbalance between one area of your business or another, you should first work on bringing UP the lagging area.   Whenever possible, avoid slowing one are of your business to allow another to catch up.

Keep pushing in all areas in your business and keep addressing the “bottleneck” or limiting factor.  There will be compromise, there will be adjustments – that’s OK.  They key to success is in how you think.  Are you just choosing to slow down, choosing to sabotage your success based on some arbitrary justification? Or, are you seeking out every opportunity to address the balance, grow and enjoy success?
 
In business you will rarely (if ever) have enough of everything you need.  it is always a matter of prioritisation.  You should never be choosing to pull back your efforts on a successful part of your business because of another.  This is especially true if your business divisions are not linked or are a separate business.  You should seek the solution that will allow you to progress both parts of your business to the maximum extent possible.  If compromise is required due to limitations this should not be with regard to the most successful division/business.

Balance:
1. More sales effort = more members/clients + more money
2. More money = more trainers, more front desk support, better facilities, more classes = better experience for members/clients
3. Better experience for members = more referrals and higher retention = more money
4. More money = more sales effort = even more members and money... (When are you opening your next facility!?!)

Moderation:
1. Choosing to moderate your sales effort = save some money now, but less new members = less money
2. Less money = less trainers, less classes, less cleaning, less front desk staff = worse experience for members
3. Worse experience for members = less referrals and lower retention = even less money
4. Even less money = even less sales effort = even less members and money... (Continue with the downward spiral and you will eventually go bust….)

Yes, it is this simple.  With this approach to business it does not matter where you are starting from…  If you are always improving and actively seeking out growth opportunities you will, soon enough, be where you want to be.

I like Oscar Wilde’s take on moderation:

"Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess."