Journal #1
My first day was better than I expected. I started out learning how to work the computer system. We went through how to save someone’s credit card on file to allow them to be billed every month. I learned how to clock in and out. They taught me how to record the point of sales every day. I have to write down on a clipboard the amount, name, what type of service (either physical therapy or for the gym), and initial my name. I answered phone calls and made phone calls. I had to go through a list of people who were referred to the gym and call them. I offered them a free week pass to try and get them to come into fitness 19. I also went around parking lots for an hour putting flyers on people’s cars. The flyer was a free month of membership at the gym. I also helped do some upkeep around the gym such as paint the bathrooms. I learned how to look up clients and review their history of when they checked into the gym. I also could look at their billing information and so forth. They taught me that I have to take everyone’s picture that already does not have a picture to their information. I started to learn how to how to set up a membership. I still have to memorize the rates that they have. However, they have a book with pictures of the rates for memberships. I just need to get more comfortable with the numbers. I learned how to give a tour of the gym and what to mention and what not to mention when speaking with new clients. They taught me that I always should sit the clients down first and ask personal questions. Questions like where do you live? Have you ever been to a gym before? What are your goals? Why would you like a gym membership? I’m supposed to have a nice conversation with them to ease their worries because it is intimidating to walk into a gym.
The second day consisted of maintenance work around the gym. The operating partner, Craig, had me take inventory of the damaged weights and pads on machines. I called the company that we buy our machines and weights from to order new ones. We changed light bulbs and I did my daily work. Daily work consists of vacuuming a certain section of the gym and making phone calls to referrals. Fitness 19 has a policy where they try to make 100 calls a day to referrals or people who they have on file that tried their free trial. You leave a message half the time. I ask the people who already visited the gym if they enjoyed their experience here and if they would like to set up an appointment to talk about rates of a gym membership. If it is just a referral I ask if they would like to make an appointment to tour the gym.
My first day was better than I expected. I started out learning how to work the computer system. We went through how to save someone’s credit card on file to allow them to be billed every month. I learned how to clock in and out. They taught me how to record the point of sales every day. I have to write down on a clipboard the amount, name, what type of service (either physical therapy or for the gym), and initial my name. I answered phone calls and made phone calls. I had to go through a list of people who were referred to the gym and call them. I offered them a free week pass to try and get them to come into fitness 19. I also went around parking lots for an hour putting flyers on people’s cars. The flyer was a free month of membership at the gym. I also helped do some upkeep around the gym such as paint the bathrooms. I learned how to look up clients and review their history of when they checked into the gym. I also could look at their billing information and so forth. They taught me that I have to take everyone’s picture that already does not have a picture to their information. I started to learn how to how to set up a membership. I still have to memorize the rates that they have. However, they have a book with pictures of the rates for memberships. I just need to get more comfortable with the numbers. I learned how to give a tour of the gym and what to mention and what not to mention when speaking with new clients. They taught me that I always should sit the clients down first and ask personal questions. Questions like where do you live? Have you ever been to a gym before? What are your goals? Why would you like a gym membership? I’m supposed to have a nice conversation with them to ease their worries because it is intimidating to walk into a gym.
The second day consisted of maintenance work around the gym. The operating partner, Craig, had me take inventory of the damaged weights and pads on machines. I called the company that we buy our machines and weights from to order new ones. We changed light bulbs and I did my daily work. Daily work consists of vacuuming a certain section of the gym and making phone calls to referrals. Fitness 19 has a policy where they try to make 100 calls a day to referrals or people who they have on file that tried their free trial. You leave a message half the time. I ask the people who already visited the gym if they enjoyed their experience here and if they would like to set up an appointment to talk about rates of a gym membership. If it is just a referral I ask if they would like to make an appointment to tour the gym.
Journal #2
Today was a short day. I did only a couple hours because it was a slow day. Fridays and the weekends are typically slow. The staff did mostly maintenance around the gym. I helped change the light bulbs and vacuum underneath machines. We have to do extreme cleaning and renovating because the big boss is coming to check the Parma location out.
The fourth day consisted of my manager Rick teaching me how to cancel membership. The sales team typically cancels memberships and then Rick or Craig take the paperwork and input it in the computer and take care of the billing statements and etc. To cancel a person’s member ship, I have to fill out the cancellation form. I circle whether they are cancelling the membership, kid’s room, or personal training. The form then asks why you are choosing to discontinue your membership and FITNESS 19. I circle either non-use, moving to___, other, and I fill out how long were you a member? It has an option to write down what you liked about fitness 19 and how fitness 19 could serve you better, however; we typically just talk to the people about it instead of filling out that option on the form. The person then signs their name and then I sign my name. And then I finalize the paper work by checking off how many people on their account cancelled. Sometimes, families cancel certain members because of non-use. The cancelled member then takes the yellow copy and I keep the white and file it in a folder for Craig or Rick. Next thing that I learned was how to freeze someone’s account. You can freeze their account for 3 or 6 months at a time. This process is basically the same as cancelling an account.
After I learned how to do this I went advertising to local businesses. I gave out cards that promoted our corporate wellness month to the employees of the businesses. The gym typically likes to send out their flyers every day. On the flyer it has a free trail for a week, month, and weekend. This allows people to come check the gym out.
Today was a short day. I did only a couple hours because it was a slow day. Fridays and the weekends are typically slow. The staff did mostly maintenance around the gym. I helped change the light bulbs and vacuum underneath machines. We have to do extreme cleaning and renovating because the big boss is coming to check the Parma location out.
The fourth day consisted of my manager Rick teaching me how to cancel membership. The sales team typically cancels memberships and then Rick or Craig take the paperwork and input it in the computer and take care of the billing statements and etc. To cancel a person’s member ship, I have to fill out the cancellation form. I circle whether they are cancelling the membership, kid’s room, or personal training. The form then asks why you are choosing to discontinue your membership and FITNESS 19. I circle either non-use, moving to___, other, and I fill out how long were you a member? It has an option to write down what you liked about fitness 19 and how fitness 19 could serve you better, however; we typically just talk to the people about it instead of filling out that option on the form. The person then signs their name and then I sign my name. And then I finalize the paper work by checking off how many people on their account cancelled. Sometimes, families cancel certain members because of non-use. The cancelled member then takes the yellow copy and I keep the white and file it in a folder for Craig or Rick. Next thing that I learned was how to freeze someone’s account. You can freeze their account for 3 or 6 months at a time. This process is basically the same as cancelling an account.
After I learned how to do this I went advertising to local businesses. I gave out cards that promoted our corporate wellness month to the employees of the businesses. The gym typically likes to send out their flyers every day. On the flyer it has a free trail for a week, month, and weekend. This allows people to come check the gym out.
Journal #3
Today Rick and I did a lot of promotions for Fitness 19. We went out ‘flyering’ people’s homes for a couple hours. We were using flyers that allowed you to work out at Fitness 19 for an entire weekend. We have a couple different flyers that we use that offer a free month, week, or weekend to come check out the gym. They even have a flyer that allows you to bring a friend to get more people in the gym. Rick and I picked a neighborhood that has a lot of younger families to target potential members that would pay extra for kid’s room and typically younger people would be more active. When I got back I made more phone calls to set up appointments for people to check out the gym.
The next day Rick showed me how to do some of the daily work that a manager takes care of on a day to day basis. The morning person prints out the sheet that contains all the daily sales and income that the gym got. It could be for personal training, bottled water, a membership or etc. We print all of the receipts out from the previous day and split them up in certain categories. You first break up the cash/checks and the mastercard/visas. Then once you split the payment you narrow it down to what the item was. For example: bottled water goes under the category of other income. Personal training was under NSF (nonsufficient funds). Once you categorize everything, you then add up all the numbers from the receipts to see if your drawer equals out. Once you do that you make a deposit slip for the cash.
Today Rick and I did a lot of promotions for Fitness 19. We went out ‘flyering’ people’s homes for a couple hours. We were using flyers that allowed you to work out at Fitness 19 for an entire weekend. We have a couple different flyers that we use that offer a free month, week, or weekend to come check out the gym. They even have a flyer that allows you to bring a friend to get more people in the gym. Rick and I picked a neighborhood that has a lot of younger families to target potential members that would pay extra for kid’s room and typically younger people would be more active. When I got back I made more phone calls to set up appointments for people to check out the gym.
The next day Rick showed me how to do some of the daily work that a manager takes care of on a day to day basis. The morning person prints out the sheet that contains all the daily sales and income that the gym got. It could be for personal training, bottled water, a membership or etc. We print all of the receipts out from the previous day and split them up in certain categories. You first break up the cash/checks and the mastercard/visas. Then once you split the payment you narrow it down to what the item was. For example: bottled water goes under the category of other income. Personal training was under NSF (nonsufficient funds). Once you categorize everything, you then add up all the numbers from the receipts to see if your drawer equals out. Once you do that you make a deposit slip for the cash.
Journal #4
Rick had me do the manager daily work with his supervision today. It was a little hard to follow with just briefly learning it. However, he supervised me the whole time. The numbers were a little off because someone was refunded their money back, so the total did not add up. Once we did our daily work together, we stayed at the gym doing some phone calls. It was really slow during the day. Rick sent me out flyering on my own.
The next day I was helping the sales team and the rest of the staff come up with a way to get the members motivated and more interactive. We decided to have competitions like who can dead lift the most in your weight class? We had people do that and bench press, squats, and etc. The first week we did the competition we actually had a really good turnout. People got really involved in the competition. We made posters to advertise for it.
Rick had me do the manager daily work with his supervision today. It was a little hard to follow with just briefly learning it. However, he supervised me the whole time. The numbers were a little off because someone was refunded their money back, so the total did not add up. Once we did our daily work together, we stayed at the gym doing some phone calls. It was really slow during the day. Rick sent me out flyering on my own.
The next day I was helping the sales team and the rest of the staff come up with a way to get the members motivated and more interactive. We decided to have competitions like who can dead lift the most in your weight class? We had people do that and bench press, squats, and etc. The first week we did the competition we actually had a really good turnout. People got really involved in the competition. We made posters to advertise for it.
Journal #5
Today Craig, the operating partner showed me how to do that bank reconciliation for the month. It was confusing to me because I’m not in accounting. I only took one class that had to deal with accounting. So, he had to really teach me what to do. Once we took hours learning that, I went out for a little bit of flyering.
The next day I had to take inventory on the damaged machines. There was a bunch of pads in the gym that needed to be replaced. I had to take down the serial number and machine name. Then Craig made me call Lifetime Fitness to order the parts. The regional boss was coming in the next month sometime to check the gym to make sure everything looks up to par.
Today Craig, the operating partner showed me how to do that bank reconciliation for the month. It was confusing to me because I’m not in accounting. I only took one class that had to deal with accounting. So, he had to really teach me what to do. Once we took hours learning that, I went out for a little bit of flyering.
The next day I had to take inventory on the damaged machines. There was a bunch of pads in the gym that needed to be replaced. I had to take down the serial number and machine name. Then Craig made me call Lifetime Fitness to order the parts. The regional boss was coming in the next month sometime to check the gym to make sure everything looks up to par.
Journal #6
Today I did a lot of front desk work. I sat at the front greeting the members that came in and assisting people that needed information on their accounts. One lady called me and asked why she was charged for the month when she cancelled her membership last month. Fitness 19 did not have ABC as their billing company before 2013. So, if you joined before that time you were required to pay your last month’s. It’s hard learning all of the certain questions people have like that because there is a lot to know.
The next day I learned how to do payroll. It was easy once Craig and I figured out the system because they changed their site. I printed the checks and put everyone’s name on them. Once I was done with that I got my flyering in for the day.
Today I did a lot of front desk work. I sat at the front greeting the members that came in and assisting people that needed information on their accounts. One lady called me and asked why she was charged for the month when she cancelled her membership last month. Fitness 19 did not have ABC as their billing company before 2013. So, if you joined before that time you were required to pay your last month’s. It’s hard learning all of the certain questions people have like that because there is a lot to know.
The next day I learned how to do payroll. It was easy once Craig and I figured out the system because they changed their site. I printed the checks and put everyone’s name on them. Once I was done with that I got my flyering in for the day.
Journal #7
Today was another slow day at the gym. So, Rick and I decided to go around again to local businesses and offer them a group rate for their employees. Once we were done with that we did a little bit of flyering in parking lots on people’s cars.
I finally had an interaction with selling a membership today. Typically, I had Rick or one of the sales team members take care of it because there is a long process with setting up a membership. I started the process by asking people if they have ever been to a gym before and just had a nice conversation with them. Usually people are intimidated going into a gym and getting started. So, my manager taught me to break the ice by sitting them down and just simply talking to them. Once that happens you give them a tour and talk about what Fitness 19 has to offer. Once you show the whole facility, you sit them down and talk prices. It went great!
Today was another slow day at the gym. So, Rick and I decided to go around again to local businesses and offer them a group rate for their employees. Once we were done with that we did a little bit of flyering in parking lots on people’s cars.
I finally had an interaction with selling a membership today. Typically, I had Rick or one of the sales team members take care of it because there is a long process with setting up a membership. I started the process by asking people if they have ever been to a gym before and just had a nice conversation with them. Usually people are intimidated going into a gym and getting started. So, my manager taught me to break the ice by sitting them down and just simply talking to them. Once that happens you give them a tour and talk about what Fitness 19 has to offer. Once you show the whole facility, you sit them down and talk prices. It went great!
Journal #8
Today I listened to a phone call conference that took place for an hour. It was all of the Fitness 19’s in the Midwest region. They talked about the new rules they made and the new membership deals they were going to start promoting. After that, I hung around the gym and made phone calls.
I went flyering to start the day off because the gym was slow at the time I worked. I spent a couple hours putting a free month pass on people’s cars and houses. When I came back I took care of the daily manager work all by myself. At this point it is a lot easier for me and I don’t need supervision to do it.
Today I listened to a phone call conference that took place for an hour. It was all of the Fitness 19’s in the Midwest region. They talked about the new rules they made and the new membership deals they were going to start promoting. After that, I hung around the gym and made phone calls.
I went flyering to start the day off because the gym was slow at the time I worked. I spent a couple hours putting a free month pass on people’s cars and houses. When I came back I took care of the daily manager work all by myself. At this point it is a lot easier for me and I don’t need supervision to do it.
Journal #9
Today I started the day off with the daily manager work. I had to catch up from the weekend. Usually you don’t do the manager work on the weekends because it is just the sales team that comes in and that isn’t their responsibility. I did my 50 phone calls for the day and just hung around the gym helping people.
Once I did my daily manager work for this day, I was able to take the deposit money and slips to the bank on my own. Fitness 19 uses Chase bank. I drove there and then got my daily flyering in for the gym.
Today I started the day off with the daily manager work. I had to catch up from the weekend. Usually you don’t do the manager work on the weekends because it is just the sales team that comes in and that isn’t their responsibility. I did my 50 phone calls for the day and just hung around the gym helping people.
Once I did my daily manager work for this day, I was able to take the deposit money and slips to the bank on my own. Fitness 19 uses Chase bank. I drove there and then got my daily flyering in for the gym.
Journal #10
Again, I did my manager daily work as soon as I got to my internship. It is time for payroll again. So I put in everyone’s hours and double checked that there were no mistakes. I printed the checks and organized them. I was unsupervised for this task. I hung out at the gym and stayed mainly at the front desk as an extra hand.
The next day I had to deal with cancelling a woman’s membership. I tried to talk her out of it because people usually cancel for ‘not having enough time’ and you can usually save those people from cancelling. I had another cancel come in and I could not save that one. I filled out the paper work for them and explained the whole process.
Again, I did my manager daily work as soon as I got to my internship. It is time for payroll again. So I put in everyone’s hours and double checked that there were no mistakes. I printed the checks and organized them. I was unsupervised for this task. I hung out at the gym and stayed mainly at the front desk as an extra hand.
The next day I had to deal with cancelling a woman’s membership. I tried to talk her out of it because people usually cancel for ‘not having enough time’ and you can usually save those people from cancelling. I had another cancel come in and I could not save that one. I filled out the paper work for them and explained the whole process.
Journal #11
It is time for the bank reconciliation of the month. This time I did it on my own without Craig telling me exactly what to do. When there was a conflict and numbers were not matching up, I left those for Craig to handle. However, thankfully those were not my fault. I then did my daily work for the day and helped out around the gym.
The next day I had to order some more parts for the gym from Lifetime Fitness. I organize bills that need to be paid and bills that were already paid. I did my regular flyering around town. I only finished 25 phone calls today.
It is time for the bank reconciliation of the month. This time I did it on my own without Craig telling me exactly what to do. When there was a conflict and numbers were not matching up, I left those for Craig to handle. However, thankfully those were not my fault. I then did my daily work for the day and helped out around the gym.
The next day I had to order some more parts for the gym from Lifetime Fitness. I organize bills that need to be paid and bills that were already paid. I did my regular flyering around town. I only finished 25 phone calls today.
Journal #12
I was completely on my own today. I literally ran the gym by myself without anyone else working for a couple hours. I was super nervous. It was a good test though. I only had to deal with a couple people’s questions/problems so, it ended up not being so scary. When my boss got here, we worked on the competitions we were holding.
Another slow day while I was working, so I got a couple hours of flyering in. I made my 50 phone calls and did the normal daily work.
I was completely on my own today. I literally ran the gym by myself without anyone else working for a couple hours. I was super nervous. It was a good test though. I only had to deal with a couple people’s questions/problems so, it ended up not being so scary. When my boss got here, we worked on the competitions we were holding.
Another slow day while I was working, so I got a couple hours of flyering in. I made my 50 phone calls and did the normal daily work.
Journal #13
We got a new manager at Fitness 19 because the one I was working with got a better job. So, today is her first day and I taught her the daily work that the managers are supposed to do every day. I kind of helped her get settled down in the new gym because she transferred from a different Fitness 19 location.
Today I had to deal with refunded someone’s account. I had to call ABC financial and go through a long process that took over an hour just to achieve. After that I did my daily work and helped out the sales team with the front desk.
We got a new manager at Fitness 19 because the one I was working with got a better job. So, today is her first day and I taught her the daily work that the managers are supposed to do every day. I kind of helped her get settled down in the new gym because she transferred from a different Fitness 19 location.
Today I had to deal with refunded someone’s account. I had to call ABC financial and go through a long process that took over an hour just to achieve. After that I did my daily work and helped out the sales team with the front desk.
Journal #14
I had a cancel come in today. I filled out all her paperwork on my own. I was taught a couple weeks ago how to cancel someone’s account through the system. I eventually cancelled her billing once I started my manager daily work. After that I just did some cleaning around the gym and worked front desk.
I had to attend a meeting with the entire Fitness 19 staff today. They had a meeting regarding a couple situations and rules they wanted to implement. Once the meeting was over I helped set up a record board for the competitions we were holding and then we installed it. We also did some maintenance around the gym. And then I finished my day with my daily work and depositing the money into the bank.
I had a cancel come in today. I filled out all her paperwork on my own. I was taught a couple weeks ago how to cancel someone’s account through the system. I eventually cancelled her billing once I started my manager daily work. After that I just did some cleaning around the gym and worked front desk.
I had to attend a meeting with the entire Fitness 19 staff today. They had a meeting regarding a couple situations and rules they wanted to implement. Once the meeting was over I helped set up a record board for the competitions we were holding and then we installed it. We also did some maintenance around the gym. And then I finished my day with my daily work and depositing the money into the bank.
Journal #15
On the second last day, I was pretty busy. I had a lot of people having problems with their card, their membership and so forth. There was only one other person working with me. I was basically the ‘manager’ today.
On the last day, I had a little rush of work but it was a good last day. I did my normal routine which is my phone calls and daily manager work. I got my last round of flyering in. I made the Fitness 19 staff cookies for everything they taught me and did for me. I learned a lot of accounting throughout this internship. I did a lot of marketing and sales as well. Overall, I got the general business experience and what it takes to run a business which was my goal.
On the second last day, I was pretty busy. I had a lot of people having problems with their card, their membership and so forth. There was only one other person working with me. I was basically the ‘manager’ today.
On the last day, I had a little rush of work but it was a good last day. I did my normal routine which is my phone calls and daily manager work. I got my last round of flyering in. I made the Fitness 19 staff cookies for everything they taught me and did for me. I learned a lot of accounting throughout this internship. I did a lot of marketing and sales as well. Overall, I got the general business experience and what it takes to run a business which was my goal.