Chris Conolley started his company in 2003 the way many gym owners do: a group of guys training in a garage with no air conditioning. Over the next two decades he moved through a racquetball court, an office warehouse and a storefront, and eventually bought his own commercial building of about 10,000 square feet. Spartan Fitness MMA now serves around 850 students across jiu-jitsu, MMA, kickboxing and a large kids program. It has 15 employees and regularly does $106,000 to $120,000 or more in a good month.
The school has grossed more than $1 million a year since 2018. In 2020 it missed that mark by about $30,000, during the pandemic shutdowns. When Red Belt Podcast host Brian "Barn Cat" Debes asked what made things click, Chris named systems, tracking key metrics, and above all how fast the team responds to a new lead.
Respond in Minutes, Not Days
Chris's view is simple: the best time to reach a prospect is right after they reach out, while they're still excited. Most gyms let leads sit for two or three days while the owner teaches, trains and handles everything else. By then the lead has gone cold.
At Spartan, a new lead ideally gets an automated text and email within about 30 seconds, then a phone call within two to five minutes. The only exceptions are leads that come in overnight, and those are called first thing in the morning. Chris believes this matters more than the size of the ad budget. Competitors in his area copy his ads and then switch them off within weeks because they can't make the spend pay, he says. "The number one factor is what are you doing with them when you get them."
Brian agrees. Buying twice as many leads rarely doubles sign-ups, because follow-up doesn't double with them. The better move is to convert more of the leads you already have, especially in the first few minutes.
Make the Appointment Setter Your First Hire
Chris calls the phone "the number one money-making piece of equipment you got in that gym," ahead of mats, bags or medals. His most important hire was a dedicated appointment setter, and both he and Brian argue it should be any growing gym's first hire, before an assistant coach. The owner is usually on the mat at peak hours, exactly when prospects call. Running off the mat out of breath to grab the phone doesn't work for long.
At busy times Spartan puts two Member Service Representatives on the desk. One focuses only on leads and appointments. The other handles members, retail sizing, restocking and cleaning. Neither sits idle: each role has opening, closing and "running" side work. That includes day-before and day-of confirmations, check-ins with new students at two, four and six weeks for retention, and social media stories, Reels and Shorts assigned from a content calendar. Calls start no earlier than 8 a.m.
The team uses GroupMe threads to pass along appointments and shift handoffs, so whoever comes on in the afternoon knows who to chase. Chris tried an outside answering service in the past and found it a waste of money. Brian also keeps this job with in-house staff. A bad first call can do more harm than no call, because it makes the next call harder.
Set Daily and Weekly Targets
The setter's goal is concrete: at least six appointments a day, or about 36 to 42 a week. If the phone isn't ringing, they go find appointments through follow-ups and old leads. The sales manager tracks the weekly total. If the team is short by Friday, they run a "boiler room" style power hour and send short re-engagement emails (Chris calls them "nine-word emails") to older leads.
Chris shared the numbers behind the target:
- ✓About 150 leads a month, down from roughly 250 once marketing shifted toward better-qualified prospects.
- ✓About 79% of leads booked an appointment in a recent month.
- ✓Show rates of about 70% to 80%, which he considers well above industry standard.
- ✓A planning standard of a 50% close rate, so the team rarely falls short of expectations.
He also keeps the appointment count matched to what his sales staff can actually handle. Brian described an early stage at his own gym when one promotion produced hundreds of appointments at once. Show rates, closing and retention all suffered, and the sales team got used to losing. Lead volume without systems behind it, both agree, wears staff out and wastes good prospects.
Invest Before You Feel Ready
Chris nearly closed his doors early on. Then he joined a business group he couldn't really afford. The first thing he learned there was a phone script, and he had his team using it before he even got home. By his account, the program paid for itself right away. Brian has a similar story about putting a $500-a-month coaching program on a credit card. Their shared lesson: the appointment setter, a real website, software and coaching are basic equipment, not luxuries, and they should pay for themselves.
The same discipline shapes Chris's fight team. He holds competitors to the same standard as every other member. His pro athletes coach kids classes, help with bully-proofing workshops, come to gym socials and belt promotions, and in at least one case work in sales. "I only want martial artists," he says. "I only want people that are interested in growing and getting better." A large, healthy membership base produces better competitors anyway, Brian adds. Neglect the business for the fight team, and the fight team suffers too.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Reply to new leads within seconds automatically, and call within a few minutes.
- ✓Hire a dedicated appointment setter before an assistant coach.
- ✓Give front-desk staff written opening, closing and running duties so phone downtime is never wasted.
- ✓Set a daily appointment target and a weekly total, with a plan for catching up when behind.
- ✓Track lead-to-appointment, show and close rates, and favor quality leads your team can handle.
- ✓Hold competitors to your community's standards; a strong business makes a stronger team.
Listen to the Full Episode
Hear Chris Conolley and Brian "Barn Cat" Debes go deeper on Spotify or watch on YouTube. Red Belt Software helps martial arts school owners respond to leads faster, with features like split call forwarding that rings several staff phones at once, so more prospects become long-term students.