After struggling with losing weight himself, Patrick Ilfrey landed on QuickHIT Fitness while on the mend from a workout injury. His tenacious search for a weight loss solution that worked for him led him down the path of High Intensity Training, a resistance training, or for lifting weights.
After reading “Body by Science” by Dr. Doug McGuff, Patrick Ilfrey got the scientific knowledge and reasoning he required to invent “the safest, most effective, and most efficient Robotically Controlled Resistance™ workout machine in the world,” in other words, the foundation for QuickHIT Fitness.
Patrick Ilfrey says that QuickHIT Fitness clients can go to their Fitness Labs Studios to “engage in a quick 20-minute training session” that pretty much gives the same benefits as undergoing backbreaking workouts in the gym for an hour, pedaling on an exercise bike, or jogging for miles.
At QuickHIT Fitness Labs, Patrick Ilfrey is devoted to improve his customers’ “way of life, for the rest of their life.” People of all ages can avail of their services to strengthen their bodies, give them more energy, and boos their health through “effective physiotherapy in [our] completely private and sanitized facility.” Patrick’s team of quality health professionals will change your life, 20 minutes at a time.
Patrick Ilfrey designed QuickHIT Fitness Labs as a “private physiotherapy studio” that uses a “one-of-a-kind, medical-grade resistance machine,” working in tandem with seasoned personal trainers to deliver quick results.
Check out more interviews with business inventors here. You can also watch Patrick Ilfrey give business advice here.
Jerome Knyszewski: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Patrick Ilfrey: We have the ability to make people believe in themselves again, that they can lead a healthy and fulfilling life. When they take back control of their body, everything else starts to fall in place. They rebuild the confidence they once had. It’s incredible how it impacts them, their friends and their families.
People post about their journeys in our Facebook group. Prior to joining QuickHIT, an older lady had fallen and was deathly afraid of falling again and potentially hurting herself. She never did anything with her grandkids because she was afraid. Now, she has her strength back, and she plays with them nearly everyday.
Jerome Knyszewski: Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
Patrick Ilfrey: It’s a grind. We’re in a recession. This is an unprecedented time, and a lot of folks will *choose* failure. They’d rather go out of business instead of reinventing their business. If you’re fighting for your survival, you will not burn out. You need to be willing to push through whatever comes your way to in order to succeed.
Jerome Knyszewski: None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Patrick Ilfrey: A man named Buddy Williams gave me my first shot out of college in a career I should never have been in. I worked at a Reebok store during my Senior year of college at Texas A&M University. I sold his wife a pair of shoes. He really liked the way I treated them and sensed I was a good worker. Buddy pulled me aside and asked if I was willing to work hard on an oil rig. The timing was perfect. I was about to graduate in a few months, and I knew I wasn’t going to be a TV Meteorologist as I had originally planned. I went down to Houston that next Monday to interview and landed a job that served me well for years.
Jerome Knyszewski: Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. The title of this series is “How to take your company from good to great”. Let’s start with defining our terms. How would you define a “good” company, what does that look like? How would you define a “great” company, what does that look like?
Patrick Ilfrey: A good company just goes through the motions, delivers a satisfactory product or service and keeps the lights turned on.
A great company understands its clients and ensures the experience is unforgettable. At QuickHIT, we say “Come for the results. Stay for the experience™.” We focus on every interaction with our clients, starting with text messages for appointment reminders. Then, when they walk through the door, we script everything to deliver the greatest possible experience. We practice talk-tracks with our certified trainers who then ask open-ended questions about the workout, how they feel and how the workout is affecting their everyday life. We hand them cold towels and a bottle of water after every workout.
We also call them to review our service. Our clients give honest feedback, and it gives us inspiration to continually improve our service. Great companies are always looking for ways to improve.
Jerome Knyszewski: What would you advise to a business leader who initially went through years of successive growth, but has now reached a standstill. From your experience do you have any general advice about how to boost growth and “restart their engines”?
Patrick Ilfrey: They need to get back to basics and take away a lot of complexities they may have added over time. Rediscover what got you where you are. We sometimes go three steps forward and one step back. We stop properly executing one thing, rediscover what made us successful and get back on track.
Jerome Knyszewski: Generating new business, increasing your profits, or at least maintaining your financial stability can be challenging during good times, even more so during turbulent times. Can you share some of the strategies you use to keep forging ahead and not lose growth traction during a difficult economy?
Patrick Ilfrey: I think it’s very important to communicate the status of your business and how precarious the economy is with your employees. If clients are going to pay their hard-earned money during a recession, we must deliver the results they’re looking for. I don’t think a lot of companies do a good job of leveling with their employees and reminding them what the world is like and what the status of the company is. Don’t take anything for granted.
Jerome Knyszewski: In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?
Patrick Ilfrey: Constant attention to detail is essential. You can set things up perfectly, but people start to slide and shift away after a few weeks because they get distracted with other things. Employees don’t always follow through with the original game plan. Go back and revisit details. Constantly make sure people are following the game plan properly.
After a workout, we give clients a bottle of water and a towel. Some employees didn’t think it was important and stopped doing it because they didn’t want to go to the store and buy bottled water. I did some customer interview calls and they noticed. I had to reinforce the importance of paying attention to the little things.
Jerome Knyszewski: Great customer service and great customer experience are essential to build a beloved brand and essential to be successful in general. In your experience what are a few of the most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience?
Patrick Ilfrey: You truly need to understand a customer’s needs. Everything surrounds their needs, not yours. Every little detail, like the paint color on the wall, should be tailored toward them. I used to be overweight, and I needed to be told I was “overfat.” Most people don’t. We needed to take the time to understand our core clients’ needs.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are your thoughts about how a company should be engaged on Social Media? For example, the advisory firm EisnerAmper conducted 6 yearly surveys of United States corporate boards, and directors reported that one of their most pressing concerns was reputational risk as a result of social media. Do you share this concern? We’d love to hear your thoughts about this.
Patrick Ilfrey: I do not share this concern. I love social media. If you treat people by the golden rule in good and bad situations, you’ll have a good reputation online and offline. You won’t have anything to worry about. Social media has amplified everything good and bad. If someone asks for their money back, you give them their money back. Bottom line: do what you can to maximize your upside exposure and limit your downside exposure.
Jerome Knyszewski: What are the most common mistakes you have seen CEOs & founders make when they start a business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Patrick Ilfrey: Some CEOs underestimate how hard it is to succeed early on. They set initial goals way too high with an unrealistic timeline. When they don’t meet their lofty goals, they get discouraged, and it can turn into a death spiral. The key is to set lower goals, breeze through them and set more goals. Keep that momentum going.
Jerome Knyszewski: How can our readers further follow you online?
Patrick Ilfrey: You can head to our website, quickhitfit.com. You can follow QuickHIT Fitness on Instagram and Facebook and you can connect with me on LinkedIn.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this!
