Strength and conditioning quarterly business review prep is one of the highest-leverage tasks a VA can own. The QBR is the moment when the owner steps back from the day-to-day and makes the calls that actually shape the business - pricing changes, new program launches, staff additions, marketing spend. If the prep is sloppy, the conversation stays surface-level. If the prep is thorough, the owner walks out with a concrete plan for the next 90 days.
This SOP walks you through every step of preparing a QBR package for a strength and conditioning facility. It covers what data to pull, how to organize it, and how to surface the insights that matter most.
When to Start and What to Gather First
Start QBR prep two weeks before the scheduled review meeting. That gives you time to pull data, spot anomalies, request clarification, and build the final package without rushing.
Your first task is to pull the full 90-day data export from the facility's management platform. In Wodify, navigate to Reports and set the date range to the full quarter. In Mindbody, run the Revenue Summary and Attendance reports filtered to the same period. Export everything to Google Sheets before you start any analysis - work from the export, not from the platform's live dashboard, so your numbers don't shift mid-build.
Gather the following data sets:
Membership. Start-of-quarter active member count, end-of-quarter active member count, new starts by month, cancellations by month, freezes, and net member change. If the facility tracks member tenure, pull the average tenure for active members and for members who cancelled this quarter.
Revenue. Total collected revenue by month. Break it into membership dues, drop-ins, retail sales, program and clinic revenue, and any other revenue category the facility tracks. If the facility has a payment processor like Stripe, cross-reference with the Wodify or Mindbody totals to catch any discrepancies.
Attendance. Total check-ins for the quarter. Average check-ins per week. Check-ins by class type. Check-ins by coach. Peak days and times. Sessions that ran consistently below half capacity.
Lead and sales activity. Total leads, trials booked, trials completed, trial-to-membership conversion rate by month. If the facility uses GoHighLevel as a CRM, pull the pipeline report and note how many leads are still sitting in each stage at quarter end.
Retention indicators. Average visit frequency for active members. Members who visited fewer than four times in the last 30 days of the quarter - flag these as at-risk. Members who haven't checked in at all in the last 30 days - flag these as likely churning even if their membership hasn't cancelled yet.
Organizing the Data Package
Raw numbers aren't useful in a QBR. Your job is to turn the data into a story the owner can act on.
Build a master Google Slide deck or Google Doc with the following sections:
Quarter at a glance. One page, six numbers: active members (start vs. end), net member change, total revenue, revenue vs. prior quarter, total attendance, average weekly attendance. These are the headline figures the owner needs before anything else.
Membership trend chart. A month-by-month chart showing new starts and cancellations side by side. If cancellations spiked in one month, the owner will want to know why. Pull the cancellation reasons from the management platform - Wodify lets you capture this at the point of cancellation. List the top three reasons given.
Revenue breakdown. A table and a simple bar chart showing revenue by category, month by month. Flag any category that grew or declined more than 15% compared to the prior quarter.
Attendance deep dive. Class-by-class attendance averages. Call out the top three and bottom three performing sessions. If a 6 AM barbell class averaged four athletes while the 5 PM class averaged sixteen, the owner may want to adjust the schedule.
Sales funnel. Leads > trials > conversions, month by month. Calculate the conversion rate for each month and for the quarter overall. Note whether it improved or declined and what changed (if anything) in the sales process during that period.
At-risk member list. A clean, actionable list of members who are showing low engagement. Include name, membership type, last check-in date, and visit count for the quarter. This list goes directly to whoever handles retention outreach.
Open items from last QBR. Pull the action items from the previous quarter's review. Note which ones were completed, which are in progress, and which weren't addressed. Owners respect VAs who hold the business accountable to its own commitments.
Preparing the Facilitator Notes
Most owners don't want to run their own QBR blind. Prepare a one-page facilitator guide that walks them through the meeting agenda and flags the three to five items that need a decision during the session.
Frame each decision item clearly. Don't write "attendance is low on Tuesday mornings." Write "Tuesday 7 AM class averaged 3.2 members this quarter - below the facility's 5-member minimum. Options: (1) cut the class, (2) promote it aggressively for 30 days and re-evaluate, (3) convert it to open gym. Owner decision needed."
That format - observation, context, options - is what makes a QBR useful instead of just informational. The owner shouldn't have to figure out what to do with a data point. You've already framed the choice.
Send the full package to the owner 48 hours before the meeting. Give them time to review it and come with questions. If they want to add agenda items or adjust the framing, you have time to revise before the meeting.
After the Review Meeting
Your job doesn't end when the QBR meeting ends. Within 24 hours, send a summary of the decisions made and action items assigned. Use a simple table: action item, owner, due date.
Update the facility's master planning doc or project management tool (ClickUp and Asana are common in S&C facilities) with these action items. Tag the responsible person and set due dates. If you're using a fitness virtual assistant framework that includes task ownership, make sure your own items are captured too.
Start a new running document for Q2's QBR prep the moment Q1's review closes. Note any items that were flagged as "monitor this quarter" so you remember to pull that specific data in 90 days.
The facilities that get the most value from quarterly reviews are the ones where the VA owns the entire cycle - prep, facilitation support, follow-up, and handoff to the next cycle. Review the fitness VA tasks list to see how QBR prep connects to other operations responsibilities. If you're hiring for this role, the VA hiring guide covers how to vet candidates for analytical work like this.
FAQ
How far in advance should QBR prep begin? Two weeks is the target. One week is the minimum if you're experienced with the platform and the report format. Less than a week means you're likely to miss something or produce a rushed package that doesn't serve the conversation.
What if the facility's data is inconsistent across platforms? Start with one system as the source of truth - usually the gym management platform - and note any discrepancies with the payment processor or CRM. Don't try to reconcile every difference during the prep phase. Flag them for the owner and let them decide which number to act on.
Do I need to attend the QBR meeting itself? That depends on the scope of your role. Some VAs attend to take notes and capture action items. Others hand off the package and receive the summary afterward. Clarify this expectation before the first review cycle.
What's the biggest mistake VAs make in QBR prep? Presenting data without context. A table of numbers tells the owner nothing. Frame every metric against the prior quarter, against a target, or against an industry benchmark. Give the owner a reason to care about each number.
How do I handle it if the quarter's results were bad? Report the numbers accurately. Don't soften or bury bad news. Frame it as clearly as you frame good news: what happened, what the likely cause is, and what options exist going forward. Owners who get straight information from their VA trust that VA far more than one who makes things look rosier than they are.