At a glance: Michael Sullivan runs Focus, a small group training business. Working with the LeadsNow team — under its fitness-vertical brand More Gym Members — he signed 81 new small group training members in a little over four months, with 40 of those sales landing in the final six weeks alone. In his words: “81 new small group training members joined so far — with a new baby in the family I’m so relieved.” All figures on this page come straight from the filmed interview below.
The numbers, as stated in the filmed interview
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| New small group training members signed | 81 in a little over four months |
| Sales in the last six weeks alone | 40 |
| Time working with the team at filming | About four and a half months |
Watch Michael tell it himself
A note on the era: this campaign was delivered by the LeadsNow team under its fitness brand, More Gym Members, and the video was filmed in early 2020. It predates the AI sales agents LeadsNow runs today — what you see here is the team’s earlier high-ticket fitness work: lead generation and the sales systems to handle it, exactly as described on camera.
Where Focus was before
When Michael started, he wasn’t as confident in the whole process. There wasn’t much of a system behind the business yet — and by his own account, not much self-belief either. Compared with six months ago, he talks about it very differently.
“We’re feeling a lot more positive now than it was a few months ago… now we’ve got a lot more of a system set up… getting the leads in and getting the whole process going. So it’s been really encouraging for me to… start to have a bit more self-belief… a lot more confident with that now than what it was six months ago.”
— Michael Sullivan, Focus
Riley makes an honest point in the interview that’s worth repeating: a lot of clients get nervous in the first month or two and think about quitting, because they feel overwhelmed before the process has had time to bed in. Asked whether he ever felt like giving up in the early days, Michael’s answer was no — he treated it as a challenge to be overcome, and says he actually enjoyed doing it.
What changed
The campaign started deliberately simple: get the leads coming in, get the process going. Then, as volume grew, the systems grew with it — ways of handling the lead flow, the sales conversations and the situations that come up when a small business suddenly gets busy. Michael describes it as evolving, week by week, with support from the team along the way. Riley notes on camera that Jason from the team raves about Michael’s progress every single week.
It wasn’t painless — Michael is upfront that it was a steep learning curve, and that some weeks the volume tested him.
“Some weeks just… get hammered with calls and leads and everything… but also recognizing, right, I can’t handle this long term. So what can we do to make it better? …a steep learning curve, but seeing light at the end of the tunnel has been really good with it as well.”
— Michael Sullivan, Focus
That’s the honest version of what building a lead system looks like from the inside: it works, then you have to grow into it.
The results: 81 sales — and accelerating
The headline figures, as stated in the filmed interview: 81 sales in a little over four months of working together — and 40 of those in the last six weeks alone. In other words, nearly half of the total came in the most recent stretch, as Michael’s confidence and systems caught up with the lead flow. As Riley puts it on camera, it started smaller and then began to snowball.
For Michael, the timing mattered as much as the numbers. As he says in the approved client quote: “81 new small group training members joined so far — with a new baby in the family I’m so relieved.”
Time, family and what’s next
At the time of filming, Michael’s newest baby was about to turn 10 weeks old, with a toddler at home as well. His plan for the next 12 months wasn’t about vanity numbers — it was about time.
“Obviously time’s a big thing for people, so that’s part of my thing is to have… time available… not be here all the time working in the business… freeing up more time for myself… enjoy life, but also have a good thriving business. So that’s been a big thing for me.”
— Michael Sullivan, Focus
His advice to anyone weighing up whether to reach out was simple: get in touch, take on the challenge, be consistent, and stick with it — the tools and platforms are there, and it’s about doing a bit better every week and moving forwards.
Frequently asked questions
Are these results typical?
No — and anyone who guarantees a specific number is being loose with the truth. What Michael’s story shows is what the compounding actually looks like: a slower first stretch while the systems bed in, then 40 sales in six weeks once they had. He says himself it was a steep learning curve and that early on he wasn’t confident in the process — the difference was that he stuck with it and kept improving the system every week.
Why is there so much demand for small group training?
Most people know they should be training and aren’t. The World Health Organization’s physical activity fact sheet reports that 31% of adults worldwide do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity — at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week. That gap between intention and action is exactly what structured, coached formats like small group training exist to close — which is why a well-run offer, backed by consistent lead flow, can sign 81 members in four months.
What exactly did the campaign involve?
As described in the filmed interview: generating a consistent flow of leads for Focus, then building and evolving the systems to handle them — the follow-up, the sales process and the weekly load — with support from the LeadsNow team (then operating as More Gym Members) as things scaled. It started simple and was improved every week. It was marketing and sales systems work, not AI; LeadsNow’s AI sales agents came later.
Does LeadsNow still work with fitness businesses?
Yes. This campaign ran under LeadsNow’s fitness brand More Gym Members, before today’s AI sales agents existed. The same team now works with high-ticket coaching and fitness businesses across Australia under LeadsNow, with 1M+ leads generated and 50,769+ AI-booked sales appointments since 2017.
Want to see how other clients have gone? See all client stories.