The first of the two Turnaround King episodes takes us to a Whippany, NJ Gold's Gym franchise that's on the verge of closing. Gym proprietors, the Puleos family, are faced not merely with losing their business, but are also at risk of losing the family home which had been mortgaged to keep this business afloat.

Grant begins the show simply by entering the fitness center incognito - furnished with a concealed camera disguised as a button on his suit. He starts noticing problems at once. As a potential customer, Grant isn't really dealt with adequately, and finds it difficult to find a person to take care of him. Youngest son Jon sits behind the counter and isn't very attentive. Grant asks questions. "Where is the pool?" Jon points toward an Olympic sized pool off in the distance. Grant notices an empty refrigerator. Asking about the price he is told $10 a month.

Jon explains this is because of the competition. There have been several gyms opening in the vicinity and the Puleos want to give the lowest price. Grant leaves the fitness center with nothing but a free 7 day pass. There wasn't any real attempt to sell him on Gym membership or another product.

The Puleos family thought it would an easy task to run a gym after they first bought the place. They had seen other gyms succeeding. Now, two and a half years later, they are really struggling to remain open.

Grant sits down together with the Puleos family to talk about what is going wrong. Why are they struggling, and what can they do to correct things, to turn things around and save their business along with their home? The family mentions the hard competition as well as the high franchising fees they have to pay for the Gold's name. Their solution to the issue of completion has so far been to make an attempt to offer the lowest prices in town.

Grant does not agree. Why are they wanting to provide the lowest price when they have one of the nicest gyms in the neighborhood?

Staff Debriefing

Grant gathers the owners and staff together for a meeting on the gym floor. This is where he reveals his visit while using the hidden camera. Grant plays the tape for everyone to check out. It isn't a flattering portrait of how to treat a client and the owners appear uncomfortable watching this video.

Grant makes some initial observations: The empty fridge - just looks bad. They don't seem to be doing business for the Twenty-first century - they're not using email, cellular phone, and other technology advances that's all so crucial to run a successful business here in 2011.

And perhaps most significantly, they need a step by step process for enrolling a new customer. They didn't even mention the gym to a prospective customer, they didn't show him around. They didn't even try to sell their product.

Grant asks the owners to leave the room. He wants to talk to the employees alone - they'll be more open. Immediately, various personnel did open up. They had definite opinions of what the issues were. Gross mismanagement. The right hand doesn't really know what the left hand is doing. They have to have a leader - someone who will step up and take charge.

At the moment, for these few days anyway, Grant Cardone will need to be that leader.

Grant knows already something that needs to change immediately. They provide the most outstanding facility in the area however they are charging $10 a month. The numbers won't work with that. It ought to be considerably more.

"The staff has more pride in the gym than the owners."

Dinner with the Puleos - The family is frightened about losing the house. Grant tells his very own story of losing his father at a early age and his mother not being able to take care of the bills alone. Grant now feels invested in the family.

Grant Cardone leads the owners and staff with a tour of their own gym. They had avoided showing him the pool before, he believes, simply because they're embarrassed about some repair issues like mold and ripped up flooring. Still, he can't believe it took so long for them to show him the pool - the showcase of their business. Grant is very impressed with the facilities and comments on how someone will probably come in making it a profitable business. It's definitely something which can be successful.

"No one here is selling anything"

Grant emphasizes the significance of selling. As author of the book "Sell To Survive" his philosophy is that selling is very important to the success of any organization. "Nothing happens without sales. No Dream comes true without someone selling that dream. "He talks with the staff trainers about having regular sales meetings and one of them mentions how they'd like to have a weekly sales meeting. Grant asks him if people are coming in to exercise every single day, why would they merely have a sales meeting once weekly.

"They are so overwhelmed by what can happen they're no longer seeking out solutions anymore."

Grant will provide a business plan. The members of the family, Jo Jr. especially, have already been slightly skeptical up to now. They haven't bought into what Grant has been offering at this time. It's the very thought of raising prices that has them particularly hesitant. Grant wants them to boost the price of memberships to $59 a month to get a yearly contract, and offer a onetime payment of $690. He arranges a mail out to get people in the door. He stresses that everyone should be dedicated to selling memberships.

Grant has everyone sign up for every class the trainers put on at the gym. "Every company has to have firsthand experience with what you're selling" each individual has to understand just what the other people are doing. Tammy mentions that this is the first time anyone on the staff has had one of her classes.

Grant is turning this company back over to the Puleos the following day. He is confident the staff is prepared and pumped yet not so sure with regards to the owners. Jon Jr. is the one who's' not on board and Grant is afraid he may back out. He can easily see the enthusiasm from the employees the following day as potential customers, made possible through the mail out, begin to arrive.

Now, even Jo Jr. begins to understand the potential and resolves to give it his all. Grant sits by an assists in the attempt to sign up new members. They enroll one, then another, all for the higher prices Grant has suggested. They even sell a couple of people on year long memberships at $690 apiece.

Jo Jr. is completely sold - he now has confidence.

Says Grant, "Anyone can sell"

Grant saw them sell together with his help, but could they actually do it themselves? If level of confidence is any indication they should do just fine. Grant is hoping they go from red ink to black in 30 days.

Two months after the show was filmed, revenue is up by 30%.