Sales: How to Give a Proper Tour

I teach seven steps to gigantic gym profits. If you simply email me at jason@jasonlinse.com with “7 steps” in the subject line, I will get you a free copy of my ebook on the seven steps.

Step three is “How to give a proper tour.”

All seven steps are important, but giving a tour is a skill that typically takes the most time to learn and to perfect.

I teach five steps to giving a tour. But before a membership salesperson is taught these steps, they need to prove that they have four very important characteristics. I use the acronym “S.H.O.D.” to help salespeople remember. Shod, by the way, means having shoes on. You can’t give a tour in your bare feet.

S: Smiling. You have to smile a lot and for some reason, it is not something that the majority of membership salespeople do enough of. If you don’t believe me when I tell you how powerful smiling is, Google the name, “Ron Gutman.”

H: Have enthusiasm. You don’t have to be Tony Little, but you better not be Ben Stein. Demonstrate that you are excited to spend the next 30 minutes with this person showing him or her your awesome facility while getting to know them.

O: On time. This should go without saying, but the current culture seems to think that 2 p.m. means somewhere “around” 2 p.m. Get your butt to your appointments on time, which means 15 minutes early. And remember, there are only two reasons you should ever be late. 1. You are dead. 2. You want to be.

D: Dressed professionally. Professionally is defined as business or business casual. If you have any question of whether or not an outfit is suitable for work, it probably isn’t. No denim, shirts tucked in, belt and socks matching the pants that were recently ironed.

Okay, you got those four characteristics. Now you are ready for the five steps.

1. Meet and Greet. The purpose of the meet and greet is to perform an introduction (learn names), explain what is going to occur over the next several minutes, and get permission to do what you just explained you want to do.
2. Qualify. This is where you ask a bunch of open-ended questions. You can sit down using a needs analysis (email jason@jasonlinse.com with “needs analysis” in the subject line and I will fire what I use back to you) OR you can walk and talk. There are many questions you can ask, but you MUST ask the following: “What are your fitness goals?” “Why are those goals important to you?” and “How are you planning on reaching those goals?”
3. Build value: Taking time from open-ended questions, as you progress through the tour, be sure to discuss the benefits of all of your features. “We start everybody off with an assessment and free workout so you can be sure to get started towards your goals with the right plan.”
4. Present prices: Sit down at a table. Don’t sit across, but sit adjacent to the prospect or perpendicular. Be sure to have pre-printed price sheets that are easy to read and understand. Don’t write prices down. That is old school and in my opinion, comes across as tacky and dubious to most prospects.
5. Ask for the sale. Not close. Closing is nice, but something that you can’t control. What you can control is being sure you are direct. “Which option works best for you?” or “Would you like to get started today?” are two examples of a proper closing question.

Develop the four characteristics and follow the five steps and you will make more sales. For a free video with a document that includes scripts, email jason@jasonlinse.com with “tour” in the subject line and I will get you a promo code so you can access it.

Keep changing lives.

Jason Linse is president and founder of The Business of Fitness, a consulting company. He also owns a personality assessment company called People Plus+ Fitness. He can be reached at jason@jasonlinse.com or at 612-310-1319. Visit www.jasonlinse.com.