Since I own a sports nutrition company, you might imagine I’m quite the advocate for selling supplements. Honestly, I’m always amazed when I come across a gym that doesn’t sell supplements.
Case in point, I had an interesting conversation not too long ago with a popular local gym. We had just introduced them to one of my company’s flagship products. In addition, both my business partner and I had met with six of their lead personal trainers, giving them a two-hour seminar explaining all the “hows” and “whys” behind our product’s technology. We also gave them lots of free samples to try – both for themselves and their clients. As expected, everyone (literally 100% of them) absolutely loved the product.
So naturally, we expected them to start carrying the product, especially with prebuilt demand. But, to everyone’s surprise, the gym owners declined! Bewildered, I did a little digging to find out exactly what the reason was behind this odd reaction. Later, one of the head trainers told me the owners finally confessed they simply felt supplements, in general, were a “pain” and not worth their time.
Unfortunately, they made a decision that has been costing them dearly in the long run. Here’s why…This gym has a base of roughly 6,000 members. If 25% of their members (that’s 1,500) buy at least one product each month, costing an average of $35, (Believe me, they do!) then that works out to a whopping $52,500 of additional revenue per month! Sure, this isn’t all profit, but you get the idea.
Keep in mind, this is all from existing members. So, if the gym’s average membership is also $35 a month, then that’s the same as adding 1,500 new members! Think of it this way: How long would it take to get an additional 1,500 members in your gym? How much would that cost you in advertising and promotions? Let’s take a look from another angle: All things being equal, this means you could lose 25% of your current membership and still maintain the same level of revenues.
By the way, the gym I mentioned in this true story just so happens to be located about 50 yards across the parking lot from a well-known health food store chain. Every single day their clients walk over to this store and buy products that the gym could just as easily sell to them. Simply put, the money these people spend should go into gym’s cash register… instead of the store across the lot.
Furthermore, it has now been nearly five months since they decided not to take-on our products. Going back to my previous example once more, you can see they’ve lost a staggering $262,500! Remember, this is based on their members buying only one product. The numbers are almost hard to believe once you add additional products to the mix.
Friends, please don’t let this happen to you. Get a few high-demand, quality products in your gym right away – especially staple items like creatine, protein, even multivitamins. Take the time to educate yourself about these items and their importance in your diet. If you aren’t sure what to get, or what to look for, give me a call, and I’ll point you in the right direction. Next, take a few minutes to prepare some simple marketing materials to hand-out to your gym members. You will quickly discover that your members will divert their money from the local health food store’s cash register into yours.
Don’t you agree the small investment of time and money it takes to get started selling supplements in your club is worth it? Hey, the numbers don’t lie!
For more information on how to set up sampling in your club call or email
Brian Andrews at 1.800.659.3406, or at bandrews@aaefx.com. You can download his new FREE book called “CREATINE: Industry Insider Secrets Revealed” at www.aaefx.com. Or simply contact him to have a printed copy mailed to you.
