Follow up, follow up, follow up … burn that into your brain and never forget. A proper follow-up system is the most important step in selling new members and it’s often the area where health clubs struggle the most. Think about how many post-it notes are stuck on your front desk right now. how many messages do you get two or three days after the fact because your front desk staff didn’t pass it along? Chances are that your facility has or will lose hundreds if not thousands of sales opportunities over its lifetime unless you implement a rock-solid system of follow up.
If you can answer no to any of the questions below than your system is broken and revenue is slipping through the cracks:
- Are you collecting the name and phone number of every person who calls your facility?
- Are you setting them up a specific appointment to tour of your facility?
- Are you confirming appointments?
- Are you following up with all of the people who don’t show for their tour?
- Are you issuing guest passes and following up with them regularly?
- Are you setting new appointments for your guests to come back and join the facility?
- Are you keeping a record off all the missed sales and guest who did not join the facility for follow up at a later date with new promotions?
- Are you holding your staff and yourself accountable to these systems?
Chances are you answered no to more than one of the previous questions. Implementing a proper system of prospect capture and follow up is a simple fix that will lead to more sales. Most club management software even has it built right in or you can create a simple set of binders for your staff. If implemented correctly you should be able to track every inquiry from prospect to member or missed guest with ease.
Chris Batchelor
Health Club Marketing Contributor
