Potential members show up at your gym because they want to believe you can help them. Therefore, we want to ensure them that we can. Unfortunately, with all the bogus testimonials out there, you have to make sure you are not just quoting or recording a bunch of favored members rambling on about how great they think the club is. The 43-year-old housewife doesn’t care about Joe Bodybuilder’s testimonial about how he loves the club because you actually have 120-pound dumbbells.
What makes a great testimonial? One that gives details, cuts out the sugar coating and helps answer your prospects’ objections. You need to make sure to set up “Member Success Books” and/or “Walls of Fame” that you can highlight on the tour that contain effective testimonials that appeal to different needs. For efficiency sake, have your testimonials broken down by tabs in a Success Book or in highlighted areas on the Wall of Fame with headings such as: Weight Loss, Muscle Building, Sport Specific Training, Health Improvement, Injury Rehabilitation, etc.
If you’re gym is already using the power of social proof — congratulations. Now, make sure it is effective and speaks to as many different types of prospective members as possible.
Frank Emanuel
Health Club Marketing Contributor
