Everyone ages, and as we age, everyone will potentially encounter a health concern. So why isn’t everyone joining a health club? There are prospects that have just left the doctor’s office, where they were diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes. The doctor said they needed to exercise and they visited the facility, but they still don’t join immediately. Why?
There are many reasons; lack of knowledge, lack of concern, ignorance, too many options in market place, uncomfortable making decisions, didn’t like the sale person, didn’t like the club, class schedule never met their needs, or club schedule didn’t meet their needs.
Let me share how we always will have a fighter’s chance of winning most sales opportunities. First we have to be empathetic; we really have to know what the customer is looking for. We have to ask questions, we have to ask why their needs are important to them, we have to be interested and not interesting. The first 10 minutes is all about the customer. Remember the prospect did not come to the club to see your café, and they already know you have a treadmill. I bet they suspected that you have a weight room. What they don’t know is how to do actually accomplish their goals. Will you help them, and is there a path for success ahead? Can they see themselves as successful within your club?
Remember you are like an artist with a blank canvas; your job is to paint a picture so vividly clear that when you are done talking and they are done asking questions, there is not an ounce of doubt that they can get going today and have a plan of action with so much to look forward to.
Your focus is to help the member get to where they are going, show them what’s important to them, introduce them to key people who can make a difference, map out a plan for the first month of what their activities should look like and tell stories of others who have blazed the same trail. Help them capture the picture of what life could be like in six months.
Many people don’t connect — they give a generic tour of the club and they show everything, even what’s not important to the prospect. They don’t ask what’s important and they do not understand what drives the new person to action.
It’s all about the prospect becoming a member, making sure you include them in the buying process and helping enroll them into your club. Don’t just sell them a membership! Fitness is a lifestyle decision, not a quick purchase. If you think about things this way, you will clearly cut down on your misses and start to excite prospects the way they wanted to be excited.
Chuck Hall is the executive director at Big Vanilla Athletic Clubs.
