Look around any fitness club and you’ll see people on their mobile phones. Whether it’s listening to music, checking e-mail or texting friends, people are glued to their cell phones. And yet, people just aren’t answering phone calls like they used to. So, what is the sales staff at your clubs supposed to do? How do they connect with leads if they aren’t picking up the phone anymore?
Text messaging, that’s how. It’s an innovative method of communication that can help your sales people engage your prospects and members, even if they can’t get ahold of them with a phone call.
Here are some statistics on the effectiveness of text messaging (source Nielsen Mobile studies):
• 98 percent of all text messages are read and 83 percent are opened within the first three minutes
• 84 percent of people respond to texts within one hour of receiving the message
• Text messages get eight times the response rate of e-mail marketing
• In the U.S., people send almost five times the number of text messages as phone calls on a monthly basis
With numbers like this, it’s clear why an increasing number of health clubs are jumping on the text messaging bandwagon.
Still not convinced? Here are some ways you can use text messages to effectively connect with all your leads and members:
Broadcast Text Marketing Drives Sales:
Sending a broadcast text message to your leads or members is a great way to let people know about promotions or new developments in your clubs. It allows you to instantly get your message in front of a large number of people for a very low cost. And since an incredibly high percentage of all text messages are opened, there’s a higher chance of your leads or members paying attention to your offer. Broadcast text messages about promotions are especially useful for mid-month and month-end closeouts, since they create an incentive for leads to get in touch with your sales staff. They also drive a large number of sales.
Text Conversations Help Build Relationships:
Texting is particularly effective for following up with leads and members if they’re not picking up the phone or returning any calls. When receiving a text follow-up, your leads and members can reply back to their sales contact directly and continue the conversation via text. Since text messages have such a high response rate, your sales staff is more likely to hear back from leads they’ve texted and develop a personal relationship with them. Two-way communication and building relationships are key when it comes to text message marketing, because people don’t want to feel like they’re just being sold to anymore.
Text Appointment Reminders Improve Club Tour Show Rates:
Oftentimes, leads forget about appointments they’ve booked and a simple text message appointment reminder can improve your club tour show rates. And, we all know that more shows equals more members. Look into whether text appointment reminders can be automated by your CRM system, as this is an easy way to increase your tour show percentage without any additional work for your staff.
A lot of owners are skeptical about text messaging because they’re worried about losing that personal connection. However, clubs are finding that texting is actually enhancing their relationships with their leads and members, as it allows them to engage with their club in the same way they engage with friends. Since text messaging is a personal, real-time, interactive method of communication, your staff is able to connect with more leads in less time, build stronger relationships and shorten their sales cycle.
In an article published by The New York Times, Marc Cohen suggests that “mobile text messaging, the same 160-character dispatches first popularized by nimble-fingered teenagers, may be the closest thing in the information-overloaded digital marketing world to a guaranteed read.” It seems like health clubs everywhere are in agreement with Cohen, as an increasing number are embracing text messages to cut through the consumer noise that leads to face time and drive sales.
Scott Johnston is the CEO of InTouch Follow-Up. He can be contacted at 206.905.1244, or by e-mail at sjohnston@intouchfollowup.com.
