In any type of fitness center, or business for that matter, sales moves the business forward. In my experience as a fitness business coach/consultant, I have witnessed too many gyms not focused enough on production. As my friend Thomas Plummer says, “95 percent of what you need to do every day in this business is sell something to someone.”
What you make important, becomes important. So, to keep all production staff focused on the importance of sales, start implementing a daily production meeting.
This meeting should be at the beginning of each sales person’s shift. It is important to have this meeting as early as possible in the day. This will ensure the proper attitude and plan is in place to make sales happen. Keep it short at 15 minutes. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how yesterday went, and how today is going to go.
“Okay, Michelle, tell me how yesterday went.”
“Um… let me pull up the numbers….I had three tours — one 12-month agreement, one 30-day trial and one who wanted to think about it.”
“Okay, great. Let’s start with the 12-month person. Thank you note?”
“Check.”
“Appointment for a fitness consultation?”
“Check.”
“Referrals?”
“Um… I asked and they didn’t know anybody.” (For a great referral process, email me at jason@jasonlinse.com with “referrals” in the subject line and I will shoot you a document and video).
“Okay, Michelle, tell me about the 30-day trial.”
“I definitely think she will join after the trial. She is new to the area.”
“Okay, thank you note sent?”
“Yes.”
“Appointment for a fitness consultation?”
“Um. No, she didn’t want it.”
“Okay, why not?”
“I don’t know. She just wasn’t interested.”
“Okay, did you talk about how awesome it is, during the tour?”
“I probably didn’t do the best job of it on this tour.”
“Okay, no problem. We will role play and practice that later this week. As you know, we need 70 percent or more of members to go through a fitness consultation. Last month you scheduled 73 percent, but so far this month, you are a below the mark. I want to help you to hit that number.”
“Okay.”
“Be sure to have Sally, our director of training, call her today to try to get a fitness consultation scheduled.”
“Yep. I gave Sally her info this morning.”
“Great.”
“Okay, the person who wanted to think about it?”
“Yeah, he was really just interested in prices. I couldn’t get him to say much. He didn’t even completely fill out the guest profile.”
“Okay. Did you recommend the 30 days for $19.00?”
“Of course. He wasn’t interested. He said that after visiting some other clubs, he may try it. Like I said, he wasn’t very talkative.”
“No problem. I just want to be sure you tried to ask him about his fitness goals.”
“Yes. I asked, and he said he just wanted to look around.”
“Okay, what is the next step with him?
“Um… I have his phone number and email address in the database. I will follow up with him tomorrow.”
“Great. Okay, Michelle, let’s talk about today. What’s it look like?”
“I have three appointments. Two are first-time tours, and one is scheduled to sign up.”
“Awesome. Where are you with the follow ups on the 30 day trial folks?”
“Um. I am on track. You can check the folder.”
“No, that’s fine. I trust you are on top of that. I think yesterday went well, and it looks like today is shaping up. Remember, your goal every day is to sell one or more memberships.”
“Yes. I plan to sell two or more today. I have several phone calls and emails to make.”
“Great. Keep up the solid work, Michelle. I will get in touch with you later to schedule some practice and role play.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Keep changing lives.
Jason Linse is president and founder of The Business of Fitness, a consulting company. He also owns a personality assessment company called People Plus+ Fitness. He can be reached at jason@jasonlinse.com or at 612-310-1319. Visit www.jasonlinse.com.
