Even if you’re a veteran membership salesperson, not everyone is perfect. And sometimes, hindsight is 20/20. With this in mind, here are five of the most common mistakes made in a membership sales environment, and how to stop making them.
Common Mistake 1:
You don’t know the numbers.
According to Jason Linse, the founder of The Business of Fitness, in order to know how your gym and your salespeople rate, you need to know closing percentages. With this in mind, the three most important percentages include: telephone inquiry to appointments set, tours to sales and referrals.
Without these percentages, you’re essentially in the dark as to how your sales team is performing.
Common Mistake 2:
Goal setting is non-existent,
or not taken seriously.
If a salesperson doesn’t have a goal, they don’t know what to strive for. As a result, shooting for the stars will be unlikely, especially for those who need a gentle shove to push themselves.
“Each salesperson should have a monthly goal and it should be based on history and trend,” explained Linse. “History is what was sold in the same calendar month last year, and trend is the three previous months. Add the four months together, divide by four, and you have your goal. Break the goal down weekly and daily.”
Common Mistake 3:
No punishment for failure or
reward for success.
According to Linse, it’s important for salespeople to have incentives to succeed, and penalties for failures. “Give rewards for exceeding monthly, weekly and daily goals,” said Linse. “If a salesperson misses his or her monthly goal, make sure they know that it’s not acceptable. If they miss it three months in a row, fire them and find someone who can hit their goals.”
Common Mistake 4:
Little to no marketing support.
“You hire a salesperson, and ask them to produce, and the only marketing support you provide them is your website and Facebook page,” said Linse, explaining this situation is automatically setting up a salesperson for failure. “Passes to distribute business to business, door hanger campaigns, direct mailers, newspaper inserts — these all work if done right and done consistently.”
Common Mistake 5:
Little to no training.
You wouldn’t let a new hire at the front desk begin a career with little to zero training, would you? Even if a salesperson has past experience, this shouldn’t be the case for them either.
“Training staff should simply become something you do on a regular basis, preferably every day,” said Linse. “Trust me, if you want to get good at something, teach it.”
