Three Nos for Gym Tours

I shopped a 24-hour key card gym in Brighton, Colorado recently. One of this gym’s direct competitors hired me to be their business coach and wanted me to check out the gym down the street, which offers a very similar product.

I do this quite often, and I have seen it all. I have been told by ownership to look around and then stop back by the office if I have any questions or want to join. Another time, I was forced to sit down, shown prices and asked to join — before the tour.

But on this particular recent tour, I noticed three important things that did not occur.

There are many things you need to do, but also a few things that you must never do on a tour if you want to make the most money and change as many lives as possible.

1. No enthusiasm. On this recent tour, the salesperson, while she didn’t necessarily make me feel like I was burdening her, definitely did not make me feel like she was excited to see me. When a prospect walks into your gym and shows interest in becoming a member, if this doesn’t get the whole staff excited, then you need to re-examine if this business is right for you. Smile, look them in the eye, and act like you are about to meet your new best friend. Train your staff on this weekly, if not daily.
2. No questions. A member is different than a customer. A member means you have a person who “belongs,” someone who is part of an extended family. Get to know them, and start by asking them three very important questions: What are your goals? Why are those goals important to you? How are you going to accomplish those goals? If your staff can’t ask those questions, find employees who can.
3. No sit down. At the end of a tour, you have to sit down and discuss membership options. You can’t just stand there and spit them out verbally. If you give a proper tour, it will take several minutes and you will learn things about your prospect by asking he or she questions. Sit down, present options and discuss if he or she is ready to join.

You can inspect if your staff enthusiastic. You can coach them to ask the right questions. And you can train them to sit down after every tour and present prices. If you do these things, I promise you will make more sales.

I teach the 5 steps to give a proper tour. Email me at jason@jasonlinse.com and I will shoot you back instructions to access a free video on giving a tour.

Keep changing lives.

Jason Linse

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. Contact him at jason@jasonlinse.com or 612-310-1319 for resources on scheduling more tours and personality assessments, or visit www.jasonlinse.com.