The present and the future of the fitness industry is to get more money from more members, versus constantly trying to bring in new people. The competition is fierce out there, and delivering results is the key to increasing revenue.
But you still need attention dedicated to new member acquisition. You still need salespeople to bring in new prospects, give tours, sell memberships, build relationships and schedule assessment/consultation appointments for these new members. In other words, don’t give up on finding, training and motivating your membership salespeople. They are still the first line of offense in your fitness business.
Here are three keys to getting the most out of your membership salespeople:
1. Set goals. This one should be obvious and a no-brainer. But in my travels as a fitness business coach, I only see consistent goal setting in the big-box chains. I rarely see it at the independent gyms. Goals are critical to your success. Start by keeping it simple, focusing on membership sales and appointments scheduled for assessments/consultations. How do you figure out membership goals? History and trends. For example, to set the membership sales goal for June of 2015, take the total sales from June of 2014 (history) and add it to the total sales for the three months prior to June of 2015 (trend). Adding these months together and dividing by four will give you your goal for the month. Break down these monthly goals into weekly and daily. The goal for getting new members scheduled with a consultation/assessment is 60 percent in a gym that offers free group fitness and 70 percent in a facility that is smaller and doesn’t have space for large group classes.
2. Incentivize sales staff daily. It is common for gyms that do set monthly goals to compensate and bonus salespeople for reaching and/or exceeding monthly goals. A more effective approach is to reward staff for exceeding weekly and daily goals. This keeps them motivated every day, versus only getting the best of them during the last few day of each month. For example, let’s say that Judy’s individual goal for the month is 40 membership sales. This would break down to just under 10 per week, and about two per work day. My recommendation would be to give Judy a cash or gift card bonus every day she sells four or more memberships and every week she sells 15 or more memberships. I am making the assumption that you are already paying commissions on sales. You don’t have to go old school and make it heavy on commissions with a low base. Offer a solid base, plus a motivating commission structure and you will get the best candidates.
3. Train them on a regular basis. “Jason, what if I train them and they leave?” “Mrs. Gym owner, what if you don’t train them and they stay?” One of the first expenses companies cut when they need to save money is on training. The best organizations out there resist this temptation because they know how important staff training is. My recommendation is to stay on top of this by having a daily production meeting to go over the numbers. During this meeting is when you will discover areas where training is needed. It could be phone calls. It could be tours. It could be scheduling assessment/consultations. Your job is to coach your staff up to reach their goals and hit their numbers. Once per week, dedicate an hour per salesperson for role playing. Trust me, nobody loves role playing, but it will make you better. Do it once per week, role playing a phone call, a tour in its entirety, including filling out a contract, scheduling the next step, etc. Email me at jason@jasonlinse.com with “coaching” in the subject line for a free resource to help you train your staff.
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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.
Well Said!!