Tenacity, perseverance and a personable demeanor are all essential qualities in a successful salesperson. However, just as important to sales success is organization, and a reliable and comprehensive sales software solution is the secret to staying organized and optimizing a salesperson’s daily performance.
“Club leaders understand a huge factor in a club’s success is 100% compliance with the lead management software,” said June Palmer, the director of sales at VIDA Fitness. “By using our sales software, we are able to constantly find potential struggles the team may be experiencing, so we can course correct our daily production.”
Through a variety of reports, as well as features like meeting calendars and follow-up reminders, sales software gives any sales team the tools to succeed.
In fact, good sales software should be a support tool for a sales team, while requiring minimal daily hands-on management from club leadership. “The leaders of clubs have a lot on their plates already, so it’s challenging at times for them to add additional items to their daily tasks,” said Palmer.
Of course, the usefulness of sales software is contingent on how diligently your sales team updates the database’s information — leads and appointments, etc. But when your sales software is being used properly, it’s a game-changer for driving performance and membership numbers.
“A good sales software solution understands the sales system of your organization and allows for consistent collaboration within your sales organization,” said Michael Kennedy, the vice president of sales and fitness at EOS Fitness.
In order to make your sales software work for you, there are three factors to consider: the ability to support your sales team, reports that help evaluate performance and, most importantly, a healthy partnership with the software company itself.
Support
A good sales software solution will be able to provide your sales staff with the tools they need to effectively and efficiently manage their day-to-day activities, while keeping track of several ongoing lead processes.
“There are several software features we look for to help support our sales team,” shared Palmer. “First, having the ability to organize call activities for our guests and members is important. This helps prevent things from falling through the cracks and prioritization of our leads.”
According to Palmer, a comprehensive calendar, reminders and communication tracking are among their software’s most valuable features. “We like having a calendar for booking appointments and tracking the outcome of an appointment,” she said. “Text message reminders to ensure a high show rate for appointments are helpful, as well as a tracking section to log communication with members and prospects.”
And while software is important to use through every stage of the sales process, the right solution can also make life easier before a salesperson has even met a prospect in person.
“We like to gather as much information on our prospects as we can before we even meet,” said Palmer. “This helps us plan and prepare for the tour so we can make proper recommendations and connections based on their interests, goals and why those goals are important to them.”
According to Palmer, closely monitoring behavior patterns and logging that data is critical for a new member’s onboarding process. “During the first 90 days of a new membership, we track their visits and their progress toward their goals,” she said. “And when a new member is onboarded correctly, this improves our retention rate and referrals.”
Reports
Accurate and comprehensive reports are must-haves in sales software — the best software solutions will deliver reports on every aspect of sales performance. This data is how you identify areas of improvement, so knowing which reports you should expect to have access to is critical.
“Most importantly, you want minute-to-minute key performance indicators (KPIs),” explained Kennedy. “You also want leads, contacts, appointments booked, client shows, close rates, referrals, point-of-sales and personal training sales.”
The KPIs from your software’s reports should be clear, concise and actionable — in other words, you should be able to translate this data directly into better performance.
“We use GymSales — one of our favorite reports is the ‘End of the Day’ report,” said Palmer. “This report is a snapshot of our daily, weekly and month-to-date numbers, which includes total new leads, daily activity, appointments booked, total sales, show percentage, closing percentage and overdue follow-ups.”
In addition to the comprehensive nature of the “End of the Day” report, Palmer also values GymSales’ ability to give actionable advice on how to improve sales numbers. “I also like the performance report,” she said. “This report helps us determine the areas of opportunity for training and coaching. These two reports — ‘End of the Day’ and performance — can really help to move the business forward.”
Just as its partnership with GymSales has helped elevate the performance of VIDA’s sales team, the right software solution will take any club’s sales performance to the next level.
Partnership
When identifying the right sales software solution for your club, there are several factors to consider, and it all starts with doing a little digging. “The first thing is to make sure you have a good software and you’ve done your research to make sure it fits in your business model,” shared Kennedy. “If you haven’t, you should do so.”
When deciding on any partnership, asking for recommendations from other industry veterans and professionals is the most valuable resource available. An experienced industry professional should be able to point you toward a software solution with accurate reporting, a full suite of services, and constant updates to its system.
“One challenge is to ensure your software company is staying competitive,” said Kennedy. “They should be doing updates on their software on a quarterly basis.”
It’s also important to find a company that values your opinion. In system updates, your software company should take the changes you want to see into account. “Staying up-to-date on any new releases and making sure you are making your sales software company aware of any challenges or needs you want resolved by the software is imperative,” said Kennedy.
While you’re doing research on software companies, you might run across some that offer services for multiple industries. According to Palmer, this option should be very carefully evaluated, as it’s important for your software partner to have a specific understanding of a health club’s operations.
“I think it’s important to find a software partner that specializes in the fitness industry,” shared Palmer. “An excellent customer service standard and fully-staffed support team are also important — I can truly say GymSales has been great in both of these areas.”
At the end of the day, identifying the right software partner might take a little trial and error, but once you’ve found the company that delivers your preferred services and reports, as well as excellent customer service, your sales team’s performance will get a boost.
“There are plenty of sales software solutions that aren’t a good match for your company or for different types of sales organizations,” said Kennedy. “Do your research and find the right one. Then, make sure you are collaborating with your software partner, and make sure you are working as a team between your sales reps and your software company to ensure maximum opportunities.”
