Sales is always a difficult subject and whenever I start talking about it I see strange grimace on people’s faces. Not only it is difficult as it touches the most delicate subject which is money and finance but also due to fact that it is hard to answer sometimes: what to do? How to improve sales? In growing markets is it fairly easy as the demand is higher than the supply, so sales just come naturally and without much effort. Problems start when the market saturates and gets mature. New tools and new approaches must be implemented in order to keep the sales coming in. There are 4 keys elements that can have considerable impact on the sales in your club: the gym team, tools and technology, a competitive strategy and sales skills.
People
It often happens you hire a person that responds to your current needs. You do not give a second thought about it and simply you employ new sales person to your team. This might be a big mistake. You need not a regular sales person but a lifestyle coach who can build a relation with the customer. Your employees should be the best sales people, the best consultants and also the best representatives to advertise your business. They are your front line when meeting a potential new member and it is them who can do the best marketing job. Customers nowadays do not like being forced to buy but they still like buying. So your staff have to let new customer make the informed decision based on what they get from your people. What is also important and is not visible at first glance it is the fact that if the turnover in your team is high you can be sure that sooner or later you will see the same trend with your members. So just take care of all people you have.
Tools
Taking it straight to the point – you have to be exactly there where your potential new customers will be searching. If you know your predefined target customer group then you will know where to hit. Be it more social media and more informal language or be it local healthy food stores or groceries. You have to find proper tools and channels in order to pass your information and to be heard. Think as if you were your own potential customer – what you read, what you do, what you do in your free time, what your interest are etc. Based on that assumption you will figure out where to place your message.
Strategy
One of the most recent trends in fitness world is how health clubs are taking responsibilities for their customers’ effects. This goes down to the fact that a gym is no longer only a place to train, but also it creates people’s lifestyle and constitutes the place where you are eager to spend time. In order to achieve this customer- obsessed culture in your premises you simply need an extra effort to be visible among the competition. What can make you standing out is professional and approachable staff, a high quality service and an effective marketing.
Skills
This is something that has to be supplied when hiring new people. You have to work hard to be good at selling and you can always improve. A new sales approach at health clubs consists of 7 steps: appointment, first impression, interview, club tour, presentation offered, closing sales and after sales action. In order to know your potential customer better and possibly fulfill all of his/her needs, you should follow those steps closely. They will also let you present yourself from the best side. Every step requires an extra skill from the sales person, an extensive know-how about the club itself and also the fitness lifestyle, nutrition and training. Seems hard? No one said it is going to be easy.