Hey Fitness Pros.
We currently have an intern trainer, Robert. He is fabulous and we are hiring him to start with our team.
Today, I gave him my number, name and he had to call me to schedule me for an initial appointment. We role played the scenario and I evaluated him using a variety of criteria. There are certain expectations that we have at NWPT - what he should say, shouldn't say, what the flow of the conversation should look like etc to ensure this contact is successful. At the end, we went over what he did well and where he could hone his skills.
Next step, we're actually scheduled for that initial session and he will take me through it and I will evaluate him again based on a set of criteria.
Bottom line - all of this role playing and practice functions to ensure he offers the best experience which will increase his ability to influence the client to invest in his services and therefore, ultimately experience incredible results.
I can't stress enough how important these types of leadership initiatives are. Now if you don't manage or work with a team of trainers, have someone else evaluate your skills. Perfect practice makes perfect!
Sherri
ps. If you would like to access all the forms and systems we use for our evaluation process, contact kari@nwpersonaltraining.com There's no use reinventing the wheel!
Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Send out the troops...
Hey Fitness Pros,
There is strength in numbers. One person can never sell as much as a whole sales team.
So if you manage a group of fitness professionals, every week/month give each person on your team a few gift certificates for Trial Passes. Encourage them to hand them out to people in their community - their chiropractor, their hair stylist, their kid's teacher, their neighbor etc. Also encourage them to hand out these gift certificates to their clients or participants so they can give them out to their loved ones.
If you're a solo trainer, provide everyone you know these gift certificates to give to their friends, family members and co-workers.
Consider giving a gift for all the gift certificates that come back in. For example, in our business, anyone who refers a new client to us, we give them a free training session or massage.
Let others sell for you. Then reward them when they do.
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
There is strength in numbers. One person can never sell as much as a whole sales team.
So if you manage a group of fitness professionals, every week/month give each person on your team a few gift certificates for Trial Passes. Encourage them to hand them out to people in their community - their chiropractor, their hair stylist, their kid's teacher, their neighbor etc. Also encourage them to hand out these gift certificates to their clients or participants so they can give them out to their loved ones.
If you're a solo trainer, provide everyone you know these gift certificates to give to their friends, family members and co-workers.
Consider giving a gift for all the gift certificates that come back in. For example, in our business, anyone who refers a new client to us, we give them a free training session or massage.
Let others sell for you. Then reward them when they do.
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
Monday, June 15, 2009
Father's Day focus for Fitness Pros
Hey Fitness Pros.
It's Father's Day this coming weekend and that should be a big focus all week. I've cut and posted some instructions I gave to our team this week. Hopefully it will help you too!
High Priority: Father's Day is this weekend so remember to suggest gift certificates and announce our Guys Bootcamp on Saturday June 20th. Encourage our clients to do something special with their hubbies, dads, sons, brothers...As people are coming and going, try "Did you need to pick up a Gift Certificate for Father's Day" or "Do you think you can join us for our Dads Bootcamp on Saturday" or at the very least, "Would you like one of our complimentary Gift Certificates to give to those special guys in your life" That's an easy one because it doesn't cost them anything and they can give to their dad, brother, son, husband. We should be able to give out a ton of these and them we'll have all kinds of new people coming into the facility to visit with our amazing trainers...And once they see a trainer for their comp visit, I'm 100% confident they will continue and that will completely change their lives forever! Trainers - this is a great way to build your clientele base so be sure to be on top of this all week. In fact, carry a bunch of certs with you all week so you can give them to people at the grocery store, your hair stylist, your neighbor etc. So let's make this a team effort this week. Justin - be sure to have a ton in stock and give everyone at least 2 each to get them started.
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
It's Father's Day this coming weekend and that should be a big focus all week. I've cut and posted some instructions I gave to our team this week. Hopefully it will help you too!
High Priority: Father's Day is this weekend so remember to suggest gift certificates and announce our Guys Bootcamp on Saturday June 20th. Encourage our clients to do something special with their hubbies, dads, sons, brothers...As people are coming and going, try "Did you need to pick up a Gift Certificate for Father's Day" or "Do you think you can join us for our Dads Bootcamp on Saturday" or at the very least, "Would you like one of our complimentary Gift Certificates to give to those special guys in your life" That's an easy one because it doesn't cost them anything and they can give to their dad, brother, son, husband. We should be able to give out a ton of these and them we'll have all kinds of new people coming into the facility to visit with our amazing trainers...And once they see a trainer for their comp visit, I'm 100% confident they will continue and that will completely change their lives forever! Trainers - this is a great way to build your clientele base so be sure to be on top of this all week. In fact, carry a bunch of certs with you all week so you can give them to people at the grocery store, your hair stylist, your neighbor etc. So let's make this a team effort this week. Justin - be sure to have a ton in stock and give everyone at least 2 each to get them started.
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
Friday, June 12, 2009
What's more important - offense or defense?
If you watch sports like most people, you are probably impressed by the extreme athleticism, determination and focus of athletes from around the world. One of our favorite sports to watch and play is Beach Volleyball. We find that this sport can be used as an analogy for business excellence.
In the sport of Beach Volleyball, you only have 2 people. You rely and depend on each other closely. Each player must be a master of both Offense and Defense. Great offense would be the ability to serve ACEs, spike hard for the kills and play smart (ie. look for the open spots or weak links). Great Defense would be the ability to return serves, bump with precision, block aggressively and play with your heart and soul (going for those impossible digs). Since you only have 2 players, a team can’t afford to have one player specialize only in Offense and/or Defense and be extremely weak in the other area – they must be masters of both! The team who reaches 21 points first, wins. But let’s say you’re really good at offense and great at scoring points. Well, all it takes is for you to mess up once, the ball to turnover to the other team, and if you’re not good at defense, your opponent will quickly take over the momentum and win the match. And in contrast, if you’re really great at defense but not so hot at offense, you’ll have a difficult time scoring the points you need to win.
Similarly, winning clubs and training studios must be good at offense and defense. In the fitness industry, offense refers to the ability to sell and defense refers to the ability to maintain members and clients. Great offense refers to Sales (scoring points) - the ability to effectively take incoming phone calls, perform inspiring tours and complimentary sessions, to ask for referrals, to suggestive sell event participation/energy bars/shakes/HR monitors etc, to network in our community, and to effectively advertise/market… Great defense refers to Client Retention (keeping the points you scored) – the ability to keep members/clients happy and returning/renewing customers (Results/Energy/Passion/Relationships/Small Details - (Cleanliness, Efficiency, Accuracy, Amenities), calling back clients who have discontinued/canceled – showing we care.
Larger clubs may be able to afford to have specific individuals specialize in either sales or customer service but still each player on your team needs to embrace the skills of both areas. And for smaller clubs and training studios, because your team will traditionally be smaller, it is imperative that each member on your team understands that they need to develop retention and customer service skills.
In a club or training studio, if you have great sales skills but poor customer service retention, you’ll lose clients as quickly as you sell them. It’s called the revolving door syndrome – 100 new members in each month, 100 members cancel each month – and you never actually get anywhere. And if you’re great at customer retention but poor at sales, you’ll have a difficult time growing your business or hitting sales goals as you lose clients for reasons outside of your control (ie moving, financial etc).
“68% of customers decide to no longer do business with a particular organization because they perceive an attitude of indifference by the employees!”
• Greet all clients warmly and by name. Do clients/members know that you are happy to see them? Ask yourself how many people you know by name and likewise, how many members know you by name.
• Get to know all clients/members – develop a strong relationship so they know you care about them. Make a point of conversing with each member/client by offering a compliment on their consistency or their appearance, inquiring about their workout plans, asking a question, inviting them to a new class, informing and inviting them to an upcoming event…”I’d love for you to join us…It’ll be so much fun!)
• Call members/clients when they don’t show up for workouts – let them know you missed them
• Call clients/members just to talk to them and see how they are doing
• Introduce clients/members to each other and foster an environment where friendships are developed. People will be less likely to leave if they have a lot of friends at the gym.
• Say goodbye to all clients as they leave. Ask them how their workout was. Tell them we can’t wait to see them again.
Manage your Moments of Magic
• Every moment is a potential moment of magic
• Go the extra mile – ask yourself what you can do for a client/member to make it easier, more convenient, require less of their time etc.
• Do your due diligence – Make the extra effort with clients by contacting physicians, coaches, researching information, providing educational materials…
• Call clients/members on their birthday
• Send birthday, holiday, congrats and thinking of you cards
• Inspire clients to participate in Outdoor adventures and events that will create long-lasting lifetime memories
• Do more than clients expect
Managers and Directors can help their team embrace this thought process by going through the following drill at an upcoming staff meeting. First start by discussing the concept and the importance of each team player developing offense and defensive skills. Then split off into various departments (ie Personal Trainers, Sales, Customer Service Reps, Day Care, Group Fitness Instructors) and have each department come up with ways that they can be masters of Offense and Defense in their department. And then regroup and have each department share their thoughts. If you are alone in your own company, do this drill yourself. It will help you stay focused on the two most important aspects of running a successful fitness business – getting new clients/members inspired and keeping them happy and loyal customers.
Summary - It's not enough to be good at just sales or customer service, you have to be world-class at both to succeed!
In the sport of Beach Volleyball, you only have 2 people. You rely and depend on each other closely. Each player must be a master of both Offense and Defense. Great offense would be the ability to serve ACEs, spike hard for the kills and play smart (ie. look for the open spots or weak links). Great Defense would be the ability to return serves, bump with precision, block aggressively and play with your heart and soul (going for those impossible digs). Since you only have 2 players, a team can’t afford to have one player specialize only in Offense and/or Defense and be extremely weak in the other area – they must be masters of both! The team who reaches 21 points first, wins. But let’s say you’re really good at offense and great at scoring points. Well, all it takes is for you to mess up once, the ball to turnover to the other team, and if you’re not good at defense, your opponent will quickly take over the momentum and win the match. And in contrast, if you’re really great at defense but not so hot at offense, you’ll have a difficult time scoring the points you need to win.
Similarly, winning clubs and training studios must be good at offense and defense. In the fitness industry, offense refers to the ability to sell and defense refers to the ability to maintain members and clients. Great offense refers to Sales (scoring points) - the ability to effectively take incoming phone calls, perform inspiring tours and complimentary sessions, to ask for referrals, to suggestive sell event participation/energy bars/shakes/HR monitors etc, to network in our community, and to effectively advertise/market… Great defense refers to Client Retention (keeping the points you scored) – the ability to keep members/clients happy and returning/renewing customers (Results/Energy/Passion/Relationships/Small Details - (Cleanliness, Efficiency, Accuracy, Amenities), calling back clients who have discontinued/canceled – showing we care.
Larger clubs may be able to afford to have specific individuals specialize in either sales or customer service but still each player on your team needs to embrace the skills of both areas. And for smaller clubs and training studios, because your team will traditionally be smaller, it is imperative that each member on your team understands that they need to develop retention and customer service skills.
In a club or training studio, if you have great sales skills but poor customer service retention, you’ll lose clients as quickly as you sell them. It’s called the revolving door syndrome – 100 new members in each month, 100 members cancel each month – and you never actually get anywhere. And if you’re great at customer retention but poor at sales, you’ll have a difficult time growing your business or hitting sales goals as you lose clients for reasons outside of your control (ie moving, financial etc).
“68% of customers decide to no longer do business with a particular organization because they perceive an attitude of indifference by the employees!”
• Greet all clients warmly and by name. Do clients/members know that you are happy to see them? Ask yourself how many people you know by name and likewise, how many members know you by name.
• Get to know all clients/members – develop a strong relationship so they know you care about them. Make a point of conversing with each member/client by offering a compliment on their consistency or their appearance, inquiring about their workout plans, asking a question, inviting them to a new class, informing and inviting them to an upcoming event…”I’d love for you to join us…It’ll be so much fun!)
• Call members/clients when they don’t show up for workouts – let them know you missed them
• Call clients/members just to talk to them and see how they are doing
• Introduce clients/members to each other and foster an environment where friendships are developed. People will be less likely to leave if they have a lot of friends at the gym.
• Say goodbye to all clients as they leave. Ask them how their workout was. Tell them we can’t wait to see them again.
Manage your Moments of Magic
• Every moment is a potential moment of magic
• Go the extra mile – ask yourself what you can do for a client/member to make it easier, more convenient, require less of their time etc.
• Do your due diligence – Make the extra effort with clients by contacting physicians, coaches, researching information, providing educational materials…
• Call clients/members on their birthday
• Send birthday, holiday, congrats and thinking of you cards
• Inspire clients to participate in Outdoor adventures and events that will create long-lasting lifetime memories
• Do more than clients expect
Managers and Directors can help their team embrace this thought process by going through the following drill at an upcoming staff meeting. First start by discussing the concept and the importance of each team player developing offense and defensive skills. Then split off into various departments (ie Personal Trainers, Sales, Customer Service Reps, Day Care, Group Fitness Instructors) and have each department come up with ways that they can be masters of Offense and Defense in their department. And then regroup and have each department share their thoughts. If you are alone in your own company, do this drill yourself. It will help you stay focused on the two most important aspects of running a successful fitness business – getting new clients/members inspired and keeping them happy and loyal customers.
Summary - It's not enough to be good at just sales or customer service, you have to be world-class at both to succeed!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
You've got to sell to succeed!
On Tuesday, I spent a few hours role playing with one of our interns, Remy, who will be starting with us in a week. She's been shadowing trainers, taking mock clients through workouts and learning all of our systems. She is passionate, smart, kind and caring and is going to make an incredible trainer. Out of her entire internship, the time we spent on Tuesday was probably the most important. She took me through an initial training session with me pretending to be the prospective client with the goal of trying to encourage me to invest in her services. Then we practiced various ways to show me the value of her services and to help me overcome any obstacles I presented. We role played for about 3 hours and I am 100% confident that the time we spent together is going to help her help so many more people!
I was fortunate enough to work for GoodLife Fitness Clubs in Canada for the first 5 years of my career. They are the largest and most successful fitness club chain in Canada. They achieved their level of success because the owner, David Patchell Evans, understands the critical importance of developing the sales skills of his entire team. In fact, when I worked there, every week I would meet with my manager and we would role play various scenarios. I did this for 5 years!! We also met as a team monthly to do more role playing.
Now I know you didn't become a fitness pro because you're passionate about selling but rather your drive is all about helping people. Well, you can't help anyone if you can't convince them to invest in your services, program or club. And if you're having a discussion with someone who is on the fence with getting started with a fitness program, if you don't try to help them through whatever stumbling blocks they are experiencing, you've done them a disservice. You've got to ask questions, you've got to probe deeper to find out what's holding them back from making the commitment to their health and fitness. Most fitness pros freeze when confronted with a potential client's obstacle (ie I need to think about it, I'll talk it over with my hubby, I don't think I can afford it, I don't have the time etc). They don't know what to say and they don't want to appear too aggressive so they use the "I totally understand. Here is my business card. Give me a call once you've decided" approach. And the person goes back into thinking, contemplation mode vs doing and taking action. It's our job to help them take action!
So how do you get good at influencing and motivating someone to take action? You practice and practice and practice - just like I did with Remy. So if you work with a team of fitness professionals, make the commitment to regular role playing. If you're a solo fitness pro, rally a friend or family member to role play with you. It can actually be fun! Trust me - it totally works!
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
ps. We have some great resources (books, webinars etc) on how to specifically improve your sales skills in the fitness industry including sample scripts for role playing, what to say, what not to say guidance etc. If you're interested, email our Fitness Education director at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com
I was fortunate enough to work for GoodLife Fitness Clubs in Canada for the first 5 years of my career. They are the largest and most successful fitness club chain in Canada. They achieved their level of success because the owner, David Patchell Evans, understands the critical importance of developing the sales skills of his entire team. In fact, when I worked there, every week I would meet with my manager and we would role play various scenarios. I did this for 5 years!! We also met as a team monthly to do more role playing.
Now I know you didn't become a fitness pro because you're passionate about selling but rather your drive is all about helping people. Well, you can't help anyone if you can't convince them to invest in your services, program or club. And if you're having a discussion with someone who is on the fence with getting started with a fitness program, if you don't try to help them through whatever stumbling blocks they are experiencing, you've done them a disservice. You've got to ask questions, you've got to probe deeper to find out what's holding them back from making the commitment to their health and fitness. Most fitness pros freeze when confronted with a potential client's obstacle (ie I need to think about it, I'll talk it over with my hubby, I don't think I can afford it, I don't have the time etc). They don't know what to say and they don't want to appear too aggressive so they use the "I totally understand. Here is my business card. Give me a call once you've decided" approach. And the person goes back into thinking, contemplation mode vs doing and taking action. It's our job to help them take action!
So how do you get good at influencing and motivating someone to take action? You practice and practice and practice - just like I did with Remy. So if you work with a team of fitness professionals, make the commitment to regular role playing. If you're a solo fitness pro, rally a friend or family member to role play with you. It can actually be fun! Trust me - it totally works!
Yours in health, fitness and business,
Sherri McMillan
ps. We have some great resources (books, webinars etc) on how to specifically improve your sales skills in the fitness industry including sample scripts for role playing, what to say, what not to say guidance etc. If you're interested, email our Fitness Education director at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com
Monday, May 18, 2009
Get FREE Press!
I just sent out a Press Release to our local media reps. It made me think that I should send out a Blog to you about how to do this to get Free Press in your community. Here's the premise and approach...
Who has the money to take out ads in magazines or newspapers or create a commercial for the radio or television? If you're like most fitness businesses, you don't! But there is a way to get free advertising but you have to work for it.
• Develop a list of key local media contacts in your area including print, radio and TV
• Complete regular mail-outs, emails and fax-outs to develop relationships. Tease them with some health and fitness information. For example, state "I was just at IDEA, The International Health and Fitness Conference in Las Vegas and I learned some of the most incredible exercises for the abdominals. It's stuff you've never seen before. Call me if you'd like to hear more about it" or "I was just at the IHRSA show in San Francisco and I've got to tell you about some of the hottest and craziest equipment new on the market" or offer a human interest story about one of your clients and their success- with their approval of course. Just wet their taste buds and you can expect at least one or two call backs from each of your efforts. Of course each time they run your idea, you are mentioned as the Health and Fitness expert and you can also ask for your business and your number to be listed so people can contact you if they have further questions.
• Offer to write a free weekly/monthly fitness column. The time spent writing the article will be well worth the advertising value.
• Offer key media contacts a couple complimentary sessions so they can try out your services and see what it's all about. Perhaps propose a “Media Fitness Challenge” or “Getting into shape” challenge and rival reporters and producers of various networks against each other. The press you get will be huge.
I can use myself as an example of just how much free advertising you can get. When I first moved to Vancouver, BC, and developed my new business, I started doing regular fax-outs and mail-outs. In the beginning the response was poor. But after a few months, I started to get at least one or two call backs from every effort. Soon I was being quoted in various sources and being asked to appear on local radio and television shows for 3-5 minute guest fitness appearances. In the beginning, I wrote so many free articles and did so many free appearances but the exposure I got was priceless. Then I had my first big break. The Province Newspaper, our daily Provincial newspaper in British Columbia, with a very large circulation, asked me to write a weekly fitness column for them. And get this, they were actually offering to pay me! Can you imagine how much it would have cost me to actually purchase the type of exposure I have received. Then as a result of the newspaper exposure, I was asked by a local publisher to write a book. One-year later "Go For Fit - The Winning Way to Fat Loss" was printed and launched. I started being asked to write by national magazines like Chatelaine. Then I gained interest on the international scene and was asked to do some work with the prestigious Shape magazine. I co-founded and edited a local health and fitness magazine, Go!
Then I got married and moved to the states and had to start all over from scratch. So I repeated the same process. Took about a year of these weekly press releases and teasers and then we got our big break. We were asked to write the weekly fitness column for the Columbian, our city newspaper. Did that for about 3 years. Then got our next big break when the Oregonian, our state newspaper, asked us to start a weekly fitness column. Been doing that for years now and the exposure is incredible!
And all of this exposure by just committing to do some work for free in the beginning. Sometimes new trainers expect things to just happen. If you want to succeed, you will have to work at it. Remember this, what goes around, comes around. And your efforts will not go unnoticed! Short team pain for long term gain!
Who has the money to take out ads in magazines or newspapers or create a commercial for the radio or television? If you're like most fitness businesses, you don't! But there is a way to get free advertising but you have to work for it.
• Develop a list of key local media contacts in your area including print, radio and TV
• Complete regular mail-outs, emails and fax-outs to develop relationships. Tease them with some health and fitness information. For example, state "I was just at IDEA, The International Health and Fitness Conference in Las Vegas and I learned some of the most incredible exercises for the abdominals. It's stuff you've never seen before. Call me if you'd like to hear more about it" or "I was just at the IHRSA show in San Francisco and I've got to tell you about some of the hottest and craziest equipment new on the market" or offer a human interest story about one of your clients and their success- with their approval of course. Just wet their taste buds and you can expect at least one or two call backs from each of your efforts. Of course each time they run your idea, you are mentioned as the Health and Fitness expert and you can also ask for your business and your number to be listed so people can contact you if they have further questions.
• Offer to write a free weekly/monthly fitness column. The time spent writing the article will be well worth the advertising value.
• Offer key media contacts a couple complimentary sessions so they can try out your services and see what it's all about. Perhaps propose a “Media Fitness Challenge” or “Getting into shape” challenge and rival reporters and producers of various networks against each other. The press you get will be huge.
I can use myself as an example of just how much free advertising you can get. When I first moved to Vancouver, BC, and developed my new business, I started doing regular fax-outs and mail-outs. In the beginning the response was poor. But after a few months, I started to get at least one or two call backs from every effort. Soon I was being quoted in various sources and being asked to appear on local radio and television shows for 3-5 minute guest fitness appearances. In the beginning, I wrote so many free articles and did so many free appearances but the exposure I got was priceless. Then I had my first big break. The Province Newspaper, our daily Provincial newspaper in British Columbia, with a very large circulation, asked me to write a weekly fitness column for them. And get this, they were actually offering to pay me! Can you imagine how much it would have cost me to actually purchase the type of exposure I have received. Then as a result of the newspaper exposure, I was asked by a local publisher to write a book. One-year later "Go For Fit - The Winning Way to Fat Loss" was printed and launched. I started being asked to write by national magazines like Chatelaine. Then I gained interest on the international scene and was asked to do some work with the prestigious Shape magazine. I co-founded and edited a local health and fitness magazine, Go!
Then I got married and moved to the states and had to start all over from scratch. So I repeated the same process. Took about a year of these weekly press releases and teasers and then we got our big break. We were asked to write the weekly fitness column for the Columbian, our city newspaper. Did that for about 3 years. Then got our next big break when the Oregonian, our state newspaper, asked us to start a weekly fitness column. Been doing that for years now and the exposure is incredible!
And all of this exposure by just committing to do some work for free in the beginning. Sometimes new trainers expect things to just happen. If you want to succeed, you will have to work at it. Remember this, what goes around, comes around. And your efforts will not go unnoticed! Short team pain for long term gain!
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