SELLING MEMBERSHIPS: The Straight Skinny and No-BS Skinny

This blog ain't gonna make me too many friends...but it needs to be said.

There's some realities that need to be faced in the fitness industry:

1. Most "sales people" are NOT sales people! They're order-takers who wait for walk-ins and can't really sell their way out of a paper bag! The majority that I've worked with couldn't sell water to a dying-of-thirst-person-in-the-desert-with-a-hundred-dollar-bill-taped-to-his-her-head!
2. In reality, the average club turns over 50% of its sales people every year.
3. There is precious little training for sales people in most clubs. If you ain't a natural, love people and not afraid to be rejected (we just eliminated 80% of human beings!) - you're pretty much screwed.
4. The majority of club general managers today don't know how to sell, yet they're often the ones ultimately in charge of sales people! Isn't that like a blind man being in charge of people who have 20-20 vision?
5. Most of the "sales consultants" in this industry are not sales consultants at all...they're fakers! Ask three questions of sales consultants before you hire one: a) How long have you been in the business? (if the answer ain't "over 10 years" - run like hell!); b) How many memberships have YOU personally sold? (if the answer ain't "over 2,000 - run like hell!); and c) Have you sold low-priced, high-priced AND mid-priced memberships? (if the answer ain't "yes" to all three - run like hell!). I'll tell you right here WHO CAN SELL and WHO CAN TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE TO SELL! A short list of industry veterans who have been through it all: Eddie Tock; Casey Conrad; Karen Woodard-Chavez; Brenda Abdilla; Jeff Masten; and me.

There's another reality: You better get darn good at referrals this year! And know this: REFERRALS REQUIRE SELLING! If you're not...and your club is "on the bubble" (meaning just getting by right now, hoping like hell that the economy turns around next week - which it won't, and pryaing that not too many more people leave membership)...you'd best learn selling and NOW! Or your club may be one of the 30% of clubs that will predictably disappear by the end of the year!

Hard words...I know. In a recession - YOU GOTTA FACE FACT. And you gotta get rid of your ego! You gotta ask for help. It's not the worst thing in the world.

I'll be introducing a modular sales system later this winter or early spring. If you're interested in what I'll be offering (online modular training in a dozen different aspects of selling memberships and getting referrals - at 1/10 of the price of on-site, in-your-club sales consulting) - either leave me a message response here, or email me at michaelscottscudder@yahoo.com.

Tough times like this require 3 things: two are HOW YOU THINK and one is WHAT YOU DO.
CLARITY (on what you want - no kidding); PRIORITIES (what's most important now); and FOCUSED ACTION.

If you got all three - I mean truly as in no s--t got all three - don't think a bit further. If not, you ought to get in touch with me.

Blog from A Fitness Industry Renegade

Hello! Michael Scott Scudder here! This is my very first blog, so I hope you'll stick with me as this moves forward in the months ahead...I plan to cover stuff here that I might not normally put in my eNEWS online newsletter (to subscribe free of charge email me at msscmeto@gmail.com).

My intention in this blog is simple: to give YOU, the reader, fresh, sometimes-outrageous, often in-your-face stuff that will help you to run your health clubs - or your department in your facility - BETTER, STRONGER and MORE INNOVATIVELY. You don't know me...doesn't matter...I've been around this fitness game longer than many of you have been alive (I started in this business in 1976). I don't know it all...but I know a lot and I've been through a lot - including 3 previous recessions! You might want to listen up to what I have irreverently to say.

If you're looking for "more of the same old, same old" - STOP READING NOW! This blog ain't ever gonna be that way!

First topic on this blog: THIS UGLY-MUGLY ECONOMIC RECESSION! SOME BAD NEWS STILL AHEAD...AND SOME HOPE.

STRAIGHT TALK:

1. It's gonna be brutal...people are gonna pull back from spending all but absolutely necessary monies...meaning that for the first half of this year, you ain't gonna see anywhere near the number of prospective new members walk through your door that you're used to! Sorry, it just ain't gonna happen.
2. THE HOPE? Pay attention to your present members! They're the ones who will stay around if you just treat 'em right! That means treat 'em special! Every single one of 'em. You can't afford not to! Have your front desk people learn members' names...your fitness staff know names and walk over and offer to help - even if there ain't a personal training sale to be made! Group fitness instructors get out there and drag people into classes.
3. ANOTHER HOPE? Your upper management - they gotta get out on that fitness floor and in those classes and behind that front desk and mix with the members! It'll pay huge rewards.

MONEY MANAGEMENT: The reality is you ain't gonna have as much of it! Not from memberships, not from renewals, not from program purchases, not from PT sales or other. You just ain't. Stop dreaming and hoping. What do you do?

• THE HOPE? Get your sales staff trained to close more of the people that do come in! (We've got an online course: "STOP Making Selling So HARD! - email me at msscmeto@gmail.com for details.)
• ANOTHER HOPE? Cut expenses by at least 10%. That's right! Just do it! Get rid of unproductive or unwilling employees. Cut back late-night hours with little attendance.
• ANOTHER HUGE HOPE? Ramp up your group fitness classes...cameraderie and social interaction is a must for members in down times...after all, they're feeling it just like you!

'Nuff for now. Need help? Call me (505-514-0294). Email me (msscmeto@gmail.com or michaelscottscudder@yahoo.com). Leave me a comment on this blog. I ain't gonna fleece you or try to sell you crap you don't need...but I may just be able to help you through this mess that you're in or about to get in. Isn't that what this is all about, anyway?