Saturday, April 4, 2009

What is Your Name?


What's Your Name Again?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Let me ask you something.

Which do you think is more important – the people whose names you already know, or the members of your health club whose names you don't know yet?

Most people think it's the members names that you already know, but it's not!

If you don't know somebody's name that's a member of your health club, you better learn their name very quickly and start remembering it.

Knowing a person's name is very important and although most people don't even realize it on a conscious level, deep-down they're thinking “wow, he must really care about me – I love that feeling”.

As wishy-washy as that might sound, it's completely true.

Think about it, what other places know them by name? The grocery store doesn't, clothing stores don't, their gas station probably doesn't, nor do 99% of the other places they visit on a regular basis!

So if you start talking to them by name, it creates an instant bond between you and the prospect.

And think about it – if you were the prospect, would you rather stay at a place who already knew your name and you were pretty much friends with, or would you pick the place down the street who might be a few bucks cheaper, but wasn't personal and friendly towards you?

I don't know about you, but I'd pick the place that was personal with me every single time!

Here's what I do to be even more personal with some of my clients. And keep in mind, this doesn't work for ALL clients – you have to get to know them first and see their personality, and make a judgment call.

This is what I do:

When I start to get to know a client that I think has a fun personality, I'll make up kind of a nickname for them. There is an older guy who comes into my health club who kind of resembles George Clooney, so instead of calling him by his real name I'll say “Heyyy George Clooney, how's it goin buddy?”

Do you see how much of a different relationship I have with him as compared to how most business owners treat their clients?

Now you also have to be a little careful when using this approach, so be forewarned.

Although it's extremely effective as a client retention strategy, and will probably even get you a lot more referrals than you're used to seeing, you can't go TOO far with it.

For example if a very attractive girl comes in you can't call her by some porn stars name or say anything specifically about her body. All you have to do is encourage her that she looks great, that's it.

You need to learn the line between encouragement and sexual harassment. Unfortunately in today's society that line is very, very thin – so always be more safe than sorry. Watch the persons face and body language as you give them the compliment and if it's negative even in the least bit, don't ever say anything like that again.

For most people that won't be a problem, I just wanted to let you know that sometimes it is an issue so you need to be careful. But that shouldn't deter you from complimenting your gym members and joking around with them!

What Really Matters


Do You Know What REALLY Matters?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


I'd like you to take a few minutes out of your day today and do something that might radically change the way your business carries out its day to day activities.

What I want you to do is this:

Sit down and write out every single thing your employees (and yourself) are required to do to maintain your business.

This would include dusting, vacuuming the floors, taking care of your clients, and literally every single piece of your day.

Then, think about whether or not you're carrying out the most efficient and time-worthy activities, or if they're useless and really don't contribute.

One of the most important things you'll need to think about is how clean your health club is. A regular gym might not care AS much about how clean it is (obviously it should be clean, but they might not have to be quite as stringent about it) – but with a health club you're trying to show that you're sophisticated and high-quality so cleanliness is a huge factor.

Do you have all the corners of your building cleaned? How about all the air vent covers, baseboards, and small areas that you might not even think about? A lot of times you can find a ton of places where dust seems to accumulate very rapidly. It might not seem like a big deal, but what if one or more of your clients happens to find it? What would they think of your health club after they found huge piles of dust in the corner?

Well, let's just say they wouldn't think very highly of the place, and you might even lose their business.

Another thing to take into consideration is how friendly your place of business in. What is the atmosphere like when a prospect or client walks in the door? Is it warm and friendly, or loud and obnoxious? Are you greeting them on their way in and telling them to have a great day as they're walking out? Are you treating them like royalty during the time they're there?

If not, I suggest you start today.

The third thing to look out for is, well, everything else. The first 2 things need to be taken care of first, then put your time into “everything else”.

Now your health club might be slightly different and that's completely fine. What you need to do is figure out what is most important to your client, and make sure that part of their experience is always at 100%.

Then figure out what they would care about next, and make sure that's completed. Keep doing this over and over again.

If your clients see that you're willing to put THEM first and make sure everything is done according to what they want, you're going to build loyalty and trust from day one and you'll be one of the most efficient and well-respected health clubs in your entire area.

Can I Get You Later?



Throw Out The Cheapskates

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Do your members take advantage of the fact that you're nice to them and want them to stay at your health club? Odds are, they are in fact doing that and if so you must stop it immediately because they'll keep trying to do it with bigger and bigger things.

Let me give you an example:

In many of the clubs I visit, people grab a water out of the cooler and ask to “pay for it later”. Although this may seem like not a big deal, it really is! Although most people aren't, some people try to get away with anything they can and they'll make excuses like “oh, can I get ya next time? I forgot my wallet”.

Do you honestly ever think you'll see that money? Of course not!

Just like all the other rules you have, you need to have rules that members aren't allowed to buy anything unless they have money with them right at the moment they buy it. And you absolutely cannot make any exceptions, even for outstanding members who you know are telling the truth. Making one just exception for a person is going to create huge problems in the trust and credibility in your company which will eventually hit the “butterfly effect” and make bad ripples throughout your entire organization.

Another reason this is a very bad thing that's happening in your business is because it makes your staff feel uncomfortable. If you have rules set it in place that they can't buy something, ever, if they don't have money, it makes it much easier on your staff because all they really have to say is “you know the rules” and the conversation is over.

You also need to be monitoring things like this as well. Like many other negative things this doesn't happen very often, but it does. People will simply walk over and take a water without even asking. If you don't have rules for this sort of thing, it will go unnoticed and that member will continue to take advantage of you.

You CAN'T let this happen!

Be the “soup nazi” and tell your staff to do the same as well. And this doesn't only apply to water, it applies to all aspects of your business where people are allowed to buy things.

As I mentioned before, the butterfly effect is a huge factor in the success of your business. Letting one or 2 waters go might seem like something small, but it eventually turns into much bigger and more expensive items and over time ruins the credibility of your “soup nazi-ness” and people will assume they can walk all over you and your staff with no further consequences.

Obviously you don't want this happening. Not only does it cost you money that should be going right in your pocket, it's also making you the laughing stock of the club AND your community!

We Are Not For Everyone


The Dangers Of Being “For Everybody”

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Sit back for a minute and figure out who you're trying to market to for your business. Are you trying to get huge volumes of people into your health club at a cheap price, smaller amounts of people at a premium price, or are you simply trying to market to every person you see on the street?

If you're trying to get everybody and anybody into your business, you're setting yourself up for failure!

Being a specialist is one of the absolute best things you can do. There are several levels in being a specialist, but it's usually not necessary to become so specific that you're only catering to a certain income bracket in a certain gender and a certain type of working out.

And yes, I've seen people do this!

All I'm saying is that you should pick – do you want to cater to a volume of people at low prices or a select group of people at higher prices and more of a “high end” kind of health club?

If you land in the middle, you'll be sending mixed messages. People won't be able to really “get” what kind of health club they're about to join, and guess what – they won't join!

But when you specialize, even just a little and pick a specific income bracket, people will notice and they'll be more comfortable knowing the fact that they'll be working out with the same kind of people they are.

And believe it or not, all you have to do is start specializing and the value of your health club goes up instantly. I'm not sure why this happens, but think about this. Who gets paid more, a family doctor or a heart surgeon? The heart surgeon gets paid much more.

Why?

Because they're specializing in a certain area and people trust them more!

And in terms of a health club, this has the same affect.

Trust me, rich people usually don't want to be a part of the same health club as poor people and vice versa. Why do you think some golf clubs are tens of thousands of dollars per year to join? Because people like to be part of the same social group they're used to hanging around with!

There is a major difference between a high-end and low-end health club. You just need to figure out which one yours is closer to, make a few changes, and jump into that category and start marketing to those types of people.

And speaking of marketing, once you specialize it becomes 100% easier. Instead of trying to market to “everybody” you then know you're only trying to reach a specific type of person. Then doing your research and figuring out where to advertise becomes much easier because all you have to do is figure out where those types of people will be looking, and start advertising in those places.

It's really as simple as that – don't make it over complicated!

Are You the Junior CEO



The Case Of The Invisible Junior CEO – Are You Guilty Of This?
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

I used to be guilty of this syndrome, and I know dozens of other health clubs who are still guilty of it. And by doing it, they’re ruining their business and killing the profitability of the health club.
So what is the case of the invisible junior CEO?
What I’m talking about is your unwillingness to simply get things done.
Let me give you some examples.
When the phone rings, do you screen the call or do you answer the phone willing to help out whoever is on the other line?
Are you pushing aside problems that need to be dealt with immediately and procrastinating on them for so long that eventually the problem turns into a disaster and ends up with you losing clients?
I think you get what I mean.
This is all caused by pretending to be someone with a big ego. Unfortunately most business owners think that since they’re the owner, they don’t need to do things like deal with customers, solve “small” problems, or do the kinds of things that their employees are doing.
But you do!
Unless you already have a hired position to be doing these things, you should be the one interacting with your angry customers.
Why?
Because when they see that the owner of the health club is addressing these issues, and not some random employee, they’ll feel like you actually care about them (which you should anyway). Plus, for whatever reason many people have kind of a fear of business owners. I’m not sure whether they look up to them or see them as powerful or what, but I’ve witnessed in many cases that people will let their guard down when they’re talking to the owner of a business as compared to a regular employee.
Being personal with your clients and acting like you’re NOT the owner (i.e. not thinking in terms of having titles and being “better” than everyone else) will not only make people feel more comfortable with coming to you if they do have a problem that needs to be solved, it’s going to help keep people at your business longer because they’ll feel they’re at a place that honestly cares about them.
What you need to do is learn to “take problems by the horns” and run with them. Don’t screen calls, don’t put problems onto other people in the business, just handle them yourself. Remember, you’re the only owner and if you don’t set a great example, your employees can’t follow. Set the bar incredibly high and show your employees how things are supposed to be handled and you’ll be amazed at how they can literally change the way they work each day by simply watching what you do and trying to make sure they live up to your standards.

Are You Busy Today?


The “Busy” Factor Is Killing Your Business
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

I come across the word of “busy” constantly and it really bugs me. Every business I walk into – it seems like the people in the store are too busy to help me. And in fitness health clubs, the problem is just as bad and it’s absolutely murdering your profitability.
The reason I get so fed up with this isn’t because being busy is a bad thing, it’s simply because most people think they ARE busy when they’re honestly not. And if they are doing “busy” work, usually it’s the type of work that’s completely unnecessary and is simply just wasting time.
Let me give you an example.
If Mark is out on the floor doing something like wiping down machines in the back of the room, he really isn’t “busy”. That time could be much better spent helping a club members needs or simply even walking around the room making sure everybody is taken care of. Most members of a health club are a little reluctant to ask if they need something, yet if you ask them how everything is going – I bet they’ll ask for something.
Also, how long are seemingly simple tasks being taken to get completed? If you have an employee that’s wiping down the machines, is it taking him 3 hours to do it? A great thing to do would be to figure out roughly how long each task takes in your health club and make an expectation within the club that it should be done within that amount of time. People are natural procrastinators, as well as lazy, so don’t be too harsh on them the first time – but make sure they know you’ll be watching.
By the way, this applies to you as well. Are simple tasks taking you longer than necessary? You might want to do the same thing to yourself that you’re putting your employees through. Just think, if you can reduce each task by just 10% you can save yourself hours each day, per person, and probably double the productivity in your business!
The last thing I want to talk to you about today is how the word “busy” kind of has a negative overtone to it. When people say the word “busy” it sounds like a negative thing, doesn’t it?
One thing you might consider doing is changing the word busy in your business to something else – such as “active” or “popular”.
So if a potential club member walks in asking when you’re busy times are, you can respond by saying something like “oh well the most popular times of the day are from about 5-7 when most people are getting out of work and get a chance to come”.
Busy is a word you should throw out of your vocabulary. It’s also something you need to think about in terms of productivity and how much you’re getting done. Just because you’re “busy” doesn’t mean you’re getting real work done – so from now on make sure the work you and your employees is doing is productive, and watch your productivity soar instantly!

Cheap is Expensive



Spending Less Means You're Spending...More?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


One of the biggest mistakes I see health clubs making all the time is that when they're buying equipment, whether it's a replacement or a brand new piece of equipment when they're first opening – they're buying equipment that's way too cheap.

There are a few things you need to think about when it comes to this subject. Let me lay them out for you:

1) Members Want Luxury – Especially when going to a health club instead of a regular gym, your members EXPECT the equipment to be more high-quality than they can afford. Trust me if they could afford it they wouldn't be going to your club. They go because they don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a treadmill or other piece of equipment. But if you have cheap equipment – why would they even bother going when they could save up for a few months and get their own and save a ton of money in the long run?

2) Think Long-Term – Let's say you buy a treadmill for $1000 and your competitor buys one for $3,500. Even though the $3,500 treadmill MIGHT not last 3 times as long (it probably would), think of all the hassle you have to go through each time one of them breaks. Not only does it make your health club look like the dollar-store of health clubs, it's a pain in the butt getting them fixed and will annoy your members! Do you have people in your staff that would be able to fix it in a day's notice? Probably not, so why not just spend a few extra bucks and go for the high quality equipment that's much less likely to break and will have a much longer and better warranty?

3) Throw Away Items – Although some things like the “bigger” pieces of equipment should be more expensive, other things such as hair dryers and even scales can be less expensive. You really don't need one of those medical scales which cost hundreds of dollars. These days, scales are pretty decent for under $100 and usually come with a warranty as well. The same goes for hair dryers – they all have the same purpose (drying hair) so it's not a huge deal if it's not the most expensive thing you've ever seen.

However like always you need to put this all in context.

Before you start buying equipment you need to think of what your members think of your health club anyway. If it's a high-end club, pretty much everything should at least LOOK high-end because that's what your members will expect. If you're trying to get more volume at a lower price, you definitely don't need to spend thousands of dollars on one piece of equipment. It's still better not to go cheap, but you don't have to go “quite” as high as a high-end health club would have.

Think of what kind of club you have, what your members expect of the equipment you have, and use my suggestions to get the best equipment for YOUR health club!

Juice Bar


Should You Sell Protein Shakes?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Protein shakes, and protein in general, seems to be a pretty hot commodity in the fitness world. Sometimes your health club members will practically demand you have protein shakes to buy just in case they forget theirs or if they're simply too lazy to bring their own.

In some places they make a lot of money, other places they don't. Some gym members are annoyed by them, some aren't.

So how do you figure out what's right for YOUR business?

There are a few things you need to take into consideration:

1) Equipment – Are you willing to always make sure you have enough cups, lids, straws, milk, juice, bananas, protein powder and peanut butter in stock? If you're already a busy person this can be a pain and if you're out of ingredients your club members might get angry at you (you know how people are with their protein!).

2) Is It Annoying? - Think about the other club members who are in the middle of working out. Do they really want to be bothered by the annoying sound of a blender going off in the background every half hour? I think not! And what if you're on the phone with a prospect? If you're on the phone with them and a loud blender is going in the background, they're probably going to get annoyed and hang up the phone on you.

3) How Much Do You Make? - After you take a close look at those 2 things, then you need to figure out whether it's really worth the hassle or not. In my experience the only people who “need” protein shakes the second they're done working out is either the meat-heads which are probably causing more problems than you need, or complete beginners who think protein is the most important thing in the world and they're trying to get buff to impress their friends.

In the end, every business is different. While one business might rake in tons of easy cash by selling protein shakes – another business might be hardly making anything, sometimes even losing money! Take everything into consideration, especially how much you're paying the person to actually make the shakes. It's pretty senseless to have a service like this if you're hardly making any money from it and it's ruining the experience for everyone else in the health club.

If you want to maximize your profits while doing the least amount of work and the greatest chance of growing your business in the future, these are the types of things you need to start doing. Break down each component of your business, all of your services, and make sure they're bringing in enough money to compensate for the hassle.

Instead of having a bunch of different services bringing in a small amount of money each, focus on really squeezing out all the profits from just a few services. It's much easier on you, your staff, and your pockets!

Outsourcing



Outsourcing – The Savior Of All Businesses

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


When you first got the idea of opening up your own health club, what were you looking for?

Were you looking for freedom, or for just another JOB?

As far as I know, pretty much every entrepreneur is looking for freedom when they open their own business, and I'm guessing you are too.

So, why are you working 60 hours per week?

It's because you're afraid to let go! This is a problem with easily 90% of business owners. They want things done so perfectly that they're afraid if they're not in the building at all times, things will go down the tubes and the business will die.

Trust me, that's almost never the case. As long as you have the right staff, you can take weeks, even months of being away from the business and have everything run perfectly smooth and prosperous for you.

So how do you do that?

First, you need the “lower” staff such as the trainers to be able to do their jobs correctly. The chain is as strong as the weakest link, so every member of your staff needs to be properly trained and needs to know exactly what they need to do everyday they're working.

Second, you need to have managers in place that watch over the trainers, deal with customers, etc. You can't expect every staff member to know exactly how to do everything the business needs to do because that's simply unreasonable. You should have different people for the proper jobs.

Third, if you plan on spending a lot of time away from the business you should have a Director type person who watches the managers, helps with marketing, and overall knows how to run the business by themselves and only calls you if there is a problem or if they don't know how to do a certain thing.

Now I realize you may be thinking “Yea, but that's going to cost a lot of money isn't it?”

Yes you're absolutely right about that, but think about it. If you have so much extra time, do you think you could use that time to come up with new income streams or even start a new business? The purpose of “freedom” isn't necessarily for you to be able to sit on the beach drinking cocktails everyday – trust me it gets boring after a very short amount of time.

The purpose of “freedom” is for you to be able to take a vacation whenever you want, whether it's once a year or once a month depending on what you like to do. It's the ability to not HAVE to be there in order for things to work.

Now you might not be able to do this instantly. Spend the next few weeks or months making everything systematic in your business and have the right people in place (and know your numbers very well so you can assure you'll be making a profit) and slowly start outsourcing the meaningless jobs you do onto somebody else. Then use the extra time to do what you want to do, whether that's coming up with new income streams, spending more time with your family, going on vacations, or whatever else you might want to do!

Is it to Hot?


Is Your Health Club Too Hot?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


We all expect to be slightly warm when working out because there's pretty much no way around it. No matter where or when you workout, you're used to getting a little warm and sweaty.

However, many health clubs I visit are WAY too hot, and it's causing them a lot of customers. Although people expect to be warm, they don't expect to be gasping for air and dropping to the floor in a state of heat exhaustion, so tone the heat down!

So what's the best temperature?

I usually keep mine around 70 degrees, sometimes a bit less especially in the summer. This allows it to be slightly warm without it being overbearing or making people complain about the heat. And by the way even if you have it at a temperature which you think is good, always listen to your customers and if you get too many complains at a certain temperature, turn it down.

Another thing to keep in mind is that air movement is crucial to the temperature feeling lower than it actually is, so make sure you're getting some very good circulation within the building.

So what's the best way to do that?

Let's compare a few different methods of heat control.

Large Fans – These are nice and give a lot of air movement, but they're also sometimes very loud and distracting to your members. If you're going to get one or multiple of these, make sure you find one that's not loud. Other than being loud, they're great. People expect fans to be there in the summer, but it's still no excuse to be some huge obnoxious fan blaring in the background. Spend a few bucks, stop being cheap, and your business will look and sound much better.

Open Doors – I hate when people do this. First of all, in the summer (when most of the heat problems happen), open doors just bring in the hot air from outside so their's really no point. It also makes your health club look very cheap because it makes people feel like the place is going out of business or that you can't afford air conditioning. If you do this, do it at your own risk because it's simply a horrible option and the last one I would ever pick to help cool down a health club.

Air Conditioning – Although this is more expensive, aren't your members worth it? If you get central air you can very easily keep the building at a constant temperature and once you find a good temperature, you'll most likely get almost no complaints. If you do they'll probably be rare and from a person who simply likes to complain about everything, and most of the time you won't need to do anything about it (although if several members are complaining about it, then it's time to change). If you mix air conditioning with a few quiet fans, you'll have a great combination that your members will enjoy!

No matter what you choose to do, just realize that keeping a good temperature is very important. You'd be surprised how many people leave a place simply because the temperature wasn't right.

Hulk is Ruining My Health Club


Is “Hulk-Hogan” Ruining Your Health Club?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Imagine you're a regular person walking into what you thought was a very high quality health club for the first time.

You got a few different recommendations from friends saying it was a great place to go so you thought “hey, I might as well try it out and see if it's good for me right?”

As you're approaching the doors you hear a loud slamming, and maybe even your feet vibrate a little. As you walk through the door, you look to your left and there's a Hulk-Hogan looking guy screaming at the top of his lungs and slamming the weights off the floor.

How do you think you would feel if you were that person walking through the doors? Assuming you weren't the same kind of person, don't you think that would turn you off?

There's nothing wrong with grunting a little while lifting, and dropping the weights a little. However, when people are in your health club and grunting/dropping weights so loud that it's disturbing everybody in a 100 foot area, the situation needs to be taken care of.

So how do you deal with a hulk-hogan kind of guy who thinks he's special because he's the biggest person in the room and is there the longest?

Well first you need to realize that if he stays, he's probably costing you a lot of money. Not only is he driving your current clients away and making them go to another place to workout, but when they tell their friends it make the problem even worse.

Plus, some people literally won't go to a gym or health club simply because they're intimidated by 1 single person and don't want to go back just in case they're in the gym when they are!

So with that in mind, you need to take him or her aside and simply explain the situation. Let them know that the way they're acting is unacceptable and even though you don't personally mind it, it might be causing a problem with your other members.

Let them know that they're absolutely welcome to continue being a member at your health club, however, if you see them continuing to do the same thing, you'll have to ask them to leave.

That's really about all it takes. They probably won't be happy with you and will probably put up a fight with you, but stand your ground and keep to your word. Understand that nobody likes to be told what to do, especially people who might be taking steroids and normally have a bit more rage than the average person.

One thing you might consider doing is finding a place in your area that doesn't mind behavior like that. In some areas, there are gyms specially built for “hardcore” bodybuilders, so you might consider calling that owner and asking them if they'd mind if you referred your member to them.

Trust me, they'll love you for it!

This might be a challenging situation for you, but you need to convince yourself that they're costing you money. Look at them and see money getting flushed down the toilet if you have to! Sometimes challenging situations come up and you have to deal with them. Just understand that how you deal with situations like these will many times determine your overall success in the long run.

Over-Staffed


How To Tell If You're Over-Staffed

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Here is a way to save you a bunch of money and actually make your business MORE profitable by having less people work. It might sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes having less people work is the key to greater productivity and even higher profit margins!

How?

Take this scenario for example.

You walk into your place of business and see 3 of your workers standing around in the office while 2 others (usually the over-achievers) are managing the entire floor. The 3 people in the office make up the excuse that they were just taking a small break, but do you honestly know how long they were in there?

Little “breaks” like these may be taking up to 2-3 hours of the day in some circumstances. Just think about it, if you're paying each person just $10 per hour and they're wasting 2 hours per day chit-chatting, and you have 5 employees, that's $100 PER DAY that you're losing!

Taking into a month, that amounts to $3,000 per month and $36,000 per year.

Would you like a $36,000 per year pay raise while increasing productivity? I know I would.

Ok so here's how you fix that.

Instead of having your employees simply “know” what they're supposed to do, create daily checklists for them. Then have them turn in the checklists at the end of each day letting you know what they actually got done. In my health club we call this the “Hit List”.

Having written goals and checklists is one of the easiest and fastest ways to improve productivity in a business. Did you know that people who have written short and long term goals make about $7,000 per month while those who don't have those kinds of goals only make about $3,000 per month?

THAT is the power of having goals and checklists!

Doing this is going to majorly help control your down time, and in many cases when you can control the down time enough you can actually either cut back on staff while still getting the same workload done, or your business can take off in productivity which means more profits down the road for you!

Even if you don't even have more productivity in areas like marketing to get new people into the business, simply making checklists and making sure your employees are on top of their game at all times will be noticed by your clients, and well appreciated.

We all hate companies with bad customers service and when your clients are paying you to provide them with a great health club, that also means great customer service. And you probably already realize that if they get incredibly customer service they're probably going to stick with your club much longer!

So if you don't already have checklists that your employees are going through, start making them today. You can either make them yourself and have the same checklist each week (make a different checklist for each day, depending on what needs to be done), or you can even have your employees make their own checklists and hand them to you at the end of the day.

The choice is yours, now get to it!

Having a Nice Office


Having A Nice Office – Necessity Or Waste Of Money?
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

When I walk into the different health clubs around the country, there is one thing I see that always bugs me. This simple thing is costing people tons of money and is wasting a lot of time that could be better used in a more productive way.
What is it?
Having a big, fancy office!
Let me tell you something. Even though the health club I run is very nice, professional and would look like it would need an office – the only thing I personally have is a desk, phone, and a cabinet for a few items I need to keep.
That’s it!
I would rather spend my time “out in the trenches” than hiding away in my office where nobody could see me. I’m always interacting with my members and that’s what they love about my health club. You see, especially in today’s world, most businesses are very impersonal with their clients. That’s why if you start becoming more personal with them, you’ll automatically stand out from the crowd and become the business they always want to stick with because you’re just a little bit different.
Offices also tend to serve as a kind of hiding place for most managers, owners and even employees. It’s the place where people go when they don’t feel like working or don’t want to deal with a certain client.
Well, guess what? It’s better to tackle the fear head on than to sit in the office and never deal with it because it ALWAYS comes back to haunt you!
Once you’re in the office, it’s much too easy to simply relax and let your mind wander. I know you might need that from time to time and that’s fine, but all too often I see business owners wasting half the day sheltered in their offices where nobody can find them.
Wouldn’t it be better to get out into the action and mix it up with your members? Not only will their needs be taken care of better, but they’ll love your business more because you’re one of the very few business owners who actually seems to care about them!
Ok, so what if you already have a big office? What if you spent a lot of money putting it in, decorating it and making it look all fancy?
Rip-it-down!
I’m serious. One of the most productive things you could possibly do is to rip down your office and replace it with something worthwhile, such as more equipment. Then just replace your big fancy office with something much more simply like a desk, phone, and a cabinet. That’s all you really need anyway.
Your members will very much welcome the chance because you’ll be showing them you’re more interested in them than stroking your ego by having a giant office that looks like the Taj Mahal. They’ll appreciate that you’re doing what you can to make them feel more comfortable and they’ll reward you by coming back and spending more money with you – not to mention probably telling their friends about it.
So get rid of your office today, it’s not necessary and is causing you many hours of productive time you could be using to grow your business!

Give Me Your Life


Give Me Your Life And I'll Give You A Tour

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Are you asking for too much just to give a simple tour of your health club? Listen, you don't need to get the persons license, blood sample, urine sample, lock of hair and their fingerprints just to become part of your health club!

This is a mistake I see way too many people making. Sure, getting information on your prospects is great, but if you ask for too much information you're going to try them away because it's not worth the effort for them!

You need to understand 2 things in order to be successful in this business:

1) Not every person who comes into your health club and wants a tour is a qualified guest. They might be overextending themselves with money and kind of just “dreaming” they could belong to a place like this, they might be a person who did a New Years resolution who'll be in and out of your club within 2 weeks, or maybe they were just bored and needed something to do (you'd be surprised at what people do when they're bored).

2) Most people are NOT criminals! Trust me, most people are good, honest people and aren't coming in to simply take advantage of you. Sure, some people try to work the system but these are few and far between, so don't even worry about them. You'll most likely be able to tell who they are anyway. Ease up and be friendly to your prospects and treat them as welcomed guests instead of criminals and your closing rates will skyrocket instantly.

When a person comes in looking for a tour, just give it to them. You should always ask if you'd be allowed to follow up with them and if they say yes, just get their name and address. Then ask if you might be able to have their phone number but if you're going to call people, explain to them that you're not going to call them like telemarketers do and bother them everyday of their life. Trust me, this is a GREAT way to both lower their defenses and establish rapport with them at the same time!

The point is guests should be taken care of very gently. Don't harass them and make them sign up right then and there if they aren't comfortable with it. One of the best things you can do is, one that initial visit, be as friendly and establish as much rapport as you possibly can. Don't even worry about the sale. Then, have a follow-up system in place and make sure it's as solid as a concrete wall. Let the person decide to come back through the information you give them after they leave, don't force them!

Now obviously when I say that I'm not saying to not even ask them to join I'm simply saying, don't be TOO pushy. Know your limits and learn to read their body language. When you've gone too far, ease it up and rely on your follow-up system to do the work for you.

Always remember, people want to make friends and don't like to be sold to. Keep that in mind and your closing rate is going to jump through the roof immediately.

Cash In Prospects


Do You See The Cash In Prospects?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Here's a little homework project for you.

On the next day you have a few minutes available, walk into either your own health club as a “fly on the wall” or into another health club and you'll see one common theme.

The trainers are usually talking to the most attractive/young people!

This is a HUGE mistake that most health clubs are making – and I want to get a little more in depth on this because it's such an important subject.

Ok so we've already established that simply talking with the young/attractive people isn't the best use of your time or your employees time.

So who do you talk to?

Whoever needs the most help!

When you're looking out over the workout floor, do you see regular people working out or do you see money signs?

You need to constantly be looking out for those people who need the help. These are the people who, when you give them the attention they need and are willing to help them out with whatever they need, will be completely loyal to your business and stay with you the longest.

You see, most companies out there have problems with customer service. They get a client and all of a sudden it's like nobody cares about that person anymore.

Trust me, it's MUCH easier to keep a person and make more money off an existing client than it is to pick up a new prospect, so start paying more attention to your existing clients to keep them there longer!

You need to be finding those people who are kind of hiding in the background, doing their own thing but not getting the help they need.

These are your goldmine clients.

Because the clients who don't need as much help are probably going to stay anyway. Yes, you need to pay attention to them as well, but something as little as noticing they're there, saying hey and asking if they need anything is usually enough.

But if you walk up to a person who seems to need help, and you give them that help, you're going to make your business stand out like a gold beacon in their eyes and they're going to stay loyal to you for a very long time. In today's world customer service is pretty bad in 90% of businesses so if you strive to pay attention to your clients, they WILL notice!

This is one of those secrets that some of the most successful health clubs in the world follow, and although it's a little more work – your returns on the work you do are going to come back to you 10 fold.

Start seeing the clients that need help not only as money-makers, but see them as people who need some help! See them as a person who wants to be in great shape but simply needs a little guidance to do so.

And then be there when that person needs help – and they'll love you forever.

Corporate Membership


Do You Give Out Corporate Memberships?

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


When it comes to price, everybody is looking for a deal. Sometimes they'll even lie or make something up in order to save just a few bucks. This doesn't happen very often, but it happens.

One thing I personally come across very often is when people come into my business asking if I have corporate memberships. This means they work for a particular company and want a discount because they work for that company.

(As a side note, this usually happens when that company is in a close proximity to the health club or has some kind of joint venture deal with it.)

One thing you absolutely must not do is make up things when they ask you, just to make the sale. It might work a few times but if your staff is unclear on the “rules” and gives someone the wrong information, it can do horrible things to your credibility and positioning in your market.

So what do you do?

Personally, I give them 3 options.

1) Company Pays For Everyone – In this, the company would pay for whoever went to my health club with one check. Not very many companies take this option because unfortunately a lot of companies don't care about the health of their employees, but it's a good idea to have this just in case. If you do find a company willing to do this, it can mean some big bucks for you.

2) Company Pays Part Of The Membership – This is similar to the first option except the check is split up and instead of the company paying the entire membership, they pay a portion of it. How much of a portion of it is up to you and the company, but you might consider sticking with one percentage for all companies regardless of size (just to keep it simple), depending on your own preferences.

3) Company Only Allows My Club To Solicit Employees – In this option, which is the one most companies choose, the company doesn't really pay anything. Most of the time people come into the club asking for a discount because they work for a certain place because they're simply looking for a discount. I'm not sure why customers don't just ask “what deals can I get if I work for (insert company name)”? But, that's how they usually asked so be prepared for it!

Whether or not you give discounts, and the percentage of a discount for certain companies is up to you. This is pretty obvious but I recommend giving larger discounts for larger companies because they're going to bring you more customers. Just make sure you have rules set in place so if someone comes in and asks you these questions, you know what to say!

Do What the Hand Says


Do What The Hand Says!

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


Are you being strict about your policies, or are you being a little pansy about it? If you're being a pansy, your health club members are going to run all over you and think of you as a joke.

Think back to the last week or so in your health club. Were there weights laying all over the floor, or were they properly racked and put on the weight trees like they should be? At the end of the day, how many weights were on the floor, and how many were where they're supposed to be? Are there certain times in the day when it seems “messier” than normal?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself. And if there is a problem, you NEED to take care of it. And don't just put one of those little signs up either. That's about the equivalent of a 5 year old telling a 10 year old bully to move out of the way.

During the course of your day, you need to make sure your health club members know what they're supposed to be doing. Just because they're paying to go to your gym doesn't mean like they can treat it like they treat their own house or business. They need to be wiping everything down after they're done, putting the weights away properly, not slamming weights all over the place, and generally acting courteous to the other people in the gym.

And if someone isn't following your rules, you NEED to do something about it! Set an example for the rest of your members and kick them out if you need to. It's a great psychological tactic that will not only get rid of the nuisance member, but will also show everyone else that you're serious about how clean the place stays and that the rules are always followed.

Also, don't make your staff go around picking up weights all day either. Think about what that's telling your members.

It's practically saying “I don't mind if you leave your stuff all over the place because my staff will just be your slave and come around and pick everything up for you anyway”.

Trust me, you DO NOT want this happening inside your health club – it's going to ruin the credibility of your club and make you the laughing stock of your competitors.

If you're having problems with this type of thing, you need to start taking notice right away. A good idea might be to get a sheet of paper, list out every hour of the day you're open, and rate the “cleanliness” of your club on an hourly basis. Then simply try to figure out why it's so dirty and unorganized at that point in the day.

And as I mentioned earlier if you know someone that's single-handedly creating these problems, take care them immediately!

Dealing with Radio Blues


Dealing With The Radio Blues

By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com


There are tons of different personalities that are going to come into your health club, and tons of different personalities means that a lot of people are going to want different radio stations.

Some people, usually the hardcore bodybuilders, are going to want to listen to heavy metal and/or rock stations while people such as women and “less hardcore” people might want to listen to Pop, R&B, sometimes even country.

Then of course as the owner you get complaints from the people who can't listen to what they want to listen to. It's like babysitting a bunch of kids, isn't it?

Listen, you can't give in to the people who complain about a certain radio station. If your staff keeps changing the radio station to try and please everybody in the gym, it's kind of like a shotgun approach – and the shotgun approach doesn't work.

My suggestion is that you stick to one radio station – ALL THE TIME. Don't ever move from that radio station, unless of course they start playing really bad music or go bankrupt or something like that.

Another thing you need to know is that you should never keep the radio in plain view of the members of your health club. They don't care whether or not you want it changed, they're going to do it anyway. People unfortunately only care about themselves and they'll show you that – so don't even give them the option!

In my health club we have Sirius Radio, keep it on just one station and we hide the receiver so the members couldn't find it and change the stations on us.

So with that in mind you're probably asking, “ok well how do I figure out which station to keep it on”. It's simple really.

Here are 2 options:

1) Do a poll and ask every member of your gym what station they would prefer. Then at the end of the poll, put it to that station and leave it there for good. Make sure you explain to the members why you're doing this and that the final decision is the final decision. They'll respect you for doing this because they'll realize you're trying to make everyone happy. This is the strategy I recommend.

2) You can also simply pick a radio station that has a mix of genres and plays similar but different music (usually whatever is popular at that time) and leave it on there. You also need to think of what kind of members you have. If you have more of a hardcore gym, put it on a hardcore station. If it's for average people simply trying to lose a few jean sizes, just put on the type of music popular at that time.

This might not seem like a big deal, but I literally know people who have left clubs just because of the music they played. By learning how to make the most people happy you're going to keep more members for a longer time and gain their trust at the same time!

Just Doing My Job


But I’m Just Doing My Job!
By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Do you have a written list of what the job description is for each person in your company? If so, do they know about them and would they be able to repeat them back to you while they’re half-asleep?
If not, you might consider holding regular meetings and making sure everybody knows exactly what they’re doing.
All too often, I see companies where their employees spend more time trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing than time actually doing work!
And if this is you, you’re wasting a lot of valuable work time and potentially losing clients and business.
So how do you fix this problem?
Well, every single person in your business needs to know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing at all times. If you walk up to them at any point in the day, they should know the exact job they’re supposed to be doing and how it should be done.
If they don’t know this, you need to make sure they know it for next time.
Just think about how much time your employees are wasting by trying to continually figure out what they’re supposed to be doing. If they’re even half confused on what they should be doing, trust me, it adds up to a HUGE amount of extra time at the end of the day where they could be doing something productive instead of walking around aimlessly trying to pretend they’re busy.
One thing you might do is print out a sheet or a few sheets of paper listing every single persons job in the company and a bulleted list of what they’re expected to accomplish each and every day.
Plus, you need to make sure that your employees know that you don’t simply expect the minimum from them. This is one of the biggest killers of businesses I know – when employees only want to do the minimum and aren’t willing to go “above and beyond” their job to either help out other employees or help clients that aren’t theirs.
But why would they do that?
Most employees are simply there to get a paycheck. Unfortunately that’s the case, but it’s the truth. So what you need to do is figure out what they want and give them an incentive for going above and beyond their call of duty.
This could be something like having an employee of the month, giving out free tickets to a local hockey/baseball game (or whatever your employees agree on), or whatever else you think they would like to work towards.
In fact, you might consider even having a vote and letting THEM pick what their reward would be, or having a few options that they could choose from if they win. This makes sure they actually want to work towards becoming an employee of the month and when you get your entire team to start working towards that goal, what do you think is going to happen to your business?
It’s going to become much more productive!
By making sure your employees both know what they’re supposed to be doing and strive to do even more than that, you’re almost guaranteed a more successful, more stress-free work environment – and more clients in the long run!

Are You Wasting Your Money On Worthless Junk?




By Brian Cannone
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com

You walk into a health club and it's magnificently displayed. There are glass shower doors, a rock climbing wall, a huge elegant waterfall, and plasma TV's laid out all over the place – even in the locker rooms!

Do you REALLY need all this stuff, or are you trying to satisfy your own ego by making your club seem like it's a really cool and hip place to be?

Well, this depends on a few things. Let's take a look.

If you have all these beautiful and expensive items in your health club but the place where the people actually come to get in good shape is crowded, you're spending your money in the wrong places.

If people are waiting in line for 5 minutes just to get on the treadmill or use the bench press, you're spending your money in the wrong place.

If people are coming up and complaining to you that someone is hogging the equipment – you're spending your money in the wrong place.

Listen, people come to your health club for one thing...to get in shape! Although the waterfalls, plasma TV's and all that stuff make the place look great, what is it actually doing to HELP your members?

If your members are coming in and waiting in line to use a machine, you need to get rid of the “junk” and go out and buy some more equipment. If you don't have enough room, you need to stop spending money on luxury items and instead rip down a wall and put in another 100sq. ft. of space so you can fit more members in your club.

Now obviously sometimes they might have to wait if you're having an especially busy day, but if it's a regular occurrence something needs to be changed.

Trust me, people aren't going to continue coming back if they're constantly waiting in line to use a machine. And they're going to spread the word to their friends (just because people naturally like to complain). So if they're going to complain, you want them to be complaining about your competitors – not you!

Also realize that this also depends on the atmosphere of your business. If you're trying to achieve an “upscale” image, some of these things may be necessary. However, know your boundaries and always put what is necessary first – which is always having enough machines and enough room for people to be comfortable.

I know it's tempting to purchase all kinds of fancy equipment and make the place look “pretty” but trust me, it's MUCH better in the long-run to buy equipment that's absolutely necessary first, then go for the pretty stuff second.

You might even think of doing a customer survey and finding out what they want, then giving THAT to them!

Because in the end, you need to give your customers what they want. Don't try and pretend you know what they want because a lot of times they can surprise you. Take care of them, and they'll take care of you.