Fitness Sales

Personal Training Business

2009-10-11T08:10:00.001-07:00

Starting a personal training company. How to schedule clients and consultations and structure commissions.

Fitness Sales Training - Group Training

2009-08-30T07:42:00.001-07:00

Cathy Savage Shares about Online Personal Training Fitness Programs

2009-08-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

Cathy Savage Shares about Online Personal Training Fitness Programs

Mike D'Angelo introduces the Helix Cardio Machine

2009-08-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Mike D'Angelo introduces the Helix Cardio Machine

New Website in the works

2009-06-25T04:49:00.000-07:00

In progress of launching new website designed for personal trainers, gym managers and owners - a site for people in fitness careers to move from one position to another and the skills required - how to increase your revenue with marketing and sales skills.

The Continuity Summit

2009-06-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

The very first event to focus on recurring revenue – The 2009 Continuity Summit.

Muscle Nerd Jeff Anderson - Fitness Atlantic Brian Cannone - Critical Bench Mike Westerdal

Brian Cannone - Ryan Lee - Jeff Anderson

THE marketing event of the year!

Book Review of No Discount Guide to Fitness Marketing

2009-05-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

Review of the "No Discount" Guide to Fitness Marketing
By Mike Westerdal of CriticalBench.com

Before I started running CriticalBench.com full-time, in previous lives I have worked both as a gym membership sales consultant and as a personal trainer. And though I was successful, continually selling new memberships and securing new clients was always a never-ending challenge.

After reading The No Discount Guide to Fitness Marketing, I really wish I had run across this resource back in the days when I was selling gym memberships and marketing my services as a personal trainer. The No Discount guide is written by Brian Cannone and he's developed what he calls the five-part Ultimate Health Club Profits Formula. If you're a gym owner, this is definitely a worthwhile read.

The book is divided into 11 chapters outlining Brian's complete strategy in detail. Chapter 1 introduces us to the "formula." Before getting into the formula, Brian talks about the importance of switching from an owner-focused perspective to one that's customer-focused. In this new organizational design, the customer is on top and marketing and sales take on new importance while the role of the CEO is moved off to the side, charged with the task of leading the company in the new customer-focused direction.

Once that's covered, Brian moves on to discussing the formula,
which includes these 5 parts:

Increase the number of promotions;

Increase the size of each new customer purchase;

Increase the response rate of all your advertising;

Increase the number of times you charge your members; and

Increase the number of purchases (other than members' fees) to your current members.
In the rest of this chapter Brian goes on to provide more in-depth information about each of these components.

The next chapter gives us an overview of Brian's thoughts about creating systems (think McDonald's) to keep your gym on "autopilot." This means that the gym's success is not overly dependent on any one person-including you.

The idea is to establish consistent systems that produce the same results regardless of the person performing them.

Chapter 3 is focused on positioning your club in the marketplace and the steps involved in doing so. He includes a good discussion about surveys and even includes a sample. This chapter is followed up by an overview of effective do-it-yourself advertising strategies. Here, Brian provides some easy-to-implement ideas for promoting your gym. The section on how to present your website is top-notch and I also like the fact that he provides examples and resources.

Chapters 5-8 are dedicated to an in-depth explanation of Brian's 7-step system to successfully walk your prospects through the sales cycle. He presents the system in an easy-to-follow format that outlines everything you need to do to successfully implement the system. He also spends some time going over some of the qualities that you should look for in your salespeople before laying out the rest of the steps in the system. And again, like the other chapters Brian uses real-life examples and provides useful tools and resources.

Chapter 7 starts out with some great suggestions for customizing and making the most of gym tours. He closes out this section with an overview of the different types of memberships you should consider. In chapter 8 Brian leads with strategies for overcoming most of the typical objections you're likely to hear from prospects. There's a lot of useful information presented in this chapter-I especially like his thoughts about personal training and how it should be managed.

Brian gives us his thoughts about using the telephone as a sales tool to bring in prospects and sell memberships in chapter 9. Like the other parts of his formula, he lays out a strategy for using the phone as lead-generating and sales closing tool. This is followed up by an excellent presentation about putting it all into action. He really covers everything-laying out the gym, equipment selection, figuring out how many members/memberships you need to turn each month, and more. This section is jam-packed with great examples and lots of resources.

Overall, I'd say that whether you're an experienced gym owner or just starting out this book is a must-have. The concepts and ideas he presents are practical, realistic and doable. By that I mean that the strategies he offers up don't require extraordinary resources that are beyond the reach of ordinary gym owners. I especially like the fact that the book is based on practical experiences that have shown to work. If you're looking to pump up the sales volume at your gym I definitely recommend this book.

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The "No Discount" Guide To Fitness Marketing by Brian Cannone

Behind the scenes fitness expert finally
reveals his secrets…

Discover How To Instantly Create A Stampede Of New Members Into Your Health Club, Fitness Studio, Or Gym…With These “No Discount Street Tactics” Invented By A Connecticut Man Who Created $59,845 in New Billings Out Of Thin Air…And How He Did It Again 4 Years Later...

The Best Part: He’s put these tactics into a complete step-by-step system anyone can follow to launch a new health club, re-launch an old one, or get a bunch of new members on the cheap. Read this special fitness sales online report to discover more…

Read on at: FitnessSalesTraining.com

What is Your Name?

2009-04-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:53:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

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?

2009-04-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-04-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Professional Business

2009-03-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

5 Easy To Implement Ways To Make Sure You’re Running A Professional Business

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

In today's world, people aren't looking for a regular, run of the mill health club. Instead, they're looking for a place that makes them feel comfortable, a place that treats them like they're supposed to be treated, and above all, a place that acts professional and is serious about the service they provide.
With competitors on every block, why would you even take a chance on not giving your client the exact type of service they need? It’s not enough anymore to simply have everything they need and provide a great service, now consumers are looking towards the staff of companies as a huge part of the overall atmosphere that company brings.
Here are a few tips you can put to use immediately to give your clients what they need and to give you that extra “boost” you need in the marketplace to be successful:
1. Be Proactive – Instead of your staff simply “reacting” to whatever your clients are doing, make sure you’re hiring a proactive staff who are starting pleasant conversations, making sure everything is perfect for the client instead of waiting for the client to complain, and making sure they’re solving problems before problems ever start.
2. Treat Them Like Gold – Instead of your staff simply going to work and going through the motions, make sure they’re treating your clients like they’re the king of England. One idea is to give them an incentive that the person who gets the most compliments from clients in one month will receive a bonus.
3. Are They Qualified? – If you’re staff doesn’t have the correct amount of training in the field, they probably aren’t going to be able to perform as well as you’d like. They should have the right amount of knowledge in all areas of fitness, as well as in the areas of being professional and treating people with respect. All of these areas will go a long way towards helping your company seem not only professional, but it will also increase the perceived value of the treatment they’re receiving.
4. Positive And Consistent Image – One of the most important things you’ll realize is that the image of your company is one of the most important things in a customer’s eyes. When they think about your company, what comes to mind? Is it a positive image, or a negative one? Some of the factors that will play a role in this include how you answer and speak on the phone, the first impression a customer receives, and how well your professionalism carries throughout the entire organization. Always strive to give 100% professionalism in every single area of the business, not just one or two areas.
5. Have Regular Meetings – Last but not least, an important part of keeping a professional image is that you make sure everybody on your team is on the same page. If one staff member doesn’t clearly understand what’s expected of them, they’re going to ruin the professional image for the entire company. Having a quick daily “prep-talk” meeting can go a very long way towards helping keep your staff on the same level and making sure they’re always being professional.
Having a professional staff in your company is one of the most important things to business success. If people don’t view your staff as professional, they won’t view your company as professional, and they won’t come back. I suggest holding regular “contests” within your staff instead of just hoping that they’re professional. This will go a very long way towards not only improving your company’s image in the eyes of your customer, but also helping keep your staff on board longer, which will improve your bottom line over time.

Behind the scenes fitness expert finallyreveals his secrets…
Discover How To Instantly Create A Stampede Of New Members Into Your Health Club, Fitness Studio, Or Gym…With These “No Discount Street Tactics” Invented By A Connecticut Man Who Created $59,845 in New Billings Out Of Thin Air…And How He Did It Again 4 Years Later...
The Best Part: He’s put these tactics into a complete step-by-step system anyone can follow to launch a new health club, re-launch an old one, or get a bunch of new members on the cheap. Read this special fitness sales online report to discover more…
Read on at: FitnessSalesTraining.com

First Impression

2009-03-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

Why Your First Impression Is So Important

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

There is one aspect of running a successful health club business that 95% of people completely forget – the first impression.
When a prospect walks into your health club, what do you think their first initial reaction is? Are they greeted promptly by an incredibly friendly staff, or do they sit around waiting to be serviced? Do they see that you’re full of business (which would subconsciously tell them that it’s a great place to be a part of), or do they see an empty business which would suggest that there’s a reason why it’s empty?
Do they see trainers who “look the part” and are in great shape themselves, or do they see trainers who look like they need to be trained themselves?
These questions – and many others – are all the questions your prospects are thinking as they walk through your doors for that infamous first impression.
And guess what?
If they don’t like what they see – they’re probably gone forever!
Think about the last time you got a bad impression of another person. It doesn’t matter whether or not that person was as bad as you thought or if they were a saint, it still probably took you some extra time to get over your first impression and change your thoughts about that person.
Unfortunately it’s the same way when it comes to the first impression of a business, except in most cases it’s actually worse because once they have that bad impression; it’s hard to make it up.
Another reason the first impression is so important is because if a person has a bad first impression, or any bad impression for that matter, they’re much more likely to tell their friends about it than even if they had a great impression.
So although you should be focusing on creating a great first impression for your prospect so they start out on the right foot and hopefully will eventually sign up to be your client, it adds an extra benefit of putting you on the “defensive” and preventing any bad rumors being spread about your business.
Whatever way you want to think about it, creating a fantastic first impression is something you should start thinking about immediately. If there’s one thing you need to remember about making a great first impression, it’s this – imagine yourself in your prospects shoes. Think about what YOU would want if you were walking into a health club for the first time, and give them even MORE than that!

Employee Training

2009-03-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Why You Need To Train Your Employees On A Monthly Basis

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

Do you know what one of the main causes of business failure is?
It’s changing the way your business is run and making ever so slight decreases in the way you perform your daily activities. Doing this will slowly erode trust and eventually cause you to close your doors for good.
Fortunately, there’s a very easy way to make sure this never happens.
Simply have a monthly training with your employees!
Although your employees might not enjoy this (you might consider having a monthly review with each individual employee for 5-10 minutes before their shift starts so they don’t have to come in on their day off) – it’s going to help you business stay consistent and always improving.
Training your employees on a monthly basis will do 2 main things:
First, it’s going to help them remember exactly what they need to be doing, exactly what attitude they need to have, and it’s also going to help hone their skills and make them the best trainer they could possibly be.
The second thing it’s going to do is, as I already mentioned, help keep the consistency the same within the company. Having a lack of consistency is one of the biggest business killers out there, so you need to make sure you’re doing everything in your power to make sure your business is run the same day in and day out – whether or not you’re actually there.
Another great aspect of training your employees monthly is that if there are any conflicts between employees, which you’re usually not aware of if you’re not there every day, you can get the 2 parties involved and figure out a way to solve the problem. Some of the biggest conflicts are often the result of something small and insignificant that built up over time.
By talking with them and seeing how the group dynamics are going every month, you’ll be able to smother any conflicts that may have been created in the past month and make sure that conflict isn’t going out into the workplace where it’s affecting your customers.
Because remember, although you might have a seemingly perfect health club, your staff are directly involved with your clients so if you have a staff member not on top of his or her game everyday – the client is going to get frustrated and probably leave!
You need to be sure that within these trainings, your employees are allowed to be 100% open and honest about everything they’re bothered by. You need to make it known before they even get hired that you’ll be having these meetings and if they can’t take constructive criticism, this job is probably not for them.Between your employees being open, smothering any conflicts between employees, being more consistent, and making sure everybody is always on the top of their game so your members are always happy – having monthly trainings can do wonders for your business so I suggest starting them right away!

Newsletters

2009-03-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

What Are The Best Topics For Your Health Club Newsletter?

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

First of all, if you’re not already picking up email addresses for your newsletter, you need to start right away. Literally, start it today.
Starting a newsletter can be one of the easiest and most profitable ways to get more business to your health club.
Why?
First, hardly anybody else is doing it. Second, you’re helping to strengthen the bond between you and the prospect and you’re showing them your expertise. This helps them trust and like you more, which leads to higher sales.
So what are the best topics to write about for your health club newsletter?
1. Controversial – If you can find a “new spin” on a controversial subject, you can simply give your views on it backed up with some research you’ve done or at least a very good explanation as to why and how you came to that conclusion. Whether or not people agree with you, they love seeing controversial topics being talked about.
2. Timely – Is there a topic in the news you think is interesting? For example a few weeks ago there was a story in the news about how they supposedly found a “virus” which causes obesity. You could then talk about what you thought on that subject. This also makes it a lot of fun for you to talk about because you get to share your ideas and thought process even more clearly, and those who agree with you will latch onto you like a sucker-fish. And of course once they do this, they’re more willing to join your health club.
3. Your Philosophy – If you have some great philosophies on various fitness topics, people will love to hear it. For example most people talk about how you need to eat perfect all the time to lose weight. However if you talk about how although that’s true, there are also times when it’s OK to go off your diet, people will feel more connected to you because they’ll sense that you’re “more like them”.
4. Update Them On Your Studies – Have you recently read a research study or found out some new information that you think is important? Let your subscribers know about it and explain whatever you learned in detail. They’ll love the honesty and the fact that you’re sharing what you learned with them.
5. General Information With Your Unique Spin – Sometimes is a great thing to simply give them information they “might” already know. However you should also put your own spin into it. Maybe you could talk about the importance of eating enough protein to build muscle, then talk about how one of your clients followed your advice and lost extra weight, built more muscle, or both at the same time.There are hundreds and thousands of things to talk about in the health industry so I doubt you’ll have any problem coming up with topics. But if you do, come back to these 5 main areas, pick one, and spend a few minutes brainstorming to see what you could write about in your upcoming newsletter.
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

YouTube

2009-03-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

How YouTube Can Explode Your Business With Minimal Time Investment

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

YouTube is becoming quite a phenomenon and is one of the fastest growing companies in the world right now. For whatever reason, people love to watch TV and YouTube is no exception.
And the best part about YouTube is that it’s not only great for getting more people to your website or place of business, it also helps cement trust and build a relationship with your prospects before you ever meet them!
Think about it, which would you trust more – an ad you saw in a local newspaper, or a video of a person giving you great advice followed by a recommendation of their business?
Ok so how can you actually start getting some traffic to your business by making videos and putting them on YouTube? Here are 3 quick and easy ways to do just that:
1. Create A TV Show – If you already have a website for your business (which you should), start making a few videos and posting them on YouTube. Then, create a new “videos” section on your website called and start posting the videos there. Then when your prospects check out your videos, they can see you and the relationship building begins.
2. Give Helpful Advice – When you’re making your videos, make sure you’re giving them great information. Also make sure you put as much personality in the videos as possible because people love seeing personality. It keeps them engaged, makes them send it to friends more often, and makes them like you more easily which will results in an easier sale down the line.
3. Create An Infomercial – You can actually create a short infomercial and put it on YouTube. Then, whenever somebody finds it – you get free exposure! You can also take this video and advertise it with Google and actually set it up so that only people in your area will be able to see the video. Infomercials that you normally see on TV can costs tens of thousands of dollars, but doing it this way will only cost you a few cents per click and can bring you some incredible results.
Making videos and putting them on YouTube is a great way to enhance the quality of your business in your customers and prospects eyes. After you’ve made a few videos, feel free to tell your customers and prospects where they can find them.
For customers, it’s going to help solidify the relationship you already have with them and keep them at your health club much longer.For prospects, it will lower their sales guard and make that all important first sales much, much easier to make. It’s a win-win for everybody because they’re getting great information and you’re making more sales, so start doing it today!
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Secret Shoppers

2009-03-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach You About Making More Money With Your Health Club

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Sherlock Holmes was a great detective. He could solve some of the most impossible cases, and there’s actually a lot you can learn from him when it comes to increasing the revenue to your business.
But what does he have to do with your business?
A lot actually!
You see, Sherlock Holmes was a detective, and that’s exactly what you need to be. In the online marketing world, some of the most successful people are those who kind of “spied” on their competitors and borrowed the ideas they were using to put into their own business.
And that’s’ exactly what you should be doing!
By spying on your competitors to see what they’re doing right, you not only get more ideas from them to help increase the revenue to your business, but just seeing those ideas will often times give you even better ideas. That way you’re not blatantly copying what they’re doing, you’re just improving on some aspect of their business.
Ok so how do you spy on your competitors without making it obvious?
Here are a few ways:
1. Collaborate With Them – If you can find a business similar to yours but not competing (i.e. if you have a weight loss club and they have a muscle-building gym), you can partner up with them and form a small mastermind. Then, bounce ideas off each other and start putting those ideas into use. This is probably the best method because with this method you get to copy the ideas without your prospects knowing, because you’re marketing to different types of people!
2. Secret Shoppers – You can actually hire people to go into your competitors businesses and jot down the ideas that they think are the best. They can also critique them, figuring out what things they didn’t like so you can make sure you’re not doing them in your business. You can get friends, family, or even pay people to do this – that’s up to you.
3. Secret Shoppers For YOUR Business – Along the same lines, you can hire people to do the same thing, but doing it for your business. By doing this you get to objectively find out how your business is run when you’re not there. Just be prepared to understand that it’s never going to run as smoothly as you want it to, and although you may need to change things around when you find out the truth, don’t get so angry that your employees start to resent you. If you’re able to not only pick up ideas from your competitors but also find out what they’re doing wrong, plus what you’re doing wrong, your business is going to start jumping way ahead of the competition. This is simply maximizing the good things about your business and minimizing the bad. And guess what – your clients and your prospects WILL notice, and they’re going to love it!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Franchise or Not

2009-03-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

To Buy A Franchise Or Privately Own A Health Club – That IS The Question

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

There are 2 schools of thought when it comes to running health clubs. One thinks that buying a franchise is the best way to go while others think privately owning your own health club is the best way.
What these people often don’t understand is that there is NO best way for everybody, there’s only a best way for YOU!
If you’ve ever wanted to figure out which route would be better for you to take, just keep reading. First I’ll tell you the benefits of franchising, followed by the benefits of privately owning a club. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
The Benefits Of Franchising
1. You simply pay the money for the franchise and literally everything is set up for you.
2. You don’t have to worry about making different advertisements, learning how to market, or any of that stuff which takes awhile – it all comes with the package!
3. Building the brand is already done for you and it will probably be easier to get customers right off the bat because people already know about the franchise so you don’t have to “convince” them of anything.
The Benefits Of Privately Owning A Health Club
1. It’s usually much cheaper to start – franchising fee’s can get up into the hundreds of thousands while you can open a health club or simply buy out an existing health club and save a ton of money.
2. You have control over everything. If you’re an individualistic type of person and like things done your own way, privately owning a club is the best option for you.
3. If you want to change your marketing, your image, run specials, or pretty much do anything different or change anything – you can. With a franchise you’re usually limited to what they tell you to do.
The disadvantages of both are pretty easy to figure out as well. Essentially, the benefits of one are usually the disadvantage of the other.
For example since everything is set up for you in a franchise, the disadvantage to privately owning a health club is that obviously it’s not set up for you.
Since an advantage of privately owning is that it’s usually cheaper than buying a franchise, the disadvantage of a franchise is that it’s more expensive.
You can do this for each of the benefits I’ve laid out.
So now you have to figure out which of these two options would be best for you. If you already have a marketing background, are willing to learn, and/or want things done your own way – start your own health club.
On the other hand if you simply want to invest some money and have everything done for you and buy a “plug and play” business, franchising is probably best for you.Both are great options, but they’re both designed for different types of people. Figuring out what you want may take days or even weeks to figure out, but it’s absolutely worth it!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Become a Fitness Expert

2009-03-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

The Importance Of Becoming A Local Fitness Expert – And How To Do It!

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

If you want to crush your competition into the dust and never again have to worry about another competitor – ever – you’re going to love this.
By becoming a local fitness expert, you’re going to be able to absolutely dominate the local market, and the best part is, it’s easy to do!
Ok so first, the reason you want to become a local fitness expert is simple – when people hear your name, you have instant credibility. Positioning yourself as THE fitness expert in your area will not only land you on the news, it will bring you in more clients and they’ll stay much longer and buy more from you.
So here’s how you do it:
First, you’re going to want to plan an event at your health club. There are a few things you can do with this including having a contest (think “biggest loser”), holding a charity event, or doing some crazy publicity stunt that grabs the attention of your entire town.
Next, you’re going to want to personally contact every single media person possible and tell them about what you’re going to do. Make it so that these media are practically like paparazzi – shoving each other out of the way so they can get a better shot.
Of course you don’t want it to be insane, just try to get as many people from the media as possible.
Your time to shine is during the event. You might think of holding a short but incredibly powerful seminar during the event. This is going to position you as the expert and people will remember you. Be sure to give them some of your most secret and useful information possible.
You should also make a bunch of shirts to give away and make sure your logo, business name, and maybe even a special offer and call-to-action on the shirt!
For example it might say “I completed the 5k run at Joe’s Health Club and helped promote breast cancer awareness to the country!” Then under that, have something like “call Joe’s at xxx-xxxx and ask about the special 5k run discount!
And there you have it – free advertising which will probably continue to come in. People will see those shirts and call you months after the event.
Plus, if you get yourself on the local news/TV – people will associate you as being the expert which will make you THE person to go to if they need to get in shape.
My point is that the best thing you can do to position yourself as a local fitness expert is to simply get yourself on the radio and TV. When you can say you were on the local radio/TV, you have instant credibility and your prospects will turn into paying members – and your current members will most likely start buying more from you. It works like a charm!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Image of Quality

2009-03-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

Why Having A High Quality Image Will Propel Your Fitness Business To New Heights

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

If you look at nearly any business in any niche, the one characteristic you’ll see in the most successful business is that they hold a very high quality image.
What I mean by this is that when a consumer thinks about your business, they should be thinking of it as a high quality business, not some run down shack that’s cheap and for poor people. Think about it, what kind of business would you rather be a part of it you were your prospect? Would you rather belong to a health club that holds a high quality image, or one that people think of as a place where poor people go if they want to get in shape?
When people walk into your business, they should feel like they’re a king or queen. They should feel like they’re getting pampered, like they belong to a high-class club, like they’re part of an elite group that only certain people are allowed to get involved with.
If you can help your clients feel like this when they’re in your business, it’s going to go a very long way towards helping keep your client retention rate sky high. In fact, you’ll even be more likely to get a lot more referrals if they feel like they’re part of an elite group because they’re going to brag to their friends about it!
So now all of this begs the question – how do you make your business appear high quality?
The answer is simple.
If you make your client feel like they’re the only person in the room. Make them feel like they’re your only client.
And you can do this in many ways, including how you answer the telephone, how you treat clients as they’re walking through the door, how you treat them as they’re leaving, how you treat them when they’re asking questions, how clean and “tidy” you keep the business, and generally how you run every aspect of the business.
Also, one of the most advanced psychological tricks you can play is to simply increase the price. Even if you literally change nothing else in your business, simply increasing your price will increase the perceived value of your services.
Think about it, would you rather buy a named brand item at a store, or a generic brand? Most of the time the ingredients are the exact same thing, yet people are willing to spend 20%, 30%, 50% or even higher simply to buy the name brand item.It’s the exact same for your business. Increase the price and you increase the image of quality of your business. Then if you follow my other steps and treat your clients like gold, you have a winning strategy!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Telephone Skills

2009-03-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

10 Tips To Close More Sales On The Telephone

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

So you’ve gotten the attention of your prospect and they’ve decided to call your business for more information about your health club.
Do you know what to do next?
So let’s get started, shall we?
The telephone is an often under-appreciated and much maligned piece of office equipment. Have you stopped to consider how much business you conduct over the telephone? These 10 tips will help you improve your telephone presence and presentations.
1. The First Impression – Before you even pick up the phone, put a nice big fat smile on your face. This might sound easy but doing this will make your voice more clear plus help your prospect feel more at ease because you’ll sound more pleasant and relaxed.
2. Listen – When you’re on the phone with a prospect, don’t do ANYTHING else. Listen to them and try to “read between the lines”. Showing empathy while listening has also proved to be incredibly useful because the prospect will feel like you genuinely care about them.
3. Let Them Finish – Make sure the prospect is completely finished talking before you speak. A second of silence is better than interrupting them.
4. Open-Ended Questions – Don’t ask them questions that allow them to respond with a simple yes or no. Doing this breaks up the flow of the conversation and makes it feel more awkward, which is never a good thing. Keep the questions open-ended, let the prospect vent, and you’ll make more sales.
5. Match Their Voice – This little psychological trick can work wonders towards creating trust. All you have to do is simply slow down or speed up your voice to match the prospects. They won’t even notice, but it subconsciously creates more trust because they’ll feel more comfortable.
6. Phrase It Positively – When you’re answering questions, make sure everything is positive. Instead of saying “I don’t think that’s a good solution” you can say “I think the best solution is X”.
7. Voicemail – Although it’s better to talk directly to the person, when you’re leaving voicemails, try to be as friendly as possible – inviting them to call you back.
8. Pre-Call Planning – Before you call someone back who’s interested in your club, figure out exactly what you want to say. You might even want to write out 10 things in a sheet of paper that you want to make sure you say to your prospects and keep that piece of paper in the same place as where you make your calls.
9. Tape Yourself – If you can tape yourself and figure out what you’re doing wrong, or even have other people critique you, it will help hone your skills. Doing this will help eliminate any weird sounding phrases, messages that are unclear, and other things which will help you be more persuasive.
10. Make An Action Plan – Although I gave you 10 tips, you might choose to work on just one of them at a time and become an expert in that area. Then, move onto the next, and the next, until you’ve finished them all.I guarantee that if you follow these steps and continually improve your sales pitch over the phone, you’re going to see that your phone conversions go through the roof which means more money for the same amount of work!

Opening a Gym - Read This! http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Social Networking

2009-03-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Using Social Media To Drive People To Your Health Club

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Social media is a huge phenomenon producing some incredible results in today’s marketing world. Some business are already cashing in on the enormous opportunity while others don’t seem to understand that social media can be used for any business in any niche.
But how is that possible?
You can only understand the answer if you truly know the purpose of social media. And to put it simply, the purpose of social media is to create conversation with anybody and everybody at the same time. In a marketing sense, the purpose of social media is to simply build trust with your prospects, but I’ll get to that a little later.
So how can you use sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. for your local offline business? Let me show you.
The first thing you need to realize is that with social media, your main goal is to create an engaging conversation and build trust. You can do this in the form of polls, surveys, or simply posting a fascinating article or blog post and letting your followers know about it. This in turn helps cement the fact that you’re an expert and will make them trust you even more.
And going back now to trust, which is one of the most powerful tools you can use to get people to go to your health club, are you trying to build it with your prospects?
It just so happens that you can build trust incredibly easy with social media because your followers get to see the real you. They get to see your personality, your interests, what you’re doing throughout the day, and they get to see whether or not you truly care about them.
Let me give you an example.
Your prospect is deciding whether to join your health club or your competitors – we’ll call him Bob.
They’ve visited both your clubs which they like equally and have the same price, but they’re your friend of Facebook and not Bob’s.
Once a week you send them an article giving them some great health information, and they check out your profile and get to see that you’re not just some health club owner, you’re an actual human being. That might sound strange, but most people will tend to pick one business over another just because of the fact that they’ve met or have seen the owner – literally!
Now who do you think that prospect is going to pick – you or Bob?
You of course! Because you’ve shown them you know what you’re talking about, you’ve started to build the relationship, and now you seem more “accessible” to them, which immediately lowers their buying guard down.
I highly suggest getting on multiple social media sites today and getting in contact with your current clients as well as your prospects.For starters, try setting up an account with MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and FriendFeed. Then get in there, be proactive, and watch the money roll in!

Get the free report on fitness marketing http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Referrals

2009-03-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

How To Build Up Such A Strong Referral System You Might Be Able To Stop Advertising All Together!

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Want to get a leg-up on your competition without increasing much of how you run your business? It’s easy when you learn what I’m about to tell you.
What I’m talking about is learning how to get more referrals to your business. Getting more referrals is literally like getting free advertising, and the best part is, it’s the BEST kind of advertising!
Think about it – what would you be more likely to see…
A movie that you saw a review about from a person you didn’t know, or a recommendation from a personal friend who said the movie was great?
That’s exactly what happens when your current clients refer their friends to your program.
Ok so the next question is, how do you do it?
Here are 3 things you can do immediately to increase the amount of referrals you get to your business and increase your revenue without increasing your expenses:
1. Be Referable – Nobody is going to refer a friend to any business unless that business gives that client an incredible experience. Think about your business right now, is there any way that you could create a more meaningful/fun/memorable/unique experience for your client? If so, start doing it immediately. You’ll be surprised at how little things can make your business appear as having a great experience. Sometimes all you have to do is smile more and be more polite!
2. Create A Referring System – People love doing things with their friends. This is especially true in the fitness industry. Try to create a system where people get some kind of discount or special offer for referring friends to your business. If your margins are high enough, you can even give both the referrer and the referee a discount
3. Go Above And Beyond – This is very similar to “being referable” but different in a way that it will require a little more thought and contemplation. What you should do is look at your competition and find out exactly what they do and how they treat their clients. Then, think of creative ways to do things differently and better than them so people feel like they’re treated like gold when they go to your business. By being thought of as “the best”, people are automatically going to think of you when they think of a health club, which is automatically going to create buzz for your business and create many more referrals.Take these 3 suggestions and put them to use in your business today and I can guarantee you, you’re going to see more referrals. This is an easy, no-risk way to increase the revenue to your business and I’d highly recommend making this one of the first things you do, because once you start improving some of the things I just talked about – your entire business will improve in ways you can’t even imagine!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Promote Weight Loss

2009-03-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

What Is The Best Type Of Fitness Program To Use In Your Marketing?

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

As you already know, the fitness industry is one of the biggest industries in the entire world. Because of that, there are dozens of different niches you can get into.
But if you actually take a minute to think about what your prospect truly wants, what do you think it is? Do you think there are more people that want to get huge and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or more people who are interested in losing 10-20 pounds, dropping a few pant sizes and looking better at the beach?
If you guessed that there are more people who want to lose weight –you’re absolutely correct.
If you want to maximize your advertising dollars and bring in more clients, your main focus in all of your marketing materials should be about losing weight. Losing weight is the most popular niche out of any of the sub-niches in the fitness industry, and you should be taking advantage of it.
Because remember, people don’t care about what kind of fancy equipment you have or how big your business is – all they care about is how fast and easily your health club is going to help them achieve their goal, which is losing weight.
Your prospects are bombarded with sales messages everyday and if the one they’re looking at doesn’t show them the main benefit they want to achieve, they’re going to simply glance over it and never think about it again.
Let me give you an example – which of these 2 ads do you think would catch your interest?
Ad A – New 5,000 sq. ft. health club with 6 Stairmasters, 10 treadmills and a swimming pool will help you get in the best shape of your life!
Ad B – Come to “business name” for a 30 day trial and you’re guaranteed to lose at least 2% bodyfat or get double-your-money-back! Call “phone #” for details.
If you picked Ad B, you’re absolutely correct. I just wrote that really quick off the top of my head, but I think you get the point. Notice how Ad A was very general and didn’t give a true benefit. People care about the results you’re going to give them, not about how many machines you have, how big the place is, or anything similar to that.
They want to know how they’re going to get results, and in this world of skepticism, they also want a great guarantee which I threw in there for you.
And as I already mentioned – the benefit the majority of people interested in health want…is to lose weight!
Although we know that looking better is about building muscle PLUS losing weight, most people don’t understand that, and it’s pointless to try and convince them in your marketing. The job of your marketing is to get them into your doors. Once you have them as part of your health club, feel free to educate them further but for simply getting more clients you’ll definitely want to stick with making it simple and telling them you’ll help them lose weight.Keep it short, to the point, and relevant to their goals (i.e. losing weight) and your marketing will get much better results than it’s currently getting.
http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Name Tags

2009-03-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

How To Figure Out If You Should Be Using Name Tags In YOUR Business

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Name tags are a very controversial subject.
Some people swear by them and say they’re incredibly important to keeping great relationships between the staff and your health club members while other people say the staff hate them which makes them resent working at your club, which leads to even bigger problems.
In the next few minutes I’m going to show both sides of the coin and tell you how to figure out whether or not they’d be a good thing to have for YOUR business – because we all know – every health club is run just a little differently and therefore there is no “template” for everybody.
Here are the good and the bad things about name tags that you need to know.
First, by having a name tag on your staff, the members might feel a little more comfortable with them. Have you ever felt awkward around a person whose name you didn’t know? That’s how your members might feel about your staff.
On the other side of this, having name tags might also make your staff feel like they’re on display. It might make them feel like the members are going to be able to “tell on them” for every little thing they do – whether or not that’s really true.
Name tags might also make your uniforms look a little cheap. Although they were used very frequently in the past, not as many business use name tags anymore and one of the reasons why might be because they interrupt the flow of the uniforms and don’t make them look as professional.
They also might be uncomfortable for your staff to wear. Depending on the type of nametag (some are stickers, some can clip onto the shirt with a pin, etc.), since being a health club trainer is a very active job which requires your staff to be moving around a lot, having a nametag might get in the way and make them lose focus when they should be focusing on something else – like checking the form of the client.
My suggestion is this – instead of using a name tag, which your staff probably will hate anyway, why not create some kind of “game” your staff plays with a new member so they remember their name more quickly?
The main reason for wearing a name tag is to create a relationship quickly between the staff and the member, so if you can think of a great way to strengthen that relationship as fast as possible, a nametag might not be necessary.In the end, every business is different and you have to compare your business and weigh the negatives and positives of name tags to see what would be best for your business. However you always need to keep in your mind that you want to build the staff/member relationship as fast as possible – so whatever way you choose to do that is probably the best thing you can do!

Free Marketing Report for Gym Owners http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Follow Up

2009-03-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

How To Instantly Increase Your Business By 20-40% or More With Almost No Extra Work

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

There is one little-known trick that most offline business owners don’t use that can literally increase your business instantly by 20-40% or even more. This is a trick that’s very commonly used with online marketing, but for some reason people simply haven’t taken it to the offline world yet.
So what is this secret I’m talking about?
It’s called picking up your lost sales!
Let me give you an example to clarify this much further for you.
Two people each have a health club in the same neighborhood. For examples sake, we’ll pretend they both have the exact same amount of revenue coming in, the same amount of marketing, the same amount of expenses, and that everything else in their business is exactly the same.
However, there’s one big difference.
Company A has a system in place that keeps following up with people interested in the health club but haven’t quite made it there yet to actually buy a membership.
Company B simply let’s them go and pretends they were never even interested in the business. The prospect comes into the place, tries it out for a few days, and leaves without ever hearing from the company again.
Who do you think is going to grow their business faster?
Company A of course!
Following up with interested prospects is literally one of the most easy and lucrative things you can do for your business. Studies have shown that on average, it takes a person roughly 7 times of being asked for the sale to actually make the purchase.
Are you getting your message in front of your prospects face at least 7 times? If not, you’re losing out on tons of money.
Here are a few ways to follow up on missed sales and grab tons of extra revenue you never would have had:
1. Direct Mail – Go out and purchase a list of people you think would be interested in your services. For example you could find out what your ideal prospect reads and get a list of people in your area who read a certain magazine. Then create a direct mail sequence containing not just 1 direct mail piece, but several.
2. Start A Newsletter – Just like many online business owners are doing, you can start an offline newsletter as well. One idea is to advertise the newsletter in your direct mail piece, and within the newsletter you would obviously advertise for people to come sign up at your place of business.
3. Create A Contest – Hold a local contest or some kind of publicity event at your place of business. During this event, have a place where people can sign up to receive a discount or special offer if they sign up for your newsletter. Then again, advertise your services within your newsletter so people will sign up for it over time.Putting just these 3 ideas to use and making sure you follow up with your prospects is a very easy way to capture people who are “on the fence”, just not quite ready to buy yet. Then down the line when they’re ready to purchase your services, you’ll be in constant contact with them so they’ll purchase your services instead of your competitors!

Get Your Free Marketing Report http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

First Impressions

2009-03-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Do People’s Initial Reactions To Your Health Club Determine Your Success?

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

When a person walks into your health club, what do they think? What do they feel? HOW do they feel? Are they comfortable, or do they feel uneasy? Is your business inviting, or nerve-wracking? Does it feel like a place they can comfortably belong to as part of a group, or a location where they’d feel out of place?

These are just a few of the questions you must be asking yourself if you want your business to flourish in any economy. I’m going to give you a few things to consider about why you need to think about what people are feeling as they’re walking through your doors for the first time.
So first, you need to understand that although your prospects might not think anything negative consciously, for some reason or another they might be thinking them unconsciously. Most of the time they won’t even know it!

Have you ever walked into a place and simply felt “weird” about it?
That’s exactly what I’m talking about – you don’t want you health club to be giving your prospects those types of feelings!

But since they’re most likely getting these feelings unconsciously, how do you know if they’re having them?

Well, that’s where test subjects come in.

All you need to do is get a few people, it could be relatives, friends, or anybody else, to come into your health club and tell you exactly what they’re feeling (oh and by the way, try to find people who will honestly tell you and are very open with their feelings).
Have them come into your business and simply walk around, telling you where they feel themselves getting positive or negative emotions.
And obviously if they’re feeling negative emotions anywhere, try to figure out why. Maybe it’s the colors, maybe they noticed somebody gave them a weird look, maybe there’s a poster on the wall that simply isn’t connecting with them like it should, or maybe they’re feeling intimidated for some reason.

These are things you absolutely need to find out, because as you know, first impressions are a big factor and if you drive someone away the first time, it might be hard to get them back.
In my opinion some of the best emotions your prospects could be feeling when they walk into your health club for the first time include feeling comfortable, impressed, and also that they get the feeling that could easily belong to your club.

This can be accomplished by having extra-friendly staff, having bright, warm colors, as well as simply making them feel like they’re already part of your “family” even if they’re not a paying member yet. All of these factors combined will give you an extra boost above your competition, without spending any needless money on extra marketing or advertising!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Does It Matter What Color Theme You Pick For Your Health Club?

2009-03-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Does It Matter What Color Theme You Pick For Your Health Club?

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

We know from various psychological studies that certain colors evoke certain emotions and these emotions can actually influence your prospect – many times enough to make them feel “uneasy” and end up walking out of the place they’re in!

But the most important thing you need to understand is that first of all, not all the same colors should be used for the same businesses, and secondly, you need to match up the emotions each color represents to the emotion your health club is giving off.

For example, Gold’s Gym used to use the color yellow and red, which stands for intensity. They were trying to evoke a feeling of intensity and powerfulness in their gyms and did so with those 2 colors.

Many gyms also have a black and red color combination which is yet another way to evoke the “intensity” emotion.

Planet Fitness uses the purple and yellow combination to try and evoke a feeling of warmth, joy and happiness.

So let’s go through each color one by one:
Red – the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.

Yellow – Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.

Black – Black denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color. Combined with red or orange – other very powerful colors – black gives a very aggressive color scheme.

White - White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. White is often associated with low weight, low-fat food, and dairy products and is considered to be the color of perfection.

Purple – Light purple is a good choice for a feminine design, which is why the franchise “Shapes” has a lot of purple in it. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

Blue – Blue is a masculine color; according to studies, it is highly accepted among males. Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability; it is a preferred color for corporate America. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Orange – It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

Green - It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money. It’s also rumored to have healing properties, and is the most restful for the eyes.

No one color combination should be used for all business. First you must figure out what emotions you’re trying to convey. Whether you’re trying to promote a prestigious club, a hardcore club, a sophisticated club, a “pure” club, simply go through the colors above and see which 2 or 3 color combinations would best fit your own club.Although this might not a huge difference in the way people feel about our club, subconsciously they’ll somehow feel more comfortable, and trust me, making people feel comfortable is very important!

For free report of health club marketing get it here http://www.fitnesssalesatraining.com/

Brand Vs. Direct Response Marketing

2009-03-21T12:58:00.002-07:00

Brand Vs. Direct Response Marketing

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

In business there are 2 main ways to market your business – you can choose either brand marketing or direct response marketing. And in the next few minutes I’m going to show you which one is probably better for your business, and why.

But first let me explain the difference between the 2.
Brand marketing is something you’d typically see businesses on TV use, such as Coke or Nike. They don’t do any direct selling but instead simply try to get the “brand” stuck in your head so whenever you think of, for example, shoes, you would think of Nike first.

On the other hand, direct response marketing is when you test every aspect of your marketing to find out exactly what return on investment you’re getting. For example, if you’re direct response marketing one thing you might do is send out direct mail and set it up so that you can track the exact response you get from that and determine how much money you made back from whatever you spent getting the list and sending the letters out.

So, which is better?
Well, unless you have pockets the size of the Grand Canyon, direct response marketing is better in nearly 99% of the cases.

Why?
It’s simple really. Because you get to find out EXACTLY what marketing methods are making you money, and exactly which ones aren’t! This is something you don’t typically get to do with brand marketing because, well, there’s no way to test it.

However, there is actually a way to combine the 2 so you can get the benefits of both. How would that sound?

Here’s how you do it.
First you’ll need to create what’s called a “USP” (unique selling proposition). In layman’s terms, a USP is what makes you stand out from your competitors.

Do you offer a lifetime guarantee on your services? That might be a great USP for your business. Or maybe your club is the only health club with a certain piece of equipment that your target market wants. Your USP would then reflect that.

So then you take that USP and inject it into all of your marketing. For example the USP Dominos used to have is “pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it’s free”. They then put that into all of their marketing so people would remember them easier. It’s kind of like a jingle you hear on the radio which make phone numbers easier to remember, you’re just putting it in print.

So say for example you’ve rented a list of 5,000 names of individuals you think would be interested in joining your health club. In your direct mail piece, you would make sure to base that letter on your USP. That way you can both track the response from the direct mail piece, plus you’re branding yourself with your unique selling proposition which will in turn make them think of you when they think of a health club.It’s a win-win situation and can do tremendous things for your business. I recommend taking 30 minutes every day to simply sit down and brainstorm various USP’s you can use for your business. Get creative, people love it!

Get a free marketing report for gym owners here http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Does Your Staff Uniform Matter?

2009-03-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

Does Your Staff Uniform Matter?

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Although this may seem like something you don’t need to put a lot of thought into, subconsciously people will associate the way your staff looks with the quality of your health club.
Because of that, I highly suggest taking a few minutes out of your day to not only read this, but to also take a close look at the uniform your staff is wearing to make sure it fits the following criteria:
1. Matching Colors – Your uniform should have a very similar “look and feel” to the colors inside and outside your business. A very common color used for health clubs is blue because it gives a comforting feeling when you look at it, but having colors similar to the inside of your club is more important.
2. Different Uniforms For Men & Women – You’re going to want to get completely different fitting uniforms for your male and female staff. Why? Because you want the uniforms to fit your staff as best as possible and if girls are wearing guys shirts or vice versa, that simply can’t happen. They’re cut in different ways and will make it look a bit “strange” on your employees. This in turn will make them look more unprofessional, which is something you obviously don’t want.
3. Cheap Or Quality Uniforms – You’ll obviously want to make your uniforms look as professional and high quality as you can. When prospects walk into your health club they want to see a high quality business, not a place where the uniforms are cheap and flimsy.
4. Are They In Good Shape? – This is more of maintenance and not actually selecting certain uniforms, but you should be sure to have a strict uniform policy. Uniforms should always be pressed, cleaned with absolutely no stains, and full of color. When any of those criteria aren’t met, the employee wearing the uniform needs to be told. Whether or not you want to pay for a new uniform is up to you.
5. The Logo – Since your clients will be seeing your staff uniforms very often, you might as well put a little marketing into it right? Making sure the logo is very visible to your client will help cement your business into their minds and make them more likely to think about it (and talk about it) when they’re not in the health club. Although this may only make a slight difference, every little bit helps. Plus, it will make the uniform appear more professional.Picking a great looking staff uniform is something you shouldn’t just gloss over – it’s something you should think about carefully. Take your time and look at various designs and styles before picking out what you think would look best for your business, then choose complimenting colors to your health club, and you’re on your way to highly effective uniforms!

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/

Retain More Members In Your Health Club

2009-03-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

5 Tips You Can Implement Immediately To Retain More Members In Your Health Club

by Brian Cannone www.fitnesssalestraining.com

Many health club owners think that simply getting members is the most important money than can spend when it comes to marketing.
But did you know that you can make up to 500% more money by simply focusing on retaining the members you already have and trying to upsell them on the various products or services you carry?
If not, you’re in for a huge income boost when you focus on retaining and upselling members instead of only trying to obtain new members.
So here are my top 5 tips you can use to retain more members immediately:
1. Treat Them Like Gold – If your in-laws decided to become part of your health club, do you think you’d make sure your employees treated them absolutely perfectly? I bet you would, but if so, why aren’t you doing this for EVERY member you have? Hold a very high standard for the way your staff treats your members and it will do wonders for your business.
2. Be Exclusive – If you offer something that your competitors don’t, your members will be more likely to stick with you. If you were given the choice between 2 products, but one product had some kind of interesting gadget that you loved, wouldn’t you pick the one with the extra gadget?
3. Keep Them Excited – You should be constantly thinking of new products and services to come out with. Not only will you have more to offer your current members, but by telling them a few months in advance what is coming (but “teasing” them and not telling them exactly what it is) – it will keep them there longer because of the anticipation!
4. Frequent Flyer Miles – How do airlines and/or credit cards keep you going back to their business over and over again instead of switching to other companies? They give you incentives for using their services. Think of a few different offers or discounts your members will receive after sticking with you for a certain number of months, and many will stick with you just to get the bonus!
5. Re-Capturing Members – If for some reason you do lose a member (for whatever reason), send them a series of postcards, about a week or so apart, asking them to come back. And, of course, give them an incentive for coming back. Tell them that if they call you and let you know why the left, you’d be willing to offer them a special offer – only for them – if they come back. And of course, promise to fix whatever problem made them leave.Retaining your members and upselling them is incredibly profitable and much more profitable than simply trying to continually find new members. By doing these 5 steps I just laid out for you, your business can easily double its revenues in the next 12 months – so get busy!

For More Marketing Ideas for Health Clubs and Gyms Visit:

http://www.fitnesssalestraining.com/