How to discuss price over the phone.
A client called me recently. He stated, in his words, that, “Our phones have been blowing up.”
Great news, I thought. We had spent some time recently going over my script and role playing telephone inquiries with him and his staff.
“All of them are asking about price.”
“How much?”
“What are your rates?”
“Tell me your membership costs?”
Okay, John, calm down, let’s talk it through, I said.
There are a couple of ways veteran gyms handle this situation. Some of them refuse to give prices over the phone, and some of them spit them out like it’s necessary.
Here’s the problem with giving price over the phone: You run a risk of the prospect hanging up without scheduling a tour. Moreover, if you aren’t the cheapest gym in the neighborhood, you run a risk of the prospect losing interest.
Also, prospects rarely ask for the prices because they really, really need to know the cost ASAP. They ask for the price, because they don’t know the proper questions to ask.
Here’s the problem with refusing to give the price over the telephone: We live in a day and age of consumers running the show, so to speak. This means you run a risk of pissing off the prospect by dodging the price question. Yes, some highly trained, seasoned membership sales veterans can get away with it, but they are the exception.
I recommend a happy medium.
Give them the price, if they ask twice. And have a paid trial membership to offer, 50 percent off your single simple-access membership. Thirty days for $19.00 is perfect for a gym that charges $39 to $49 per month.
“It’s a great day to get in shape at Awesome Blossom Fitness. This is Jason, how can I help you?”
“Um… what does it cost for a membership?”
“Okay, I can help you with that. Would the membership be for you, or you and someone else?”
“Just for me.”
“Okay, great, and what are you looking for in a gym membership?”
“Um… I was calling just to get the prices.” (sounds a little cranky)
“Okay, no problem. You can be a member of Awesome Blossom Fitness for 30 days for only $19.00 with no obligation to continue. All we need to do is set a time to show you around, and after the tour, if you are still interested, we will get you started for $19.00. What is your name?”
“Brooke.”
“Okay Brooke, what works best for you, afternoons or evenings?”
“Um… evenings are best for me.”
“Great. This evening I have an opening at 6:45 p.m. or 7:15 p.m. Which one is better for you?”
“Um… 7:15 p.m. will work.”
“Okay, I have you down. Brooke, what is your phone number?”
“612-310-1319.” (My real phone number. Call or text any time)
“Thank you. And Brooke, do you know where Awesome Blossom (my hometown is Blooming Prairie Minnesota and the mascot is the Awesome Blossom. Truth. Google it. I grew up an Awesome Blossom and still haven’t lived it down) is located?”
“Yes, right by Subway?”
“That is correct. And Brooke, one last thing; feel free to wear workout clothes if you want to use the gym tonight. And feel free to bring a friend or family member.”
“Okay, see you tonight.”
“See you tonight. Bye.”
Okay, that was easy enough right? I know that is only one scenario, but the key is if you use a paid trial membership, it makes the price questions much easier to deal with.
If you don’t use a paid trial membership, and they ask for the price twice, you will have to give it up. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t make the appointment.
“Okay, our single simple access rate is only $39.00 per month. What I would like to do first, however, is have you see are awesome gym. Let’s schedule a 10-minute tour, and then after the tour, I can show you all of the membership options. What works best for you, afternoons or evenings?”
Please email me [email protected] with “telephone script” in the subject line and I will send you my phone script.
Keep changing lives.
1.2 million dollars per year in revenue.
6000 square feet and almost no cardio machines. Zero selector pieces. A bunch of kettlebells, medicine balls, bands, and a TRX rack. 1500 of the 6000 feet is a walled off room.
Can you picture this?
-One owner. No partners. The owner is a fitness professional. This doesn’t mean that he or she is a veteran trainer with a degree and a certification. It means that this person understands training and coaching and can lead a team of 6 to 8 coaches.
-There are 30 small group personal training sessions per week. There are no more than 4 clients in each session.
-There are 15 to 20 team training sessions per week. This is done in the 1500 foot room. There is music piped in and the training offered is mainly cycle and boxing.
-There are no one on one sessions. Yes, you read that correctly. Zero.
This gym is not key card and is not open on Sundays.
This gym spends $2500.00 per month on marketing. This gym owns the market, advertising year round using a combination of print and electronic.
-This gym has 300 clients. The average client pays over $300.00 per month.
This gym takes in 1.2 million dollars per year.
-The owner nets 30% to 40%, thus earning around 400K per year.
This gym has a front desk/salesperson, an assessor/director of training and 6 to 8 coaches.
This gym uses a paid trial membership, 30 days for $89.00.
This gym builds up to the 300 client mark within 18 months of opening, and needs to continue to add 10 to 15 clients per month for the rest of its life.
This gym doesn’t cost that much to open.
This gym is the future. And the future is now.
Now, this doesn’t meant that every gym who is not like the gym I just described needs to close its doors and head for the coast. The big players can build this gym within their gym. The 24 hour chain clubs can exist, survive, and even thrive by becoming a hybrid.
For the millionth time and likely not the last: We have been saying for more than 2 decades that we need to get more members seeing results. It aint rocket sciencery. We know that results equal retention. We don’t even need to see studies. We get it. But all we have done for years is offer an orientation showing them some selector pieces. AND the other thing we did was offer them one on one training.
Selector equipment is boring. I know I rip on it more than most people, and I will capitulate that it can be effective………..for a short period of time for people who don’t get bored easy. But it is expensive, unnecessary, and ugly.
One on one training, to be most effective would cost somewhere between $500.00 and $800.00 per month, maybe more. This is not affordable for over 95% of the population. Gyms that don’t focus on training usually end up between 1% and 3%. Gyms that focus get to 5%. Very few get beyond that.
I continue to see this industry evolve, BUT I see two different things:
Gyms owned by people who don’t get training and coaching, who focus on memberships, and not on results and service.
Gyms owned by trainer heads who know everything there is to know about a deadlift, but who seriously lack business sense, specifically in sales and marketing.
-This may be sounding a bit like a frustrated rant. Maybe a bit, but really I am just trying to keep my focus on the training centric model. To sell memberships only is to churn and burn. I have never had anybody disagree with me on this. To sell one on one training is to touch 5%, MAYBE 10% in the coastal markets, of your members.
Your goal in a mainstream club is 40% or more.
-You have no choice but to train 100% of your members in a training gym.
-Please comment. Please contact me with any questions. I am very accessible. [email protected] Except when I’m not.
In order to sell many memberships and a good amount of personal training, you need to be in front of a lot of people on a consistent basis. To be a consistent seller, you must focus on the following three things:
1. Consistent marketing. To have a steady flow of leads, people in your community need to constantly be reminded that you are there and that you change lives.
Put together a marketing plan focusing on things like mailers and newspaper inserts. Have a strong presence on Facebook and Instagram as well.
2. Sell appointments. When folks call or email, your staff has to be trained to book tours. An appointment equals commitment, so your odds go way up that they will make it in if you have them written down for a specific day and time. Coach your staff to book appointments with 70 percent or more of callers.
3. Sell consultations. When a new member joins, he or she should have already been informed of the next step. Salespeople need to be trained to introduce the fitness consultation during the tour. “How do you plan to reach your goals?” is my favorite way of getting the conversation started.
“I was planning on coming in a few days per week,” a prospect may say.
“Great. One of the reasons I ask is because you are going to meet with a fitness coach, complimentary, and learn some great exercises. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great.”
Now, at the table, when they sign the agreement, get out your appointment book and pencil the new member in to meet with a coach for a consultation.
Below are some personal training facts that over the years I’ve found to be true:
Personal training doesn’t need to be individualized.
One-on-one training often causes more problems than it solves.
Gyms and gym owners need to control the product and not have the tail wag the dog.
Seek general athletic conditioning and train everyone like an athlete.
Have three to five options to allow for people with different budgets to take advantage of fitness coaching.
Trainers can’t sell, which is a generalization that is mainly true. Find one coach who has sales skills (willing to try and not afraid to ask for money) and funnel all training prospects through her or him.
Are you looking to begin the process of building a training-centric gym? Are you trying to get 40 percent or more of your members to purchase a year-round training membership? Here are six tips to do so:
Personal training doesn’t need to be individualized.
This industry, for years, somehow came to the conclusion that personal training had to be one trainer and one client. So many trainers began to look at a client like a puzzle or a problem. “How can I take this person and turn them into me?” The reality is that the Average Joe is not going to be a bodybuilder or even workout five to six days per week. He needs a place where someone can do some thinking for him while he picks up heavy stuff, puts it over his head and puts it back down two to three days per week.
One-on-one training often causes more problems than it solves.
This is especially true when you sell packages. Weird stuff starts to happen sometimes and the “workouts” become more like social therapy sessions.
Gyms and gym owners need to control the product.
If you allow independent, contracted trainers to “eat what they kill,” you breed a culture of an owner not knowing who is doing what, how they are training and what happens if that trainer leaves? Gym owners can control the product by having all coaches as employees and ensuring that everybody on the team shares the same training philosophy.
Seek general athletic conditioning.
Related to the above points, gyms need to create a culture where all coaches and players believe that everybody can and should be trained like an athlete. Programs should be designed with general conditioning in mind. “Fitness is motion and motion is life. We believe that strong is beautiful and the key to a high-functioning life.” Something similar should be your gym’s motto.
Have three to five options.
Only about 5 percent of the general population can afford traditional one-on-one personal training. This has led to the growing popularity of small group and team training. The recommended options in most gyms with proper space is:
Simple access (rent a treadmill).
Template workout (a workout program for one month with a full session, repeat every month).
Team training (10 to 15 people, loud music, energy, a strength component in every workout).
Small group personal training (two to four people, intensive coaching, complex movements, different workout daily).
One-on-one (for people who either want it or need it because of a sport-specific goal or a limitation).
Trainers can’t sell.
But there are a few out there who can. Most didn’t get into the profession to be salespeople, but many have sales skills and don’t know it. Are they willing to put in the effort? Are they okay with asking for money? Then make this person your “Assessor” and have them spend 60 to 90 minutes with each person, putting them through a sample workout and then placing them where they need to be.
Get the Most Juice From Your Oranges
You need to have at least 4 solid revenue streams in your club. If you do not, you are not maximizing your profits and potential. And I know that you want to maximize your profits and potential. And I know for sure that TAZ Training want you to maximize profits.
1) Membership sales. 16% of the US population was a member of a fitness center from around 2004 until last year. It is now at 17%. During the same time period, the amount of fitness centers in some of your markets doubled. The days of dozens of walk ins who just want to “sign up” are gone. You still can get new members if you market properly and often, but in order to retire when you want to, you need to get more money of your members.
2) Personal Training sales. Less than 1% of people come to a mainstream gym searching for a personal trainer. Only about 5% or so in any given market can afford traditional one on one personal training, using a coach twice per week at around $50.00 per session. Almost 100% need some sort of coaching. So, I want you to take your total number of members and figure out what 5% of that number is. If you have less training clients than that, you aren’t even reaching your potential in a traditional one on one training format. But if you offer small group personal training, you give your members the ability to share the cost of a coach with other people. Doing it this way will allow you to reach 40% or more of you members.
3) Nutrition. Dot Fit, True Star, shakeology. I don’t care. Pick one, get your trainers/coaches on board, and promote it. If you sell shakes and/or smoothies at your facility, it needs to be part of the end of every single training session. “Great workout everybody. Thank you for being a member here. Without you, we would not exist. Let’s huddle up. One. Two. Three. ANYTIME FITNESS! Okay, make sure you consume some protein asap everybody. Either your own, or stop by and see Megan at the bar. “ If you don’t have a smoothie bar, then you need to sell or give away shakers and sell product at your club.
4) Beverage sales. Similar to shakes and smoothies, I know, but I like to separate this one out into water, coffee, tea, and Gatorade. On the way out of the door, train your front desk staff to say: “Hey Mary, thanks for being a member. Do you want to purchase a bottle of water for the ride home?” Seriously, train them to say this every time to every member and watch your beverage sales climb.
Four revenue streams that you can hit home runs in if you offer trial memberships, small group sessions, vitamins/protein powers, and water, sports drinks, coffee and tea.
5 Keys to Success for Membership Salespeople
1) Use the product (including coaching). If you don’t exercise on a regular basis and work with the fitness coaches at least once in a while, you won’t have the success you want getting trial members excited about their assessment and functional workout with a coach. You don’t have to be the fittest person on the planet, but you have to live the lifestyle.
2) Discuss the product (and introduce the prospect to a coach) on the tour. The tour is about the prospect and what they are looking for in a fitness membership. But you need to discuss “what we do here” at Awesome Blossom Fitness. You need to act as if it’s the greatest thing in the world to meet with a coach and experience a free session.
3) Get a certification. A.C.E, the American Council on Exercise would be one of our recommendations. This does not mean you are going to start training clients. It simply means you studied and passed a test to prove you have the knowledge base to discuss the basics of fitness.
4) Book the necessary appointments. Don’t let the trial member or new member leave without a road map for their next steps which should be begin with meeting with an assessor/coach within a day of beginning their membership.
5) Sell to their personality. There are four personality quadrants. We all have them. We just have more of some than of others. We all have one of them as our primary and that one, and the second one are the two of the four we spend most of our lives in. One of them is a harmonizer (people person) One of them is an energizer (charismatic, adventurer). One of them is an organizer (structured linear thinker). One of them is an analyzer (logical thinker). Learning your quadrant makeup and others can help you in many ways, including sales. (This key does require some training, which we can provide. Until then, focus on the other 4 keys, but trust me, understanding different personalities can and will make a huge difference in your sales, retention, and customer service skills).
Becoming a Training Centric Gym
Training centric: This means that your gym exists to change as many lives as possible. It means that you sell training memberships. 12 month contract memberships that include coaching. This could be the only memberships that you offer, OR it could be a choice between a training membership and a ‘rent equipment’ membership, which would be considered a hybrid gym. In other words, you can be strictly a training gym, or convert your cardio/selector/free weight facility into a hybrid offering both a regular membership, AND a training membership.
You do not have independent contractors. It is against the law to have an independent contractor follow YOUR schedule, wear what you require, and use your equipment. Gyms have been breaking the law for years, and the IRS is catching on. BUT, that is not the main reason that I want you to make them all employees. I want you to do this so you can control the product. Your members/clients. Your workout programs. Your philosophy. Your employees. Your ass on the line.
Two sales teams.
New member acquisition. This person(s) sells simple access memberships (rent a treadmill), OR paid trial memberships. (30 days for $19.00). That is it. They do not sell training. Why not? Because it needs to be sold by a trainer after a workout. You are not going to buy the BMW before you drive the BMW. In the training centric system, the trainer who sells training memberships, is selling it to someone who is already a member. A simple access member, OR a paid trial member. The trainer who sells them training is expected to close 35% or more of these members, thus converting them to training members. If you have a rock star memberships salesperson who you claim can sell a training membership, at point of sale, to 60% or more, you are full of you know what. And I don’t care even if it is true. Membership salespeople should have their hands full getting the phone to ring, door to swing, and inbox (email) to ding. Then, their job is to be good on the phone, great on a tour, and excellent at booking appointments for the assessor. In fact, they have to get 70% of all new members to meet with the assessor.
Assessor. This is a trainer who has at least a few years of experience. They have proven sales skills. Most trainers do not have proven sales skills. This position is the most important in your gym, so you need to hire slowly for sure on this one. Trainers with sales skills are out there. And sales skills can be taught. The most important characteristic for this person is that they cannot be afraid to ask for money. They will be selling $250.00 per month memberships on an annual agreement. They have to believe that is a bargain, and it is, for unlimited small group training. This person sells training memberships, and they also write all of the programs. They don’t have to be the program writer. You could have somebody else do that. If you find a trainer with 3 years of experience, and good sales skills, but who is poor at writing programs, then still hire them, as selling is the most important. Then, find a trainer who can design programs. Or do what I would do, and become a licensee of TAZ Training. We write the programs, you coach them. We give you the step by step sales process. You simply follow it. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
Good personalities: With this system, you do not need to worry about finding great trainers. You need to find great personalities. In this system, you don’t have to split revenue or pay $30.00 per session. Conversely, you don’t want to go all “Fitness Together” on the bit, and pay $10.00 per session. In most markets, you shouldn’t have difficulty finding 30 year old trainers who are happy to make $22.00 to $28.00 per session, to teach 10 to 30 small group sessions per week. A set schedule, guaranteed money.
Leadership: When you implement the training centric model, your job as the leader of the organization is to hire people smarter than you, AND learn from them. If you are already a trainer, great, then write the programs. If you can’t sell, then hire someone who can, but continue to work on your sales skills, so you can fill in when this person is sick, quits, or gets caught doing something they shouldn’t be.
You, as the leader, need to manage all of the moving parts, BUT I want to make sure, in case you aren’t the most organized person, that you know how to prioritize.
Membership sales team numbers: Your assessor cannot sell training memberships unless and until your membership salesperson(s) gets butts in the door.
-When the phone rings, can they book appointments to tour? 70% is the goal. 7 out every 10 people who call asking for info (“what are your prices?”), need to be penciled in for a tour later that day, or tomorrow.
-When the door swings, can they convert people to simple access, OR paid trial memberships? 30% of their tours need to join on a simple access, the same day. 70% (of the remaining 70%) need to take the trial membership. Yes, that is accurate, and I will do my best to make this as clear as possible, because it is my experience that sometimes gyms cannot grasp these numbers. 3 out of 10 tours will actually join that day. Not 90%, UNLESS you market very little, or not at all, AND you only offer price driven offers, like FREE ENROLLMENT. In that case, you are not a salesperson, you are an order taker. I want you to market using a 30 days for $19.00 (or whatever 50% of your simple access membership is). I want you to increase the amount of tour you are currently giving. If you are closing 90% right now, but only giving 15 tours per month, I expect you to increase that to 50 to 60 tours per month. 50 tours per month would mean 15 joining on their first visit. This leaves 35 who don’t. 70% of them will take the trial, which amounts to 25. 50% of the trial memberships will join within 30 days. So on those 50 tours, you will end up with 27 or 28 members within 30 days. Members, meaning either a simple access (rent a treadmill) OR a training membership.
This is sometimes very hard for gyms to get down, so please contact me to discuss. Free call. go.oncehub.com/jasonlinse
-When the new member or trial member signs, can they convert 70% of them to an assessor appointment? Oh man, this is a very critical step. If they can’t get newbies to make an appointment with the assessor, your training centric gym will suck, and it will fail. BUT don’t fret. Simply focus. What you make important becomes important. So you as the leader, who is inspecting all of the numbers and percentages, simply needs to keep on this one more than others. Coach your membership salespeople up to be able to book 70% of more. Incentivize. Penalize. Fire quickly if you have to. Just stay focused on that percentage, and keep it at 70% or higher and things will be good, assuming…
-Your assessor can convert 60% or more to a training membership. If they put people through the functional workout, coach them on cardio, and present the training memberships properly, AND are not afraid to ask for money, they should have no problem hitting 50%. AND you can live with 40%. Dropping below 35% will not be good, however. The key here is not cutting corners, putting people through the exercises, having affordable options, specifically small group personal training, and an assessor who feels the value in your options, and believes everybody needs a coach, and believes that your gym and its coaches can change lives.
Keep changing lives.
Think About the Positive
I know it’s difficult right now. Life and business came to a screeching halt recently and it seems like there is no end in sight.
Here, in Minnesota, fitness centers are closed through April. This date could be extended.
I generally love to predict things, but this is one thing that doesn’t feel very fun to predict. But I will anyway.
Fitness centers will not be open in most, if not all states until June 1st.
I don’t know how many of you can weather this storm. If you rent, hopefully your landlord is able to with you, or is forced to. If you have loan payments, hopefully banks are willing work with you, or are forced to.
If you lose employees, hopefully some of them will come back.
When the smoke clears, and the dust settles, the fitness industry will come back stronger than before.
Being cooped up, not getting proper exercise, wanting to be stronger and have a solid immune system… all of these and more will be reasons people will join your gyms across the country.
So be ready.
If you have been, like many gym owners, including myself at times, running your business without the tightest systems and processes, now is the time to line up your ducks.
Mainstream Gym (You sell simple access memberships and have a Personal Training department, Planet Fitness doesn’t count):
- Telephone inquiries: Get your script down and trained on. Get your appointment book or online calendar ready. This is a numbers game and appointments matter more than pretty much anything else in your business.
- Tours. You have time to role play and ensure that the proper questions are being asked. You cannot afford to half ass any tours when the doors back open in a few weeks.
- Referrals. Learn how to get names and contact info from new members.
- Selling Personal Training. This will be extremely critical moving forward. With unemployment about to skyrocket and the economy in turmoil, folks will not be interested in spending $500.00 to $1000.00 per month for one on one personal training. You need to master small group personal training. Both from a programming standpoint and a sales standpoint.
Small Group Personal Training Basics:
- No more than four clients.
- Start by offering at least 12 sessions per week. Morning, late afternoon, early evening, one on Saturday.
- Only sell unlimited. Offer a contract for a lower price point than the month to month.
- Bill weekly. More cash flow coming in and easier to sell.
- The only way to sell is by getting a new member, within 48 hours, to meet with a coach for a sit down and a free session. This MUST be scheduled at point of sale, the day the members joins.
I don’t like to write articles and blog posts to pitch people, but if you cannot take the points above and run with them, then give TAZ Training a ring (or email [email protected]). We can help.
We will make sure you are ready come May/June to get your revenue back up as quick as possible.
Training Only Gyms. Similar, but your main objective is to take leads and schedule free sessions. The key to selling after a free session (for any type of fitness business) is to follow 5 simple steps:
- Meet and greet. Smile (maybe fist bump or bow, I think (hope) that shaking hands is finally a custom that is going away) and explain what is going to happen over the next 55 minutes.
- Sit down and talk. Get some info, health history, etc, but quickly get to the questions about the prospects goals and why those goals are important.
- The workout. Not a 10 minute, but a 30 minute workout where they actually sweat.
- Price presentation. Have it in a binder and show options.
- Ask/Close. Which option is best for you. Look in eyes, and be direct.
Stay positive, use this time to get ready for the next phase in your business where you will change more lives than ever before.
Jason Linse
TAZ Training
612-310-1319