Sunday, December 18, 2016

EXTREME EVOLUTION THROUGH EFFECTIVE MEMBERSHIP SALES DEVELOPMENT



Our health, fitness, medical fitness, martial arts and wellness industry has evolved over the years through the replication of age-old systems and procedures that were originally designed for high volume sales in primarily smaller clubs. These clubs were focused exclusively on the sale of new memberships. That business model is known today as attrition driven. In other words, their primary goal is to make the sale in a never-ending frenzy of sales intensity. This type of operation can be profitable, but it in no way serves any purpose in helping the people joining to be successful in their quest for lifestyle change.

Additionally, this model expresses no concern as to whether or not the newly enrolled member even returns to the club once they have made their initial investment and signed on the dotted line. It's all show. It tends to create a staff team dynamic that is completely self-serving. As a result the team goals that can be applied are very limited in scope.

At the other end of the spectrum, yet utilizing the same basic business model is the type of club that purports to be service driven. This means that while the sale remains important so does keeping the member and having them use the club once they join.

The outcome for both of these business models are similar. In general, both are marked by controllable attrition rates that can certainly be improved upon. Through the service driven model there is a much better opportunity to develop a total staff team that can truly share a vision of effective inter-departmental values and cooperation. This dynamic also creates an environment whereby goal setting can become much more elaborate and the potential results much greater.


The reality is that both business models fail to effectively serve the large majority of members who tend to become inactive once they join the club. These inactive members continue to pay for their membership even though they aren't using the club. The attrition driven club views this as a good thing. The service driven operator thinks that it is a bad thing, but the clubs operational actions seem to disavow this thinking.


For the attrition driven operator, the high rates of attrition and failure to use the facility by paying members are simply viewed as part of doing business and there is no real effort to create change. For the service driven operator the higher than desired attrition levels and poor member participation have created a bottom-line awareness that has led toward an increasingly more stable business operational thought process.

This new and improved thought process moves outside the antiquated systems and procedures created so long ago. It creates an environment whereby new members will truly be assisted in getting started and continuing an exercise regimen designed to improve their quality of life. The real truth is that it is much healthier to work hard (and smart) to create an active membership that stays with the club and not get caught up in the frantic sales cycle every month.

Increasingly it seems that there is a big buzz out there promoting low priced memberships. This is the old model in its truest and most pathetic form. Stable long-term success will never come about through the sale of low priced memberships. It will never the optimal solution to making money and serving your clients at the same time. If a comparison is to be drawn to another industry, use the country club business. There are cheap country clubs and everyone who plays golf knows it. Please notice the term inexpensive was not used. The term cheap was applied and with good reason. There is a niche for cheap country clubs. If you know golf, you also know that the cheap country club does not cause the traditional private country club to change their way of doing business. If a cheap operator is hurting your business then you should consider it a wakeup call to improve your business model. Don't throw in the towel and think that cheapening your membership is the answer. The answer is to improve immediately.

How do you engage "EXTREME EVOLUTION"? First of all you need to realize how much each and every department can contribute to overall club success if they are educated and motivated to do so!

Make the call! (865) 304-9409 and resolve to evolve in 2017! This year's staff train
ing focus is on membership sales development. Schedule your staff training tody...

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