Health Club Pro

I do a lot of reading (makes me feel smarter than I really am) and I stumbled upon an interesting article those of us who sell memberships, manage staff or do any people-centric work should be aware of but experience tells me most are not.

In the past I've been turned on to all kinds of tips , tricks, and tactics by the guru's to get the deal, some are great and used frequently some are crap and should be left down in the dungeon from wince they came. But none are effective without the presence of one key factor......

Conversation Control!

A sale, by definition is transfer of emotion. So therefore, we must put ourselves in the best position for the exchange.

In all advisory work many words are exchanged (especially getting someone to prioritize a healthy lifestyle). It is therefore vital to have skills in managing conversations. Such skills can be called conversation control.

This does not mean manipulating other people’s natural conversation although it does imply giving it gentle pushes in particular directions from time to time.

The best way to be effective is to understand what you say and how you say it so you can influence others through your own example.

The essence of conversation control is your ability to manage your own conversation. This is not about overcoming objections or asking qualifying questions and uncovering hot buttons. What we are talking about is the ability to guide the conversation so you can do all of those things effectively.

Here is what you are trying to control.


when to be problem centered or solution centered

when to converge or diverge

when to emphasize facts or feelings

when to speed up or slow down conversations

how to identify cues and clues

how to summarize and move conversation forward

how to recognize, understand and appreciate, but assert your views

how to move from the past to the present to the future

how to manage win/lose aspects of conversations


In all of the various conversation dynamics the most important thing is to remember what the client says about him or herself. That is the key to raising energy levels; openness to your ideas and that is the key to action.

In giving advice, seek to help, not please your friend. ~Solon

Some excerpts from Source : Conversation Control Margerison C J (1988)