Health Club Pro

I've always told my Membership advisors there are 3 main reasons why people fail to purchase.

1. They don’t want what you are selling.
2. They cannot afford what you are selling.
3. They don’t believe your claims about the product you are selling. (i.e. –They don’t believe you!)

For the 1st installment of our Club Marketing Makeover let’s focus on #3

So how do we harness these words of wisdom? Do we pack our advertisements & sales presentation books with tons and tons of written testimonials?

Fantastic gym! You guys have really created a wonderful place.
John F.

Well, I used to think so but then I stumbled across afar more effective strategy that I just have to share.

I know what you're thinking OH! I got it Frank. You want us to get Before and after pics!

Well Sort of. But let's crank it up a notch. That stuff’s not believable. Remember, we live in world that’s full of lying, thieving, con men who will try to swindle you out every last dime you have.

Look… with this increasingly skeptical world that we now living in, you must offer your prospects more proof. Solid, verifiable, testimonial proof like...............

A picture says a thousand words. (The messages on signs held are far more believable than the typical…

“Fantastic gym! You guys have really created a wonderful place.”

…weak, semi-believable, & lacking written testimonials that are so common place in ads!)

So how do we Collect “Testimonial Photos”

1. Whenever you are talking to an extremely happy/thrilled member… take notes and/or record your conversation with them.(Get Permission)

2. Immediately (while they’re still “in heat”) ask them if they wouldn’t mind taking a testimonial-photo for you because, “Boy, we sure live in a skeptical world here my friend. It’s good to hear that you believe in my club… and I could really use your help.” (9 times out of 10 they’ll be more than happyto take a few testimonial photos for you.)

3. Tell them that based on the conversation you just had with them that you’d like to put together a testimonial sign for them to use in the photograph. Inform them that you will first fax them a copy ofwhat the sign will say… so that they can approve it. After they’ve signed off on the “proof” of the sign, you will then need to send them the sign (already made) + a camera & instructions on how to take the photos. (Where you want them to stand, what you want in the background, how many people you want in the photos, etc., etc.) You must do all of this for them, otherwise, they’ll never get around to doing it.

Trust me on this. People are just too busy

4. Give them a postage-paid return box/mailer that’s been pre-addressed… so that they can easily return all the stuff to you.

It’s important for you to follow all those instructions; otherwise it’s unlikely that you’ll ever see the photos.

Until next time, go make some raving fans!

One of the most important principles of marketing is focusing each ad on a specialized niche. By doing this we can use copy that specifically targets the group we are looking for and have a much greater chance of getting our message across.

A good example of this is the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. They could have left this at just a few volumes of the general book and sold a couple million copies.

Instead they created more specialized editions like "Chicken Soup for the Pre-Teen Soul" and "Chicken Soup for the Teachers Soul" and "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul" etc.

The last time I checked they had over a hundred of these specialized titles. The result is over 80 million books sold. That shows the incredible power of specialization. We want something that is just for us.

So instead of advertising a mempership program, you could offer a special "Bridal Bootcamp Program" or a "New to the Neighborhood Program" or a "Teacher's Special" or "Special Membership for Real Estate Professionals", Etc.

You get the idea.

You may have to create some partnerships for these to work correctly. An example would be to contact all the local Real Estate offices and you could figure out away to market to 2 of the above groups.

As you can see another advantage of specialization is that you can target your ads more directly and save on your advertising budget. Rather than trying to advertise
to everyone in the vacinity of your club you can focus on just getting
to the people you are targeting.

Here is a recent response I gave to someone who requested some information on new club financing. (The names have been omitted to protect the innocent) While brief I thought it might be helpful someone should they stumble across this posting and have similar questions.

Congratulations, on your decision to get involved in a great industry. I'd love to see if I can be of some assistance. There are a ton of opportunities right now to get into the club biz if you know where to look. In spite of the economy people in the know are capitalizing on the supposed downturn and having stellar years while others are struggling. That being said money has definitely tightened up on the institutional side and individual investment has become pretty scarce too. This is especially true for those embarking on their first venture in the industry. Banks and VC money is becoming less risk tolerant.However, it can get done!
One option would be to find a troubled club and negotiate a takeover in which the transaction is exercised for as little as $1 with the new ownership taking on the existing receivables base, assets, and liabilities. Depending on your financial situation this may be the best route. (I have negotiated several of these deals in the past and helped turn the club into a huge success.) There are still some more traditional options out there but in order to do a project from the ground up I would recommend working with a professional who understands all the intricacies of this industry from financing, lease negotiations, location feasibility study, competitive analysis, getting preferred status with vendors, marketing and sales expertise and finally a systematized operational approach.
Please give me a call 404-453-8420 if you'd like to talk more about your project and perhaps I can shed some light on your options.