CEC ARTICLE 1 OF 5 ARTICLES
CREATING EXTRA MEMBERSHIP SALES OPPORTUNITIES
With smart marketing processes you can reverse some of the losses incurred due to COVID-related membership attrition and get the new year off to a positive start , writes industry supplier Jamie Hayes .
written by Fitness Roundtable Coach Will Phillips . But how do you get results in turbulent times like these ?
The four key functions
The challenge for fitness operators is ensuring that the four key functions of the business are performing , regardless of the circumstances . These are the functions necessary to achieve the profit target – the key responsibility of the business ’ s manager . These functions track the new member journey . They are :
• Attract ( marketing ) – how the prospect finds out about the club
• Convert ( sales ) – how the prospect becomes a member
• Delight ( fulfilment ) – what the member experiences versus their expectations ( in terms of the facilities , programs , classes and interactions ), plus actual member results : are they achieving the specific results they joined for ? Are you facilitating connections with other members and staff ?
• Collect ( receivables ) – collecting direct debits . At your centre , can all team members write down the first name of the person responsible for each of the four key functions ? Is it the same person ? Is it you ? Who is driving marketing ( lead generation )?
These four key functions are not silos : they are interconnected and impact each other .
While marketing and receivables can essentially be conducted from anywhere , sales and fulfillment are typically delivered inside the club or studio ’ s four walls . The exception to this has previously been for those businesses that are also delivering their fitness service online . Since COVID shutdowns , many operators have been selling and delivering programming in this way – though bricks and mortar businesses will have struggled to sell new memberships in this period .
Measuring performance
Does your business , or the one you work for , have well-established Key Performance Indicators ( KPI ’ s ), not just for sales , but for each function ?
While the KPI ’ s for receivables should be fairly clear and largely automated , those for the other three key functions might look something like :
Marketing :
• The required number of new leads / enquiries from all marketing campaigns
• The ‘ cost per lead ’ per source , whether they joined or not
• With good sales reporting it ’ s also important to report on ‘ cost per sale ’ per source .
Sales targets :
• Appointments booked each day , each week
• Presentations delivered
• Minimum contract value
Unpaid posts on social media are the equivalent of placing fliers on the windscreens of existing members ’ cars in the centre carpark – it ' s very unlikely any prospective members will see them
NETWORK SUMMER 2020 | 11