Treat your salesperson like you would treat your most important customer—because he is! – Colleen Stanley, CEO of SalesLeadership, Inc.
You’re responsible for smashing those monthly sales targets, beating your previous records, and making the world fitter. At the same time, calling hundreds of prospective customers is practically impossible unless your team is made of Siris and Alexas.
Since only 19% of the prospects at the awareness stage want to speak to salespeople, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get in front of people. Then comes aspects like post-sales. An IHRSA study suggests that at least 50% of your new customers won’t last for over six months.
So how do we solve these issues?
Building a successful sales team means providing your team with all the resources they need to meet their targets. It includes everything, from motivation and professional development to SaaS tools and rewards. These are the aspects that’ll help your team make more sales.
Does it sound like a lot of work? Don’t worry.
In this detailed blog post, we’ve listed eight simple steps to build an effective sales team. Your business will grow faster than the muscles of your gym members.
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Why Sales Teams Are Indispensable
Let’s be honest. Without a sales team, your gym will perish. As direct and harsh as it sounds, it’s the bitter truth. Your gym has top-class equipment, trainers, and facilities, but how will people know about it?
For your business to soar, you’ll need sales reps who spread the word.
While there are innovative and tech-enabled methods, human interaction continues to rule the roost when it comes to sales. That‘s the reason there’s a huge demand for sales leaders, whether they work face-to-face or on the phone. Machines can do many things, but they can’t bond or empathize with humans. On the other hand, sales professionals can build relationships with prospective clients.
Since your salespeople are the breadwinners of your fitness business, you should pick the right individuals for the job. They should be empathetic and extraordinary communicators. In particular, they need to have a profound understanding of your target audience. Your sales talent will be in contact with your customers regularly. From prospecting to finalizing the new sales – they’ll play an integral role in the organization.
Nothing is more significant for your business than happy clients, and it’s the sales group that will guarantee a client loves being a member of your fitness center.
How to Build a Sales Team
It’s time to address the elephant in this giant room called ‘the world.’ COVID-19 has changed how we’ve been functioning for centuries.
Who knew a time would come where people would be confined to their homes for months?
With the virus-related restrictions all around, it has become difficult to adapt to the changes. The fitness industry took a big blow because of the pandemic, mostly because gyms and fitness studios were shut.
With such an unpredictable and uncertain atmosphere, are you having second thoughts about your sales process? Is the idea of not getting customers scaring you? Even if you manage to stay optimistic and rise above your doubts, how will you sell your gym to people? How are you going to retain their trust?
These questions are answered in our podcast on How to Drive Revenue Online.
Below, we’ll uncover the steps to find the perfect candidates and list some tips to get the best out of them.
1. Implement Continuous Learning
Remember the time when sifting through the Yellow Pages to sell products was the norm for salespeople? If you don’t remember, it’s because that tedious process is outdated. Imagine the present generation working the same way.
It wouldn’t be too fruitful, would it?
Being effective in sales requires consistent learning, practice, classes, and instruction. New methods are continually being introduced, and the existing ones get enhanced all the time. Examples include text messages, voicemails, and CRM automation tools that handle data entry and laborious assignments.
Your sales team will require assistance to stay up to date with industry best practices, new programming techniques, and better sales frameworks. Help them by providing resources such as online classes, relevant books, and other learning methods to get the best out of them.
2. Set Easy to Understand Goals and Priorities
You wouldn’t hop onto a train without knowing the destination or duration of travel, would you? The same applies to your team members’ everyday work. Sit with your team to set reasonable objectives and a timeframe to achieve them.
Nobody can break down your business, your clients, or your market better than you. So, clearly define the metrics and KPIs that are important for your team.
You can determine objectives for weekly, monthly, or quarterly periods. Say a year ago you had 5% more significant sales than the earlier year; would it be advisable to set an 8% income increment objective during the current year?
Additionally, having a robust sales funnel in place could do wonders to our bottom line figures.
Along the way, welcome inputs and thoughts from your sales reps on the objectives you set up. By making this an inclusive conversation, you can help the employees associate with the goals better.
3. Utilize Time-Saving and Productivity Tools
Your sales team and account executives should have access to advanced technology. You should adopt standard industry software like Salesforce, Office Suite, and Google Workspace.
Take the Australian Institute of Fitness case, wherein using software for managing leads increased their revenue by $200K. What stood out was their conversion rates in the following quarters.
And not everything has to be cutting-edge. Using simple tools with features like dashboards and click-to-call can reduce the mundane work for your team. By saving time and easing the workflow, you directly end up improving the efficiency of the team members.
The Top 10 Barriers
Slowing Your Fitness
Business Growth
Discover more With continually expanding innovation, ensure that your team has the right sales tools for the job. At the same time, don’t overwhelm them with all the latest software at one go.
4. Give Incentives
Sales is not an easy job that anyone can pull off, and as a business owner, you know this better than anyone. Salespeople have to overcome many rejections and obstacles in their line of work
So why do people get into sales?
In most cases, it’s because of the love for the profession and belief in the product or service. And you can do your bit by giving them much-needed motivation, especially when the team encounters difficulties.
On the other hand, go beyond the usual pat on the back when a sales rep exceeds expectations. Motivate your team members by offering incentives and bonuses for exemplary sales performance.
Whether those incentives are cash, vacation time, or freebies, keeping your group propelled will pay off and help you meet your benchmarks.
5. Measure Progress and Success
It’s important to track your team’s progress to improve their rate of success and identify recurring issues.
A few dozen meetings or hundreds of calls can develop your business. But is it the most efficient and scalable way?
Here are a few things to remember when it comes to measuring progress:
You can continually optimize sales calls and emails. Getting 50 PoS referrals with 80% conversion or 100 outreach leads with 30% conversion, which is the better? Have a robust metric that includes acquisition costs and ticket size for analyzing the performance.
All leads are not the same. Be sure that you’re giving your group a solid list of potential customers, not simply a random rundown of individuals. Furthermore, try to produce leads naturally through an inbound advertising effort.
What’s happening after prospecting and the initial pitch? Are prospective customers vanishing, never to be heard from again? Are your sales reps establishing a rapport and making follow-up calls? Monitoring your customer churn rate is a crucial method to gauge how well your sales group is performing.
6. Make the Interview Process Productive
Many candidates seem great on paper, but CVs can be deceptive. So, shortlist them for a zoom interview – it’s the best way to gauge their communication skills.
Once you think you have found the perfect candidate, call them to your office for the following hiring process. During the personal interview, it’s essential to have an experienced sales rep with you. They might be able to pose various questions that will help create a better assessment of the candidate.
An essential step in an interview is the roleplay question. It’s a terrific method to test an individual’s ability to sell your business offerings. With this, you’ll know how they perform in tense situations and what selling style they usually lean toward.
When you’re recruiting a sales rep, you’re employing the face of your business. Your new hires should enter the office with loads of empathy, honesty, confidence, and control.
You might often come across candidates who show great potential but don’t have an equally attractive resume.
As a feature of the interview, you need to recognize if an individual has the drive and enthusiasm to learn and develop. If these boxes are checked, you’ll have a candidate for coaching and nurturing. Now, whether or not you have the time and energy to invest in budding talent comes down to your preference.
7. Sell Yourself
Your job postings should be an exciting read. By simply listing down the qualifications and the experience requirements, you won’t attract the right candidates.
You need to talk about important skills, training, and experience. Make your listing stand apart by highlighting what separates working at your gym from your contenders.
For example, mention:
- What’s incredible about your fitness center’s culture?
- What are the benefits you offer? Maybe it’s health insurance, 401(k), or wellness classes for top performers.
- What will the growth trajectory look like for a salesperson at your gym?
If you’ve employed some extraordinary sales reps, it’s a great practice to ask what drives them to perform every single day. You can utilize these perspectives in job postings for hiring salespeople.
Apple’s job post for the role of a digital sales program manager is the best example. It starts by explaining the organization’s culture, and later moves to the demands of the role. The best part is it puts the reader in the role with phrases like ‘As the WW Digital Sales Program Manager, you will…’
8. Lead by Example
If this post were a workout regime, this part would be the cardio session. It’s crucial and has to be regularly performed.
Inspire your salespeople by setting a good example. You don’t have to be the best sales rep in the company, but your vigor, hustle, and attitude should be something to look up to.
Likewise, you ought to show an eagerness to impart knowledge, encourage teamwork across groups, and show that you’re a reliable leader.
That will result in a positive work environment wherein your team will want to give their best every day.
In Summary
Your gym’s sales team can make or break the company. While creating an effective sales process will take many hours and a lot of hard work, the time and efforts of your salespeople eventually pay off.
It all boils down to employing the best individuals, having a cheerful work environment, and deploying innovative sales processes.
Talking of creative approaches for sales, here’s a post about the age-old free gym trials and whether you should offer one to prospective customers.
