When you hear the word, 'Salesman', your inner conscious mind likely conjures a specific image and a set of feelings and emotions to go along with it. Some good and some bad, these thoughts, feelings, and emotions produce for you an attitude when it comes to sales and marketing. And like it or not, as I've written about before, every single one of us is in sales almost every day. Especially if you’re trying to advance your fitness career.
If you're trying to advance your fitness career through your own fitness business, then you likely know exactly what I'm talking about. It seems like almost every day I'm reminded that my ability to sell, and my level of success in the fitness business are in direct proportion to each other.
Recently, I bought a new pair of Chaco sandals. I bought them from a very specific place for specific reasons that I want to touch on today. The shop I frequent for my shoe purchases locally is Morgan's Shoes. It's located in a small upscale strip mall about a mile from my home, and en route between my home and my fitness studio. I love the place! Packed in to about 1,000 square feet is one of the best sales systems around. You will find high-end shoes for both men and women and some of the best shoes sales people I've ever experienced. If you want to see a system in place for sales, you must purchase a pair of shoes from Morgan's.
The real genius in the operation is that there are three completely different shoe stores adjacent to each other and in the busiest corner of that little mall. All of these stores are owned by the same guy and all possess a clear and well-defined sales system that is implemented day after day by their staff. The one I’m referring to today, one for kids, and one for runners.
Right down to the end of the sale, there are a series of steps that move along like a ticking clock until you walk out the door. They don't even hand you the box of shoes over the counter, they walk them around to you so that ALL barriers have been demolished, and you walk away feeling like someone really took care of you. Because they really did.
And then it's the other little things like the punch card. One more reason to come back so that eventually, I’m saving some serious cash on a nice pair of shoes. You should have seen the guy walk me through his system when I bought my new Birkenstocks a month and a half ago. The guy really knew how to fit a shoe, and even better, how to facilitate my purchasing decision so that I could buy the shoes and not have them sold to me. Genius!
Yes, I own two pairs of sandals for very specific reasons that I might just right about one day. The point here is that I wear sandals to work every day when it’s warm.
I sell a lot of fitness training in these sandals and my clients don’t care. You know why? Well, my sales and marketing systems speak for themselves. I come along for the ride and I might as well be comfortable…
John
PS Speaking of systems…I’ve created a good one by teaming up with the local news anchor I work with here in Madison. This one will teach you how to gain local media exposure in your market, and hopefully turn yourself into a local fitness celebrity like I have. Check it out at: