BY JUSTIN TAMSETT I n a recent survey I


conducted, I discovered the following information:


• 76% of all club enquiries come from someone telephoning the club


• 68% of all new sales start with someone telephoning the club


Bearing this in mind, the sole aim of


every incoming call should be to book an appointment! But in a recent mystery shop-


per campaign of clubs, I found the following: • 100% of callers were not asked if they were a member of the club they were calling


• 100% of callers were not asked how they found out about the club


• 97% of callers were not asked their name


• 86% of callers were not asked about their reason for joining a club


• 78% of callers felt they had to ask questions to keep the conversa- tion going and gather the infor- mation they required


• 64% of callers were not invited to the club for a tour


• 58% of callers were told to call back or that a sales person would return their call


I have spent tens of thousands of


dollars on sales training at my club, and I thought my staff were handling the calls well. But when I tested my own club,


none of my criteria were met – includ- ing recording that the call even came in! This scared me, and I realized that the sales training companies were training my staff but that the staff were not transferring the information into their jobs. More importantly, I realized that I wasn’t providing quality feedback on


“The goal of every incoming call must be to convert the caller to a tour.”


their job performance. I was simply as- suming too much. Here are what I consider to be the


key points for a successful telephone enquiry: 1. NAME: Ask the person’s name,


and then use it. This will help build rapport and trust, so that the person calling wants to come and meet you. 2. PROSPECT Ask if the person is


a member. People call and ask, “What time do you close?” or “Do you have a step class at 5:30?” or “How much is child minding?” These are soft enqui- ries, and you really need to ask call- ers if they are a member to determine your answer. 3. CONTROL: The person asking


the questions controls the conversa- tion. Ask open-ended questions to en- courage information sharing. This is a rapport building strategy that builds trust. If you control the conversation you can direct it and eventually invite the caller to visit the club for a tour. 4. RESULTS: Find out why the per-


son wants to join. This shows you care about them as a person. You don’t have to tell them what equipment they will use or how you will help them, but you might say, “We have lots of peo- ple who get started here for that very same reason!” 5. APPOINTMENT: The goal is to


get an appointment. But don’t ask too early or you will be rejected. Ask once you have rapport and trust. But ask by giving an alternate choice, “Would to- day or tomorrow be better for you?” 6. ANSWERS: Answer all ques-


tions. You can’t give answers until you know what they need. So say upfront, “Yes, I can certainly tell you how much a membership costs. But I just need to know exactly what you’re looking for. May I ask you a couple questions?”


The goal of every incoming call


must be to convert the caller to a tour. You can do this in less than three minutes if you follow the simple steps above. Skip a step and you won’t have the trust or rapport or indeed the right to invite them to the club. FBC


Justin Tamsett has been in the industry since 1988 as a personal trainer, sales person, club manager and club owner. As the managing di- rector of Active Management, he consults with clubs in recruitment, customer service, reten- tion and marketing. You can become a freemi- um member of Active Management by visiting www.ActiveMgmt.com.au.


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