Fitness Marketing ……The best use for direct mail, especially in fitness, is to get current customers to keep coming back and spending more. That said, businesses need a marketing strategy for attracting new customers. Here are 4 great tips to making direct mail work:
The Smaller Your Trade Area, The More Direct Mail Works. Typically direct mail works on a smaller scale than traditional media like TV, Radio or Print. My instinct is that the number is about 20,000 households. You can enter the geography that corresponds to your trade area, then the demographics of your targeted customer. A few things to keep in mind: Don’t over estimate your geography; the longer the travel time, the less likely people are to shop your business. Don’t over estimate your demographics; be honest about the likelihood of attracting people in age, income or gender groups that normally don’t shop your business.
Provide An Offer, But Also An Event. After the mailing list, the offer is the biggest driver of direct mail success. You always want a great offer to get customers to respond, but you also don’t want to look like a chronic discounter. Overall discounting lessens the perceived quality of your product or service. To counter balance the perception of discounting, you should try to wrap your offer in an event. Events can simply include holidays like Christmas or Labor Day, community events like Crazy Days or Open House, or trade events . The best events can be the ones you develop yourself like a guest celebrity appearance, a charity event, or a themed community event. The more you can wrap your sale or offer into an event, the less you need to discount, and the more you protect your core pricing and perceived product quality.
It Takes 7 Impressions to Make a Sale. The rule of thumb in marketing is that on average a new customer will have been exposed to you brand 7 times. There is also research that shows that the more a person sees your brand, the more that person thinks favorably about your brand. So frequency matters. If you don’t “touch” your targeted customer continually over time, your marketing won’t reach it’s maximum effectiveness. With direct mail as well as other media, you should have a plan in place to touch the same people multiple times throughout the year. A good rule of thumb for direct mail is 4 times per year. Other impressions can come from other types of media, but also word-of-mouth, drive-bys of a retail location, or public relations campaigns. Lastly, avoid using too many media types. If you try direct mail, then print, then radio, you will tend to make single impressions on many people, but not frequent impressions on the same people; you never get to the 7 impressions.
Test for an Ongoing Marketing System. The goal with any marketing is to develop “marketing systems” that you can put into your annual marketing budget and use over and over again. A marketing system is one that has been proven to have good results and an acceptable return on investment. To get there you need to measure and test. Direct mail is usually the easiest of the media types to test; you mail out and measure the response. A few things to keep in mind: To be statistically relevant the test needs to be large enough. A rule of thumb is to mail at least 10,000 pieces, 15,000 is better. Not all new customers will bring in the offer on a direct mail piece; some people don’t like bringing in coupons and some simply forget. Finally, remember that frequency matters. If you can get a reasonable response with a first test, subsequent mailings will only get better. Kurt Post Card Builder
Call Fitness Life Marketing 1-888-541-0714 for help designing a great marketing camapign for your club.
When people call your facility, or walk into your business, odds are that they are there because they are seriously looking at buying a membership. This is especially true if the prospect is older than 50. These seasoned consumers have, in many cases, done their research long before they sit in front of your sales staff. However, your sales staff’s effect on their final decision is immense. How do you know if your current sales staff is suited to sell to adults who are 50-plus? The following nine traits are a good place to start.
1. The right attitude
Sales staff should be positive, pleasant, confident, resilient, empathetic and professional. They must also enjoy spending time with older people. If they don’t love older people, they shouldn’t be selling to them.
2. Know the basics
A professional salesperson must know all the elements of the sales process. Examples include a needs assessment with solutions, overcoming objections and closing the sale. To be great at sales, staff should blend these elements into their personality, and use them to move the sales process forward. But rather than an obvious series of steps that lead to closing the sale, this process should seem more like a conversation that ends with the customers getting what they want. Think of the sales role as being a personal concierge — someone who finds what the customer wants and needs.
3. Know the product
You need a first-rate understanding of how the product can, and will, improve the quality of life for older clients. Well-seasoned salespeople know when they don’t have the answer to a question, and will find someone who can answer it.
4. Education
Look for ways for your sales staff to learn new skills. Examples include role playing, courses, conferences, regional meetings, seminars, night school, DVDs, CDs and books.
5. Study life and people
Teach your sales team to observe what people say, how they say it, why they say it and when they say it. Have them make notes and learn from others. Have them ask buyers and non-buyers why they chose to buy from them or not.
6. Be ethical
American author, teacher and humorist Leo Rosten once wrote, “I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.” Your team will fight against the belief that sales people will say anything to get the sale. Remind your sales staff that being a great 50-plus salesperson means that they must stand by what they say, and ensure that what they say stands.
7. Work hard and smart
Make sure your team knows the difference between hard work and smart work. Time is valuable, and wasting time can prove costly. Your sales staff members need to learn how to prospect for new customers, plus have the training and ability to recognize who potential clients are. Great salespeople understand that they create their pay — wasting time is wasting money.
8. Ask for the sale
According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Blink, everyone has the knowledge needed to make decisions in the blink of an eye. So, what holds a customer back? Is it fear? Is it that he didn’t get enough information to help justify the purchase, or she didn’t like the salesperson? Whatever it is, one thing is sure: Trying to get people to buy your products before they have reached their stage of readiness is like trying to get a toddler to eat creamed spinach. All that happens is a messy situation.
9. Follow up
Think about how often you have bought a product from a salesperson because she had a product that met your needs and she was right there in front of you? Then, the salesperson you spoke to a few months earlier called a few weeks after he was supposed to, and felt frustrated to miss out on your business. Your team needs to know that the key to increasing sales performance is timely follow-up with customers.
The right person for the job
Exceptional salespeople are individuals with the knowledge, skills, training, attitude and discipline to succeed. Help your salespeople hone their skills every day so that they can join the ranks of the great 50-plus sales professionals.
Sponsored by: Fitness Life Marketing 1-888-541-0714 ext2
Article Research Contributor: Amerishape Weight Loss
Club owners and managers,…..What do you think? Would you do this?
Send us your comment.
As part of an ad campaign, the health club chain Fitness First has turned a bus stop bench in the Netherlands into a scale that displays people’s weights on a large LCD screen.
Public shaming can a pretty powerful motivational tool and all, but I wonder: Should we be outraged or impressed? Then again, is this even good marketing in the first place?
Sponsored by: Fitness Life Marketing 1-888-541-0714 ext2
Article Research Contributor: Amerishape Weight Loss
http://www.good.is/post/is-this-the-best-fitness-marketing-ever/
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