10 THE SECOND BEST PROSPECT YOU LL EVER HAVE The Incoming Call or Telephone Inquiry (T.I.) Before we talk about the second best prospect you will ever have, I want to identify the best prospect you will ever have. I think the best prospect you will ever have is someone who walks into your club inquiring about joining. This person knows nothing about you or your club, but has taken the time to get in his car and drive over to your club to possibly join. Why would he take the time and expend all that effort in gas and energy if he did not want to join? Most walk-ins are 80% sold on joining because they have an unwanted condition; something they want to change as far as their physical and emotional health are concerned, and they feel that your club can help them make that change. It is your job to effectively enroll them when they come in. But there is one prospect that is almost as good as the walk-in we described above. It is the person who calls your club looking for information. This is commonly referred to as a telephone inquiry (T.I.) in the health club industry. When this person calls your club for information, you have the opportunity to establish rapport over the phone and convince him of the need to visit your club. When he finally comes into your club, you will have already established some common ground, which you did on the phone, which will make him more comfortable because he feels as though he already knows you to a certain extent. 492 River Road Fair Haven New Jersey 07704 E-mail: Info@MyProfitPartner.org Remember our motto: We want to turn strangers into friends and friends into members. If you have done a good job on the phone, the caller will already feel as though he is your friend. You wouldn t have any problem asking a friend of yours to come and visit the club you work at. The mind-set you need to have when someone calls your club for information is: I m going to make a friend and get the caller to visit my club. This is why telephone inquiries are such great prospects. When they finally come to visit your club, in their mind they are already your friends, whereas prospective members that just walk-in don t know you from Adam. You have to develop the initial rapport that will allow them to trust you in order to create the friendship. You do not have to do this when telephone inquiries come in for their appointments because it has already been done over the phone. You already have some common ground, which you have established over the phone, which makes them feel as though they are already your friends. Your objective when you get telephone inquiries is two-fold. First, set up an appointment for the callers to come in and see your club. Remember that telephone inquiries are opportunities to turn the second best prospects into the best prospects by getting them to come and visit
your club. Second, fax or e-mail them some information that will motivate them to keep their appointment to visit your club. It is very important to handle telephone inquiries properly because you have the chance to be in control of the situation, which is exactly where you want to be. Here is how it works: Most people, when they call your club, will ask: I d like to know what your prices are. The reason they ask this is that they do not know what else to ask because they really do not know what they want. They really should be asking: How can you and your club help me get rid of my unwanted condition and help me accomplish my fitness goals? Your objective during the call is to get your callers away from talking about the price and on to talking about their unwanted condition and how your club can help them achieve their fitness goals and objectives. You can do this by having a T.I. script ready when telephone inquiries call. A sample T.I. script is given on the next page. Notice the first response when they ask for prices and information is I d be happy to give you some information. By the way, my name is Jim, what s yours? You get their name and begin asking some questions. Now you are in control of the conversation and they have forgotten about solely wanting to know the prices. The next step is to shift gears from answering their initial question to asking them about their fitness objectives. Notice the progression is from diffusing their initial question to exchanging names to asking some interactive questions. Next, you give them some information about your club, which is what they wanted when they called, and finally, you ask for the appointment. At this point, you are well on your way to establishing rapport, making a friend, and creating value in their minds. Notice the phrase and then you ll have all the information and you can take it and think about it. This phrase reassures them that you will not high-pressure them into joining when they come in. You are implying that you are simply going to give them some information to take home and think about. Of course, we both know you will be enrolling them when they come in, but this phrase lowers their resistance to setting up an appointment. It also accomplishes what your telephone inquiries want, which is getting some information about your club. Finally, confirm the appointment and end the conversation with and I look forward to meeting you. This leaves them with positive images in their minds that their visit will not only be enjoyable and beneficial, but it also makes them feel as though they are going to make a friend when they finally come to your club and meet you. How do you respond when they are adamant about only wanting to know what your prices are? I respond by saying: If the club isn t exactly right for you, there s no charge. Then, without pausing, I follow it up with: The first step, Mary, (use their first name here) is to take ten quick minutes and come by and see the club. The reason for this is that if you don t like the club, if it s not comfortable for you, if you can t see yourself working out here, then it really doesn t matter what the price is: you re not going to join. Even if a club offers you an incredibly cheap price over the phone, what good is it if you can t get the results you re looking for because you never go to the club because you don t like it? Then close on getting the appointment by saying, Let s set up a time so you can come by and see if our club is the one for you, fair enough? Another response that has worked well for me when the caller is being difficult is: It s kind of like getting a haircut, Mary; you just can t do it over the phone. Then close on getting the appointment. Keep the following thought in mind when handling telephone inquiries. Setting up an appointment for your telephone inquiries is only logical because they have to see if they will be comfortable working out in your club. The only way they can do that is by visiting your club.
T.I. SCRIPT (If you answer the phone when a T.I. calls say, Can you hold for one second while I get someone to answer your questions? This gives you the opportunity to compose yourself, get to a quiet area and get your T.I. script in front of you.) HI, THIS IS (your name), CAN I HELP YOU? CALLER: I d like to know what your prices are. Or they may ask, I d like to get some information about your club. GREAT. I D BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU SOME INFORMATION. BY THE WAY, MY NAME IS (your name); WHAT S YOURS? HI (their name) HAVE YOU BEEN INTO (your club name) BEFORE? HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT (your club name)? DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE RE LOCATED? IS THE MEMBERSHIP GOING TO BE FOR YOURSELF? WHAT KIND OF RESULTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR FROM AN EXERCISE PROGRAM? WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN? YOU VE CALLED THE RIGHT PLACE (their name). WE RE A FULL SERVICE HEALTH AND FITNESS CLUB. (Customize the features below to fit your club and the answers the caller gave you to the two previous questions) We have treadmills, lifecycles, both recumbent and upright, stairclimbers, rowers and precor elliptical trainers. WHICH DO YOU LIKE THE MOST? We have body master and cybex machines as well as free weights. IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIFIC YOU NEED AS FAR AS WEIGHTS OR MACHINES? We have over 30 aerobics classes a week, including kickboxing, totally pumped, group cycle, yoga and water aerobics. WILL YOU BE TAKING SOME CLASSES? We also have full lockers, showers, and saunas. WHAT TIME OF THE DAY WILL YOU BE COMING TO WORK OUT MAINLY? Finally, we have certified personal trainers and all our new members get complimentary personal training when they first join so they ll be comfortable working out here at the club. HOW DOES IT SOUND SO FAR? GREAT! THE BEST THING TO DO, (their name), IS TO STOP BY FOR TEN QUICK MINUTES AND SEE THE CLUB. I CAN SHOW YOU EVERYTHING AND THEN YOU LL HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION AND YOU CAN TAKE IT AND THINK ABOUT IT. SOUND GOOD? I LL BE HERE UNTIL 10:00 TONIGHT AND FROM 9 TO 5 TOMORROW. WOULD YOU LIKE TO STOP BY TONIGHT OR WOULD SOMETIME TOMORROW BE BETTER FOR YOU? GREAT. WHAT TIME? I LL SEE YOU AT (appointment day and time) AND I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU.
10 Converting Every Telephone Call Into An Appointment YOU LL FIGHT TO PICK UP THE PHONE WHEN IT RINGS The purpose of the T.I. Analysis Sheet and the T.I. Log Sheet is to help you become the best you can be in this all important key result area. Your goal is to set up as many appointments from telephone inquiries so more qualified people come into your club(s). 492 River Road Fair Haven New Jersey 07704 E-mail: Info@MyProfitPartner.org Each time you have a telephone inquiry you will document your results on the T.I. Log Sheet. Then you will review your effectiveness by answering the questions on the T.I. Analysis Sheet. Your goal is to improve your effectiveness in this key result area each time you get a telephone inquiry. The ideal result of a telephone inquiry is to book an appointment for the caller to visit your club. The T.I. Analysis Sheet and the T.I. Log Sheet will become your way of insuring that you are doing the best you possibly can when handling telephone inquiries. If you do not use these sheets, how will you know if you are improving the way you handle telephone inquiries? Here is another benefit of the T.I. Log Sheet. Inevitably, some of the people that call will not show up for their appointments. Some will not even book an appointment in the first place. Over time you will accumulate a list of telephone inquiries that you can call back during down time when you need prospects to call. All you need to ask them when you call them back is Did you join a club yet? Most will say no and then you can offer them an incentive to visit your club. Try to get them to come in within 24 hours because if you don t, you are right back where you started, calling no-shows at a later date. Calling your telephone inquiries back is a great way to increase your business. Just make sure you get their phone number when they first call for information. The best and easiest way to get their phone number is to offer to email them some information about your club. You will get their email address and then just ask them for their phone number so you can confirm they received the information. They will feel obligated to give it to you because you are sending them valuable information about your club. If you do not get their phone number, you can look up their address in the phone book and get it that way. Just make sure you have a way to get back in touch with them if they don t show up for their appointment.
TELEPHONE INQUIRY (T.I.) ANALYSIS SHEET The Objective: Get the Appointment! DID I FOLLOW THE T.I. SCRIPT? DID I GET THEIR NAME AND PHONE #? DID I ASK FOR THE APPOINTMENT? WHAT REASON DID THEY GIVE FOR NOT WANTING TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT? DID I OFFER TO FAX THEM, MAIL THEM, OR E-MAIL THEM SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLUB? DO I HAVE A WAY TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH THEM SO I CAN FOLLOW-UP WITH THEM? WHAT DID I DO RIGHT? WHAT WOULD I DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME? When you use this system effectively, seven out of every ten telephone inquiries will make an appointment. Of these seven appointments, three to four will show up and you should be able to enroll two to three as new members. If you want to increase your show ratios, confirm your appointments. Call and say, I m calling to confirm our appointment and to make sure you have good directions to the club. With the use of the T.I. Log Sheet and the T.I. Analysis Sheet, you will become an expert in this all important key result area. Remember that perfect practice will produce perfect results. 2
Telephone Inquiry Sheet HI, THIS IS (your name), CAN I HELP YOU? CALLER: "I'd like to know what your prices are." Or they may ask, "I'd like to get some information about your club." GREAT. I 'D BE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU SOME INFORMATION. BY THE WAY, MY NAME IS ; WHAT'S YOURS? HI (their name), HAVE YOU BEEN INTO (your club name) BEFORE? HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT (your club name)? DO YOU KNOW WHERE WE'RE LOCATED? IS THE MEMBERSHIP GOING TO BE FOR YOURSELF? WHAT KIND OF RESULTS ARE YOU LOOKING FOR FROM AN EXERCISE PROGRAM? WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITIES ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN? YOU'VE CALLED THE RIGHT PLACE (their name). WE 'RE A FULL SERVICE HEALTH AND FITNESS CLUB. (Customize the features below to fit your club and the answers the caller gave you to the two previous questions) We have treadmills, lifecycles, both recumbent and upright, stair climbers, rowers and Precor elliptical trainers. WHICH DO YOU LIKE THE MOST? We have body masterand Cybex machines as well as free weights. IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIFIC YOU NEED AS FAR AS WEIGHTS OR MACHINES? We have over 30 aerobics classes aweek, including kickboxing, totally pumped, group cycle, yoga and water aerobics. WILL YOU BE TAKING SOME CLASSES? We also have full lockers, showers, and saunas. WHAT TIME OF THE DAY WILL YOU BE COMING TO WORK OUTMAINLY? Finally, we have certified personal trainers and all our newmembers get complimentary personal training when they first join so they'll be comfortable working out here at the club. HOW DOES IT SOUND SO FAR? GREAT! THE BEST THING TO DO, (their name), IS TO STOP BY FOR TEN QUICK MINUTES AND SEE THE CLUB. I CAN SHOW YOU EVERY- THING AND THEN YOU'LL HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION AND YOU CAN TAKE IT AND THINK ABOUT IT. SOUND GOOD? I'LL BE HERE UNTIL 10:00 TONIGHT AND FROM 9TO 5TOMORROW. WOULD YOU LIKETO STOP BY TONIGHT OR WOULD SOMETIME TOMORROW BEBETTER FOR YOU? GREAT. WHAT TIME? I'LL SEE YOU AT (appointment day and time) AND I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU!
TELEPHONE INQUIRY (TI) ANALYSIS SHEET The Objective When a T.I. Calls Is to Get the Appointment DID I FOLLOW THE T.I. SCRIPT? DID I GET THEIR NAME AND PHONE NUMBER? DID I ASK FOR THE APPOINTMENT? WHAT REASON DID THEY GIVE FOR NOT WANTING TO SET UP AN APPOINTMENT? DID I OFFER TO FAX THEM, MAIL THEM OR E-MAIL THEM SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLUB? DO I HAVE A WAY TO GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH THEM SO I CAN FOLLOW-UP WITH THEM? WHAT DID I DO RIGHT? WHAT WOULD IDO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME?