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Increase Your Pickup Rate to Increase Your Studio’s Sales – The 6 Tips You Need to Know

Your studio looks amazing.

You’ve developed a polished retention strategy that you feel is effective. 

So, you’re ready to reap the rewards of your hard work. And you’re expecting hundreds of people to line up for your studio. 

However…

Your enthusiasm becomes short-lived because a huge problem soon arises:

Potential members aren’t interested to pickup the phone! 

You’ve generated a large number of leads, but there’s no way to convert them because you can’t even talk to them. 

Now, you may decide to do nothing about this issue and wait for it to resolve itself. 

But if you sit idle and fail to change your strategies… you’ll only waste time and money. Worse, you risk losing your clients to another studio and killing your chances of taking off. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic wand that will make your prospects pick up the phone. You need to make it happen, and this article will help you do so. 

We’ll list six tips to help you get people on the phone and boost your pickup rate.

The 6 Tips to Increase Your Pickup Rate

Tip #1. Don’t Use Certain Words

The first step to improving your phone pickup rate is to adopt a different mindset. More specifically, you want to stop using certain words, such as “no one’s picking up.” 

What do I mean?

The situation might not be great, but there’s no reason to discourage yourself further. 

In fact, many studio owners think that no one’s picking up after dialling just one or two numbers. They set unrealistic expectations, hoping that each potential client will answer their call. 

But unless you’re doing 10 to 12 follow-ups per lead, stop thinking all your clients are refusing to answer you. 

The problem may lie in just one or two prospects. 

Tip #2. Do More Follow-Ups 

As previously discussed, doing more follow-ups is essential to converting your prospects. Lead generation keeps your sales funnel in motion, but your efforts will be in vain if you can’t convert them. 

But you can’t expect to land prospects with just one follow-up. In many cases, you’ll need to do at least two to three follow-ups to get your prospect to join your studio. 

Some prospects don’t require much convincing, allowing you to seal the deal after the initial contact. But keep in mind that these people already know their fitness goals and how your studio can help them achieve them. 

Such prospects are extremely rare. 

In fact, you’re much more likely to encounter prospects who require two to three follow-ups. 

Of course, getting them on board requires patience. But you also need to overcome your fear of rejection. 

You might think your prospects are indifferent to your studio, but that may not be the case at all. They could simply be waiting for you to make the first move and address certain pain points. 

If so, being persistent with your follow-ups will let you sell your studio’s services and convince them that yours is the right studio for them. 

Tip #3. Switching Phone Numbers 

Another thing you can try to improve your lead conversion is to use a different phone number. By this, I mean if your primary number is receiving no attention, switch to your secondary number. 

This tactic can work great with many potential members, especially those who are hesitant to join a studio. They don’t know who you are yet, which is why they’re timid and reluctant to answer your calls. 

But as previously discussed, persistence pays off. 

Using a different phone number ties perfectly into this point. Since they don’t know that it’s you calling using your secondary number, chances are they’re more likely to pick up.

Tip #4. Do the Double Tap

Don’t feel disheartened if your prospect doesn’t answer the first time. I know many studio owners call it quits at this point, but that’s not what you should do. 

Instead, do the double tap – redial your potential client’s number immediately after your first attempt. 

It’s because they might not have heard your first call or think you got the wrong number. But once they see you’re redialing, they’ll be more likely to pick up the phone. 

Now, the double tap strategy doesn’t hold for phone pickup only. It also applies to other types of communication. 

For example, if your prospect doesn’t respond to your initial email, follow it up with another message. This increases the chances of a response. 

Tip #5. Don’t Call at Your Convenience

One of the biggest mistakes studio owners make is calling at their convenience. That is, they dial their prospect’s numbers at the same time every day because it’s convenient for them. 

For example, you might call in-between doing some pickups or after lunch. You might have free time at this point, so you decide to ring your potential client up. 

It’s convenient for you…

But is it convenient for your prospects?

The easiest solution to this problem is to call your prospects at a different time. This way, you’ll rule out the possibility that they’re too busy to answer you. 

Tip #6. Identify and Use the Ideal Time Slots 

Identifying the ideal time slots to call is directly connected to the previous point. These windows have to do with when your prospects are more likely to pick up the phone. 

Here are the three best time slots for dialling your prospect’s number: 

  • Five minutes after the initial lead drop 
  • Between 9 and 11 AM
  • Between 4:30 and 6:30 AM (after work hours) 

The first option might be your best bet since this is when the lead is still fresh. At that point, the prospect expects you to reach out, so use this opportunity while it’s open. 

Adopt the Winner’s Mindset

The best studio owners are resolute. 

Their pickup rate might not have been great when they first launched their studio, but this didn’t discourage them. Instead, they identified and solved the issue to improve their lead conversion. 

You can do the same with these tips. 

The key thing to remember is to not be discouraged by a few unanswered phone calls. Redialing your prospects and doing several follow-ups usually do the trick. 

If not, understand that your customers are busy and choose a better time slot. You’ll be surprised by the improvements to your pickup rate. 

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Sales Top Stories

The 3 Secrets to Getting More Sales in Your Studio

Confidence is really key to running a successful studio

To understand what I mean, take Haley, one of Geron1mo’s most accomplished clients, as an example. She’s an expert saleswoman, effortlessly closing dozens of deals for her studio every week. 

But things weren’t always like this for her. 

At first, Haley was shy and hesitant to take real action. 

She didn’t know how to interact with potential clients and attract them to her studio. As a result, her sales plummeted, so there was no way to grow her business. 

But Haley didn’t give up. 

She took a long, hard look at herself. That’s why she identified a lack of confidence as her biggest weakness. 

Her prospects also recognised this lack of confidence, too. See, Haley didn’t sound excited about her services, and her potential clients heard it. 

She understood her timidness would be her downfall, so she decided to change this. 

Haley made it clear to her prospects that her studio was perfect for body transformations and achieving a healthy routine. 

Soon, she became more confident than ever. And she turned into a sales beast, setting a 50-sales week record. 

If Haley turned things around in her studio, so can you. 

Keep reading because you’ll discover the three secrets for getting more sales in your studio. 

The 3 Secrets

Secret #1. Get Real on the Phone

One of the most important steps to increasing sales is to polish your phone game. You need to establish a rapport with your members by asking the right questions such as: 

  • Why do you want to be here?
  • What do you want to achieve with this program? 
  • Do you want to lose weight or gain muscle? 

As the conversation flows, your prospects are more likely to open up if you also insert some emotion. You can ask emotional questions like: 

“What would it mean to you to achieve your fitness goals?” 

This tells the customer you’re interested in their well-being. And that you want to find out how you can help them. 

It also makes them more comfortable and eager to share their feelings. 

Once you’ve built a rapport, your potential members will realise they can trust you. 

Remember, you’re not a salesperson who only needs people’s credit card details. Instead, you’re building a strong relationship with that potential member and increasing your chances of closing the sale. 

Getting real with them and setting the foundation of that relationship is key.

Secret #2. Be a Better Listener 

The best salespeople are always great listeners. They want to hear about their client’s troubles so they can provide the best solutions, so they remain attentive throughout the conversation. 

You need to do the same.

Rather than listening passively, you need to be an active listener and empathise with your customers. After all, you can’t hope to solve their problem without listening to them. 

Establish a rapport by asking relevant questions, but don’t stop there. 

Take in the answers before jumping to the next part of your script. Otherwise, your prospect may feel you’re not listening to them, and it will put them off your studio. 

Now, the best way to avoid this scenario is to acknowledge their concern. 

Whether they want to lose weight to feel better or gain muscle to be more confident about their body, show your prospect that you understand them. 

This way, you’ll create an even better rapport, and your clients will be more likely to confide in you. 

Secret #3. Don’t Focus on Your Gym or Membership

If you want to be a prosperous studio owner, you need to understand one thing: 

Nobody cares about your gym or your gym membership!

Your customers aren’t interested in your battle ropes, sleds, and other equipment. They only want to hear about the outcome. 

The sooner you realise this, the better you’ll be at making sales. 

Now, to help you understand this point, picture yourself going on a holiday. 

There are some things you never think about, right? 

For example, you won’t really care that the plane takes 16 hours to reach the destination And that there are only two centimetres of leg space. The jet engine and lunch aren’t on your mind, either. 

Instead, the only thing on your mind is what happens at the end of the flight. 

You think about the beaches, palm trees, bikinis, drinks, memories in your photo feed, and other fascinating parts of your holiday. Everything else is irrelevant. 

Your customers take the same route when considering your studio. 

Rather than visualising the equipment and challenges, they think about what their body will look like three months from now. 

They dream about losing 15 kilograms and becoming their best self. 

Ultimately, the journey to their destination isn’t on their mind. But it’s your job to show them how to reach it. By contrast, their only job is to show up at your studio three or four times per week.

Keep this in mind whenever you’re talking to your customers. 

If you feel the conversation is going in the wrong direction, get back on track by reminding the client of the outcome. 

That said, you’ll know your sales call is fruitful if you move past the client’s wish to lose 5-10 kilograms and you start hearing about other motivations. 

For instance, they may tell you that they aim to improve their mental health or want their family to see them differently. Alternatively, their main goal might be to become a good role model for their children. 

If the customer displays this emotional drive, know that your gym membership and equipment are no longer relevant. 

Instead, only the customer’s drive is relevant. And doubling down on it will help you seal the deal. 

Master Your Sales Strategy 

Following a generic approach to client conversations will get you nowhere. While your script is important, you can’t rely on it blindly. 

Instead, you should strive for a powerful rapport with your potential customers. Asking appropriate questions and listening to their problems will help you do so. 

In addition, don’t forget to move past your gym because your prospects don’t care about it. The only way to strike a chord with them is to emphasise the outcomes they want to have. 

As they get excited about the results, making sales for your studio will be much easier.