Recently, Club Industry held a live roundtable event with top industry professionals to discuss modern sales and marketing techniques. In this group interview and Q&A session, Erica Tillinghast of Precor chatted with Terry Blachek of Orangetheory, Marisa Huff of The Empower Group, and Michel Umphrey of HOTWORX with the premise of sharing their knowledge and skillset in the area of sales and marketing. The result was a vibrant discussion about trends, data, skills, and projections. Here are a few highlights and insights from the roundtable, entitled “Adapt New Sales and Marketing Processes to Prevent Your Extinction,” available now on demand. Data is King The roundtable participants rely heavily on facts, and they use time, energy, and resources to get the data to know their audience. Blachek says “Get out of marketing that can’t be measured.” Measurement and analysis of data is the key to knowing where marketing dollars are best spent, both in advertising and in staff hours. Huff says “Don’t rely on what you feel is your target market. Use the data and know.” From there, it is a calculated decision on where marketing dollars and staff go. Umphrey says “of my two locations, my demographics are very different, so my marketing has to be done very differently.” From Lead to Sale “Everyone on my staff is in sales,” says Umphrey,” but we don’t SELL, we SHARE.” She emphasizes everyone on staff knowing the product intimately and being able to share about it from a first person perspective. Every part of sales is more intimate and involved than it used to be. Blachek says “from start to finish now, it takes more touchpoints per lead to convert to a sale.” Huff says “People need to feel comfortable walking in the door of your establishment.” She talks about not only before they walk in, but that after-experience with the staff. How comfortable and invited do they make each person feel? In all, some sales positions have changed, and some techniques for sales have changed, but human interaction definitely matters, especially to the apprehensive client. What About Tech Integration in Marketing and Sales? The participants on the roundtable agree that integration of technological advances help with data and with automation, and has perhaps changed personnel roles a bit, but will not take the place of personal touch. After all, the draw to return to live fitness after the 2020 shutdown was being “IRL” again, including having a sense of community. All roundtable experts also agree that the personnel should know and understand their product and exactly how to lead a person from point A to point B in their company’s sales pipeline. Otherwise, no dollars spent in marketing and sales would matter. It starts and ends with everyone knowing and understanding the customer journey. Interested in learning more about the details behind this recent Executive Roundtable sponsored by Precor? Find the entire recording here. | 