WHO AM I
For the last couple years, I have been working in sales and it’s been an incredible experience. I’ve learned many skills and most importantly that anyone can sell if they learn the correct techniques, have the right mindset, and devote enough time to getting rejected. Sales is like learning to ride a bike, you fall a lot at first, you get hurt, get discouraged, but once you get it you get it. It takes a little while after that to be really good but you know you can and you know the process. After that you can basically do it without even thinking, but you still have to be mentally alert for the road bumps. With that said sales is very difficult and it takes a lot of mental toughness, which is why a lot of people don’t like it or just avoid it. I enjoy sales but a little while ago I realized that what I was selling was not enough to make it a career. I want to sell something I believe in, something that can change peoples lives for the better and that I can prove it. I love working with people and health is very important to me. This business idea would allow me to make my passions for sales, people, and health become a reality. It might consume me so that is one thing I have to watch out for.
WHAT WE OFFER
Many local gyms struggle to market their services effectively. There is many ways to market out there but some ways are more effective. The other issue is once you’ve marketed you’ve still got to close the deal, and that’s the hardest part. It is easy to find a marketing solution to generate leads for your business but then you still need the expertise, time, techniques to close the sale and to follow up with potential customers. All that man hour is not calculated into what these gyms spend on just their marketing. My business will take care of social media marketing, generating leads, and then following up and converting those leads into customers. The small gym owners or managers will not have to hire more staff, train their staff, meet potential customers, or even answer the phone. All they would have to focus on is what they are already too focused on and that is providing quality service to their customers.
WHO ARE OUR CUSTOMERS
My customers are small local gyms that are looking to grow their business. These can be anywhere from CrossFit gyms, to boxing and jiujitsu, to powerlifting, etc. Many of these gyms have an owner, sometimes a co-owner and maybe a manager that takes care of almost everything. They have a location and rely heavily on good google reviews and word of mouth. Most of their new clients are member referrals or have heard of the gym through social media posts. These gyms have locations that can fit anywhere from 50-200 members. They also provide a lot of group fitness classes and one on one, so they are not just a normal gym open 24/7.
WHY DO CUSTOMERS CARE
In a town like Gainesville where there is an abundance of students these businesses have to continue to attract customers or else they could go out of business. I spoke with one of these gym owners that said in starting the summer their gym lost approximately 20 customers due to school break and graduation. If you do the math at $100 a month that’s $2,000 in revenue lost, but most of these gyms charge more. On top of that many gyms pay for advertising, but they do all the hard work of closing sales. My company will give them that time back and in turn save them lots of money.
WHY US
Again, I have the experience in sales and have learned techniques that will help grow these businesses. Also, my company is local, these gym owners will be able to see us doing work and bringing in potential customers so unlike online advertising companies they will see results quicker. Another reason my company will be different is that I have been to most of these gyms as a customer, I know what they look like, what they provide, what kinds of people they attract, and what makes them attractive.
I am starting to feel more and more confident about this idea, the only thing I am struggling with is finding out how to determine pay. Most sales jobs are based on commission. If you get the sale you get a percentage of the revenue. I would like to keep it like that but at the same time we would have to take care of social media marketing and that is expensive and is a cost that comes early in the process.
Hey Lucas,
ReplyDeleteI glad you are very passionate about health and I have a saying that is "Health equal wealth," the healthier you are, the better chance you have of being wealthy. Also, one why you can determine the pay is make the gym do a small payment before you perform any services so you can have money to take care of the social media and marketing.
Hello Lucas,
ReplyDeleteI have always had an interest in sales as well, and have read books by Zig Ziglar, Brain Tracy and Napoleon Hill. I have learned that being sold by a good seller can be a good experience. However, a bad salesman puts a bad taste in most buyer’s mouth. This could give good salesman an unnecessary uphill challenge.
As for determining cost, I would suggest that you split up the cost into two segments. One cost upfront for website and social media marketing design and development. Then another continual commission-based cost for each new member you attract to their gym. Also, you could scale the commission to how much each gym owner would want you to be involved in the contract signing and gym orientation phase of new memberships.
Tony Elam
Lukas,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you compared sales to riding a bike. Usually when doing something at first there will be a lot of failing but a good entrepreneur knows that and doesn't let them discourage them. My favorite quote is " You have to fail in order to succeed" and that is the case here. I believe you learn most from your mistakes. I also like how you are passionate about this topic and I can see how this service could really help gyms.
Hi Lucas,
ReplyDeleteI have been reading over this idea you have been pursuing over the last couple of weeks and something about the "Why do customers care" section stood out to me and made me realize your service can appeal to many more gyms than I had previously assumed. While reading about it earlier I hadn't considered the gyms that are trying to advertise on their own and the toll that takes on their overall available time. The assignment helped me realize that while many gyms may already feel like they are taking care of advertising, your service can optimize the manner in which it is done while providing the gym with more time to focus on their establishment itself.
Roberto Dugand
Hey Lucas,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the statistic you found regarding the amount of students local gym owners lose annually due to graduation and break. I think that could be a focal point in your elevator pitch that you could also use during sales. I have been following your post and am glad you have decided to narrow your customers down to smaller, non franchise stores.
Thanks,
Michelle