Matching Attire

There are an astonishing ten million lapsed gym members in Britain.

The industry appear desperate to reconnect with them.

I know that because I heard founder of pay-as-u-gym Jamie Ward say so this weekend on BBC’s generally pitiful On The Money radio show..

Hardly surprising really. No-one wants to sign-up for 12 months up front, be hassled by terribly over-enthusiastic staff that almost bully you into paying silly money for private tutelage, and then rip your hair out when you do eventually get the chance to cancel because all their call centre is interested in is preventing you from quitting.

Whilst he may offer a different way, my ears perked up when he explained how co-founder Neil Hemsworth enforced a key change to their “sales process” (his phrase).

It seems in the early days, it was tough going into gyms and asking them if they could utilise spare capacity on their behalf.

The problem was that they were walking into gyms dressed in suits and ties. Every gym manager though, was tracksuited.

It struck them as an obvious barrier. They toned down their dress, and progress began.

It seems such a simple alteration. Yet clearly effective.

Dressing so that your prospect immediately and subconsciously feels that you are on the same wavelength isn’t as easy as you may think. But it is a good starting place.

I’m thinking more of any aspect of your sales process.

Somewhere deep in there, there may well be one element that is not as attuned to your prospect as you believe.

Find it, strip it down, and amend it so that it is.

I reckon you’ll have a hunch. Instinctively, there’ll be something that when it happens, you sense brings up an invisible, yet perceptible barrier. Crack that and you’ll be on a road to greatness.