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Club owners and managers haven't yet come to the realization that the front desk staff is the most
important staff in the club. Who is the one person in the club that sees every member every day? Who is the one
person in the club who has a hand in every sale? Who is the one person who greets, smiles, has a conversation with
every member that walks through the front door and therefore, increases renewals? Who is the one person in the club
that has the ability to sell a lot of profit center merchandise? Who is the... I think you get my point. This is where a
potential member gets their first impression of the club whether its by phone or by stepping through the front doors for
the first time.

Unfortunately, these employees are also, in many cases, our lowest paid, inexperienced, bottom-of-the-rung employees
as well. We give them a couple hours of training and then throw them to the wolves. Besides the customer service
issues that must be ultimately addressed the big question is, “how many new membership opportunities are missed?”
Unless there is a sophisticated tracking system for telephone information calls there is no way to find out. Also, the
staff must be trained very well to be able to distinguish whether the simple question that they just got could have been
parlayed into a conversation and then an appointment. A club I work with in Arizona, after implementing a tracking
system, realized that they missed 62 opportunities in the month of December! Let’s look at the numbers:

62 calls:

The first factor that we analyzed in his club was how the front desk staff handled the Telephone Inquiry Calls. This
was as far as we got that day.

Neglecting Front Desk Training could be costing you a lot of revenue. They need to be trained in-depth on how to handle
the phone as it pertains to questioning the caller in order to get information to get an appointment. When a prospect
comes into the club, the goal is to sell a membership. When a prospect calls in, the goal is to sell an appointment. Start
by implementing weekly meetings to teach and role play the following suggestions:

1. Get information before you give it. How could you make an effective presentation otherwise?

2. Don’t use a “benefit list” to present from. Instead, use it to create questions to determine if those “benefits” truly are
of value to your prospects. Some “benefits” could actually be liabilities.

3. Ask one question at a time. That’s how many they’ll answer at a time.

4. After asking, be quiet. Resist the urge to jump in if they don’t answer immediately. Don’t be intimidated by silence.
They’re likely thinking about what they’re going to say.

5. After they’ve finished, count to two (silently, of course). This ensures they’re done, plus they might continue with
even better information.

6. Be confident in your questioning. One reason people ramble with questions is that they’re not prepared or confident.
Prepare your questions. Role play them with yourself if necessary.

7. Always know where you’ll go with answers. Regardless of the answer.

8. Quantify the problem whenever possible. “How often does that happen?” “How many times have you gained the
weight back?” “How much time have you spent exercising?”

9. Resist the tendency to present too soon. Some people get so excited when they hear the slightest hint of an
opportunity, that they turn on the spigot of benefits. Hold off, ask a few more questions, get better information, and
you’re able to craft an even harder-hitting description of benefits, tailored precisely to what they’re interested in.

I always encourage club owners to bring as many staff members to the seminar as possible. If my club was not doing
the numbers that it could, I certainly would want my staff trained to be the best that they could be. What's the worst that
could happen?