No one lies on their death bed saying, “Boy, I sure wish I would have worked more.” We’re thinking about family, friends, the legacy we’re leaving and our faith, but we are NOT thinking, “I wish I would have worked more.” The challenge is being able to do more with the limited time we have, and get greater results from the time we invest. And that’s exactly what I’m going to show you how to do…
In 1982 I went to work in my first gym, and today I’m still a club owner. I’m not unique though. The fact is that most fitness professionals get into the business because we’re passionate about it. Many people choose careers based on their passions.
We all begin with dreams, of what our businesses and careers would be like, and of what we’d do with the money and free time we’d find. We didn’t start with ideas about how our careers would own us.
Sometimes we might feel like there is always more to be done than we can do. But our work should be GIVING us time, not taking it. We don’t need to work MORE to get a better result; we just need to work correctly on the right things.
Time required of us is less when production is higher and money is multiplied. It only takes one thing to have the time and income you want… increasing production.
Increasing production occurs with one simple move. After that, the time, money and freedom you thought you’d have when you began, becomes yours. The simplest move to make to increase production and profits is to go back to the basics of Marketing 101. Simply prioritize marketing in order of most responsive customers.
1. Market first to your existing customers
2. Market second to people who have been your customers
3. Market third to people who have thought about being your customer (showed interest but did not join for one reason or another)
4. Market last to brand new people (who haven’t shown interest yet)
Take a look at typical marketing efforts in your industry and your company, and you’ll see an almost exclusive focus on only marketing to new folks. Look at it this way: marketing to new people (those who do not know you, have never done business with you and have no reason to trust you) is the most expensive form of marketing there is, with the lowest probability of success. Hello?
There are new markets to tap into, but we can add amazing revenue and never leave our building by just plugging in intelligent solutions. I know this because I own a fitness club and I’ve seen numerous returns on investment when I market a new program, product or service to existing customers. Actually, I’ve seen up to ten times my money back when I’ve done so!
I also know this because I work with many types of businesses, and the result is always the same. Selling more items to existing customers is easier than selling something to a new person. It just is.
I’ll illustrate the power of Marketing 101 to increase your income with an actual example. Roy Leedey took over a club that had been losing money for 2 ½ years. It had done $230,000 the year prior and he needed to do something quick. He decided to implement a new product to sell his existing customers (our weight-loss program, thank you, Roy!) then proceeded to generate $57,000 within the first month, $127,000 the second month, and finished the year with $974,000! That’s nearly a 400% increase!
For business owners and managers, another way to make more money is to encourage better production from your “human” resources. Let’s cover what that means. I know what it is like when cash-flow is down and you have payroll to meet, so it is easy to see employees as an expense. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. I am talking about paying out from the extra that your staff brings in…free money! It’s a win/win for everyone. You have the financial needs met of your business and the person helping you achieves their financial goals too!
By providing incentives and bonuses for results (not for being busy or for effort), you’ll increase morale, generate excitement, foster the competitive spirit, generate new members and yes, seriously increase income.
How do you implement this strategy? My systems include dozens of ways to increase team production and turn even the most troubling employees into your greatest asset. Some quick ways to stimulate a quick cash infusion are:
• Fine tuning your commission structure for optimal performance (you would not believe how many people have commission scales that are counter productive).
• Run a contest for your team. You’d be amazed at the excitement this creates and how it gets them focused on their target numbers.
• Special incentives for team leaders. Somebody has to monitor what is going on, track results and keep the team pulling in the same direction so get them super invested in your successful outcome.
• Provide incentives for retention improvements. This is often overlooked, but it’s a real bottom-line cash builder.
• Tie it all together with a theme. By making the theme different from the norm, it makes it fresh. (Stumped for ideas? Use what ever is going on – if there is a storm, run a rain or flood special and get customers flooding in to offer more sales opportunities for your people. If it’s hot, use a “stay cool” special…get the idea?)
I’ve just given you three killer strategies to increase income in your business and there are a whole lot more where that came from. Stay tuned for more ideas next week!