I shared this craziness the other day on FB, and wanted to make sure you saw it because this ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
It’s a personal experience that I had over the last 2 weeks that made me want to pull my hair out.
My husband and I recently got a place on the beach on the Space Coast here in Florida (just south of Cape Canaveral – we can see the rocket launches from our balcony- so AWESOME!)
But anyway…since we’ve been spending a lot more time here, I was looking to join a local program over here to workout at.
There were a couple of places near me that looked great. They both had FEO’s.
Place #1: The first place had a free week trial.
Place #2: The second place had a free fitness assessment.
I signed up for both of them to see which I liked better because I’m ready to join and get started!
I signed up for Place #1’s FEO online and registered for my first class! I was excited.
I got an automated text message confirming the class. AWESOME- seemed like they were on the ball. I texted back that I was excited…
and then I got a text back saying that class was actually canceled and they forgot to update the schedule online.
SO…..if I didn’t text back, I would have showed up and there would have been no class. #fail
I ended up rescheduling the class and showed up. I did get welcomed to the group during the warm-up and had a decent workout……but everyone was really into their own groups of friends and no one really took time out to say hi.
I’m really friendly and like to say hi to everyone, but no one even made EYE CONTACT! I felt like an outsider there.
The only reason I would have gone back was because the workout was decent- but I’m also looking for a place to meet some cool new people because I’m new to the area.
I was planning on going back to finish out my week trial, but ended up having to head back to Orlando.
Guess what….I have NOT heard a peep from this place.
No call to check in and see how my workout was. ZERO follow-up to see if I wanted to come back for another class that week.
NOTHING. It has been over 3 weeks and I haven’t heard a THING from this place.
Makes me truly sad because it’s just a simple phone call that would have probably gotten me in a second time and more interested about joining.
#FAILEDAGAIN
The SECOND place seemed a bit more hopeful! I scheduled my free session a week ahead of time because I was planning on being at the coast.
My schedule ended up changing and I wasn’t sure when I would be back in town, so I asked if they can follow back up with me in about a week to reschedule when I’d know what my plans were.
CRICKETS. It has been over 3 weeks and I haven’t heard a THING!
WTF!
PEOPLE. This is your BUSINESS. Following-up is one of THE most important things in your business. Period.
Everyone wants to learn ninja marketing and sales strategies….but many are forgetting the BASICS.
0 for 2 here on a couple of places that had nice websites and looked great from the outside.
Want to impress your prospects and clients? FOLLOW-UP.
Doesn’t cost any money. Takes a little bit of time…but it’ll be the best investment you can make.
To me, a lack of follow-up in the beginning means that it will be even worse as a client!
If they can’t even stay on the ball when I’m prospective client, I can only imagine how they take care of their actual clients.
So I started looking at a couple other places. I ended up joining a pretty nice place about a mile from my house.
Enter place #3. I tried an FEO at another local place – website is not the best, but you can tell they put effort into it.
I signed up online for a free class. When I got there, I was welcomed by not only their trainers, but their MEMBERS!
I instantly felt a part of their fitness family. Trainers and members high-fived me as I finished certain exercises.
People were super-friendly and non-judgemental.
I really enjoyed my workout AND my experience there. I had a chat with a trainer there after class about my schedule and a little bit about my goals.
Nothing too fancy or formal (their process could be improved a LOT) But you know what? I JOINED.
The small things like a phone call to follow-up and a nice smile and handshake from a current member are really BIG things and go a long way.
Take a close look at your processes and make sure everything is getting delivered the way YOU want it to be.
Pretend that YOU are a potential client coming into your business.
What would YOU want your experience to be like? Frame it out down to every last detail.
Then, create that experience.
Make it a productive day,
Alicia
