“Selling should be fun!” How many times have we heard this? And although it’s partially true, it’s not always. Some days are slow, others are so busy you can’t keep up, and burnout happens to the best of us. When it comes to selling, each prospect should get the highest level of treatment, which can be hard when you have salespeople who aren’t fully invested. So, how do you keep the salespeople in your fitness business fresh, excited, and ready to take on every prospect that comes their way?

It starts with tapping into the true nature of a salesperson. Competition is a driving factor in the way salespeople think, and when you harness that drive and use it to create a more fun, exciting work environment, you inherently see higher sales numbers. When it comes to sales, happy employees = more output = more memberships sold.

But how can you really harness the power of a sales person’s natural competitiveness to benefit your gym? With a sales competition! In this article, we'll give you a few ideas for creating a sales contest that gets your team excited and new members through the door.

A successful sales competition is all about the incentive. 

What's a competition without a good prize? The motivator in your sales competition should be that employees can win something that others couldn’t. There are a few different types of incentives you can use, but we've narrowed down three of the most effective for you to consider: money, status, and object.

However, it should be noted that you can’t host competitions like this without overarching goals. Are all of your salespeople on the same page and working towards the same goals? Are you looking for more members, more upselling of current clients, more accessories/merchandise purchases, or all of the above and more? Make sure your team knows what their objectives are. Write out your SMART goals and distribute them to your team, so they can continue to reference them throughout the sales process.

And one last thing—keep it fun and lighthearted. This isn’t about creating rifts between your salespeople. This is about increasing revenue and, maybe even more importantly, team building.

Money-Driven Competitions

Encouraging your salespeople with bonuses and competitions where the prize is cold, hard cash can be great when it comes to increasing output. In fact, in Barnett Consulting's study of over 2,000 salespeople, 74% said their primary career motivation is money. Consequently, many salespeople respond well to bonus-style structures. If you are encouraging not only actual sales numbers but other aspects of the selling process as well, you will see a growing appreciation for the entire journey from beginning to end. From follow-ups, to referral requests, to memberships sold, everything can be gamified. 

Especially in gyms and studios where there is a short turnaround time (compared to other markets), a sense of urgency is always at hand. Keeping a leader board where everyone can see progress is a great way of hosting these types of competitions to increase awareness and speed. Here are a couple of competition ideas you could use for your money-motivated salespeople: 

• Whomever completes the most follow-ups in one week gets $100 bonus.
• Those who complete X number of follow-ups get to draw for a $100 Visa gift card.
• If you sign up 5 referrals in a month based on a salesperson's reach-out, you get a $200 bonus.
• Whomever has the most membership sales in one month gets a $300 bonus. 

Status-Driven Competitions

Another common motivator for salespeople is status. This includes things like their title, where they get to park, if they get to wear something different than others, etc. When you start to gamify sales, remember that this is a simple and easy-to-implement way to encourage your employees without breaking the bank. When deciding on what type of competitions you could run, try to think of what would make an employee feel special and proud of their accomplishments. For example:

• If you sell X amount of PT sessions in one month, you get to park in the GM parking spot the entire next month.
• Whomever schedules the most appointments in one month gets to choose an extra day off the next month.
• The salesperson with the most memberships sold that month moves up a level in a status competition. (i.e. they are now a “platinum” salesperson, as they gain more accomplishments they move up to the top which has perks).

Object-Driven Competitions

Motivating with objects is similar to motivating with money, but it is a particular object that allows you to get creative with the giveaways. Sometimes tickets to a sold-out concert are more appealing than a $100 bill. If there are big events coming up, or you know that your salespeople are interested in a certain genre, industry, sporting event, etc., buy an object that reflects that as a prize for a competition that you are running.

This type of prize also helps you stay in tune with your employees and show that you really are interested in their lives and interested in what they do outside of work. It’s a great way to push sales, but also a great way to build morale. Here are some ideas:

• Whomever has the most appointment shows in one month gets 2 tickets to any upcoming concert in the area.
• The employee that generated the most revenue that month wins an iPad.
• The salesperson with the most signed referrals in one month wins free smoothies for the next month.

By running competitions for your salespeople and offering prizes that speak to what motivates them, you position your fitness business in a way that increases revenue and sales while also improving employee retention. A little bit of caring for your employees and pushing them to do their best will go a long way!

Boost & Track Sales Success with Club OS

When your sales team has the tools they need to connect with prospects, they can bring more new members through your doors. With features like email and text message marketing, automated follow ups, and data reporting to tell you whether your sales approach is working, Club OS offers everything you need to succeed.