Most gym owners come from a training background, not selling. And the same is true generally for the people they hire.

So, after you’ve learned to become a salesman yourself, you’ll want your team members to sell like you do. 

You’ll need a process to train them, give them the necessary tools and confidence, and track progress. Here are five touchstones to guide you.

1. Foster the Right Mindset

Start by clarifying what you’re selling. It’s the support, accountability, and development of an action plan – the benefits of your programs, not just the programs themselves. Show them that prospects can choose to buy from you, buy from a competitor, or stay in their current situation. And finally, create a safe environment to fail, reflect on mistakes, and hone their sales skills.

2. Have an Airtight Sales Strategy

Establish a sales strategy that everyone follows. This leads to consistency and to judging what’s working and what’s not. We recommend Fitness Revolution’s 5-Step Sales Process. It uses principles of behavior change science to build motivation, and to help prospects understand why they need to make a change — so you  can then show why you’re the best solution.

3. Create Sales Conversations with Roleplay and Observation

Like any skills set, sales competency takes practice and repetition. While roleplay can be uncomfortable and not entirely realistic, it’s the best way to get some experience under your team’s belt before putting them in live sales situations.

4. Provide Live Experience

Give your staff the opportunity to sell on their own. The goal here is for them to develop comfort and confidence in executing the sales process, which leads to better sales development and performance. So, start with lay-ups – not those prospects you know will be tricky.

5. Debrief

Debriefing sales conversations is vital for you to keep a pulse on how your sales staff is performing and developing their selling abilities. It also provides you the opportunity to give feedback and sharpen their skills – and to see what you might need to tweak overall.

Finally, remember to check your own mindset.  If you struggle with trusting employees to have effective sales conversations, then you may need to take your time getting to Step 4. Remember that developing your sales game is never “done.” You’ll want to keep investing in your team members and in yourself.