sports facility sales

How to do Sports Facility Sales without Selling

Most people working in a sports facility don’t see themselves as salespeople. After all, many of them got into sports facility ownership because they were passionate about sports and seeing others achieve their athletic goals. Not to promote classes, memberships and lessons.

There are a few reasons that the word “sales” elicits this type of response. First, your staff probably have had some negative experiences with salespeople. We’re all familiar with the stereotype of the manipulative, pushy, slimy sales rep. So the word doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation for people with no business background.

However, even if your staff has no problem with the idea of sales, they still might see it as a mysterious or innate skill that they just don’t have.

The True Meaning of Sports Facility Sales

Everyone at eSoft Planner enjoys helping athletes reach their peak potential. They are passionate about the games we play – baseball, football, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and other activities. But if they were asked to describe their strengths, the word “selling” would not be included in their response.

Now, here’s the funny thing about this situation. If you’re like us, you know very well that your staff can sell. Mainly, they have the most important characteristics of any sales rep:

• they understand our clients’ needs
• they’re passionate and knowledgeable about what they’re selling (athletic training)
• they’re articulate about the benefits that our services provide

To remove the sense of intimidation that inevitably pops up whenever we speak of the concept of selling classes, memberships and lessons, we encourage our sports facility clients to use more easily digestible terms like branding and promotion.

If your staff is really invested in your programs and believes that they can help people live healthier lives, these efforts will be a lot more appealing to them.

Listen: Changing a few words around isn’t going to trick your staff into suddenly rushing out the door to hand out fliers on the street. Everyone wishes they could just skip the selling part of their work. Sales is difficult. It involves getting out of your comfort zone, making yourself vulnerable and risking rejection.

Yes, it would be nice if all your clients found you via word-of-mouth. However, that will never be the most consistent part of your business. If you want your business to be more than just a side income, you have to be proactive about getting new paying clients.

Conclusion

If you’re new to the idea of thinking of yourself as a salesperson, or if you just need help getting your facility staff and volunteers to understand how they can become better at branding and promotion, we would love to talk to you. Our staff at eSoft Planner come from a wide variety of backgrounds in multiple sports industries.

Click here and fill out the form to schedule a time to talk with us.