Selling Against A Low Cost Competitor

Hello from Club Industry in the Big Apple!

I was the moderator today for a panel entitled "How to Compete Against Low Cost Competitors." It was a great group of operators who are all faced with the situation many of you are--that competitors are popping up all around you that are 50-75% less expensive than you are. Club operators are freaking out, asking themselves, "What do I do?" Some wonder if they should also drop their price to be competitive while others consider selling out in one way or another.

What the salespeople want to know, of course, is how do you literally sell against a low cost competitor. Although it is a complex answer, let me try and give you the overview here.

1. Know who you are and how you are different.

Let's face it, although the consumer may not know the difference between two fitness boxes (it all looks like torture to them), your club should be different than a low cost competitor. It it's not, you certainly are in trouble! But here's the question, "do you know with certainty and clarity how you are different?" This is key to succeeding in a hyper competitive as well as low cost market place.

2. Educate your staff on your differences.

It is one thing for you the owner/operator to know how your club is different than the LCC but does your staff know what those differences are? More importantly to they believe in those differences! Everyone from the sales staff down to the janitor needs to be clear on this and believe in what you are offering.

3. Train your staff to "tell the story."

Once you staff knows the story about how you are different the next step is training them on how to clearly communicate that story to prospects and members. This is crititcal because if the consumer isn't being told the story from the employees and then the members in turn tell that story to their friends, it will be an uphill battle.

4. Educate consumers with your marketing.

The final step is to make sure that all your marketing efforts are telling the "difference" story. Every ad, every press release, every sign,--everything to do with marketing must be in alignment with this goal.

Of course, this is not some simple process, but then nothing is. The reality is that the face of the health club industry as we know it has changed. Low cost competitors bring more people into our market that may eventually come to your club. They are NOT going away and if you think so then you are in denial and should go seek professional help. Don't waste time bad mouthing your competitors--use that time and energy to put together a plan for differentiating yourself. If you do that you will not only retain your market share but may find that you can increase it in the process.

In good health,

Casey