Why Outsourcing Sales Could be the Best Decision You’ll Ever Make
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Sponsored By The Sales Arms
Five compelling reasons to consider a remote sales team
A studio’s success fundamentally depends on sales. Without a solid membership funnel, there’s no business to sustain. However, as an owner, your passion likely lies in helping people become healthier, fitter, and live longer – not in managing sales. That’s where the challenge begins.
You may decide to hire a person or a team to handle customer acquisition and retention, and this can work well – until it doesn’t. Finding the right person who is both affordable and capable of representing your brand while successfully driving sales can be difficult. Even if you find someone who fits, there’s no guarantee they’ll stay. When they leave for another opportunity, you’re back to square one, interviewing, hiring, and training, often caught in an endless cycle.
How can you effectively run and scale your business under these conditions?
Outsourcing your sales might be the solution you need.
The Sales Arms is a virtual business management consulting firm specializing in sales and marketing. The company supports fitness and wellness businesses with lead management, sales strategies, and client communication, aiming to streamline processes and increase revenue. Since its launch in 2019, The Sales Arms has achieved a 92% success rate in consistent month-over-month growth for its clients.
While some owners may hesitate to hire a remote sales team, there are some very compelling reasons to consider it. Athletech News spoke with Chris Appiah, founder of The Sales Arms, to explore them.
1. Access to Experienced Sales Professionals
If you’ve tried to hire a great local salesperson with fitness or wellness experience who is affordable, you know it can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. That’s where The Sales Arms comes in.
“Our team consists of fully vetted fitness and wellness professionals with years of experience nurturing prospects and closing sales,” says Appiah. “With today’s technology, these individuals don’t need to be on-site to effectively funnel and nurture leads.”
Appiah further elaborates on the workforce challenges.
“The talent pool for this position seems to be shrinking,” he explains. “Often, operators end up hiring entry-level people and training them, which defeats the purpose of freeing up their time. We come in as fully experienced professionals to do the job.”
2. Protection from Turnover
It’s a well-known reality: front-of-house staff at fitness studios and gyms often face high turnover rates.
“Employees get sick,” says Appiah. “They change careers or go back to school, and the operator is left scrambling to start over. Outsourcing eliminates this colossal pain point. We don’t call in sick.”
Appiah also emphasizes the importance of maintaining consistency.
“There is something to be said about knowing that no part of the nurturing process will fall through the cracks,” he says. “Consistency in approach, execution, and branding is essential, and maintaining a steady process is key to achieving sales success.”
3. Cost Efficiencies
The average salary for a fitness manager ranges from $40,000 to $60,000, but Appiah maintains that The Sales Arms can deliver better results for less.
“Our services are customizable to meet the gym or studio’s specific needs and won’t exceed the cost of hiring a full-time sales manager,” he says.
Another important consideration is the level and type of output.
“With The Sales Arms, you get multiple people working on your business,” he explains. “You have a lead salesperson on the front end, reaching out to leads and following up, and on the back end, you have a rep pushing older leads to the top of the funnel, re-engaging old members, and more. Most of our clients get three individuals for the price of less than one. That’s really powerful.”
4. Scale Your Business
Opening multiple locations has its own set of challenges, of course. Appiah says that working with a virtual team ensures a unified approach and streamlined execution across all locations.
“Every studio has different nuances and a slightly different culture because of the team working within that studio,” says Appiah. “You may have a manager who naturally excels at operations and efficiencies in one location and a people-person in another, which leaves you to figure out how to best fill in the gaps. Outsourcing allows you to bring the same set of skills to all locations every day, saving time and headaches while keeping the brand fully intact.”
5. Accountability
One area of concern for owners and operators when it comes to outsourcing sales is accountability. Without boots on the ground and face-to-face interaction, how will you keep abreast of the progress and daily work? Appiah addresses this concern in several ways.
“First, we do all of our work within our client’s database of choice – whether that be Mindbody or Marianta Tek, etc. Our staff is well-versed in all platforms, allowing us to integrate seamlessly as part of your team,” he explains.
“Second, we have a private Slack channel for real-time communication, so it’s as if our team is in your studio every day from open to close,” he says.
“And third, we conduct monthly – or sometimes weekly – check-in meetings with our clients to review progress, address needs, and set priorities.”
Additionally, there’s a comprehensive onboarding process covering branding, sales training, and more, ensuring the remote team is fully prepared to operate effectively in all areas.
Outsourcing sales might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about growing your fitness studio, but in the end, it could be the smartest move you make. Tapping into a team of seasoned professionals to help mitigate the challenges of turnover, reduce costs, and ensure a consistent approach across multiple locations could be the key to unlocking the full potential of your studio.