The 10 Step Lead Box System: 1) EFFORT – The fitness consultant must be willing to put in some time and effort to initiate and maintain this lead box program. Some fitness sales people do just enough to get by. The only way this lead box program works is to be motivated and willing to extend the extra effort. 2) MAGNETISM – Design a lead box out of colored plastic instead of cardboard lead box. The backdrops should be, “Eye-catching.” Pictures of smiling, happy people, all using the equipment in your club works. It is best if the backdrops are changed often, usually to coincide with the clubs current promotion. The lead box needs to have a, “Magnetic Appeal” that draws people to it. 3) MARKETING – Next, there needs to be the right offer that will entice people to fill out the entry blank lead box form. Offer a free one or two week membership to the club. Be careful with any other variations in that you want to ensure theapplicants are interested in using the health club. 4) VOLUME – It is important to get out as many lead boxes as possible. Volume is what makes this lead box program work. Each fitness consultant should have at least five lead boxes in the market. 5) LOCATION – Do not put all your lead boxes in every store in a strip mall. Many of these stores draw in the same customers…you’ll end up with low entries or duplicates. Be sure to place your lead boxes within a five mile radius of the health club. The further out you go the less entries you’ll get. Be sure the locations you chose produce leads, otherwise pull the box as soon as possible. Ideal locations would be high traffic areas where people tend to congregate and wait for services to be provided. You can also target the specific clientele you wish to attract. Some of the ideal locations you will find are: yogurt shops, weight loss clinics, nutrition centers, restaurants, deli’s, dry cleaners, car washes, quick lube centers, etc. 6) AFFIRMATION – Getting permission to put a lead box in a specific location requires some experience. If you have never done it before it is very important that you venture out with someone who has so you can listen to their presentation. Before entering the business make sure you look professional. Wear your staff uniform and name badge. Walk into the business, introduce yourself, and explain where you are from. Be sure that you are talking to someone who can make a decision, either the owner or manager. Give a brief description of the lead box program, we want their Employees to know how it works so they can help with the program, show them the clean, professional looking box, and explain to them that you would like it to be placed in their store. They also need to know that it is important for the box to be placed in a high traffic , high visibility area…maybe the front desk, counter top, or lobby. There are few incentives that can be offered to the business that might entice the owner or manager to allow you to keep the lead box in their business. For instance: A. Award the manager or owner a free 90 day membership to the health club. If the box is pulled early they still get the 90 day membership. After the 90 days are over, you’ll continue to provide this person with 30 day passes to come to the club, as long as the box is still producing in his store. B. Give every employee in that business a mini– membership to the club for 1 or 2 weeks. Not only is this a benefit to the merchant, but some of these employees may ultimately end up joining the health club. C. Set up an, “Employee of the Month” program. This meant the club will give the company a free 2 week pass, a free month, or a free three month membership to the store manager whom will award it to his employee of the month. D. You may want to offer a special discount for the employees of he business if they decide to enroll. (Talk to your club manager for possible incentives). E. The last incentive you can offer is that the club does coupon distributions each month. If they want to make up coupons for their store, you will give the coupons to your members. The printing is at their expense. Everyone wines! The merchant gets a boost in exposure, and your members enjoy savings at a local shop. 7) SERVICE – It is critical to the success of your campaign that you service your lead boxes twice weekly. During non-prime time hours, service your box on Monday to gather the leads accumulated from the weekend, clean the box, and replenish entry blank forms, and pencils. Again on Thursday, gather your leads form the week, check the box for adequate supplies to get through the weekend, and finally so you can start calling these leads to set up your weekend and the following Monday. 8) ORGANIZATION – When the lead boxes are serviced be sure to bring paper clips with you so you can keep the leads separated from one box to the other. Write on the top of each stack of leads the location they came from. When you return to the club you must immediately report to the manager so he can enter the leads generated from each location into his Program Book. The manager must monitor the entire program to determine its’ success rate. 9) TELEMARKETING – Before you start calling, sort through your leads and discard any that are obscene or illegible. Call the minors…if they are too young to join the facility they can give the pass to their parents or older family member. (The actual phone scripts for lead box calls is located in the telemarketing section of our Club Management Manual.) 10) GOALS – The final key to a successful lead box program is to set and meet goals. Establish quotas for yourself based on the amount of lead boxes you will put out, the amount of leads you expect to generate from each box, how many leads will convert into appointments, and finally how many sales they will produce for you each month, i.e.: 5 lead boxes = 50 leads = 25 appointments = 5 shows = 2 sales per wk. If at anytime one of your boxes fails to produce leads, pull the box from the location and find a new business to place it. This is fairly common so expect to be moving your lead boxes around. The recommendations provided should help you develop excellent lead box program. Just remember that there is a price to pay…It’s called, “work”, but with effort and diligence your program will be a success and your sales production will increase!