My First Post
Between 1982 and 1984 I managed a health club in Southern California called Wallbangers Raquetball and Fitness Center. The club was owned and managed by a Ed and Lynn Tilden from New York and being from the East Coast (Boston) we hit it off immediately. I didn’t start managing the club right away but I did sell health memberships and was instantly pretty good at it. Every member that signed up got a bright neon orange Wallbangers t-shirt that said on the front “BANG YOUR BALLS ON OUR WALLS” and cracked up when they read it and wore it proudly for a short time.
Ed Tilden managed sales overall and to this day gave me some of the best sales advice and it’s carried me through the last 35 years or so.
One particular day after a few months of selling memberships and seeing that I was pretty good at it Ed sat me down for about 20 minutes. He said ‘Greg, you’re pretty good at selling memberships and I want to share with you my philosophy about selling. He told me two things:
- If you can convince a customer (and this applies to all sales situations) that the value they will receive from purchasing the product will equal or exceed the price, they will buy. If you can’t do that they will never buy.
- He also said that all customers have a problem that they need solved. In the case of Wallbangers it might be getting into better shape, meeting new people or getting better at racquetball. It is your job to find out what their problem is and help them to visualize the solution right there at the club. If it’s meeting people then tell them some (true) stories about members that joined to meet people and are now very active in the programs the club offers. If it’s getting into shape, help them envision a healthier person. Happy with how they look and feel after becoming a member. Stories are important and visualization is key.
I moved back East to finish school in 1985 and lost touch with Ed but I’ve never forgotten about his philosophy on selling. Thank Ed!
My next post (coming shortly): Be Relevant
