There’s a Better Way to Follow Up – Email Marketing Tips

I receive at least 10 emails a day from sales folks trying to sell me anything from lists to marketing software to CRM systems. My least favorite include emails such as:

Email 1:

I just wanted to follow up on my last email. I’d love to show you how we provide .

Do you have 10-15 minutes to hop on the phone?

Email 2:

Just checking in to see if you got my last email. I would love to set up a time to talk about a partnership at your earliest convenience.

Are you free to speak this week?

Email 3:

Hope all is well with you! Did you have a chance to review my previous email which I have sent on Monday, July 27, 2015?

Kindly let me know your target audience so that I can get back to you with updated counts and other information.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.In addition to a few obvious grammatical errors, I will never respond to these emails for quite a few reasons:

• I do not have a pre-existing relationship with any of these vendors. We’ve never spoken on the phone or even exchanged emails.
• None of the emails provide me with any compelling reason to reach out and only talk about what the salesperson wants (I would love to talk about a partnership).
• Every single one seems like a generic “cut, copy and paste” email. I have no doubt that these sales folks are sending out hundreds, if not thousands of these each month.
• None of them provide me anything of value.

As a fitness business owner it’s unlikely that you are sending out completely cold emails. A more typical scenario would be to follow up with a prospect who filled out a form on your website, but still hasn’t come into your facility. Another example is sending an email is to a prospective member who came into your gym, school or studio for an introductory lesson or class, but didn’t end up signing up for a membership. When you have a few of those emails to send, here are a some ways you can make them more effective:

Use data and don’t send emails “blindly”

Have you ever received an email that was so incredibly off that you were not only scratching your head but also immediately judging the sender as a complete idiot? When someone receives an email with inaccurate information, it gives the receiver a bad impression of you and your business. Make sure you store information about your prospect (initial inquiry date, programs interested in, etc.) and then use that information in your follow up email.

For example:

You can make this process even easier by setting up email templates in the software you use to manage communication for future and current gym members.

Make it personal

If you or one of your coaches took the time to meet with a potential member or student, don’t send a generic “Just checking in email.” Bring up the race she’s mentioned she’s beginning to train for, her upcoming vacation that she talked about getting in shape for or ask about how her child’s first day of school went.

If you meet with lots of new clients each day, it may be difficult to remember details like these. That’s why it is important to take note and then store the information in a systematic way. And no, hand-written sticky notes don’t count as systematic. [clearfix]

Include something of value

The reason the emails I mentioned above irk me so much is that they are all about what the salesperson wants and none of them provide me with anything I can use. If you’re following up with a potential member include an article that she might find of use such as tips for exercising in the summer, healthy snack food or something else that your current gym members are talking about. The more you can ‘prove’ yourself as valuable source of information, the more likely it will be that your potential gym member will choose your fitness business.

Make sure you don’t forget

In addition to making sure that you have accurate data on a potential gym member or student, you also want to make sure that you follow up promptly. Send yourself automated reminders for items such as:

• Sending a follow up email or calling a prospective member after a set period of time.
• Following up with any potential client who has come into your gym for an introductory session.
• Reaching out to a potential member after a set period of time. When a prospective member has let you know that he or she isn’t ready to sign up, make sure that you put a follow up date into whatever software you are using to track follow up. Then set up an automation that will alert you when it’s time to reach out to this potential member.

Looking for additional marketing tips to help grow your member base? Get you copy of our free 10-Step Marketing Guide.