Sibling discount
Cash discount
Second-class discount
“You’re a super talented athlete” discount
“I need a boy on this team” discount
“Please return for the season” discount
In the past five years of providing one-on-one business coaching in the all-star industry, I’ve seen every type of discount you can imagine. I’ve seen strategic discounts that were calculated to guarantee a profitable business, and I’ve seen flippant, off-the-cuff discounts that caused owners to actually lose money and devalue their product.
In reality, discounts are not the answer for getting more kids in your gym or getting people to return season after season. Tons of owners are often looking at discounts as the quick fix for bringing in more revenue. For example, Suzy has a little brother who would love ninja warrior class, so instead of selling mom on the benefits of the class and why Johnny needs a program like this, the owner sells the discount. “It’s 50% off if Johnny joins ninja class today!”
Mom usually bites on the offer as she sees a good deal, but still was never sold on the value. A few months pass and Johnny is bored in ninja, so mom cancels his enrollment. She then considers the value of Suzy’s class as well and questions if the money is worth it.
Why? The owner made the sale based off the cost – not the value.
The owner also filled the slot in that class with a discounted athlete rather than bringing in full-paying athletes to maximize the profitability of the class.
I realize this is an “industry standard”, but if you know me, you know I hate that term a lot. Skyzone doesn’t care about industry standards and neither does AMC, because when I take my kids out for activities, we’re paying the admission price times two every time. The sibling isn’t jumping 30 percent less, so why would Skyzone discount their admission fee?
Sell your prospects on the amazing parts of your program – not on the price. When you sell on price, you’re always going to be racing a competitor to the bottom. When you do that, everyone loses. Parents will gladly pay full price for something when they see the value in it. Don’t believe me? Look at the lines for apparel at All Star Worlds or the Dippin’ Dots stand.
I’m not saying you should never have a discount on anything in your gym. In fact, we use discounts strategically when we want to accomplish something. Members of my gym get to pay a lower price simply for being members. I don’t refer to this as a discount, but getting a member price on open gym, birthday parties, private lessons and events is essentially that. I also use math to ensure I’m profiting on our sales with both members and non-members.
You’re a business. You have to profit to stay in business. You don’t have to price gouge, but you do need to profit – so don’t feel bad about that.
If you feel like you’re not so great at sales, then I’ll seriously encourage you to attend one of my sales sessions at the NG Conference in Las Vegas on Jan. 7-8th. I’ll be teaching a session on how to get great at sales with prospects and leads as well as how to get great at sales within your own gym and your own members. Sales doesn’t have to feel sketchy. In fact, if you have an amazing product, you should be selling it like crazy because your products help people.
Guys – we help kids gain confidence, make lifelong friendships and develop leadership. These are skills every single kid needs to be successful later in life. Don’t discount the value in your program, but also, learn how to sell the value in your program!!
To learn more about the NG conference and get registered, visit ngconferences.com.
