Just Gave My Competition $5,000
Yes.. it’s true.
I gave away a $5,000 dollar order to one of my competitors….. and here’s how it went down.
Last week, I got a call from Mr. Multi-Club Operator (I can’t mention names here) who was interested in his own line of branded fitness products including his own line of supplements for his four clubs.
The conversation went as expected.
- Who makes them?
- Are they high quality?
- Turn-around time?
- Pricing?
These are fair and legitimate questions. I expect them. And, if you’ve ever purchased from me, you know that I’m pretty straight-forward.
I simply tell the truth.
Telling the truth is easy when you offer a “best-of-breed” line of nutritional formulas. There’s no need for smoke and mirrors or crazy claims. We’ve always positioned supplements for what they really are.
Supplements support a healthy menu plan and aid in recovery. That’s it.
As the questions continued, the conversation took a predictable turn. Mr. Multi-Club Owner wanted to know:
- What discounts were available.
- What kind of support materials would we produce for him?
- Would we drop ship to his members’ homes.
Again, all very fair questions.
However, what most potential supplement customers don’t realize is that while they are gathering information about us, I am, in fact, conducting an interview with them. And, here are the two things I want to know about a potential supplement customer:
What is the primary reason you
want to carry a line of supplements?
—————-
Is supplementation part of
your own personal daily routine?
If the answer to question #1 centers around making “MONEY” instead of wanting to offer his or her members the absolute BEST QUALITY FORMULAS — then, it’s simply not going to be a good fit for us.
If the answer to #2 is “NO” — then it’s a dead deal. Period.
Seriously, why in the world would people — especially fitness professionals — attempt to sell something that they, themselves, don’t even believe in?
Almost 100% of the time a potential customer correctly answers question #1 he or she also answers YES to #2.
Listen, we’re absolutely clear about the quality of our formulas… and with the type of fitness professionals we wish to align ourselves.
Here’s what we learned a long time ago. For serious fitness professionals, supplementation is NOT about PRICE and CONVENIENCE. It’s a single issue: QUALITY.
This is especially true if you are going to wrap YOUR NAME or BRAND on them. The top fitness professionals in the world understand the importance of quality and how that translates to the brand at every turn.
Good Bye…
In the end, Mr. Multi-Club Owner did not want to hear any of this. He was in it solely for the money. That’s it. So, I actually gave Mr. Multi-Club Owner the names and numbers of 3 different supplement companies that might be able to accommodate his primary goals.
Just before we hung up, he sniped, “Dude, you just blew a $5,000 sale!”
That night, I slept like a baby!