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I am constantly amazed at the amount of fitness centers I have worked with whose staff will be doing anything but using the phone to generate business. It's my pet hobby horse to say that if you are not using the phone (and I apply this to my area of expertise in generating business for fitness, and health and wellness centers;

It could however be applied to any service orientated business) it will be simply a matter of time before the front door finally shuts for good.

There are a multitude of different types of calls that need to and should be done through out the day. Waiting for "walk-in" business is the fastest way to giving money to the opposition.

I know that most sale staff would rather have a root canal than pick up the phone and make productive, cash generating calls; hopefully this article will help to demystify and take the fear out of using the phone.

Start making those calls, weather they are customer care, lead follow ups, renewal calls, cold calls offering a free week of membership five free classes or whatever type of health and wellness service your in.

Tailor the below approach to suit your services and watch your income grow.

How To Overcome Call Reluctance 1: A few reasons for call reluctance may be:

• Fear of failure
• Fear of rejection, yes get used to hearing the word no, you shouldn't be in sales if this word scares you!
• Not enough knowledge
• No confidence in your Product/Services
• Watch your own self-talk

Action cure:

Have your goals out in front of your telephone at all times:

Change the following statements from career limiting statements to goal supporting statements.

"I must never do anything that would ever lead any of my friends to think I was trying to exploit them"

"Oh, there's no point in ringing him, he's bound to say no"

"They have just bought a new house; they will never be able to afford the membership"

Write down some negative self-talk you have experienced yourself recently and correct it with a goal supporting statement.

Call Reluctance 2

A few ideas to get you over the hurdles:

Empower yourself! Use the words I CHOOSE to make these 5/10/15 etc phone calls. Avoid I should, I must, I need to these are self limiting Have a high expectation of a positive response

Be aware of negative thoughts - rubber band technique (rubber band around wrist, flick (when a negative thought comes in, simple but effective.)

Have things around you that make you feel relaxed. Create a positive upbeat, motivational atmosphere, even if it is at the front counter you'll be to do something.

I will make my calls in groups of 10 then go and have a cup of green tea, in fact I use a variety of different things to keep me motivated from burning essential oils, making my own MP3 motivational recordings, having positive sayings in front of me, anything that can help stimulate peak performance.

Desensitise the fear you have, it's always the fear of the unknown, as the saying goes" Do what you fear most and the fear will leave you"

Remember Knowledge of your product gives you confidence.

Are you proud of what you're selling? In my case I know the benefits of what regular exercise will do, I train for an hour a day 6-7 days a week, I am fact passionate about the life changing effects of being fit and healthy.

Knowledge of yourself, i.e. why you are doing it. Knowledge of your competitors' services.

Action Cure:

Every time you have a negative thought write it down on a piece of paper and change it to a goal supporting statement.

Think about what happens to you before you pick up the phone. Do you have butterflies, does your heart pound, do you perspire?

Have things around you that appeal to your 5 senses to relax you.

• Touch
• Sight
• Hearing
• Taste
• Smell

Desensitize the fear you have by making a list of things you fear about cold calls. Immobilize each fear as you go. Then lower your fear response to that which you fear least.

Write down a list of your successful calls or moments. Focus on these.

Call Reluctance 3

More Ideas to set the scene and to achieve maximum results:

• Have your goals in front of you.
• Make sure that you are fully aware of your centres, services and facilities
• Change your tonality (smile, stand up etc)
• Choose your words
• Remember to build rapport
• Ask open ended questions
• Mix up the type of calls that you do: ten customer care followed by ten lead calls etc
• Give extra customer service E.G If you hear children in the background sell your childcare services.Work to improve your sales skills on a daily basis
• Prepare your script
• Prepare your objections and know how to answer them
• If possible pre-empt objections before they arise
• Never taken rejection personally
• Always ask for referrals
• Do the deed and gain the power