How To Recruit After Corona With Bestselling Sales Author Matthew Elwell
We held a seminar today with Bestselling Sales Author Mr. Matthew Elwell on “How To Recruit In A Post Corona World.”
Elwell is a Sales Trainer, Elite Closer, Creator of ‘Open With A Close’, Possibility Coach, & Public Speaker. Elwell spent my entire working life in sales, from: cold-calling & knocking on doors at age 18, to negotiating a multi-seven-figure property deal with a well-known supermarket, back in 2012. He’s shared the stage with speakers like David Goggins, Neil Patel, Chalene Johnson and Rob Moore just to name a few. He founded the Elite Close Academy in 2018. The Elite Closing Academy is where ambitious entrepreneurs learn how to close. His academy members, get training, development, & coaching on how to serve, sell, & close, at an elite level.
In this conference we took a deep dive into strategies for getting back the students you’ve lost from Corona that are easy to use, common sense and work in the Post Corona World and how to recruit new students.
We highly encourage you to watch the whole stream as sales is not only what you say but how you say it. For those of you with time constraints we got you covered.
Most Important Bulletpoints (5 Minute Read)
To learn more about Elwell please visit his website https://www.eliteclosingacademy.com.
Matthew Elwell Live Stream
We are going 2 main topics. 1) How to get back students who left during COVID. 2) How to get back the walk-ins who come back Post COVID and how do you talk to them to convert them.
What I want to say before anything else thank you to everyone in here, that delivers martial arts classes around the world. I want to say thank you because I understand the power martial arts has when it’s done with safety in mind and with discipline. I want to say thank you because it has an impact on our communities. Our communities are under attack from rubbish and social media. I love the fun with martial arts you can have and the respect that goes with it. That’s why I am so happy to help martial arts business owners grow.
How To Get Students Who Left During the COVID 19? How can we use your 39 years of experience?
Firstly we should remember that we haven’t lost anybody. No one is gone for good. They are still there. They still chose to go towards martial arts classes. Let's reassess our own minds. We haven’t lost anyone. The first thing that needs to happen I’m telling martial artists is all of you should go towards the people who already know you and went on hold.
Retention is the biggest hole for revenue loss. We sometimes think that if they leave we should forget them. They came to you for a reason. They are not gone. How do you bring them back?
First and foremost I believe that great sales to those that want to or need martial arts is serving. Getting them into your classes is serving the greatest level, to help them shape their lives. Closing is serving is the most unselfish thing you can do if it’s done with love and great skill. You need a natural process. The way to sell is to ask great questions and share information that your customers can decide for themselves. An elite closers job is to ask and explore to get the end user to decide.
Ask question: What is it about our martial arts that helped you come towards us? What info do you need to come back? There’s a difference between selling which is asking and sharing information. Open with a close is designed to say what’s obvious, to be transparent, to work to truth.
Open with a close is about being transparent and asking a closing question when you have asked, sold and shared. It’s being honest with what you’re doing.
What’s the First Four Seconds and Why is it Important?
The first four seconds are designed for the closer to be prepared. You deliver a class. You start thinking about how to sell, when they are in your class and everything feels rushed and you have just come off the mats. And you have to become a teacher and that’s really difficult to change mindsets. People are busy. People are concerned about money. The first four second is like going into a fight, if you are on the mat about to fight if you enter and you are sloppy and your guard is down. Those first few seconds of an engagement you have to decided your clear outcome. You need to know your data. You need to have helpful thinking. You need to be clear on your outcome. If you have an intention you are seeking out you are more likely to get it. Be prepared. Have your energy right. Be organized to give yourself a better chance. Many people don’t show that composure. That’s what parents are looking for. They need to see the structure and the composure because that’s why they are here to have their children taught.
How to Get Back Students Lost During the Coronavirus?
First was calling them and contacting them. A young man who owns a DOJO. He lost end of March a 145 of his members. Around 350 members in his school. They cancelled their membership. Got out of debit pays. He was like what’s going on. What my client Tommy did, from the 145 who postponed we have done a promote, market, sale. The first thing he did is promote we are back on our feet. Martial arts classes are back online and in the dojang. We needed to find awareness of the members.
If you are a Mom and Dad and you’d like to give your kids more fun, discipline and while they are doing it you can drink a glass of wine in the garden is great news . Let them know that you can do it with 2 meter distancing, you can do small classes. Let them know they can come back safely. If you are doing this organically to reach a 100 people, have a Facebook page where you can spread the good news.
Pick up the phone. Drop a text. Thomas said 45 of 145 are back now invested. Some are online. Some are in person.
Here is How We Did it:
You need to know the reason for the call. You need to ask what information do you need from me to feel safely rejoining and which class is right for your kid.
You’d really be a disservice to these people if you didn’t reach out to them. Martial artists can help parents who are losing their minds at home with no time to themselves. You know what with a mom or dad who is struggling work with them. Some will say we would love to come back but Dad has lost his job. Ask them the question, if it’s just money short term to get you and your children what they need to get back to classes, and how can we do that as much as possible. It’s not giving it to them for free. If someone has a genuine financial struggle, you can make a short term deal, and the dojang gets money coming in. Showing that compassion is great. It’s not let's keep this free forever. This is a weird time let’s figure out how to do it together. This type of consideration will make these people loyal customer for years after.
Let’s say it’s $120 for your class. If you divide 120 by 30 that’s 4 dollars a day. First, let’s move money to one side. Other than money, what’s five reasons have your children back in the dojang helps you out a little bit. 3 or 4 dollars a day is findable if the value is proven. Children are suffering with anxiety and social stresses. My kid has a little withdrawal from social connection. I can’t put a value to help you find that cure for my child. Martial arts is something when they understand the value. We have to ask other than money why is it valuable to be back in the dojang. Make a deal for a month or for two months and have them catch up later. The question is what needs to happen for you to get all the help from martial arts and we get you back as a paying customers who is involved. SO when we come out the other side and we are both stronger.
The 7 Steps For Retention (Absolutely Crucial)
- Never ever negotiate on social. No messengers, no emails. Get off that quickly. Get on the phone. Clear communication is much more difficult over text.
- Must always agree and appease when someone wants to postpone. First, you have to listen to their reasons before you can show them how they'll benefit.
- Check in to find out what's changed if they are postponed. Be there for them.
- Double down on the things they'll receive that are unrelated to money. Get them emotionally involved with what they like about the school. Fun, discipline and structure. What is it about discipline do you need?
- Re-establish short term goals
- Decide on a new way forward
- Implement it on the phone call. Going now at the end of the call. Like with the 3 months of less payments, get it done in the call. Put it to bed.
How to Convert Walk-Ins Post COVID
- Messages must be constructive. No ifs, ands or maybes. You need to tell them how you are going to deliver martial arts safely and in a fun way. You have to be crisp, clear and certain as a leader in your community. Get yourself a plan and promote that plan to your audience. Your audience needs to feel certain that the kids are safe and things are fun. Give parents the certainty they need.
- We need to check in on presumption. Plan, promote and make sure that you are purposeful about the way you think and act. Stop listening to the opinions of others. Decide for yourself how you are going to deal with each member of your dojo to make it safe.
- When the customer is choosing, you are in control.
- Choose a path and go confidently with it. No one has the perfect plan, but you need to convey confidence to parents.
The sooner you can position price whilst you continue to add value through service, question answering, the sooner you can deal with their questions about it and move to the value. Ask them questions. What about martial arts interests you the most, what do you want Johnny to get from this, find out the real pain. If little Johnny has lost his way, what do they need to reverse that. Find the real pain point. Find the real reason why they are about to enroll. Asking and sharing is selling. I want them to have a PDF prior to coming into the dojo. Where they can figure out their stalls before they are in class.
Pre-qualification is critical. Get rid of stall such as can’t afford it, need to speak to my partner. Send them a link with the information they need. When they click on the link they sign up for a call. First off thanking them for going to on boarding session. It’s my job to serve you and I have 3-4 questions to give you total clarity on what will happen when you arrive, what classes we will have, and the thing I’ll do now is a pdf with frequently asked question so you can speak to your partner before you arrive at our in person session. On the night you can ask any questions and we can both decide how to get the right class for you. Asking questions is still the right thing to do.
Finding the concerns give you a chance to say the value.
Closing Thoughts:
Firstly the best way to communicate with me is to go on that link and all the stuff they need is there. Type in Matthew Elwell. My closing thoughts is what I said in the beginning. Martial arts are going to play an enormous part of the comeback of the human spirit. Martial arts is competitive fun, it’s healthy, it’s for everybody. It’s for everyone. None of that matters. Remind people of how it overcomes anxiety in children, stress in children, obesity, bullying. Martial arts has a solution to some of the biggest social issues our children to have. The most important thing you can do is have a sales process that has an energy and focus that does martial arts justice and serves human beings when they need it the most.
