Episode 229: Referrals, Upgrades & Terminations with MFF Sales Director, Em Strasfeld

Hello, my friend. On today's episode, I'm speaking with MFF's director of sales, M, Straßfield, previously M. Morris. She's got a new last name and she's going to blow your mind yet again. Her last episode was one of our most listened to recently and I think you're going to love this one as well. In this episode, we talk about referrals, we talk about upgrade conversations and termination conversations. So three really important conversations in your business and she walks you through how we do it MFF, giving you insight into our scripts and our processes. So if you want to get better at asking for our referrals, upgrading my friendships and lowering terminations, then this is the episode for you. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Business for Unicorns podcast where we help gym owners unleash the full potential of their business. I'm your host, Michael Keeler. Join me each week for actionable advice, expert insights and the inside scoop on what it really takes to level up your gym. Get ready to unlock your potential and become a real unicorn in the fitness industry. Let's begin. Hello Fitness Business nerds. What's up? Welcome to another episode of the Business for Unicorns podcast. And today she's back again. It's Mstrasfeld. Welcome back to the podcast. Hello, formally M Morris. Formerly M Morris. So in case anyone's confused, M was on the podcast just a few months ago, maybe a month ago, as M Morris and since her name has legally changed because she's married. So belated congratulations on behalf of the podcast. Thank you. And so welcome formally Mstrasfeld to the podcast for the first time. And honestly, we had you back so soon and I'm not even joking is because we had such great feedback from the last time you were on this podcast that the public literally demand it. They've been in front of my front yard with pitchforks demanding that M come back on the podcast because they need to know more from your genius sales mind. So thanks for coming back. Yes, and thank you to all my many fans. We need to get some M March soon about the sales goddess that you are. Well, so for those of you who have not listened to my previous conversation with M, please go back and listen to that episode because we talk, oh, we talk really specifically about the whole sales process at Mark Fisher fitness and Emily breaks it down step by step, but what they do on the sales team at MF after the growth squad as we call it. And so go listen to that because today we're not going to go back and cover the same territory today. We're going to jump beyond. So we're going to talk about other sales conversations in the gym that are beyond the initial sales conversations. We're going to cover three things. We're going to talk a little bit about referrals. We're going to talk about membership upgrades and we're going to talk about termination conversations. So if you again, if you want the mean potatoes, I had a cell, a prospect or lead, go to the last one. We're not going back there. We're marching forward. Are you ready to march forward? Cool. So when it comes to referrals, talk to me a little bit about what is your team's approach to getting referrals in MF these days. Yeah, there is no wrong time to ask her for all I will start with that. But also we really try to come at it from the angle that it's a gift to you. A lot of the time it's weird to start working out somewhere new or it a lot of the time you've joined somewhere and you're really stoked about it and you're having great progress. And you want to be able to share that with people and you don't realize it's something that's possible in the space. So we always try to angle it as like we've got this awesome thing for you. And then it's also sometimes awkward because people I think really are nervous about asking for your friends information or sometimes people are nervous about giving their friends information. And I always like to follow it up with that's totally okay. You know, we've got there's other ways around it you can get their information later and we'll dive into that but just like making sure the other person is extremely comfortable and just knows, hey, I'm not trying to get something from you. I'm trying to give something to you. Yeah, I think those are great tips for us about I love the idea there's no wrong time to ask right literally when you're just meeting a prospect you can ask from when they're onboarding to like literally anytime that they're a member. I'll actually we'll talk about the best times asked me and then and then the idea that we really want to pursue this as a gift to our members right we're giving you something to give to friends to give to family to give to co workers. And that really changes the dynamic of the conversation. So let's start with the first piece is when are the times you think are best to ask make your for a last. So we ask anytime it's somebody's first visit. Oh, if they're coming in for a free class or if they've purchased your low barrier offer your trial whatever and they're coming in we immediately ask in what feels like an organic way of just hey, we're booking you into this class at 7 30 PM on Wednesday and there's room in this class. I know sometimes it's super awkward to start working out somewhere new so we allow you to bring a friend or a family member with you to that first class. Who do you want to share this experience with? Who do you want on that next to you? And I think essentials to that first ask is we allow because it's like this is a gift where we allow this and then also I love to not ask a yes or no question at the end. It's not do you want to bring someone it's who do you want to bring. Yeah, I think it's so smart and you're right it feels like I'm okay I'm booking you into your first few classes this first one you're in a Wednesday has some spots who do you want to bring. We allow you to bring an extra friend who do you want your support support person to be and framing as a real benefits them because it is right there's people who are so nervous they can come with a friend then it really helps their anxiety about showing up for the first time. Yeah, and we'll say there's several responses to that I also want to let listeners or watchers know if someone is really uncomfortable with that and says no I want to work out by myself here for the first time when I try it out totally cool my response is always oh no worries we just want to make sure it is comfortable and easy for you as possible to come in. No big deal. Or if they say I think my roommate want to come but I just want to ask her first okay cool I'm going to put a hold in the class so that it doesn't fill up because this class is pretty popular so I'll reach out to you tomorrow you have 24 hours to ask her and I just need her name email phone number will put her in the class and you're going to go. So that it's you just give them options of if that person is nervous about giving out their friends information or their husbands information or whatever you have a backup plan for each opportunity and again in case you haven't listened to the first version of me being on the podcast make a script for that have a plan for every possible answer for them on that first ask. Yeah it goes that same we should just do a big disclaimer at the beginning here everything we talk about in this whole podcast belongs on a script somewhere right no one's winging it and even though I'm still in a million times are not just winging it they're literally following a script even though they know what to say and so y'all better be following a script to make it easy for them to bring a friend make it easy for them to not be ready to answer that question follow up with them if they need some extra time fantastic what are the other kind of key moments we're asking for referral can be really. Yeah for us with our low barrier offer that trial it's long it's 21 days if you have a trial that is a certain amount of time or is a certain amount of classes we always ask again at the midway point and it's a trade it's a bike I see that you're crushing it I know that this trial came with three classes but I have a fun offer you can get a bonus extra class by giving away a class to a friend. Then at that point we actually just send our digital referral form which is what we offer our members regularly and I'll get to that one in a second but that way it takes the extra step of them having to get back to us out of it and we literally get pinged when someone fills out that form so I know Michael filled it out he gets an extra class on his account and I'll text back radical my gosh we're so excited for your pal. And then I start the follow up with the pal in the regular referral way so that's fun you get something for giving us for giving out of another class and that's a great opportunity because at this point this person has been in your space has tried a couple of work is yeah I know the exact right person for this I know my mom is going to love this my partner is going to love it in here whatever that is so it gives them a chance to earn another class for themselves and also the pal. Fantastic and what another great example of its key moment where they're getting to know us and maybe an extra class will be helpful in their decision making and it's framed like a gift to them and a gift they're giving someone else and make it easy for them to opt in if they're if that's interesting to them make it easy for them to not if it feels it or uncomfortable or they just don't know anyone and yeah fantastic example let's go back to the form for a second just to tell our listeners what kind is yeah so basically at all times we have a form that anyone who is a member can fill out and give a free class to. And if it says on the form if your friend becomes a member you get a $50 credit on your account so there's some sort of offering for the members as well and that's just available literally all the time so that's something that is we remind people of from time to time every now and then when there is not a lot going on in our marketing stratosphere or if it's been a minute since we've had referrals come in we will do a couple of different options for the members. And one is just a simple announcement or a really short email that goes out that's hey by the way you could make $50 by spreading the gospel of the fun that is MFF we love to build our ninja army we'd rather have your friends I bet you'd rather party with your friends in here than anyone else so give your friend a free class and if they sign up you'll get a $50 credit on your account it's totally a win and it's easy because they just fill it out. Yeah it's all yeah 100% there's not a ton in back and forth there's not put people on the spot they have a link they can click from the email or from a text. or from a QR code or whatever however someone's gonna do it, and then they could do it in their own time. But it does require us to make announcements and maybe do a few nudges, which brings me to my next question, which is a lot of folks that are listening, don't have sales teams like MFF. And so a lot of times the people doing these referral conversations are trainers. And oftentimes they're doing them like while they're on the floor interacting with clients. Can you just talk a little bit about given that scenario? We do, we have our trainers do referral asks from time to time. It's not the cornerstone I think of our referral strategy at this moment, but for folks that it is, you just talk through how do you coach trainers up on having those conversations on the floor with clients? Good one, yeah. I would definitely remind the trainers that it's zero pressure, especially when you as a trainer have a relationship with someone and you that they are crushing it in your gym. It's, that's the perfect opportunity to either ask for a review or a referral or both. And just be like, dude, you're totally crushing it in here. Is there someone in your life that you would like to share this experience with? Do you want to bring your wife in here and have her see how amazing you're doing? We have this awesome referral program. I would totally hook you up with a free class, a free session, whatever it is that you're offering so that they can really see what you're doing. You always have fun while you're in here and do you want to bring someone? But again, I would, I think the two tips for having trainers sell that is one, the script, that the script, and then give them what to say next 'cause it's very easy on the fly for anyone who's on the sales team and used to doing it to know what to say if someone says, "I'm uncomfortable with that." Then all of a sudden the trainers uncomfortable. So have scripts with every possible path and then also just really train your trainers on believing that this is the simplest gift to give and not a sales ask. - Yeah, I think that's a great framing of it 'cause so many people think of it as this, I don't know, CD thing we're trying to do or trying to trick people or something. But the reality is, no, we're genuinely trying to celebrate that someone's crushing at the gym and let them bring in other people who might want to crush it alongside them and that they're very least, it's a way to just build community from people who are just like them. And so I think it's so about it. - Yeah. - That's great. And I want to double click on the thing you said, which is have a script that includes all the possible scenarios, love it. And then the second piece there, which is like practice. - Yes. - I just want to say, there's just no amount of script making that gets away from the need to practice. Like you just have to actually get your team to the other team meeting and have these words come out of their mouths and practice because if not, there's gonna be weird about it. And then it'll feel like a weird thing 'cause they feel weird about it. - Yeah, definitely. And I've done a lot of learning from other places and learning about referral asks and all of that. And there's a lot of hardcore referral ask situations out there where people in your team must bring in a certain number of referrals every day or the fire, or there's a lot of belief that like you ask for five referrals at every point and you might get three and you settle for three. Do whatever feels right to you for me personally, for our team since we tend to go the root of, this is a gift to you, it's super no big deal. I don't feel comfortable being like, you get these five passes, give me five names right now. But there's nothing wrong with being open about how with your trial you get five free passes. Who are these five people you wanna give it to and make it so that you need to give me their information now? You have to give out the five free passes before your trial starts. That's an option. It doesn't feel right at MFF, but that is a great option if you wanna make sure everyone who comes in the door gives out a free week to a friend and they get to use the free week with their friend while they're there, that kind of a thing. - Yeah, I think it's really well said. Yeah, we definitely take a more kind of like softer but hopefully consistent approach to asking for referrals consistently, but a way that feels good to us and our team. But there's certainly more, I don't call it aggressive, but I guess there are, and maybe it's a little more aggressive. Yeah, I'll just use the word here. There's just maybe there's more aggressive approaches out there that don't feel right to us, but you do a listener get to decide for yourself. So if you want to require five referrals before someone starts their trial, give it a try. If you can do it with confidence and with integrity, and it feels good to you and the people you're doing it with, go for it. All right, in the interest of time, I'm gonna discipline myself 'cause I wanna talk more about referrals but I'm gonna switch gears. Let's switch gears and talk about upgrades. So recently I know MFF has been trying a bunch of stuff to get doing some campaigns to get members. I have a hard time saying members or things 'cause at MFF we call them agencies. - No, we do. - And on this podcast, I keep trying to say, I keep trying to not say ninjas, I'm just gonna say ninjas 'cause that's what I know. Dear listeners, when we say ninjas, we meet clients. Here we go. - I also have a hard time not saying clubhouse. It takes so much effort for me to gym every time. (laughs) - That's true, we've been so indoctrinated. We drank the cool aid so hard. All right, because to be fair, I helped make the cool aid, so of course I drank it. Let's talk about upgrades. So we've done a few campaigns recently in MFF to get ninjas to upgrade their membership. Can you just talk about what we've been learning about what's worked and what's not worked. - Yeah, so one of the things we implemented recently is anytime someone signs up for a membership, which by the way is another point where we offer referrals. If they sign up for one of the middle tier or lower tier memberships, we automatically leave a note for ourselves. We do it in automation, but you can do it manually to check in with them somewhere between 30 and 45 days if they're a membership. And I look at their attendance and I think, okay, this person is crushing it. They're literally showing up to every class they paid for. So now I know I should reach out and say, Michael, you're crushing this low membership, slow tier membership. I like knowing what your goals are, knowing that we've talked, it's better for you to be on this upper tier membership. It's literally only $20 more a week. You'll get unlimited class instead of this other thing. And I think you'll be much happier. Do you want to talk about that? And then come at them with an open hand up, by the way, if you do upgrade for us, one thing that really works is if you upgrade, you don't have to start your year membership over again. - Down grade, you do. - Which is different when you're down grade. So for those who don't know it, if you down grade your membership at my free-share fitness, just means you start the clock over again. Your membership starts at the beginning of whatever the period was you committed for. So when you upgrade, we want to make it explicit that you don't have to do that. You can stay on the same timeline you were. So yeah, keep on going down that. - Yeah, so it feels like a little bit of another attractive offer. And it's just saying, hey, I'm paying attention to you. I see that you're really crushing these workouts. We have this other option now that you're more comfortable here, now that you get what the flow of it is, do you want to be coming in more? How can I help with that? - Yeah, well, the thing I love about this and you and some dear listeners that both referrals and upgrades, the framing we're always leading towards is, how do we make this thing that is basically a sales strategy, genuinely feel like a benefit for the ninja, for the client. And in both cases it is, right? In both cases, both are true. We are using this as a way to get more people on the door, but also using it the way to better serve them and help them get better results, build a community with their friends in it, help them come more if they can afford it. And that makes sense knowing that they're crushing it. So I think that's met a strategy here of framing a sales conversation as a gift, as a benefit to the member. I think it's one that is under-talked about. So I love that. So we have this moment where 30, 45 days in, we're touching base with them. And then how does that conversation usually go for you since you've been doing it? Yeah, it just depends on the person. For some people, they originally signed up for that lower tier membership for financial reasons. And they're like, absolutely not where I am. Thanks so much. Great. Don't forget, you can always give a free class to a pal. And if they become a member, you get $50 off of your next payment. So another referral moment, if they don't want to upgrade. Or if they do want to upgrade, it's like super fantastic. Here we go. That's upgraded. Also with your new membership, you get another free class to give to a pal that you want it to be. Yep, fantastic. I love that. Are there any other moments where we are pushing upgrades at this time? We did just run an offer for those people who are on the lower tier membership, where we reached out. And we said, you guys are awesome. We love you. Did you know that there is a bigger version of the membership that you have? We would like for you to see how the other half lives. For the next three weeks, you get that membership at the price that you're regularly paying. Just to try it out. So we had, I think, maybe 50 or so members take us up on it. And then, of course, out of those 50 or so members, maybe 40 of them actually utilized that. There's always going to be people who are like, yeah, I'll take that. And then they get super busy, where they suddenly go to Hawaii. And they're like, no, sorry, I can't. Poor thing. It's going to be late. But, and then after that, we reached out to every single person who took us up on it and said, how was that, Michael? We did give this to you for free, but did you know if you upgraded to this permanently, it's only $X amount more per week. And also, then we came at them with a sign-up offer. So if you want to start your year over and upgrade, we'll give you this amount of money off of your first payment. If you want to stay where you are in your membership and upgrade, we'll give you a little bit less off of your first payment. How does any of that sound? And I think at this point, we've got six people to upgrade. And we're still reaching out to a couple of them. Literally, we just tried this for the first time. And so that's six people who were getting a little more from there getting a little more out of their workouts. They didn't even realize what the benefits were of that membership sometimes, because they're so used to the thing they're doing. Yeah, so smart. And I love it. And if you got those six upgrades so far, I'm sure more are to come with just a few emails and a few conversations. Right, it does not a major lift. That's not it's no work, but it's not a major lift So the fact that you can do upgrades in kind of a one-on-one setting where you're talking to You know where you're focusing on the individual at a time or you can do it on mass like an internal campaign and both can be Yeah, anything else you want to share about upgrades before we switch gears again. No, I think that's good Okay, yeah, I'm sure we can say more, but I think that's a really good roadmap for listeners to start with Let's get lose the final maybe five minutes here for conversation about terminations This is where I see a lot of gyms drop the fucking ball And I say I use the f-word here because I get so annoyed that they just they leave their back door Just completely open for people to walk out easily and with zero friction and I get the impulse that some people are like They see a lot of gyms do is if a member wants to leave they just text or email Usually the owner and say hey, this is gonna be the last month and they like maybe write them back and say okay And then that's it my that's the whole process and for a lot of reasons that we're gonna Discussing in it. That's just it's not enough. This is a real opportunity to build connection to build trust maybe keep them longer There's lots of opportunity here those moments would both want to make a change So you just talk a little bit about our approach to termination Conversation yeah, I will say the membership department is the one who does all of this MFF however Because there are points in the conversation that end up being sales or downgrade conversations or whatever We've helped them develop what to say and how to say it and they have scripts And also they have if then paths to follow as well, but for starters We do have a termination fee if you want to get out of your year-long membership There is a fee to pay we're not the kind of place that makes you pay out the rest of your contract and a fee and Also, that's something we mention at the point of sale and it can be really helpful because I think people tend to be gun shy about signing up for a year-long membership anyway. They've had Bad situations in the past with different gym experiences where they tried to break up and the gym was like nope You can't break up with me. Yeah, no So I'm very clear in my sales conversation as well and look down the road if something should happen In you need to end this membership. That's really okay We have a small fee and truly it's not like other places where you have to pay out the rest of the membership We are going to eat out of it. We just have the small fee in order to continue covering trainers health insurance and the people who work in the office And just make sure that we can do back end things and have it lost out too much We got to keep the lights on and people are usually very responsive to that in a positive way Yeah, that makes sense. I love that before you go on can we actually go back a little bit further? We can certainly I want to get to talking about all the ways people terminate and how that conversation goes But you can just start with they got to fill out a form correct They got I'm sorry. They got to talk to someone who fills out a form. That's our process is yeah I will say that makes a huge difference There's no send us a text and as an email tell us you want to quit. Okay cool We need to hop on a call with you and just finalize this and make sure it's legally And binding and ended because they hopefully at your space as well listeners They signed something to begin with that says I'm here. I'm doing this and committing to this and committing to paying this So they need to legally have a talk on the back end So there's no just shoot as a text and tell us you want to quit. Nope. We're gonna hop on a call and then yes There's a form that someone on the membership team fills out asking questions about the experience But even before they get to filling that out they talk to someone and they ask what's going on? Why is it that you need to quit? How can we help? Did you know that your membership comes with freezes? So if this is just a time in your life where You're overwhelmed by working out. You're financially compromised and you don't want to pay this That is totally okay. We're here for you. We want to help you freeze this So you don't have to put your health and wellness on the backburner forever. It's just a moment in time push pause Don't pay for it. We'll check in with you in a few weeks based on where you set your freeze to and see if it's a better time And that can make people feel really good and seen as well Because the truth is as much as we don't want them to leave financially We also don't want them to leave for their own goals and their own wellness We all do this to help people so when someone says I just can't do this right now. I'm so busy Okay, we support that and we totally understand that you get busy acknowledging and validating that here are some of your other options before you just totally quit taking care of yourself fully you can pause it Yeah, you can also downgrade it if you happen to be one of those people in one of the higher membership options like Maybe coming four times a week is becoming too much for you. We have this two times a week option How does that sound and then at the very least if they're like no, I absolutely want to get out of it great We can help you with that again. I really don't want you to feel like you have no options for working out So we have non-committal options. They're a little bit more expensive obviously because they don't include commitment But it's a great way to still continue your health and wellness and so that's even a last ditch down great effort Yeah, yeah, yeah 100% I love that because the conversation turns to we want you to keep taking care of yourself We don't want money or convenience or any of those things to get in the way of your care So let us help you give you options if we give you options that help you continue taking care of yourself great And if not we're gonna have a beautiful breakup all right We're gonna have a breakup where you feel taking care of and supported in your choice to go do something else And I love that and MFF we have freezes and MFF we have options to downgrade if they're in a higher membership We have some non-committal options. We also have an on we have an awesome online training like something we call a home body Which is virtual zoom training zoom classes and many of you listeners have some remote or virtual training you offer And so I do whatever options you have this is the moment to have that conversation and if we don't have the conversation We're just leaving the back door open for people to to just stop taking care of themselves and that doesn't feel right either I feel like when we take an inch on it into our loving arms at MFF It feels like an obligation It feels no we're committed to this partnership. We're helping you take care of yourself And when someone just decided to just stop taking care of themselves We want to talk about it and so this termination conversation is really built around do you this is really what you want? Can we help can we help you in any other way? And I would say I'll say one more thing that I know we don't really promote actively at MFF But if I was one of my dear listeners who has a smaller gym? Maybe you have under a hundred members Even under 200 members. I might also have in my back pocket a discount to offer people To keep them around. So I might even say can I just take 20% off your membership for the next three months to help you out if finances are an issue Or can I just you get the idea have some other we don't really make those kinds of exceptions and as much anymore in MFF Just because it doesn't really scale but if you have a smaller gym I think you probably can get away with a little bit of that art and take good care of people especially if the issue is money Yeah, we can help with that Yeah, and then also I will say at the end of this there are going to be people who do want to terminate They're going to be people who need to walk away for whatever their reason is in their life and that is the point where we ask for referrals and reviews Yes, I get it you need to leave and how likely are you on a scale of 1 to 10 to refer Mark Fisher fitness to someone Fantastic on your way out the door. I hate that you're having to leave us. I'm happy to give you two more free classes that you can use any time in the next 90 days If you want to give two free classes to friends right now give me their information That's an option and then also we are a small business and small business thrives on word of mouth We're a tight knit community and I know that you're on your way out But it really sounds like you have enjoyed your time here and if you wouldn't mind Leaving us a review that was always something that is so helpful for us and helps us to continue to grow And make sure that we're still here when you're ready to come back to us And then if they say yes to that send them the link to do that Don't expect them to go and do that Send them the link right away while I have you on the phone I'm going to text you this link or do you want to protect your email great All they have to do is click and fill it out it is you will get more reviews that way don't just toss someone to leave your review Yeah, 100% yeah, it was beautifully said and I bet a lot of our listeners in listening to use a riff on your kind of role plays when you are talking in this podcast I bet a lot of them aren't just wow. I wish the words came so easily to me I wish I could talk like Emily in these situations and have these conversations and I want to point out to all of you Em can talk like this because She's got scripts and she's practice those scripts endlessly. Yeah, maybe it won't end here in this podcast But you just talk a little bit about how much of you in your growth squad practice your sales scripts And how much even when you're onboarding new growth squad members this practice Thanks makes makes makes makes much better. Yes. I will say I've said this before but like you would never expect professional athlete to just show up to the game You would never expect a musician or performer to just show up to the performance People practice. That's what we do. It's practice my team has 15 to 30 minutes four times a week of Drills where we just run over parts of the scripts changes that we're making whenever we make a big change or add something We'll schedule an hour in that week to make sure we are fully doing it And when someone is Incoming and new I spend a lot of time working with them first piece by piece of the script and then the script as a whole Because when we're in those 15-minute drill sessions, we obviously are not able to do Like the bigger scripts that we have the sales scripts the welcome scripts that kind of stuff those are 25 to 30-minute conversations so we often don't get to the whole thing and we will fly through it sometimes. I think there's something to be said about repeating the same thing over and over again. There's also something to be said about doing it as quickly as possible without emotion just to make sure you can get it like oh my gosh Michael I see there's an extra spot in this class. We last someone brings them into the class with them. We always know it can be super weird to work out somewhere new. Who do you want to bring with you? Just like as fast as possible. Yeah 100%. I love that. I love that. Yeah. So I just I love that you're sharing that because I think that's the number. Maybe it's the number one thing that provides people from getting good at sales or getting good at referral conversations, upgrade conversations, termination conversations. Yeah so just don't they don't practice. They don't practice. And it's so essential. I don't want anyone listening to be scared of the idea that when I say script I mean it's exactly the same every time. What I just said in my fast mode was just slightly different than what I said 10 minutes ago when I was talking about that organic we've got a free spot in your class offer. There are major buzzwords and pinpoints I want will always say we allow you to bring someone and we'll always ask an open-ended question like who is that person's name and not a yes or no question but how you get there can change. It doesn't have to be verbatim script so don't be scared of the word script. Make sure you're well rehearsed in what the possible outcomes are and how to say this but also I'd like to go back to if you're going to be teaching your trainers how to do this. If you are a trainer, an owner trainer listening to this don't think it has to be word perfect. It has to be intent perfect. Yeah so I'm so glad you brought that up because I think people do get scared of the idea that if I have to memorize a script I have to memorize like word for word what it is it's going to take away my humanity my individuality. I won't be able to be my authentic self and that's not what we're talking about. I think oftentimes when we first rolled out scripts many years ago in MF we actually started calling them talking points instead of scripts because people were so afraid of the idea that their life with their conversations will be scripted. Dear listeners we'll leave you with this go make some scripts or talking points practice the crap out of them and they will help you have better referrals get more reviews have better upgrades have better termination conversations and whether it's just you because you're an army of one at your gym there's a whole team this is I think this episode really laid out a roadmap for all of you for the main conversations you want to get. So thank you so much for sharing your wisdom again this was truly fantastic and I've no doubt this is going to be another favorite podcast episode anything you want to leave our listeners with. Maybe just juicy other places for referral asks that once again there is no wrong time to ask for referrals when someone does not convert or into a membership they did your trial they did your free week whatever it is and they're like no thanks I don't want to convert I totally understand I hate that you're not able to work out here anymore I'm happy to give you two more free classes if you want to give two pals free classes two more referrals from someone who didn't even sign up for your gym is an option and then I'm sure you all have heard about referral contests but don't be shy about that if having a referral form that you know your members can fill out any time become stale or is not something you have enough human power to operate just run a contest once a quarter offer a big giant prize offer a free year-long membership to whoever brings in the most referrals fantastic I love those great tips listeners I hope you had your pen ready because there's a lot of knowledge bombs in this in this podcast episode thanks em I really appreciate you and it's so lovely to have mstress filled on the podcast for the first time this will be the last time for a while though in case anybody who's listening doesn't know eight months pregnant so bye we're not gonna be having her back anytime soon but she will return someday she will return someday soon thank you so much my friend you can tell why mstitle mf is director of possibilities because she's just full of creating possibilities in the world so thank you I appreciate you and your wisdom dear listeners if you found this value but please leave us a review leave us a five star review in fact anywhere you listen to the podcast and email me michaalipisnesfeedagorns.com and let me know what you want me to talk about next or who you want me to talk to this was a blast have a great rest of your day we'll talk soon