LASSO Helps Seth Blumenau Revamp his Sales Process, Add 32 Members in First Two Months
Seth Blumenau had only 53 members when he bought MADabolic, a franchise barbell-free strength and conditioning business in Stamford, Connecticut last December.
Sidenote: MADabolic is a brand that focuses on educating the consumer about the things that are “true and real out in the fitness industry,” Blumenau, so they don’t get lost in the noise they hear about the quick fix fads and fickle trends that often take hold of the fitness industry.
Blumenau knew he needed more clients, and he took a grassroots approach to trying to bring people through the doors.
Ultimately, though, it wasn’t working so well because he didn’t have much of a sales process in place. Instead, Blumenau kept trying to just show the prospect how much he loved the MADabolic brand, and hoped they would love it, too.
“I didn’t know what I was doing marketing wise,” he admitted.
And so Blumenau turned to LASSO two months ago, and Sherman Merricks and Blake Ruff quickly identified that Blumenau didn’t have so much a lead problem as he did a sales problem.
“I wasn’t able to close the leads who were coming in the door because I didn’t have the sales knowledge to do it,” Blumenau said.
After speaking with Ruff and Merricks, and listening to their podcasts, he realized his biggest mistake was being “way too emotional” about what he was trying to sell.
“I love MAD and have been part of MAD as a client for five years, and I just thought people are going to love it because I love it, and that just didn’t work,” he said.
The LASSO Difference
Today, thanks to LASSO, Blumenau has revamped his entire sales process to focus on the client, instead of on his product.
“Every single person comes to you because they have a problem, and our job as fitness professionals is to figure out what their problem is,” he said.
For him, this means he now takes the time to talk with each lead—he calls them for a discovery call within 20 minutes of them reaching out—to dig into what has been working for them, what hasn’t been working, what they want and need, their goals, and how he can help them solve their problem.
“Now, I’m a machine when it comes to sales,” he said.
The data: When Blumenau purchased the gym, he had 53 members. Since changing his sales process just two months ago, he’s now at 85 members. As for his sales close rate, he was sitting at about 25 percent before LASSO, and this has jumped to 65 percent in the last couple of months.
On top of helping him with his sales process, Blumenau also credits LASSO with helping bring in more leads (he generated 60 leads in May alone).
“The ad copy is what brings people through the doors,” he said adamantly.
Best of all, LASSO’s copy is designed for what Blumenau preaches at his unique gym: longevity over quick fixes.
“We don’t push quick fixes. “Our goal is to help people set a routine and get them to buy into all the things that MAD stands for long-term sustainability, not following the fad diets, not the quick fixes.”
Just a couple of months into LASSO, Blumenau is adamant that if you’re a gym owner, LASSO is the way to go.
The most valuable aspect of working with LASSO is that they work with each gym owner to come up with a strategy that works best for them,” Blumenau said, adding that it “becomes very individualized.”
In his case, it was about showing him he didn’t have a lead problem; he had a sales process problem. There was a disconnect and they “dug into that,” Blumenau said.
“And they have helped my confidence a lot,” he added.
Best of all, Sherman and Ruff care, and this speaks volumes.
“They genuinely want the gyms they work with to succeed. They want to work with people who love what they do and want to help people. They want to help people,” he said.