There I was sitting in a sales leadership workshop when my name was called by the coach. “Ryan, would you head up to the front of the room to role play?”
If you know me at all then it’s obvious I wasn’t going to refuse. However, my stomach turned a little and I could feel the anxiety build as I strolled up to the chair positioned nicely in front of 20 or so of my peers.
The role play situation was uncomfortable and a little scary. However, I learned more about myself and how I handled similar situations in that 15 minutes than I did in the rest of the 4 hour workshop.
As a fitness business owner you will eventually need to hire staff and build a team that can help you run your business. Leveraging the power of role playing can help your team elevate their game and develop new skills to handle tough situations. And it’s not just for sales! All areas of your business can benefit from role playing.
How To Develop Role Play Situations
The key to a great role playing is outline the scenario for both parties. The first step is to create an ideal outcome for the person playing the part of your team member and outline the objections and issues that the person playing the non team member will present. The goal is not to make this impossible, but you can’t make it a gimme either.
In the best role play scenarios, which work when you can moderate and have two team members participating, create a situation where both parties are unaware of the individual objectives.
You can easily source these scenarios from real situations that occur in your business. This could be a customer service issue, cancellation request, sales consultation or even interactions between team members. In fact, role playing management situations is a great way to train your team on how to handle a management position.
Better Than Scripts
A lot of fitness business owners come to Fitness Revolution looking for scripts they can use in their business to make it easy to run and to help manage their team. While there is a time and place to use scripts it is important that you train your team to think on their feet when it comes to handling difficult situations.
By relying solely on scripts your team will not learn how to have conversations and really listen to your clients and prospects. When the client goes ‘off script’ (it will happen a lot) your team member doesn’t know how to navigate the conversation. This leaves your team member and the client frustrated with the result of the conversation.
Role playing helps your team build active listening, conversation and decision making skills that will benefit them and your business. Just imagine having a team that can navigate client conversations or difficult issues without having to come to you for the answer! You’ll save hours of time and lots of frustration by investing some time into role playing with your team.
Your critical transformation…
I can tell you from experience that transforming from a producer in your business (the person getting the results) to a leader (someone who gets results through others) is one of the most challenging things you will go through as a business owner.
You will be faced with new obstacles, be forced to learn new skills and have to rely on your team to help grow your business. This isn’t something that will happen quickly for you.
The rewards you get from going through this transformation are well worth it. You will have a better business, stronger team and more freedom.
If you’d like help identifying where you can be a better leader for your team or identifying the next key steps in your growth as a business leader schedule your complimentary 60-min Discovery Call today. We’ll help you assess your business and prioritize your next steps for growth.
