About Karen Woodard-Chavez

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Poof, Now You Are A Manager!
May 2014 - Welcome to your new position as a manager. Kudos to you, very exciting! Sometimes, when we get a promotion, we are excited to embrace the full role of responsibility of the role, and sometimes, we have mixed feelings because we are unclear about the responsibility of the role, have not been trained or worry about how the relationships we have with our peers will change. All of those feelings are valid. Read Article...

Positive Power
September 2019 - As you read the title of this article, you might be doing a bit of eye rolling and thinking to yourself, "Oh no, here come some tired platitudes of 'fake it 'til you make it,' 'plaster on a veneer smile,' or even, my favorite, 'pooping rainbows.' That is not what this article is about. Instead, you will get some simple tools to polish up the positive in your organization. Read Article...

Proactive Prospect Relationship Building and Follow-Up Plans
August 2021 - Over the years, in my sales training and consulting practice, I have had the good fortune of experiencing many things with clients: good and sometimes not so good that need repair. That is the nature of consulting. One conflict that continues to come up with clients as it relates to the membership sales department (for which this article will provide a solution) is: Should a salesperson get credit for a sale when there has been minimal relationship building and following up with a prospect even though that prospect is in their database? Or, just because a salesperson has a lead in their database, is it their lead forever, whether they work it or not? Read Article...

Product Knowledge Training for More Persuasive Sales Conversations
October 2018 - Over the past five or so years, I have noticed a declining level of product knowledge held by club sales staff. It is apparent that they are being trained primarily on sales skills and not on the crucial skill set of knowing precisely what benefits or outcomes all of the programs, services and equipment that club operators spend so much money on will provide for the member. Hmmm... that does not make good business sense. Read Article...

Professional Points, Programs and Policies to Support Increased Membership Sales
August 2011 - ll markets, not limited to the health and fitness industry, have become much more competitive. All businesses and associates within those businesses must constantly reassess how competitive they truly are. In doing so, enhancements need to be made in structure, policies, training and offering to the market. Read Article...

Prospecting Plans That Create Sales
March 1998 - Read Article...

Resolutions for Stellar Sales Success
January 2005 - Read Article...

Sales Skills For Personal Trainers
June 1998 - Read Article...

Sales Success Discussion
September 2017 - It is that time of year again... the leaves are turning, the temperatures are finally getting cooler and the kids have gone back to school. What a perfect time of year for "a back to school tune-up" for those of us who are in sales. In other words, discussing what is working, not working; what we know, do not know; and come up with how we can best utilize tools we have been trained on, followed by one-on-one tours. The purpose of this is for us to be accountable, dependable and reliable to consistently meeting or exceeding goals. Pretty simple, huh? Read Article...

Service Sells
The Balance Between Sales and Service
June 2013 - This article will provide seven tools for your organization to be able to create a deeper, richer and differentiating service experience for all who pass through your doors. But first, a few important points from outside of our industry. Read Article...

Something is Missing...
August 2018 - How many times in the past few months have you been on the consumer end of a purchase and felt like the selling conversation and service during the buying process was exemplary? Think about it and count. On the other hand, how many times have you been on the consumer end of a purchase and felt like the salesperson did not know their product, did not bother to find out enough about you, was delivering a canned pitch, was lacking in relationship building skills and you felt generally disappointed in the process? Please think about that and count. Read Article...

Staff Stress Busting to Impact Performance During COVID
August 2020 - As each and every one of us under 85 years of age can attest to, we are living through an unprecedented time: economically, politically, culturally, generationally and educationally... all stemming from how we are handling our worldwide health pandemic. We have no experience with this and are in a time of constant change, conflicting information leading us to lack confidence in whom and what we believe, all of which creates constant uncertainty. Add to this, double if not triple, the workload for businesses (and families) due to learning and delivering new modes of operation which require a tremendous amount of repetition in training staff as well as members to get it right. And, the cost of getting it wrong is wayyyyyy too high. Read Article...

Stuck in the Middle
Part I
August 2012 - Stuck in the middle... What does that conjure up for you? Perhaps having to sit in the middle seat on a long flight... or being the middle child where you got your older sibling's hand-me-downs and your younger sibling got the new stuff... Read Article...

Stuck in the Middle
Part II
September 2012 - In Part I of this article series, we referred to the concept of "Stuck in the Middle," where many clubs have found themselves over the past ten years with the advent of so many low-price providers on one side that, frankly, do a good job of providing a self-service, equipment-oriented experience. On the other side are the higher end operators who provide a more customized luxurious experience. Read Article...

Success Often Requires Doing Things Differently
December 2011 - Happy New Year! It certainly will be for many clubs, not just because of the windfall peak of the season that most clubs experience but because many clubs have strategically set themselves up for an enhanced level of success and return based on work they did in 2011. Read Article...

Successfully Starting the Sales Process With Guest Cards
August 2000 - Read Article...

The Core Values Ball
November 2016 - In previous articles, I have shared exercises with you about the importance of core values. Not just the importance of having them but the importance of the 3Bs as they relate to your organization's core values: Belief, Behavior and Buy-In. I share exercises and not simply rhetoric, because, in my practice, I have witnessed that people learn faster and deeper with experiential learning, as opposed to sitting and listening. Read Article...

The Cycle of Growth Starts With Change
September 2014 - Whenever there is a change to be made in a business, there will be some who fully embrace the change with zeal. The ones who embrace it are typically the people who have bought in from the beginning and feel a sense of ownership with the change. There are also the others who like things the way they are now, do not see a need for change and drag their feet. Read Article...

The Cycle of Life At Your Club
March 2014 - The cycle of life, as you see in the visual of this article, is a very simple cycle and is the same for many businesses. I use this as a very visual example for my clients in the health and wellness industry as well as other industries. The only difference is that the language may change for each stage in the cycle based on the business. Let's briefly walk through it together, and then, we will break it down further to enhance the outcomes for your long-term success. Read Article...

The Joy of the Sales and Retention Connection
February 2009 - Most of us in the health and fitness business experience something unique and fortunate every day... We truly love our work. How many people do you know who go to work every day and don't love or look forward to their work? Read Article...

The Management Mentor Program for Better Club Integration
July 2009 - So many of the clubs I have worked with are not as functional and profitable as they could be because the management staff is not as functional, operationally, as it could be. If you look at the management structure of many clubs, perhaps even your own, the management and all of their respective departments operate somewhat independent of each other rather than in an integrated fashion. Read Article...

The Member Experience Cycle
A Simple Tool to Enhance Retention and Sales
November 2021 - If I were to stop by unannounced or call your club around 7PM on a Friday night, how confident are you that my experience with your staff would be an excellent one? Would it be as consistent with perhaps what happens at 11AM during the day? If you can, without any hesitation, answer, "Yes," then KUDOS to you. If you have some hesitation, then this article will be helpful. The American Customer Service Index (ACSI) released their Q2 findings... Read Article...

The Onboarding Process as a Sales, Retention and Referral Tool
June 2018 - How many of you reading this article have some sort of onboarding process for new members at your club? I would bet most of you would say that you have that available. How many of you reading this article mention it on the tour and then again rush through it in the post tour? I bet some of you, if you really thought about it, would have to say that that is what you do. How many of you are not thrilled with the participation rates of new members engaging in your onboarding process? Again, from what I see in the business, most clubs are not getting the engagement level in these services/sessions that they are intending to see. Read Article...

The River of Change
August 2016 - How is the sense of team, communication and commitment in your organization at this time? Would you rate it an 8 or above, or an 8 or below? Perhaps, it is time to do a teambuilding exercise with your staff to enhance communication, commitment, reveal hidden talents as well as reveal weaknesses that need to be addressed in a creative and playful, but clear, manner in your organization The following activity, called The River of Change, is perfect for any and all of these objectives. Read Article...

The Role of the Membership Representative in Membership Retention
October 2003 - Read Article...

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