Episode #558: Mary Laudati’s Playbook for Boosting Health Club Revenue and Member Loyalty

In this episode, host Pete Moore sits down with Mary Laudati, a seasoned sales and marketing leader with deep roots in the HALO (Health, Active Lifestyle, Outdoor) space. From her days leading the sales group at Sports Club LA to her current role as a consultant working with top clubs across the U.S. and internationally, Mary shares her insights on building effective sales strategies, leveraging cutting-edge software like Salesforce, and creating a powerful culture of member engagement and retention.

She provides boots-on-the-ground, immediately actionable tips on using data, recording sales calls, and mystery shopping to pinpoint where clubs are leaving revenue on the table—plus, the importance of strong onboarding and personal connections to keep members coming back. Mary also discusses the latest trends in CRM technology, club operations, and the shift toward shared memberships and referral models.

Whether you’re a club owner, sales team leader, or just passionate about the business of the HALO space, Mary’s advice on finding—and keeping—members is pure gold.

On early member retention, she states, "Those three months are crucial . . . for those clubs that don't have salespeople, not only do you want to embrace the incoming (they've got to follow up and make a lot of phone calls), but they also have to check on the new members and look at their attendance to make sure that they're coming in."

Key themes discussed

• Importance of sales strategies and processes in health clubs.
• Customizable CRM/software solutions for sales and retention.
• The critical role of training and investing in your employees.
• KPIs, net growth, revenue, and retention.
• Mystery shopping and call recording for sales team improvement.
• Enhancing member engagement, onboarding, and relationship-building.
• Shared membership/referral programs to boost membership and loyalty.

A few key takeaways: 

1. Sales Process Needs Structure and Ongoing Evaluation: Mary emphasized that many clubs claim to have a strong sales team, but more often than not lack strategies, scripts, or KPIs. She underlined the importance of having sequential, process-driven systems and regular evaluation—often through recording, analyzing calls, and “mystery shopping” the current experience.

2. CRMs and Custom Software Are Game-Changers: A major part of the episode centers around the critical need for effective, customizable CRMs. Mary championed Salesforce for its adaptability, noting her experience implementing it at Millennium Partners. She highlighted recent successes helping clubs (like Powerhouse Gyms in Novi, MI) leverage technology to understand their numbers, coach their teams, and boost revenue.

3. Training and Investment in People Drives Revenue: Laudati strongly advocates investing in employee training alongside technology. She’s seen clients who paired software adoption with robust training, and realized up to 25% growth year-over-year. She's a believer in hands-on onboarding, coaching, and ensuring team members are held accountable—not just to sales, but to ongoing member engagement.

4. Retention is as Critical as Acquisition: Both Mary and Pete stressed the importance of looking beyond just new member acquisition to also address attrition. Laudati recommends clubs track net growth (sales minus cancels), invest in the early months of a member's journey, proactively reach out to disengaged members, and create meaningful connections (a la “Cheers,” where everyone knows your name!)

5. Shared Memberships and Ongoing Engagement are Winning Strategies: Highlighting clients like Bay Clubs, Laudati also talked about the explosion of shared or referral-based memberships and how they can create instant community and value. She noted the value of actively integrating new members into programs or group activities (think personal training, group ex, or even pickleball) during the crucial first three months to help maximize retention.

Resources: 

• Mary Laudati: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-laudati-89206232
• Mary Laudati Sales Consulting: https://www.marylaudati.com  
• HALO Talks 2 Minute Financial Drills (Videos): https://bit.ly/2minutedrills 
• Prospect Wizard: https://www.theprospectwizard.com 
• Promotion Vault: http://www.promotionvault.com
• HigherDose: http://www.higherdose.com