A truly skilled salesperson makes it look easy. They are the kind of person that seems totally at ease and watching them interact with people is like poetry in motion. It’s true artistry. They just always seem to close the sale, but… how?! Sales and marketing is the fuel that drives the machine of every business including yours, yet marketers and salespeople don’t necessarily have the reputation of being the most loved people on their teams. Am I right or am I right? Today on The Business Side of Fitness podcast, Alan Leach, CEO of Westwood Club dives into this very topic and so much more. It’s a real treat to learn from someone with over 30 years of experience in our industry so get ready as he covers: -Professionalizing the level of sales and marketing in our industry -Best practices for sales and marketing -The difference between sales & marketing (no, they aren’t the same) -The value of sales teams -What his work as Chair of IHRSA entails Plus more… Check out the full episode to learn more from Alan by visiting: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com/podcast ABOUT THE HOST Vanessa Severiano has two decades of experience creating, developing and growing brands in the fitness & wellness industry. Learn more about working with Vanessa: https://www.vanessaseveriano.com ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST Alan Leach is a 34 year sales and marketing veteran of the fitness industry. Currently CEO and Director of Sales and Marketing at West Wood Clubs Dublin, Ireland, with over 38,000 members at 7 fitness clubs in Ireland and Sarajevo. Sales Trainer and International speaker and presenter on fitness business marketing. Chairperson of IHRSA (International Health, Racquet and Sports Association), based in Boston, USA. Director of IHRSA. Chair of IHRSA International Committee (International Health, Racquet and Sports Association). Only the second non US chair of IHRSA in 45 years. Since 2010, Alan has been engaged as an international speaker and presenter on fitness marketing.He’s presented to 1000,s of club managers & owners at fitness conventions in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Brazil, Mexico, Austria, Spain, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Iceland, China, Portugal, France, Kuwait, China, Australia and many other countries. Regular speaker and presenter at all major fitness industry conferences around the world. In 2014, he became the only European invited to join the faculty of The IHRSA Institute at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina, USA, lecturing on Marketing Strategy, Digital Marketing, and Sales Management. Winner of Direct Marketing awards for fitness marketing competing against Irelands top advertising agencies. Winner of a FIA award for fitness marketing. In 2011, invited to join IHRSA’s ‘Ask An Industry Leader’ online forum. Featured several times in IHRSA CBI magazine, Club Solutions magazine, and many other 'international' fitness marketing publications. Regular contributor to Club Solutions magazine in US. Learn more about Westwood Clubs here: https://westwood.ie/ **SPREAD THE WORD Please make sure to rate, review and subscribe to The Business Side of Fitness wherever you listen to podcasts. Your support means so much and helps more than you know! THIS SHOW IS PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SYNC FLOOR 86 percent of US adults taking virtual exercise classes plan to continue doing so as gyms reopen. That’s a huge opportunity for anyone looking to launch or expand their virtual fitness offering. Our friends at SyncFloor offer a catalog of over 16,000 songs by the best independent commercial artists. It's great music that can be affordably licensed for both live and Video On Demand fitness classes Listeners of ‘The Business Side of Fitness Podcast' get their first 30 minute class covered for free. Just go to https://fitness.syncfloor.com **INTERESTED IN BECOMING A P