Archives for 2021

What Makes A Powerful Martial Arts Website?

November 30, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Currently speaking, more than six billion websites exist on the world wide web. This number is just a decent estimation; the number of websites on the internet is still growing as we speak. With this, we can say that there are many competitions on the internet with the same niche as ours. Aside from that, we have to take note that every website’s goal is to land on the first page of Google’s search engine results. Having a competitor is already hard, how much more millions, right?

The website of your gym is an essential marketing must-have and an integral part of your business’ success. Having a gym website is one thing, but having a search engine optimized website that sets you apart from your competitors is another. People have certain standards when it comes to good quality websites that business owners often miss. Slow-loading websites, use of poor graphics and images, poor content, and complicated layouts, are just a few of the details that make your website lose traffic.

5 must-haves for your gym website to help you generate more traffic:

Location and contact information

Read one of our blogs: Best Methods To Maximize Your Gym’s Monetization

Your website should have your complete business details. Whether you have a physical address or none, or you have a single gym address or you have multiple locations across the country, you need to include it on your website. Usually, good websites have it on their footer. Consumers search for websites because they need information, so you have to have it displayed where people can easily find it. Aside from your address, important business details include your phone number (personal or business), email address, business description, location, hours of operation, and frequently asked questions.

Reviews and testimonials

Word of mouth is still one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. In this digital era, having reviews and testimonials posted on your website is one of the reasons why consumers easily invest their trust in your brand. When potential client is thinking of registering for the services offered in your gym or purchasing any product that you offer, they want to know if it’s worth it. Maybe they want to take a look into how you treat your clients, or they want to have social proof if your program is effective or not. So you have to make sure that you have reviews and testimonials they can read or watch. Some business owners go the extra mile and invest in good videos showcasing their client’s reviews.

💡Customer testimonials help you establish a wide portfolio of clients who have benefitted from your business. This shows potential clients how diverse and versatile your company can be, and just how you may be able to help meet their unique needs, too. – WHY CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS ARE IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Mobile-friendly user experience

The first minute a website visitor spends on your site matters. Usually, when a person has a poor experience in the first few minutes that they are on your website, they skip to another. To avoid this, you have to make sure that your website has a seamless UX. This simply means that the user should effortlessly use your website without giving too much thought to the process. A responsive design is part of the user experience. This means that your website should automatically adjust to the device of the user, and it should be mobile-friendly. To have a good-performing website, you have to consider having the following search bar, navigation bar, social media integration, simple forms, and one-button payments.

High-quality visuals and fresh content

Aside from your website’s design and user experience, fresh and quality content is also important. In addition to that, nobody wants a “dry” visual, so your website should have high-quality visuals that will urge the visitor to stay a little bit longer. Good visuals that are unique and relevant to your content will help you land on a higher rank. Quality and relevant content really are a business website must-have. It should showcase your brand. Your content should help you communicate to your prospective and existing clients. Aside from blogs, you should also try other types of content like videos, infographics, podcasts, animations, etc.

Read related blog : 6 Types of Visual Content You Need to Use in Your Marketing Campaigns

Clear call-to-action

In addition to the features mentioned above, you shouldn’t also forget about having clear calls to action. A call to action (CTA) is a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience or reader to take. AS a business website, you have to have a clear goal in mind. What are the next steps that you want your website visitors to do? You have to make that clear in your call to action buttons. Place them strategically on your website. Present potential clients with clear instructions to walk them through your sales funnel. This can be in a form of lead magnets like free ebooks, free trials, discount coupons, or free consultations which they can only claim if they click on your call to action.

| According to Investopedia :
“The CTA can have a direct link to sales and it can suggest that the reader subscribes to a newsletter that contains product updates, for example. To be effective, a CTA should be obvious and should immediately follow the marketing message.”

Key takeaway

Websites come and go. Usually, they go because of poor optimization. If you can’t do it yourself, there are lots of freelancers out there that can effectively do the job for you. You’ll spend a small amount of money, but you can think of it as a capital expenditure that will help you increase your sales and profits in no time. With the continuous rise of competitors on the internet, you need a good gym website to compete with others. Using what you have learned above, you can start optimizing your site now to get new subscribers. Spark Membership offers a full-service solution to streamline your marketing, retention, communication, and loyalty programs – and these will increase client confidence in you.

Tips In Writing Successful Membership Renewal Letter For A Martial Arts School

November 30, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

One of the most essential components of your marketing revenue and strategy is your membership renewal campaign. That’s why you have to have a good time thinking about what you’ll include in it. No matter how frustrating it can be, writing your membership renewal letter should still stay on top of your to-do list to stay on top of your membership campaign.

As you prepare for this year’s membership renewal campaign, be sure not to send the same message from last year. Content plays a vital role in your association’s membership renewal process. Although not all of the members take the time even to open every email from your dojo, you have to impact anyone who cares enough to read it. Sometimes, because your renewal letters are much more than reminders to pay up, people tend to mark them as spam emails or as junk mail.

Even when you know what you want to convey to members, a blank screen can be daunting when it’s time to compose membership renewal letters most especially for a martial arts school. There’s a lot at stake with these letters — if you struggle to write them, you’re not alone.

With that in mind, here are five suggestions to help improve your membership renewal letter for your martial arts school:

Write a great subject line

Subject lines with 6 to 10 words deliver the highest open rate. This may be in part due to the shorter cutoff point for subject lines that are read on smartphones. See some subject line tips for your member renewal letter and consider these examples:

Your access to all the fun stuff expires in x days

Why popular member name renewed, and why you should too

Discount code inside for first 10 Gold Member renewals

Write a thank-you note

Read the related blog: The Perfect New Member Welcome Letter for Gyms and Martial arts schools

A simple expression of gratitude can go a long way toward driving membership renewals. Thank members for their membership. Acknowledge how long they have been a member and anyways they have volunteered or contributed to your association. You may add this message at the beginning of your membership renewal letter. Remember, you don’t need to keep this long, this isn’t the highlight of your message.

Be persuasive while offering the specifics

Make your members realize the value of your services or products in their day-to-day lives. You can mention the awards that you got through the years, the important milestones that you achieved in your business, and a statistic of the amazing people that you’ve helped so far.

Also, remind members of the benefits they have not yet taken advantage of, and that there’s still time to do so. Reinforce the value of membership by reminding them of the benefits they have taken advantage of, such as event discounts and learning opportunities, and let members know about upcoming events and opportunities they’ll miss out on if they do not renew.

Maximize the use of your CRM

Remember, your membership data is right at your fingertips, and now you can access it in just a few clicks of your mouse if you have a CRM. Using these data, you can personalize renewal letters or even your monthly newsletters.

To maximize its use, you can begin the process by thinking about what sets your members different from each other – for example:

Do you have a number of categories or membership levels? (Basic, Special, Premium, All Access)

Do you organize your list based on membership status? (new member, active member; long-standing member, inactive/ lapsed member, former/returning member)

Do you record engagement data? (e.g., volunteer activity; attendance at events or professional development sessions; involvement in committees or task forces; etc.)

💡 The more you know about your members, the more you can personalize the letter or email to speak directly to them. – Sparks Membership

Don’t forget to be extra extra

In your letter, offer an option for member feedback. It’s especially important to listen to your members, so include a link to a survey that asks them about their pain points. This is a great way to understand your members better and determine what factors might influence their decision to renew.

You should also include a personal signature, and perhaps even a headshot of your executive director or membership manager to close out your emails. This adds a personal touch that can be much more compelling than a “corporate” approach.

Aside from that, don’t forget to include the lapsed members in your campaign. Just because they forgot or decided not to renew previously doesn’t mean they won’t come back.

Try the best membership software. Spark Membership is the number one management software in the martial arts space. Try it now for just $1.

How to Create A Successful Gym Sales Funnel: Things You Need To Know

November 30, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Jumping into business right away is a common error that lots of fitness center owners make. However, when it concerns your marketing strategy, developing a gym sales funnel is vital. It builds trust with your prospects– and increases your chances of getting and keeping members.

You can use a sales funnel for any business, but you need to comprehend the important aspects of an efficient one. To start with, all you require is an open mind, some marketing tools, and a little patience. Once you understand the principles, it’s simply a case of executing the strategy.

What Is a Health Club Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is the procedure a prospect goes through on their path to becoming your client. As you’re a physical fitness business owner, the goal of your sales process is to have the possibility to signup as a member at your studio.

Prior to preparing your funnel, among the most essential elements to think about is who you are trying to attract. Limit your target audience and be as specific as possible. Depending upon the type of services or classes you use, you might wish to create a set of member “personas” with a targeted technique for each one.

Read related blog : 5 Tips For Managing The Health Club Prospect Funnel

The Benefits of a Fitness Center Sales Funnel

Boost conversion rates

Among the factors behind a sales funnel is to weed out the people who are mainly on the fence about signing up with are least likely to register. Saving you time. As the further you decrease the funnel, the most likely you are to encounter individuals who are genuinely interested in ending up being long-term members.

Anticipate membership rates

Once you have actually established a typical conversion rate, you can use that percentage to assist anticipate your sales volume. Facts and figures are the basis of online marketing, knowing how your health club is performing can assist you in producing a technique, adjusting to unforeseen obstructions, and setting goals. These statistics will assist you to predict to a specific degree how many members your gym will get over a specific time.

Determine weak spots

The previous two points culminate to assist you to determine weak locations. When prospective clients exit a sales funnel, you can identify the moment they did. Learning the locations which have the highest bounce rate will help you specifically target what’s incorrect, permitting you the chance to reinforce it and improve your general marketing strategy.

Developing a Reliable Gym Sales Funnel

To successfully combine your fitness center with a successful sales conversion funnel, you need to follow the AIDA model– and execute it in the following areas:

Make a terrific website

A recent study revealed that for a minimum of a month, 69% of individuals are looking for a local service online. The competitive nature of the fitness industry suggests you are required to stand out– and first impressions matter. This is the very first direct interaction between your fitness company and your possible client.

Be clear, succinct, and unique. For example, if you have an Instagram advertisement that assures a 10% signup discount rate by the end of the month, ensure that the offer is easy to see as quickly as someone lands on your website. Some quick landing page ideas would be to:

Use videos as they increase conversion rates by 80%.
Request for consumers’ contact info, such as their email and phone number.
Keep written content concise; get directly to it, and present simple navigation so users can click to particular pages to learn more.
Attempt not to transfer inbound traffic directly to transactional pages.

From there, your customers can move on to other parts of your website that focus on elements such as personal training, group classes, and membership strategies. If you require inspiration for your website, have a look at these 18 reliable fitness center website concepts.

Offer value

A key to constructing relationships with your prospects is to engage with them and provide advice that assists them in their daily life. Not everything you share needs to be a specific deal or discount rate.

What valuable content can you offer to prospective members? Think about hosting a blog on your site with topics that potential members may look for. You can then carry out a content method based upon appropriate keywords like “7 Benefits of HIIT That Will Enhance Your Fitness Levels”. This will help prospective members find your website naturally.

Post outcomes and programs

Having pictures and testimonials on your website that show your neighborhood and the favorable effect your studio has on people’s lives is motivating to potential customers. A current research study exposes that 92% of people are most likely to buy after checking out a relied-on evaluation.

Posts can range from simple quotes from gym members or videos that display the health club and its centers. The important thing is to produce special content that people can use to relate to your studio instantly.

Produce a front end offer

While it’s common for lots of health clubs to promote a low-barrier to entry offer- focus more on what sort of value you can provide.

Keys to Making a quality gym FEO:

Deal worth
Ask for dedication

If a prospect is really interested in joining your studio, an incentive offer might persuade them to do it. Deal something that still provides value, but also asks for some dedication on their part.

Rather than offering a complimentary trial, how about something that engages your possibility? Say you charge $30 per class. Instead of one free cup session, let them have their first two classes for $30. They’ll still get a complimentary class, so they will seem like they’re getting worth it. But by incentivizing them to come back to get their complimentary class, they’re more likely to review your studio.

Try the best membership software. Spark Membership is the number one management software in the martial arts space. Try it now for just $1.

4 Features For Every Gym POS You’ll Ever Need

November 30, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Not all fitness gyms can get a slice of the $87 billion-dollar pie, that is the global fitness industry. Your ability to capture your share of the “pie” depends entirely on how well you can invite new members, retain members, process payments, and upsell when necessary. One of the most powerful tools in your arsenal to make that happen is your point of sale (POS) system.

The right gym POS system should make it easier to manage memberships, process payments, build rewards programs, and other key functions that will boost your bottom line. Unlike other industries, fitness studios and gyms rarely rely on single purchases as their primary revenue stream, with the exception of individual classes. Since most of your business comes from memberships, your POS system should reflect this reality.

You should be able to handle billing, promotions, rewards programs, scheduling, reservation management, and marketing — all from one central device. With the right POS system, you’ll spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on recruiting and retaining new gym members. Here’s a quick guide on how to choose the right POS for your gym:

Membership management

Membership management is a crucial feature of any gym management software. Bringing in new members and retaining existing ones is the bread and butter of a gym. One of the main reasons to use a management platform is to serve your members better and ensure they keep coming back to your gym and renew their membership when the time comes. Members should be able to access their membership history, book training sessions, and classes, and pay for bookings all through the gym software system.

💡 Membership management software is a specialized solution for centralizing administrative and communication activities of a membership organization. The software creates a digital space where community members can interact with managers and with each other, and where all organizational issues can be solved. – Source : Sam Solutions

Social media and website integration

As you know, social media is a fantastic way to connect with people. Regarding brands, 62% of millennials are more loyal to them if they engage with them via social messaging. Your gym management software needs to be integrated with your social media and website to allow users to pay, book fitness classes, and keep track of their membership. Whether your member is on their phone or a computer, it should be effortless for the user across all channels.

💡 Website social media integration is the process of extending your marketing by redirecting your social media followers to your website and making your social platforms accessible to your target audience and customers via your website. – Source : Captivate Designs

Built-in analytics

Insightful metrics show where you need to make improvements and what you need to focus on. By using reporting, you can double down on key revenue drivers and make informed decisions. Reporting is excellent for providing insights into members as well as your financial landscape. Look at your finances at a glance in a digestible format that’s easy to understand.

Payment-related insights can give you a higher probability of collecting missed or late payments. Track exactly how your members are paying, including payment methods and billing cycles.

Real-time accessibility

Stay in touch with your business with real-time reporting, analysis, and insights. Reports are a powerful tool that you can use to make better business decisions. The right reports will tell you which members are fully engaged and which members might be in danger of leaving. This then allows you to step in and see what changes you need to make to increase member retention.

Key takeaway

There are many facets to running a fitness club; processes, customer care, finances, and equipment maintenance are just some of those. Club owners need to spin a lot of plates at once to make a gym work. And if one glass falls and smashes, it can sometimes spell disaster for the whole show. Yes, fitness club management is tough, but with the right POS, it’s easier. Used to its fullest potential, POS software can simplify all the day-to-day operational running of your fitness club.

6 Ideas To Increase Your Martial Arts Membership

November 30, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Finding new students to register in your martial arts school is challenging nowadays. If you want a steady flow of enrollees, it would be helpful for you to have the right marketing strategy. With that being said, aside from the traditional means of marketing your business, you have to be prepared to do it online.

Marketing your martial arts business is vital to growing and surviving as it helps you boost the number of enrollees. Many small-sized and start-up martial arts businesses worry about complicated campaigns and substantial marketing budgets, which might negatively affect their revenue. This statement is somewhat scary because, in some instances, it’s true, especially if you don’t have the right marketing strategy.

Here are some ideas that might be able to help you find leads for your martial arts school:

Decide on your branding

This should be the first step when you think of marketing your business online. Branding is who you are, and marketing is how you raise awareness of who you are. Marketing covers your tactical aims, whereas branding is your strategy. Your branding will set your customer’s expectations. It will make them think and anticipate what they will get, achieve, and feel when they use your products and services.

By having a clear definition of what your business is about, you can then utilize your branding to precede and underlie your marketing efforts. As a start-up, it is essential to clearly define who you are as a brand—before you devise your specific marketing methods, tools, strategies, and tactics.

Read related blog : 9 Steps to Developing a Brand Identity

Establish your social media presence

Of course, the first thing is to have an active social media account. If your business doesn’t have one yet, it’s no wonder why it isn’t attracting anyone. There are lots of social media platforms where you can join and advertise your business for free. But you have to take note that signing up for an account and establishing your social media presence are different things. While the first doesn’t take a real genius to do it, the latter requires the use of experts (if you’re not a social media marketing strategist yourself), that is, if you want fast and quality results.

Read related blog : 15 Tips to Building a Better Social Media Presence

Create a website

It’s undeniable that a business’s online presence, no matter what industry they belong in, can significantly impact their success. In the digital era, some companies still don’t accept that most clients will visit their website before you sign up for a service or make a purchase.

It would be best if you thought of your website as a lead-generating machine. In that sense, you have to ensure that your target audience is clearly defined, your services are clearly stated, and your website represents what your business is all about to avoid misconceptions. There are many free web hostings out there, but if you want to step up your game, you can hire professionals to do it for you.

💡 Without a website, people may question your legitimacy as a business. Having a website is an opportunity to make a great first impression and give people comfort that you’re a real business. Source : Google

Blog about your expertise

Since you already have a website, the next thing to do is to fill it with content. Using a blog, you will be communicating to existing students and prospective students. Use it to write about engaging topics that belong to your niche. With the right keywords and the appropriate combination of SEO techniques and you’ll be able to find yourself on the first page of every search engine you know.

Search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Google scrape the web for the best answers to the items people input in search bars. When you post articles and write-ups related to your area of expertise, you establish a reputation with search engines. As you add more articles, your website will be one of the results shown to people in search engines who are searching for topics related to your niche. So you have to make sure that you publish fresh, original, and engaging content regularly.

💡 Business blogging is a marketing tactic that uses blogging to get your business more online visibility. A business blog is a marketing channel (just like social media, direct mail, email marketing, etc.) that helps support business growth. – Source : Hubspot

Set google my business

Google My Business is one of the must-haves for any business marketing strategy if you want to generate local leads that will translate into revenue. Whether you have a physical location or none, your Google My Business listing may be the first impression for individuals in your local community who are in search of local martial arts dojos. These listings usually combine map and search results. They often contain essential information like your phone number, business hours, busy hours, website, and most importantly, a star rating and reviews that people have written about your business.

Setting up Google My Business is free. The complicated part starts when you optimize your account to make it more attractive to your audience. But of course, you can find almost anything on the internet, so with a suitable video tutorial, I’m sure you’ll be able to optimize your account in no time.

💡 Your Google My Business listing shows searchers where and how to visit your business. A Google Business Profile also improves your local SEO. In particular, a listing for a local business is more likely to appear when people search for a nearby business using Google Maps. – Source : Hootsuite

Plan referral packages

Referrals are a good source of good lead conversions. Because referrals often turn into sales at a higher rate than other leads, they are essential to your martial arts marketing plan. Aim to create a culture of referrals in your school that results in an ongoing stream of new students. As a policy, offer an incentive—for example, a $50 gift card—to members who refer a new student to a six-month program (or another long-term contract).

Introduce your referral program with a marketing campaign that includes email, social media, and printed flyers. Continue to market the program periodically. Remember to always thank referrers with a sincere note and to deliver their prize promptly.

💡 Customer referrals are highly valuable because they don’t cost much — if anything — to acquire. The exact value of a referral varies across different businesses, but it’s roughly the lifetime value (LTV) of a customer, plus the cost of customer acquisition (CAC), which you can then use to acquire additional customers. – Source : Hubspot

Try the best membership software. Spark Membership is the number one management software in the martial arts space.

Try it now for just $1

5 Proven Ways To Increase Gym Membership Sales

November 29, 2021 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

There are lots of ways to increase membership sales. However, only a few of them produce prompt results. If you’re stressed over missing this month’s sales target or are required to increase your enrollees fast, this post is for you.

Here are some tested and proven approaches that will guarantee an improvement in your gym membership sales this month.

Time-limited promotion

Running a promotion is the best technique for companies that desire fast sales. This is because it works– you’ll see an immediate boost in earnings which can aid you to hit short-term targets.

The drawback is that the bump is short-term so this isn’t a long-term option to enhance your income. However, running time-limited promotions is a fast and easy method to offer even more subscriptions so it’s worth taking into consideration.

The secret to an effective gym promotion is to have an engaging offer as well as a clear due date. The time limit is what creates excitement and urgency that drives people to instantly subscribe and register (rather than thinking twice). Consumers don’t intend to miss out so they’ll act before the promo ends.

Several fitness clubs offer cash discounts as a gimmick for their time-limited events, however, offering this kind of promo can eat into your revenue. A more effective choice is to offer a freebie, it can be an extra product or service offered by your gym. For example, you can offer free consultations, one-one-coaching sessions, and nutritional and fitness programs to anyone that joins this month.

Read related blog about : 10 Examples of Limited-Time Offers (& How to Promote Them) to Boost Sales Fast

Promote your gym’s offer with paid advertising

One more way to raise gym membership sales is to produce even more leads. An increase in the number of inquiries about your business will sooner or later convert into sales if done the right way. Google Ads is one of the most reliable and effective methods to get leads that will eventually turn into sales. You can target local people within 15 mins of your gym’s location who are looking for gyms that will help them train to become fit. This means you get fantastic high-quality leads given that they’re currently seeking what you provide.

The key to making pay-per-click advertising work is having a smooth lead capture process. If you have a website, you have to have a call-to-action button that will attract and intrigue visitors to sign up or register for your service. You’ll be shocked at the number of individuals who prefer the ease of internet booking as compared to booking over a phone call. It’s likewise essential to have a follow-up procedure for transforming inquiries right into sales. If you’re not certain that your membership sales group can convert leads, then spend some time educating them. This will certainly guarantee you’re not investing money on leads that are lost.

Read related blog : Fitness Marketing: 10 Ideas to Creatively Market Your Gym to Get New Members & Keep Current Members Happy

Upsell additional to enhance earnings

Aside from gym services, you can offer other fitness-related products that will drive your business more income. The concept of having this promotional is not just to concentrate on marketing more health club subscriptions, but to bring you a steady source of income even after your client has subscribed or enrolled in your program.

It’s also about enhancing the cash created per consumer as opposed to the number of customers that you will have. This will certainly increase both sales profits as well as productivity so it’s worth trying. Consider which added products or services would certainly serve a brand-new joiner. It may be a block of personal training sessions, healthy consuming workshops, or access to a running train.

Optimize your gym’s website

Read the related blog: Increase Your Brand Awareness With Gym SEO

Your website is a very effective marketing tool once optimized. A more effective website can increase revenue for your business through new sales or leads, and reduce costs, through better conversion rates on existing marketing spending, or by reducing customer support needs through better information and clarity for visitors with questions. So you can think of a website that’s not optimized as a bucket of water with holes in it.

Improving your website will help you get more leads that will soon convert into sales. To do this, you have to make sure that your website is user-friendly and mobile-responsive as the majority of users use their phones. Second, you have to ensure that you have engaging and compelling contents that will attract people to stay, read more, and eventually subscribe to your services. You can do this by strategizing for a compelling offer that’s hard to resist. And once you have it, you have to make sure that you have a call to action that draws everyone to click it. Third, you have to keep your website as informative as ever. Complete your business details. You can even create a landing page that contains all the essential details like your gym address, phone number, website, email, subscription and pricing, and easy-to-navigate signup forms.

Read related blog : 3 Simple Ways To Optimize Your Gym Website

Use social media to build brand awareness

Social media is not just Facebook. There are lots of social media channels out there that can target the audience that you want to have for your business. You can use YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or any other popular social media sites to advertise your business for free, so you should not underestimate it. Sharing unique, entertaining, and engaging content regularly across all social media sites will definitely help you increase sales. You have to make everyone become aware of your brand by continuously publishing posts and interacting in online communities that belong in the health and fitness niche.

Of course, nothing is magical. It won’t bring in instant leads, but you will be able to establish a positive reputation and eventually build a brand that people want to follow and support. A brand with a great reputation doesn’t turn off!

Aim to provide value with workout and fitness tips, new classes and updates, gym equipment tutorials, motivation for fitness goals, shouting out to the members, and building your online community with useful and personal content.

Read related blog : 31 Practical Ways to Increase Brand Awareness With Social Media

Try the best membership software. Spark Membership is the number one management software in the martial arts space. Try it now for just $1.

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