Tips to Achieving a 90% Close Ratio

Let’s face it, most personal trainers are not great salespeople, and they don’t want to be. I understand that and I’ve been annoyed the same way you have by numerous pushy salespeople. But the truth is if you are meeting new prospective clients and 9 out of 10 are not signing up you’re working really hard but not nearly maximizing your profitability. Trust me one of your competitors may be doing a better job, but you don’t have to let that happen.

Anyone you have met with, are about to meet with or who is currently your customer is much more likely to purchase something else from you than a new person that you haven’t met or is brand new to your list. This is why it’s critical to not let them get away and to ensure you close as many deals as possible. By striving for that 90% consistent close ratio you don’t have to do any more sales than necessary to enjoy the best your business has to offer.

Now rather than write about how to sell I’m specifically going to focus on the situations at the end of the consult where a client either says no, they’re not interested, or they have purchased a much smaller package than you felt they needed or would have licked.

When a client says no…

What this really means is you haven’t earned their trust enough by listening to their fears and reflecting the necessary info to allow them to determine they can overcome their fears with your services. Try reinforcing them with sincere questions; if they don’t do this how will they overcome <insert> fear? If you can keep them connected within this conversation you may then earn the opportunity to present another offer.

The Secondary Pitch…

At some point a client will always say no, if you are able to continue to discuss with them you may get the chance to present a second offer. If not by email, phone or mail a few days later (is not as good as live but) can also be a great opportunity to provide them another offer. The reason this may work is if you have earned their trust they may still have said no because the offer didn’t appear or convince them it contained enough value. These secondary offers need to be quite aggressive and show lot’s of obvious value. Things like: 2 weeks of personal training for $2, 21 day free bootcamp, 1 month of semi-private training for $47, etc. Pour on the value; make it impossible for them to say no. The point is you know once they try your service and feel the difference they are going to say, so what are you willing to do to attract customers? (This is why it’s also important to raise your rates so you can factor in these kind of deep discounts at times, but that’s another post.)

The Add-on…

Another common situation is people come in with an idea in their head about how much your service should cost. You may go through the whole process smoothly to discover what you feel they need to reach your goals costs more than what they were committed to spending. If presented the right way to show the value you may be able to add-on extra items to the package for a few dollars more moving closer to the target you had hoped for. Even beyond the first appointment it’s good to make a few notes of what you feel would be best for the client to reach their goals and after a couple of sessions you may present a couple of package add-ons to them and find them more receptive. Trust and value are the two key limiting items when it comes to purchases. You up both of these and people will respond.

By using secondary offers and add-ons you can easily hit your 90% close ratio, the extra investment you make is easily worth it when you consider how costly and difficult it is to continually attract new fresh targeted leads.