A free promotion (that your clients will love) that isn’t free at all

If you live in a major centre you might have heard of Groupon, Living Social, or Deal Find. These “Deal of the Day” type sites have become really popular. Lately some of my coaching clients have been absolutely tearing it up with these sites and you can too, with or without them.

You see in Red Deer none of these sites yet exist. And for many of you in the major centres where they do you may have been afraid to use them, if you’ve seen any of the fitness deals on their they are pretty much giving them away. But then previously isn’t that exactly what I’ve told you to do?

Most recently one of my coaching clients sold 301 five session training packages on one of these websites in a matter of 72 hours. Now granted, 300 new leads is a lot to deal with and thought of providing 1500 pretty much free training sessions will likely just about stress you into bankruptcy. But here’s the thing, you’re missing the point (and probably the boat)if that’s where your thought ends.

What these promotions really are, are risk free trials to customers. They offer little to no risk, big value and a remedy for their fears of the unknowns of personal training services. (Just like I discussed a couple weeks ago.)

As the business owner you must think of these programs not as free trials that cost you money but rather as deferred payment opportunities. This one strategy can change your business forever, is an incredible win-win for you and the client and will completely take the guess work out of your future marketing campaigns.

Here’s what you need to know:

1)      To protect yourself, your existing clients and most importantly to provide incredible service to all of these new leads you must create barriers. For instance don’t limit the offer, but do limit how many you will redeem in a week.

2)      Create reasonable barriers for those that take advantage of the deal. For example if the deal was for a boot camp don’t allow them to pre-register for classes, rather they have to phone and book that same day because you know otherwise there will be dozens of people that will never be able to attend the class. Not an unreasonable requirement for a really popular offer to ensure most people get an opportunity to use their deal.

3)      Reassure the prospect in the face of inconvenience. The above obstacles will undoubtedly irritate those who have purchased the offer, and that’s ok. Reassure them that because it was so popular this is the only way to ensure THEY get a chance to use their deal and have a good experience and that you are preventing someone else from taking their spot.

4)      Conversion is everything; (and what makes this incredibly cot effective marketing) provide a win-win solution. In light of the above situations have a solution. Offer to trade them for their deal for a better one, but it must be an ongoing billing situation for you. (ex. Trade your free sessions for a free month when you sign up for the next 6 months. Or guarantee your spot in class and book weeks in advance by trading up to a longer term commitment.) What do they have to lose? They are going to love your services afterall right?

The options are endless; use these same strategies to open new time slots, fill new classes or trainers. An abundance of qualified leads can push your business quickly to a whole new level. Those that don’t trade on the offer at the beginning no problem, it just means you still haven’t quite earned their trust. Impress them with your service and then call them near the end for their feedback, offer them another chance to convert with a different offer.

Convert, convert, convert, and always be sincere.