Cabel

Do you have a mailing list? If so how many people are on it and when did you last contact them?

Do you have a mailing list? If so how many people are on it and when did you last contact them?

Published by on May 13, 2010 | 1 Response

Contact Management is essential for fitness marketing!

Contact Management is essential for fitness marketing!

As a follow up to my last post this is the next big step for you and likely also your website. You see as fitness professionals we’re pretty limited to the dollars we can spend on advertising and various fitness marketing strategies. For us relationship marketing is where it’s at, but as the world continues to move faster and faster we are all governed further by technology; traditional networking is becoming increasingly difficult.

As will be a major topic of discussion this weekend at the Business Ignition Workshop it’s critical you learn as many ways as possible to build a ‘list’ of customers and prospects. It’s quite common that when people start building a list they forget to nurture it only to become frustrated as they now possess a dead list.

You nurture you list by frequent contact, an example is the words you are reading at this very moment. I try every week to make sure I contact you on Monday and Thursday so we might engage for just a few moments and continue to build our relationship. As you will learn from my good friend Mr. X these relationships are extremely valuable and never just from the standpoint of making a sale.

This website and my attempt to gain regular contact with numerous fitness professionals has already brought me new colleagues and ideas that have allowed my training studio and other businesses to make huge strides forward. This is why of all the fitness marketing strategies you might learn; the idea of content, list building and continuity are the foundation principles that will determine your total success as a whole.

Anyways…back on topic, a key element for list building is automation through some form of contact management. If you can provide an easy way to provide regular contact with your list without spending a lot of time; you are free to keep performing the technical work that many of you are trying to grow beyond. (I mean let’s face it, if you’re a solo trainer you still have to train people, and yet you need to develop the systems so you don’t always have to train people, get it?)

By using a contact management product you save a lot of time, by using a website blog and publishing regular content that you then also distribute to your list you leverage further; you maintain regular contact and also attract new prospects with all the posted content. The icing on the cake is now you can put the two of those together to help build your list also, this is the opt-in. An example of an opt-in is the offer for Factor 3 up in the top right corner of this website. I have offered you some very valuable information in exchange for the trust of contacting you next week, my goal each week is to continue to offer you value in hopes that eventually we’ll find a way to help each other and grow our respective businesses.

Makes sense right? Now the question for those not super techno savvy is there an easy solution to handle this problem? Well, in my opinion yes, as a fitness professional you absolutely should have some form of contact management as part of your fitness marketing strategy, and an electronic product is by far the cheapest and these days most successful. Though you can use simple products like iContact, Constant Contact, or Aweber I hands down recommend FitPro Newsletter, you see as I have mentioned previously FitPro is the only product designed for fitness professionals, it’s completely customizable but the beauty is it’s also done for you. Their professional writers add great new articles to every issue so you don’t have to worry about it like the others. Come times like now where you are super busy training people you don’t even need to think about sending content to your list as they will all receive great new content every two weeks on your behalf. Now when you need to contact your list for other reasons they’ll even still remember who you are. J

The list is king! Grow it, nurture it, it is the key to your success.

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What Did You Add to Your Website This Week?

Published by on May 10, 2010 | 1 Response

Does your website give to others or does it glorify you?

Does your website give to others or does it glorify you?

Ok this post is a very simple idea, but it can easily save you thousands of dollars otherwise spent on advertising in the next year or make those thousands of dollars far more productive. After reviewing a number of personal training websites it’s clear that many of the trainers in Canada need to understand how valuable their website is and why they need to add content more often.

When did you last add content to your website? Was it a day ago, a week, a month? It’s critically important you regularly add more valuable content to your website at least weekly. By content I don’t mean adding a new picture of yourself or updating your services but rather information that answers the questions of your potential readers and hopefully prospects.

You see the only people that care about your service changes, new photos or other items of this nature are already your customers. As I’ve mentioned in other posts the best way to attract many new prospects to your website is by providing information your prospects are searching for in Google and the other search engines right now.

Now the question is what do you write about this week?

Well here’s what I sometimes do, I’ll go to Google and type in something like ‘Latest Fitness News’ and then visit a few of the results sites like MSNBC, CNN or CTV. You see a wise person once told me that if you want to really position yourself as an expert in your community, and quickly, then follow the coattails of other experts.

Chances are if it’s been talked about on CNN a local radio station might talk about it in their morning show segment, a local news channel may also feature this topic and undoubtedly a co-worker or friend will be excited about it and share the news. All of these situations now send other people to the almighty Google because they too want to know more.

So if you are writing about the same things as these so called experts and share this with people in any way you can; you come across as doubly smart when they hear these same words from local and global media.

Now if you are writing these types of articles for your website I do suggest a couple of things that just may improve your search rankings. Include your location and key content words in title and again in the first paragraph. Example, if I were writing about the benefits of carrots my title might be something like: A Personal Trainer in Red Deer Exposes the True Benefits of Carrots. And then my article might start with: Cabel McElderry, a personal trainer in Red Deer, believes there are many great benefits to carrots such as…

By writing my article in this format I have added some simple optimization. Google now has a setting to remember where you are geographically and can find relative local content for you. Additionally as your credibility grows people may begin to search for your name also so it never hurts to include it. The key words for the topic you’re writing on are critical as we know these words are going to have a high search volume thanks to the media.

Start by posting something new once per week and work toward multiple times per week. It only gets easier and easier and you will see your website traffic growing exponentially in no time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure if you are using my strategy that you do work hard to write your own content, any plagiarism will not only destroy your credibility in a heartbeat but these days duplicate internet content is quickly detected by search engines and your whole website may be delisted as a result.

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2 Step Marketing: Get Rich by First Giving it Away!

Published by on May 3, 2010 | 1 Response

Remember a little while ago when I told you how we signed up over 40 people for our bootcamp in 72 hours? (Refresh your memory by clicking here.)

Anyways, that re-packaging strategy was the first half of a 2-step marketing process. As a fitness professional 2-step marketing is an incredibly powerful tool. Most personal trainers are thinking small time and would cringe at the thought of what I am about to tell you to do. So if it first you think I’m crazy relax because I can assure you right now, I am! But seriously this is not for the faint of heart, quite frankly it’s only for those that want to be super successful and absolutely dominate in their geographical area.

Ok here goes…

2-step marketing in a nutshell is just as it says; it’s an aggressive sales-generating program that requires two parts. We’re going to title these two parts as follows: Part 1 – The Pitch, Part 2 – The Close.

Two-Step Fitness Marketing can easily take you from zero to hero!

Two-Step Fitness Marketing can easily take you from zero to hero!

Part 1 – The Pitch

In the re-packaging promotion we ran for our bootcamp we used an aggressive deep discount price point and a short term program as our Pitch. Essentially we gave away real value for next to nothing, but there is a catch our key concept is the value. Next to ready, shoot, aim the next best concept I got from my coach was, “always give them your best stuff.” Now here’s where new and small minded personal trainers cringe. A free session doesn’t cut it! Give them real value, 10 free sessions, 2 weeks free, or 2 weeks for $2, something you know your competition will never offer real value. Give it sincerely without expectation, pour your heart out into these clients, leave nothing on the table, and trust me. Seriously if you are personal trainer who needs clients you should be training people, you should fill your schedule any way possible even if it’s for free. Here’s why, it’s simple economics, a busy trainer is worth more and considered more valuable than a slow one. Once you’re full, raise your prices, you now control the supply and you set rates to meet demand, that simple.

Part 2 – The Close

Ok now is the key part, as the trial period is coming to a close you should have established yourself as a hero to the client. They look to you as inspiration, they are already seeing results and it hasn’t cost them a dime! Let’s face it that alone should have them pretty much ready to write you a cheque. But don’t stop there; give them an offer they can’t refuse. For example in our bootcamp promo we discounted the next month to a lower rate than they paid for the trial, gave them an additional week free and threw in hundreds of dollars in bonuses. (Did I mention those bonuses cost us nothing? We simply talked to businesses in the community and told them we’d like to send them a bunch of customers and asked if they would be willing to extend our good customers a trial of some sort. Some businesses won’t, but the ones you want to work with will be pumped at the idea.) Now closing these new clients should be super easy, you are there hero and you have given them multiple times their initial payment in value, hell this is better than Wal-Mart rollbacks.

Bonus…how to leverage these clients and get even more clients.

These new prospects from your 2-step marketing program will be so warm and excited about your program you won’t have to sell them, but even better because you have given them so much the Law of Reciprocity says they will likely even feel like they owe you. So simply tell them if they like what you are doing, if they would be willing to refer someone else you will give them the exact same deal.

Soon you will be so busy you either won’t need to do programs like this or you will simply have to charge for the trials because you are too busy.

That’s it go kill it! By the way if you’re coming to the Business Ignition Workshop on May 15 and received the free bonuses they not only give you step-by-step instructions, but also scripts, artwork, and everything else you need to execute another 2-step marketing promotion. These concepts alone can double, triple, quadruple your revenues easily, One-to-1 Fitness has proved that easily 3 years in a row.

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5 Critical things, a Video, and Where it All Began…

Published by on April 29, 2010 | 1 Response

The video below is an excerpt from last year when I spoke in Anaheim at the Fitness Business Summit (The 2010 summit starts tomorrow). This is the first year I have missed the summit and it sort of has me a little disjointed this week. You see this conference is what started it all for me. It was the first time I was ever in a room with trainers from all over the world that were gathered to learn one thing, how to grow their fitness business. It was the first conference I had ever seen that really delivered real how-tos on how to go from zero to hero. It was also where I met and hired my first paid business mentor, very reluctantly.

After returning home from that very first conference in 2007 and soon being told with authority to, “Ready, Shoot, Aim” I worked tirelessly to complete the business plan for One-to-1 Fitness. Soon after I met with RBC, only to have my business plan rejected. Because of the inspiration, confidence and a notebook full of ammunition of information this rejection didn’t even faze me. By accessing what little equity we had in our home we pushed ahead and One-to-1 Fitness was born, and well you know how well that’s worked out.

Now what’s amazing is ever year at the time the summit has come around, without realizing, I have always rewarded myself big time (trips, cars and houses) as a result of the success of the previous year, in fact I didn’t even realize it until my mentor pointed it out to me the other day. Anyways, here’s what’s important about all of that:

1)      Always set clear goals for yourself.

2)      Surround yourself with people that contribute and rid yourself of the people that hold you back.

3)      Always have a plan.

4)      Ready, Shoot, Aim.

5)      Never, ever, give up.

I am so excited to launch the Personal Trainer Business Ignition Workshop on May 15 because I know for someone (and hopefully more like everyone) this is going to have the same impact on them that it had for me in Anaheim.

Anyhow, wow this was supposed to be a short post about the video below and totally turned into a heartfelt gimpse of how sad I am about to not be seeing friends and colleagues in Anaheim this weekend. Anyways, the exciting news is not only is the Business Ignition Workshop CEC approved by CanFitPro; yesterday I applied to be a presenter at the fall conference in Calgary. I believe that this information needs to go main stream, it’s totally changed my life and I want to see it change others. Part of the application process is I had to submit a video of me lecturing, below is an excerpt from Anaheim where I affirm what I feel is one of the single most important points of owning a fitness business as opposed to it owning you. If you’ve been paying attention to my previous posts you already know exactly what it’s about. Enjoy!

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“Ready, Shoot, Aim”

Published by on April 26, 2010 | 1 Response

I remember when I first met one of my mentors, that was one of the first things he said to me. To be honest I don’t think I really even noticed at first he wasn’t saying, “Ready, Aim, shoot.” We are all conditioned to take way too much time working out the details, making sure it’s perfect, calculating and worrying about the “what if’s”, being afraid, and procrastinating. Do yourself a favour and listen to the words that I’m passing on from my mentor.

“Ready, Shoot, Aim”

Dont worry about the bullseye, Ready, Shoot, Aim!

Don't worry about the bullseye, Ready, Shoot, Aim!

Simply put that e-book you’ve been writing but haven’t shared with anyone, share it, today, right now, don’t even finish this post go email it to your list.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a bootcamp, group personal training sessions, a new class, lecture, whatever, do it. Stop reading right now and go book time in your schedule to work out the basic frame work and then do it. If you wait to solve every problem someone else will either beat you to the punch or you will simply never get it done. And for those of you that are like me (highly type A, total control freak, absolute perfectionist) no matter how much planning you go through if you ever do go ahead with it it’s still going to be plagued by problems anyways.

One of the biggest secrets to the continual rapid growth and success of One-to-1 Fitness is Ready, Shoot, Aim. When we launch a program we brainstorm, create a rough framework, and launch. Yes we have problems, yes we have some unhappy customers but accept it, do what it takes to make them happy. Offer high perceived value program add-ons, have the “oops” rewards you keep for times like this, use trial rates and offer money back guarantees.

Now of course as emotional creatures we all tend to think of extremes and that is the caveat to this conversation, do away with the terrible images of upset customers you have in your mind at this very moment. I’m not saying you should decide today that you want to fly an airplane and expect tomorrow to get a job with Westjet. What I am saying is that we all know what our strengths are when it comes to growing the business you want the number one thing standing in the way is you! If you want to progress by leaps and bounds pull the trigger sooner, whatever that next thing on your list is get it done and implement it. If you’re following the Profitable Personal Trainer than you are already one of the elite and whatever you do is going to be good. Once you see the problems in action they are not only easier to identify but usually easier to fix. With Ready, Shoot, Am it will be perfect sooner, trust me.

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When Systems Fail

When Systems Fail

Published by on April 22, 2010 | 1 Response

Milo my calculator operator could hardly believe the results either.

Milo my calculator operator could hardly believe the results either.

The following is an example of why it’s important to always remember to not only be a strong leader but an effective delegator. Sounds easy but do you truly know the difference between delegation and abdication?

Yesterday was one of those days you really wish to avoid, but once you get past the frustration you are reminded of the value of failing forward. Yesterday was budget day at One-to-1 Fitness. Our first quarter has appeared to be every bit as successful as many months before, (with the exception of a little bit of a lull in March that many of you might also relate to.) However where sales and receivables appeared strong our bank account cash flow just seemed like it wasn’t totally adding up. The difference, well it was fairly significant, more than fifteen thousand dollars between our accounting records and our facility records. Certainly a significant amount over only one business quarter and enough to unravel any budget you have in place and are attempting to follow. Where did it go? How did this happen? What kind of problem were we facing?

Over the last three years at One-to-1 Fitness we have made it a habit to make each decision as though we’ll have to face the same scenario a hundred times or more. Than as we apply the solution it’s carefully documented as a step-by-step process and added to our operations manual. Every aspect of the business is treated the same way from the trainers and their responsibilities through to sales and administration. It can be trying at times but it is what has allowed us to go from 100 appointments a week to routinely over 500 appointments per week while maintaining a high level of customer service.

So unfortunately a planned budget meeting scheduled to last an hour now became a full scale nine hour audit lasting well past midnight, of sales and close outs. After hours of frustration, calculation and remembering why I never wanted to be an accountant I discovered all sorts of user errors in handling payments and refunds. Thankfully a number of them were data entry but after a gruelling evening about $3000 still remains unaccounted for. What would you do?

Well I thought about it for a while and then reminded myself that this was truly my fault, after all we had put what we felt was a good system in place but I had neglected to review it at regular intervals to ensure its accuracy. Key individuals will need to be reminded that it is their responsibility to make good decisions and point out areas that are not functioning correctly, as I have now reminded myself but as the captain it’s my job to review the systems and correct or adapt them as needed for better function and accuracy. And that is the difference between delegation and abdication. If your goal is to be ultra successful become comfortable with delegating and outsourcing as much as you possibly can so you can focus on your top 5%. Just be prepared to take responsibility and immediate action when things some time go astray.

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Killer Classifieds and Ad Copy 101

Killer Classifieds and Ad Copy 101

Published by on April 19, 2010 | Leave a response

I see so many crappy classifieds it’s unbelievable.

“Hi, I’m Shawn, I am a personal trainer, I will get you in shape, I was Hercules in the TV series for the last 14 years, and I won Mr. Some Obscure Place and was crowned king for a day and I charge $50.00/hr. Contact me here….”

Do your classifieds create a connection?

Do your classifieds create a connection?

Does this look and sound familiar? What’s funny is I read this and it makes me think of my bodybuilding days and the stereotype of bodybuilders being these egotistical clowns that never leave the mirror. Anyways not only are these ads me centered they have absolutely no attraction point to your audience and as a result generate little to no response.

In one of the mastermind groups I have participated in the topic of discussion was “Why do people buy?” The following list summarizes the buying action very well:

• They’ll buy when they feel understood.

• They’ll buy when they are referred.

• They’ll buy when they see social proof.

• They’ll buy from people they know, like, or trust.

• They’ll buy from those who are authentic, because authenticity is the NEW currency.

 

When you are generating ad copy or content of any kind it’s really important to keep these things in mind and try to encompass as many as possible.

Specifically when it comes to writing ad copy the following is a list of criteria I subject pretty much all my copy to as an effort to rate its effectiveness. Writing ad copy is about connection and emotion, without that you got nothing.

What is important to customer?

Meaning, what is their pain? How do they feel about their current situation, being overweight, in danger of heart disease? Your headline and opening sentence should hook their interest based on what is important to them.

 

What do they need to learn?

Explain why it’s not their fault, it’s because they don’t know…help them understand what it is that they need to learn to achieve the success and good feelings they are looking for.

 

What are core elements to producing result?

Specifically what things will you teach them and focus on that will achieve the result. This is your spot to share your best knowledge and validate the above while earning their trust.

 

What do they want to hear? Provide the solution.

Here is where you get to deliver your pitch, explain the solution and specifically how you will provide, ensure or create that solution. It’s important to validate rather than brag, rather demonstrate your success but then show them how it’s absolutely attainable.

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How much time do you spend working on your Top 5%?

How much time do you spend working on your Top 5%?

Published by on April 15, 2010 | Leave a response

Where do you spend your time?

Where do you spend your time?

There is one thing that certainly holds true when you are an entrepreneur or work for yourself. Expect the unexpected. I am sure you know what I mean, you wake up in the morning feeling excited to take the day head on. Maybe you have a bootcamp in the morning and a few clients to teach in the afternoon and a couple of errands to do. No big deal, pretty relaxing day, it’s nice outside and just when you are thinking you might have a good chunk of your afternoon free to enjoy the phone rings…

A vendor, a supplier, the insurance agency, your accountant, a new potential customer, an upset customer, whatever but suddenly you have 15 different things you didn’t expect to add to your list, so much for enjoying the afternoon.

Does this sound like you? This is common for many self-employed people, particularly when they are just getting started. You are likely an amazing technician when it comes to servicing your customers and handling all things scheduling when it comes to them, sadly you have just realized you are terrible at time management.

If this carries on it soon get’s even more difficult, because now when you get up in the morning you begin to procrastinate. All those crazy things that came up yesterday that you didn’t get done, well you don’t want to do them today either. So now checking email, heading to facebook and painting your toenails are all far more appealing then what you should be doing.

Here’s how to ensure you get more done each day…

Get yourself a bulletin board to hang in your office. You could also do this in a spreadsheet electronically but I highly recommend the billboard for a visible simple tool in the area where you most commonly work. At the top of the billboard add these categories in big letters:

 “To-Do” – “My Top 5%” – “Doing” – “Done”

The truth is out of all those items in your growing to-do novel; it’s that small 5% of key items that is going to produce the biggest results. I can’t take credit for that labelling, this comes from my coach but I have learned well in these last three years just how true that title is. All of the things that need to get done should be posted in the to-do column. Each morning scan the to-do column for the key things, your top 5% and move them to the My Top 5% column and begin with the hardest one first. Always it’s these items that must garner your attention through to completion first. If it can’t be completed in a single day move it to the doing column and the next day begin in the doing column before going back to the next item in the top 5%.

As you complete items move them to the done column until the end of the week. Every Sunday night remove all the items from the done column, this is the setup and affirmation of how successful and productive last week was. (Or in some cases reminder that this week has to be better.)

It’s a constant visual transition that will help you maintain focus, set priorities and give you a virtual pat on the back when you do a good job!

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What does Doggy Daycare have to do with Personal Training?

Published by on April 12, 2010 | 1 Response

What does Doggy Daycare have to do with Personal Training?
What does Doggy Daycare have to do with Personal Training?

Last night my wife and I went to visit some really good friends of ours, they are solid gold the kind of people that would drive a hundred miles to help you in a snow storm just because. In fact when we first opened One-to-1 Fitness they put in countless hours with us on a volunteer basis just fixing the place up to finally get the doors open. Now nearly two years ago they took the big step to also open their own business. They are not personal trainers or even in the same industry. I have never met anyone more passionate about and better with animals, they began with sincerity, passion and a dream, a true foundation for success…they own a doggy daycare and provide pet supply and dog boarding.

Now here’s the really cool part, based on their natural affinity for animals they established their business with their sincerity alone but as growth has slowed it’s time to develop and learn to market the business to continue their stream of growth.

Now here is the really cool part, during our visit we began to discuss some ideas and quickly came to agree that most (if not all) the things I am telling you to do can be easily adapted to their business.

They asked me what little things they could do to really increase business.  I started by looking at their website and plunking a few searches in Google. Now because I know many of you are in the same place with a very basic website this will be really useful for you too so I decided to post their ‘to-do’ list for you also.

First how do people find your website? Punch in a few keywords and phrases into Google and see if you can find your website on the first or second page. Keep a list of all of, what you think, would be the most likely words or phrases to find your business. Now here’s what you do in order of importance:

 1) If you haven’t already, sign up for and download my free report, there is so much great step-by-step knowledge in here.

2) If you have a website (or if you don’t) and it’s not a blog look at www.wordpress.com and consider changing your website to a blog. Blogs are incredibly versatile, adaptable, super easy to manage and search engines love them. (About as hard as writing an email.) There are many free wordpress themes to choose from and when the time is right I can refer you to someone who can do a custom theme and really make it shine. (However more importantly would be to first buy optimized content which you can for about $5 US a page, 20-40 pages will drastically improve search term rankings, in fact I bet it would begin paying for itself in mere days.)

3) Buy a few keyword domains, for instance one of the high ranking search terms I use to find people like yourself is ‘Personal Trainer Certification’, you’ll notice if you type in www.ProfitablePersonalTrainerCertification.com you will end up right back here. Key word domains, any words or phrases someone would type in google to search for your business. Point these to your website; this is another inexpensive way I have gained local first page listings. If you live in a big city with multiple regions within your drive radius you can even buy a few domains that might allow those in neighbouring regions to find you a little easier.

4) Your page title, right now what does it say in the top right corner? If like my poor friends it says ‘Home’, change this ASAP. This is the first tag the robots will read, make sure it’s keyword rich, something you know a lot of people are searching for. (One of the ways you can test your key word phrases is by going to www.wordtracker.com and using the free service to see how popular searches are.)

5) You need an opt-in, something people can get off your website for free of high value to get leads and contacts, for me it’s my report, on our PT website it’s the free newsletter, building your list is mission critical. Always be developing your list and building your relationship with your list, just like I am doing with you each week. I gladly give you as much value as possible each week and hopefully at some point maybe we can do business together or I find a great product to tell you about hopefully you will consider buying it from me. For this you could use: www.icontact.com, www.aweber.com or www.1shoppingcart.com (to name a few) the first 2 are really simple, probably aweber is the best for simple, shoppingcart gives you the most options if you eventually want to sell online. (Selling online costs about $500 to setup and about $100/monthlyish)

6) Your website needs lots of content. Most of us start with a simple website that’s like, “hey here’s my website, now buy from me.” These kinds of websites get people’s attention for like 10 seconds and then they leave and never come back. For instance, why are you on the internet? If it’s not for Facebook it’s because you want to know something, the answer to a question. For your website to add to your business and create sales it needs to provide the answers. Add content (and ultimately value); teach your visitors something as chances are they came across you looking for answers not your services.

7) Facebook; fan pages are better than groups, something to do with the search engines, not to mention Faacebook has become the new word for procrastination, that’s where everyone is, go to the people. Every time you post something new on your website link it on your fan page and send the update to your fans under the edit page function. With a properly configured blog this can almost be entirely automated.

8) Offline, get client testimonials stick these on your window for people to read and then give complimentary businesses a discount coupon of some sort, something that seems really valuable to the customer but costs you next to nothing, the best items are consults or service trials (has to be more than 1 session though, create real value) these seem really valuable to the customer but have little physical cost.

These 8 things will easily create thousands of dollars in new sales, I could go on but I think I have given you enough to do.  🙂

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Regain Control of Your Life, Insure Survivial, and Have Your Clients Excited About It!

Regain Control of Your Life, Insure Survivial, and Have Your Clients Excited About It!

Published by on April 6, 2010 | Leave a response

Ever want to have a place of your own? This is how you build a financiable business

Ever want to have a place of your own? This is how you build a financiable business

This week is a simple raw how-to get it done item. By now you have heard me on multiple occasions discuss the value of monthly, reoccurring, electronic billing, or the industry term EFT. If your business is not using EFT or if you are not in the midst of setting this up I’m sorry but you are sitting in a sinking boat and your bucket has a hole in it.

Now maybe you are willing to buy into what I am saying and ready to try to make the transition. The first major roadblock you are going to face that will completely shake your confidence is…your clients. I know I didn’t even have to write that, you didn’t have to mention it to them, you instantly thought of it and the wall of resistance sprung up in your mind.

The simple truth is if you present it the right way your clients will not only not resist, they will thank you for it. Let me ask you a couple of things:

1)      Do you want more monthly bills? No, of course not, no one does.

2)      Do you like writing cheques? In fact do you even know where your cheque book is? Nope, I sure don’t.

3)      Do you like good your service? Duh.

4)      Do you think your clients would like more of your attention to their needs and goals? This is the easiest final exam ever isn’t it?

Ok here goes, if you are a personal trainer working on your own and you have more than 3 clients you are wasting a lot of time on paper work or at least thinking about things you don’t need to be. Most trainers (including myself back in the day) sell the notorious 10 session package. More often now I see the 24, 36 or whopping 72 session packages for $4998! What a deal. Point is these all suck, you and I both know that your client isn’t going to get anywhere with just 10 sessions and now every few weeks or month you have to: track their sessions, prepare invoicing, deliver paperwork to them, accept that they forgot payment that day, remind them next time, collect and process the payment, rinse and repeat. Or; if you figure the bigger bunches of sessions fix this problem you’re wrong, you still have to do it, just less often. Even worse you will miss out on piles of clients that can’t or won’t pay such a large sum up front, divided payments same problem.

The answer EFT, its better value, better service and as a free bonus ensures your survival and delivers your freedom.

You see the value for the customer is significant. Now they don’t ever have to stress about payments or remembering payment for you. More critical and valuable is no one wants to hire a trainer that is distracted by whether he remembered to invoice, collect payment or prepare statements. And no one wants a portion of their session tied up every couple of weeks for paperwork or collecting payments. So forget hiring an assistant that you can’t yet afford and automate the system. By moving to an EFT system you have effectively offered your clients more value and better service.

In addition you know have a tangible business with repeat and reoccurring income that shows steady cash flow. If you ever want to open a studio, gym or for that matter think that one day you might sell your business this is critical. Steady cash flow also allows for monthly budgeting and the ability to work on your terms, take holidays and generally take back control of your life. EFT is essential to your success and that is how it needs to be presented to your clients.

A sample script is as follows:

“Jane, I’ve recently restructured my services to provide you more value and better service. Because I know you are committed to improving your health and fitness with this lifestyle I have stopped selling sessions and just bill my clients monthly for their services.”

“This whole process can be completed automated so you will never have to worry about remembering your cheque book and I can be much more focused on you and your goals because I won’t have to prepare invoicing, collect and process payments and generally spend so many hours on things not related to your fitness and nutritional programming.”

All you need to do further is re-assure them with a simple cancellation process/policy and assure them that missed sessions with proper notice will also be credited to them accordingly. But we can discuss that in a future post.

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