How I Sell Personal Training
This weekend I invited some of my coaching clients to take in a day of coaching and role-playing at my studio in Red Deer. I left no secret untold and exposed them to every aspect of our “million dollar” sales presentation.
When it comes to sales success is not about manipulation or dirty tricks but rather helping your potential client find comfortable affirmation in the decision to use your services. Understanding their fears, concerns, emotions and body language is incredibly important in the sales process. In this short video I discuss a few of the aspects of what makes our consultation so successful.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfvTiS68UY[/youtube]
Expert Status and Rapid Client Attraction
Looking for a new way to attract more personal training clients? One of the strategies I used for quickly recruiting more personal training clients early in my career was the local lunch and learn. Not only is this a fast way to fill your schedule but it will also quickly builds your reputation in the community as the local expert.
It doesn’t take much, 4-6 slides is enough to fill 20-40 minutes of speaking time, don’t forget to always leave time for questions and answers. Now I know what many of you might be thinking, “I don’t know what to speak about.” Truth is you perform these same presentations over and over again every week. Just about every new client you meet always needs the same basic information when they begin.
Topic ideas:
- Boosting your metabolism with frequent eating.
- The best time to perform cardio for fat loss and why.
- The 10 top stretches for people who work in an office.
- The three best exercises for better posture.
And so on, and so on…
Make a list of businesses in your area. Keep in mind this is a numbers game, you are going get 8 no’s for every 2 yes’s, so to book 10 presentations you will need to visit 50 businesses. Try to approach businesses with at least 10 employees or more.
To increase your chances of success keep these tips in mind:
1) Business owners are solicited all the time, they are prepared to deflect you and say no. Surprise them by not telling them what they can do for you but rather how great they are to their customers. “Hello Mr. X, I just wanted to stop by because so many of my clients have said how great your business is and how well they have been treated here, I just had to see it for myself.”
2) Body language will show you when they relax, by first complementing them they will let their guard, this is when you prepare to strike ask by complimenting again and setting the stage. “Mr. X, because I know how hard you guys work to keep your customers happy I’d like to do something for you in return…”
3) Now deliver your pitch. “…I really like to share what I am passionate about with great and deserving people. I’d like to provide a free lunch and learn for you and your team. I just share with people great knowledge about their most common weight loss questions.”
4) Seal the deal and justify why you would do this for nothing in return. “…there is no charge at all for this and don’t worry at no point am I going to try to sell you or anyone here anything. I do this because it creates awareness, I want to be associated with good businesses and ultimately that brings me more good customers too.”
Now you are wondering, “How do I get clients out of this?” By speaking to the group you earn their trust and credibility, at the end of the lecture before you answer any questions simply state you have two really good articles (which you find on Google) related to what you have spoke about today that you would like to send them. Additionally tell them that people always have questions after you are gone so if they think of any they can simply respond to this email and ask their question. You have just provided additional value that should earn you most of their contacts.
Collect all the emails, you’ve now just added them to your contact list and should begin sending them regular content and offers. (In fact I suggest an immediate series of content and offers to bring them in for a consult right away.)
It really is that simple, and if you are not already using it, this link is the ideal tool to provide content, automatic emails and regular done-for-you-relationship-building content on a regular basis.
Who is Your Customer?
My Last slide from my presentation upcoming at the 2011 Fitness Business Summit in Anahiem, CA
Today I was preparing my presentation for this year’s Fitness Business Summit in Anaheim, California. I’ll be speaking there in about 6 weeks from now. I’ve really become known in my mastermind group for the systematic way I approach, execute and build my business. In the last few weeks working with new and old coaching clients I’ve been reminded of our (people’s) tendency to just jump into things without a plan, support or a foundation to lean on. It’s no wonder that more than 50% of new personal trainers don’t renew their certification or that the majority of small businesses fail within the first year.
I want you to complete this very important exercise. Who is the most likely customer of your business? By the time you finished that sentence I am sure many of you feel you have answered or know the answer to this question but you are wrong. Your answer should fill 2-3 typed pages.
- How old are they?
- Are they male or female?
- What do they look like? (Even better find a picture to represent them.)
- What are their fitness goals?
- What do they do for a living?
- Do they have kids? How many? How old on average?
- How much money do they make?
- Where do they live? (Suburb in relation to 15-20 min drive radius of your business.)
- What do they like to do?
- Where do they hang out?
- Where do they shop? What kinds of things do they buy?
- What kind of clothes do they wear?
- If you wanted to find a bunch of them in the next 30 minutes where are they likely to be?
- Think of even more questions to ask…
This may seem silly but the more you can think and put yourself in someone’s shoes the better you can communicate with them. Imagine the steps you would go through to try to communicate a complex idea to a small child (or maybe the dreaded parental sex talk for instance.)
By having this comprehensive word picture you can write an article that speaks to your desired client, you can use images that may appeal to them. You might place draw boxes, business cards, or co-op offers in the places they frequent. Your whole business should develop a razor like, consistent, ongoing focus and effort to communicate with these people. Like magic you should just always seem to be in the same place they are, coincidence? I think not. This will set you apart from your competition and immediately give you massive amounts of credibility with much less effort. Not only will you begin to quickly attract your desired customer but other segments too. Because you will begin communicating specifically and so intelligently to your specific group other groups will become immediately more receptive automatically increasing your value.
Ok you’re half done. The next part is equally critical. Now put the almighty internet to work for you, look for the census and economic statistics for your community. From the questions above compare as many points of data as you can. Home value, ages, gender, children, income, occupation etc to the customer profile you have developed. Soon you will have pretty accurate picture of just how many potential customers there are that fit your profile or who you feel you are trying to communicate to. As my coaching clients have found this can be suddenly very different than what you had originally assumed and big reason why you may be struggling to grow your business.
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.
Plastic Magic
Here is a hot fitness marketing item that many of the big shots in the fitness industry use, the plastic gift card.
As you know a few years ago now reloadable gift cards became a popular commodity. These cards are as good as real money at the issuing businesses. Many fitness professionals have begun to realize the value of having their own plastic gift cards for fitness marketing campaigns.
You may be thinking you need to have some fancy gadgetry to make these cards work. Truth is they are as simple as placing your order. You don’t need to be able to swipe them, reload them or honour them incrementally. Essentially all you are doing is creating a plastic gift certificate which becomes a major fitness marketing tool. Because of the retail industry we’ve been conditioned to keep these plastic cards far longer than their paper alternatives, simply because typically they have real cash value.
Here’s a number of ways you can use your plastic gift cards to grow your business:
1) Give them out in any social opportunity you get. The more cards you have in circulation the more likely people will begin to redeem them.
2) Give them to clients as referral generators. Tell them if they give it to a friend who redeems it in the next 30 days you will give them both the value of the card in credits toward their programs. (Hot tip: Some fitness professionals are even selling additional cards at reduced values to really generate really committed super referral generators.)
3) Donate them like crazy to silent auctions and community functions.
4) Use them as relationship builders and revenue generators for other businesses. Give other businesses the cards to give to their clients as appreciation rewards. (Wouldn’t you find it flattering if your hairdresser gave you a $100 gift card after your $35 haircut?) Even let them sell the cards for whatever denomination they want. (Would you buy a $100 gift card for $10 if you were interested in the product or service?) This is a way to filter and qualify leads before they ever come to you, someone who pays even $10 for your gift card will far more likely to come to you ready to buy than someone who was even given the same card for free. In this process you are also developing a paid marketing team that is happy to work for you with no out of pocket expense.
5) A variation to this is contact local youth sports teams; have them sell the cards in the community for their next fundraiser. As a solo personal trainer do you think it would bode well for you to have a little league team running around the community praising you that you donated $10,000 in gift cards for them to have a successful season? This goodwill will cost you little and come back to you hugely.
There are five ways you can out-market and out-perform your competitors with a little low cost plastic magic. The secret to the cards is giving them enough value and the right look to ensure people hang on to them. I would suggest you don’t make the value less than $100. You can order them at a number of places online; previously we have ordered ours from www.4colorprint.com
How Far Do I Chase a Personal Training Prospect?
One of my coaching clients wrote me an email to ask about how far to chase a procrastinating client. You know the
ones I’m talking about…
…I need to talk to my husband about.
…I’m not sure, let me think about it.
…I haven’t decided yet.
…my husband doesn’t want me to do it(thinks it’s too expensive.)
…etc, etc.
We could go on for hours creating a long, long list of all the dodgy excuses people have or will give you. Now don’t be discouraged by this because I can almost guarantee you have used a similarly dodgy excuse in some situation where you just procrastinating about some form of commitment. Whether that be for a service of some kind, the purchase of a high priced item, etc. The first step in dealing with these objections is recognizing where they come from. It’s simple, it’s one word…fear. That’s right people are dodgy and non-committing for this one reason, they are afraid. They are afraid you will let them down, that they will let themselves down, that they will get ripped off, that they won’t experience results, etc. I mean think about it for a second, but not about your customers, about yourself.
The last TV I bought I remember being in Bestbuy and being astounded by the kid’s knowledge about TV’s. It wasn’t even in question whether I was going to buy one, I already knew I was, and yet in spite of all his knowledge and reassurance I still walked away empty handed that night, I was afraid. I had to do my own research, I had to validate what he was saying so I didn’t experience buyer’s remorse, I had to overcome the fear of the cost (which was no more than what I had expected to pay.)
My point is that your clients that seem to sit on the fence and/or fade away without buying are only doing so because they are afraid. It’s time for you to carefully and politely call their BS. Reflect each dodgy excuse and bring them face to face with their real emotions, allow them to face and overcome their fears with your careful assistance.
Example: Let me think about it some more.
“Mrs. Jones you said you wanted to lose 10lbs, have more energy and feel better right? (yes) So what is it that you need to think about? (I just need to think about it.) Mrs. Jones forgive me for pushing but when you say you need to think about it, is there something you are afraid of? I know many people worry that it won’t work, or that other programs have failed them, or that it’s too expensive, does any of that fit for you? (yes)”
Now this is where risk reversal comes in.
“Mrs. Jones if could guarantee 100% that you will lose weight and feel better in just a few weeks would there be anything more to think about? (no) Then if I give you a 30 day money back guarantee is there any reason we can’t get you losing weight and feeling better right away?”
You must help them come to terms with what they are afraid of, some people may be difficult but it’s just about reflecting it back on them so they can easily find their own answers to overcome their fears. Try it with your next consultations.
January Marketing
Well it’s almost that time, that time of year where everyone begins with a clean slate. Unusually motivated, ready to dive in and commit, and unfortunately fiscally compromised from Christmas festivities and holiday spending.
In the twelve years I’ve been a personal trainer here in Red Deer, January has always been a little anti-climatic. You kind of think and hope that you are going to be swamped, and I mean there is a steady stream of traffic to the health club’s door and endless chatter about your co-worker’s “resolutionary” weight loss program.
The cold reality is though that as a one-on-one personal trainer your appeal is not at its strongest come January 1st. I mean after all why do people need you? Support, accountability, they don’t need that, I mean this is the year, you and everyone else is so fired up you can single-handedly take on the world, right? With all this motivation and willpower why would anyone need an expensive personal trainer? Being so motivated and determined a space to workout in for $20-30/month is sufficient. Forget paying a professional hundreds of dollars per month for all that common sense knowledge.
Fast forward 3-4 weeks…
Determination has fizzled; motivation has turned to frustration or worse…desperation. It’s like Jekyll and Hyde, just a few weeks ago there is nothing our resolutionist wasn’t ready for or couldn’t do when it comes to their weight loss goals, now that same person often winds up feeling so low they just want to push that belly under a shirt and tuck it in all the way until the next year.
This is when our BIG rush comes, end of January, February. The time to pick up the pieces, the time for everyone to put it in perspective and succeed…the realization that they just can’t do it alone after all. Unfortunately you still have a very big problem, or perhaps often just one very big objection.
“I’d love to start your program but I’m stuck in this gym membership, if only I had known.”
January personal trainer marketing has to be very calculated. It’s a time where you must consider the emotional state of your prospect. (Highly motivated, confident, self-assured and generally on a tighter budget.) Once you understand this you can acknowledge that your offer has to appeal to this unusual situation. You need to meet their financial objectives of the “best bang for their buck.” If you don’t than you wind up losing them later because the gyms sink their claws in ensuring they think twice about committing financial resources somewhere else. (Which is what they should be doing, afterall come January 1 they are at their strongest appeal.)
If you don’t have a group program this is a good time to start one, leverage your time so you can financially compete with the major fitness centres. If you’ve been nervous about trying aggressive low/no cost trials now is a good time to execute these strategies to get your prospects onboard before they let their misguided emotion commit their financial fitness resources elsewhere.
Essentially what I am trying to say is that if you are newer to this industry you may be thinking that January is going to be easy. Truth is; it is the busiest time of year for fitness but if you don’t understand the psychology of who’s buying YOU won’t be as busy as you could be.
Merry Christmas, and May 2011 be the year where you realize all your dreams will come true.
Looking Back and Ahead
2010 is coming to a close, with Christmas just a couple weeks away it’s safe to say I won’t be thinking about business for too much longer in 2010, and you shouldn’t be either.
If you haven’t already you should reflect on 2010, are you happy with all that you have achieved? How will 2010 impact 2011? What will you accomplish in the year to come?
It’s important to write goals, but you’ve heard that before. If you just take a little time to reflect, ponder and record I can promise you, even if you only remember to read or think about them once in a while, many will most certainly come true in the year to come.
2010 for me has been a very important year. In 2010 I
Our clients signatures on this flag and contributions to www.thewaterschool.org carried me to 19,341 ft.
seen our business mature, it went from rapid growth to controlled systematic growth. With more and more things fully systemized it allowed us to turn our attention to the “holes in the bucket” and strengthen our already solid foundation. We now have our largest and happiest team ever. I’ve went from spending 50+ hours a week at our studio to working from home more than 80% of the time. On two occasions I was gone from the facility for nearly a month with no major decline in operations. (One of which I was busy climbing one of the world’s highest mountains raising nearly $200,000 USD for charity www.thewaterschool.org) I started Profitable Personal Trainer almost a year ago and have in turn learned as much as I’ve shared, grown a list of hundreds of trainers nationwide, and am on my way to another six-figure income stream on a hobby part-time basis.
Just 4 weeks ago we celebrated the completion of our new home, the almost dream home. Having been here for a few weeks and beginning to feel settled we both still experience moments that we can’t believe it’s ours, from just five years ago when I was declined for a $140,000 mortgage and we struggled to buy our very first home.
Most importantly as 2010 concludes I reflect and am inspired by the thought that a full time effort to help others get what they want (whether that’s losing weight and feeling great, growing a business of their own, or an employee knowing that I am committed to see their dreams come true) has pushed Wendy and I further down the path of living the life we’ve dreamt about.
As entrepreneurs what we do often isn’t easy but when times are tough know that it is 100% worth it.
2011 is going to be an amazing year, you must continue to push and build momentum as I am, as you do a snowball of opportunity will ultimately appear.
What will I be up to in 2011?
Expect to hear about me travelling a lot and teaching many. I predict our little studio will begin the transition to becoming a brand in 2011. I expect that One-to-1 will also be nearly 100% self sustaining needing very little direct attention. I’m certain you will see specific instructions on how you can duplicate what I’ve done sometime soon. I predict some of my top employees will find ways to launch ideas of their own that will build our business and theirs. And most importantly if you are reading this, and continue reading my blog, I predict you are going to experience an “ah ha” and realize your true potential and experience a giant leap forward toward your own dreams. It’s impossible for you not to as in 2011 my full time effort will continue to be on helping you and others like you as by doing so I know it will keep leading me closer to my dreams. Thank you all so very much!
What will you do in 2011?
Fitness Marketing: Building the Tribe
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyEwV-L654s[/youtube]
My good friend and colleague Leanne Ellington (www.NotYourAverageBootCamp.com) weighs in on the importance of “creating community.” This is a great follow up to last weeks post on “True Service” and how critical these both our to a successful fitness marketing strategy.
Earn Immediate Loyalty With Over the Top Service
Let’s face it, true service (what a brilliant tag line Kal Tire has adopted, a whole mission statement in two words) is very, very rare in our society today. Last weekend I gave the example of going to Home Depot, having only the self checkouts open and then the machine asking me how many bags I used and wished to purchase. I understand the argument the company hides behind in that reducing bag use is good for the environment; however it’s sad that I now have to shop in an understaffed warehouse, ring in my own items, bag them myself and pay for them without any feeling of added value. They rely on a brand and recognition and never earn any amount of true loyalty because the customer doesn’t leave feeling valuable. Soon they won’t even take the items off the truck (which generated a business idea this weekend.) As a fitness professional you will never be able to afford to rely on your brand image so you must condition yourself to provide over the top service. When you do people notice because it’s a rarity that slips further away each day as more and more mom and pop outlets fade from our mainstream shopping. If you make your clients feel valued they will stay with you forever. It’s critical that you call your clients instead of always relying on electronic means, send them random text or email affirmations, a thank you card and giving them your 100% best in every session is a recipe for long term success. I know this sounds like common sense but it’s continually amazing to me how many trainers are seriously missing the boat or just plain don’t understand the mechanics of true service.
On the flip side before moving into our new home my wife and I purchased a new dining room set from a local furniture store, I was amazed that the salesperson took the time to call me and said the following, “I know you and Wendy have a lot on your mind with the construction of your new home and you were concerned about your furniture arriving before Christmas. It’s going to be a little bit yet but I’ve just learned it should arrive before the end of November and I just wanted you to know as you have enough to think about already. Have a great day.”
She didn’t have to do that, we had already felt she had given us good service and were pleased with the result, but what she didn’t know is that we’ve also been looking at other furniture and were kind of on the fence about a few pieces and where we would get them from, it’s safe to say we’ll be back to see her the moment we’re ready to buy. See how simple that was for her to earn our absolute loyalty? One additional phone call.
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