Monthly Archives: March 2009

Customer Service isn’t Dead

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I thought Customer Service was dead! I am happy to say it is not! You see every week in our staff meeting we have a time to share great customer service stories with the staff and for the last three months I have been on able to share any real great experiences but last night that all changed. My wife and I were out on “date night” and went to a brand new restaurant. Yes, I branched out and decided to try something new and different, which turned out to be great. Why, was it so great you may ask? Well, at first it started out a little shaky because we were sat at our table and five minutes had went by and no server had approached us. Now, one thing I always do is time how long it takes for someone to greet us and take our drink orders. This comes from my days of working in the restaurant industry back in college. Okay, so finally we were greeted and the first thing our server, Sloan, did was apologize for us not being greeted. You see, we had had a glass of wine from the bar and she thought that someone had already taken care of us, but nonetheless she felt bad and immediately tried to change the situation.

Lesson number one – if things start out bad you still have time to change the outcome but you must act fast. Apologize and start trying to create a memorable experience.

Okay, so once she apologized she started to create a memorable experience for us. First, she told a story about the wine we purchased, which was really cool. Then, she made some really great recommendations  on the menu. And finally, when we had a hard time choosing between two different items she offered to split both plates with half of each order. What was interesting about that was the couple next to us asked their server if they could do that and he had some lame excuse as to why it could not be done. So here is lesson two.

Lesson two – be different and create an experience. It wasn’t that I absolutely loved the food, but the service and memory that Sloan,our server, created for us.

I can not begin to tell you that in this economic time period “Customer Service” is going to make the difference between your training or someone else. People will buy but will buy great memories!!!

Coach Dave

The fastest way to a six figure income

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I am sure you have heard the saying, “If you fail to plan then you are planning to fail!” Don’t just take my word for it see what a study from Harvard showed on the benefits of planning.

Plan – The best sales people review every detail and plan in advance. There was a study conducted at Harvard Business School that showed how important it is to a business to have a written plan.  The study was conducted over a twenty-five year period and tracked 1,600 businesses.  These were the results:

·      70% of the businesses in the study had no written plan or verbal plan

·      27% of the businesses in the study had verbal goals only

·      3% in the study had them written down

·      98% of the wealth was held by those 3% of businesses who had them written down

the proof is in the pudding. Start planning today even if it is a plan for the next 90 days. Doing something is the action step here.

Coach Dave

Excerpt from “Anatomy of Sales”

What causes you to Procrastinate

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Being in the fitness industry we are all to familiar with people procrastinating. We have a hard time understanding why our clients just don’t do what we say and get moving. Well, what is causing you to procrastinate when it comes to reaching our business goals? For me I realized that mentally I was not disciplined and I was always waiting for the perfect time to act. I can honestly say that I have always had dreams of starting my own business but kept saying, “Oh it just isn’t the perfect time.” I guess this will be a true test since I launched this business during what some economists are saying is the worst economic times since the great depression. Okay, now let’s get back to the question at hand, “what causes you to procrastinate?”

As I mentioned yesterday I am reading a book by John Maxwell, “Talent is Never Enough” and at the end of each chapter he has some application exercises. One of the application questions asks the following and I want you to ask yourself this.

What causes you to procrastinate? 

  • Are you in denial about the consequences of not taking initiative and responsibility for yourself?
  • Are you waiting for others to motivate you instead of working to motivate yourself?
  • Are you waiting for everything to be perfect before you act?
  • Are you fantasizing about tomorrow instead of focusing on what you can do today?
  • ARE YOU TRYING TO DO IT ALONE?
Yes, I bolded the last question because I am guilty of this as well. As I mention in my book I was fortunate to have some of my wealthy and successful clients guide me, but it was not until recently I have sought formal coaching to develop my business. Take a moment and answer these questions and when you do write out a plan to take action on changing the actions that are causing you to procrastinate. 
Coach Dave

Talent is Never Enough

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Do you think success is totally based on talent? Well, contrary to what most believe, it is not and a great book, by John Maxwell, “Talent Is Never Enough: Discover the Choices That Will Take You Beyond Your Talent“, shows how individual choice and actions are what makes the difference. I can not agree with him more. Over the years that I have been working with personal trainers I consistently see talented trainers fail in this industry. Why? Well, I believe it is the choices and actions they take. You see, talented people have a tendency to rest on their laurels and coast along only one day to wake up and realize it is too late. So, if you don’t want this to happen to you find your  passion and take initiative today to fulfill your dreams. You can make the difference, so keep moving forward and ignite your talent!!

Coach Dave

Anatomy of Sales

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Do you believe you are selling yourself everyday regardless of your profession? I do, and I have written the book “Anatomy of Sales” to help fitness professionals and personal trainers realize that everyday a sale takes place within your organization or with prospects, and if you want to be successful in your career then you need to master the art of sales. 

So, what will you learn by reading this book?

  • How to close your prospect?
  • How to make people realize they need you?
  • Why they don’t sign up after you explained the benefits?
  • How to change ‘maybe’ to “YES – I’LL START TOMORROW!”
Also within its contents, you’ll learn:
  • How to trigger your prospects to make on-the-spot decisions to hire you.
  • Overcome fear of price rejection.
  • The 5 major reasons people will buy training sessions from you.
  • Setting SMART goals to create a realistic six-figure income.
  • How to build a ‘buzz’ about your fitness training services.
  • How to cherry-pick the right clients who WANT and NEED personal training.
  • Undiscovered new technologies that will help grow your business.
I can promise you that I wrote this book with the fitness professional in mind and I know that the last thing you want to be referred to as is a “Sales” person. So, if you want to learn how to master the art of sales through a new approach then check out my book.
Please let me know if you have any questions or want some more info about the book.
Coach Dave