Monthly Archives: January 2011

Do you devalue your services?

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I am always amazed at how many fitness clubs and personal trainers follow the herd. Out of the hundreds of clubs I have visited over the years maybe only a handful of clubs do not sell packages for their services (i.e personal training). When I ask owners or managers why they sell packages the response I always seem to get is, “well that is what such and such club does, so we have to offer that.” Let me ask you this, “do doctors offer packages for seeing them multiple times?” No, and you shouldn’t either. I just read an article on Club Industry’s web site that talks about consumers ready to spend more in 2011. Go read it when you have a chance and realize this, if you provide a service that people value then you should charge what you think it is worth and that will lead me to my final point today.

I want to leave you today asking yourself this question, “why is 10 sessions worth $50, but one session is worth $65?” Are you providing the same value during each service? Does over ten sessions the time you spent learning Anatomy and Physiology diminish? No, and that is why you need to stop following the herd and devaluing your services. If you don’t have the ability to set your rates I understand but if you do, then you should feel confident in what you are charging and stick to it. You service is worth what you believe it is worth. If you don’t have that confidence you will struggle long term in the fitness business.

For more info on sales and how to charge what you are worht check out my book www.anatomyofsales.com or join my coaching program here.

To your success,
Coach Dave

Do you Have a Dream?

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Today we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King day in our county and as I am writing this I am returning from D.C. I absolutely love going to D.C. and love visiting all the sights no matter how many times I see them, which brings me to what I want to talk to you about today. You see, Dr. King, as well as our founding fathers had a dream. They dreamed of freedom for all and a place where all people were equal. They had a vision for a better world. So, I am asking you today, what are your dreams? What do you want your life, career and world you live in to be like? You were put on this earth for a purpose and you should be dreaming of better you, better career, and a better world. I know not everyone considers himself or herself a dreamer, but you should be. That being the case there are a couple of things I want to recommend for you to start doing.

A few years ago I was listening to a CD by Jim Rohn, who was talking about having a better life. One of the mental exercises he had us do was to take a few minutes and imagine that there were no obstacles in your way and to write down 50 things you wanted to do in life. Write down every thing no matter how small or big. He said, to just let you mind wander and see where it takes you. Now, I have to admit I had a hard time at first coming up with 50 things, but once I started t o dream of all things I wanted to do in my life and what kind of legacy I want to leave the pen started to just write. It was a great exercise because today as I am writing this I still have that list on my desk. I look at it from time to time and am amazed at how much I have started to achieve. I have said it before and I will say it again you need to write down your goals and have it somewhere you will see them on a regular basis.

Now, having gone through that exercise was great but the next step I am going to recommend coincides with Jim’s exercise, but takes it a step further. You see, most of us learn better through visualization. That being the case you need to take those goals and create what is called a “Dream Board.” This will take a little longer but print out pictures of the things you want to have or accomplish in your life. Fill the board with as many as you can fit on there. Remember these are your dreams so go big!
So, in closing, celebrate and honor Dr. King by having a dream. Dream to become better. Dream to be more. And dream to make a difference in this world.

In health,
Coach Dave

P.S. If you want to be inspired I attached the speech by Dr. King, so go watch it!

Are you one of the 47 percent?

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We are a couple of weeks into the New Year and I know some of you are still getting around to setting those resolutions. As I said in an earlier post, ” New Year’s Resolutions are a Wast of Time” I do not set resolutions I set up a plan for the year that has my top goals. Well, I guess I am not the only one that doesn’t set goals resolutions anymore. According to a recent survey by the Opinion Research Corp. only 45 percent of Americans now say they make New Year’s resolutions, which is down from 88 percent from the past. At first thought I was thinking maybe they read my post and have decided to turn over a new leaf and start setting up goals and a plan for the new year. Nope, the study goes on to say that people just don’t set them anymore because they are tired of hurting themselves and call the whole thing off. Pretty sad if you ask me but I am not really all that shocked about the finding. The survey had some other interesting findings but one in particular stood out to me. The one that stuck out in my mind was that 47 percent of those responded to the survey said, ” they will set a resolution related to their head” (i.e, a self improvement goal). Now maybe because I love self improvement but this was encouraging to me. So, today I want to ask you, do you fall into the 47 percent category?

I hope you answered yes to the question above, because if you want more out of life or career you have to become more. I learned that from the great Jim Rohn. What happens to most of us is, we get so caught up with all the daily nuances we neglect working on becoming a better person. I know for me I need to work on time management and finishing projects I start. I get so caught up with new ideas that I let projects go unfinished. I have made that a goal of mine this year and I hope by the end of the year I can look back and say I became better.

What is it that you need to get better at? Maybe it is time management or maybe organization skills. Whatever it is, make it one of your goals this year to get better at, because I can promise you this, if you work harder on yourself you can become more and be more!

Well, I am off to D.C. for the weekend to attend a good friend’s wedding. I just love going to our Nation’s Capitol, because it always reminds of how great it is to live in the best country in the world.I will be back next week with some more inspiring stuff, so until then, make it a great weekend!

Coach Dave

How to get clients knocking down your door

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The question I get asked all the time is, “Dave, how do I get more personal training clients?” The answer is simple but few do it. Over the next several posts I am going to give you seven steps to implement to get clients knocking down your door. Today, I am going to show you one of the single best ways to attract cients.

Step 1 – Become a published author

Yes, you heard me correct. If you want to be known in this industry and get people flocking to you then you need to position yourself as an expert.

Now more than ever it is easier for the average person like you and me to have a voice and establish ourselves as an expert. No longer do you need a publishing house or major editor to accept your manuscript and publish your work. Technology has changed all of that. For instance, I wrote “Anatomy of Sales” and self-published it. This has allowed me to position myself as an exert when it comes to the business side of the fitness industry.

“But Dave, there are hundred of articles and books out there on fitness” is what you are saying right now. You are correct, but that should not stop you for coming up with a topic and writing about it. You are not trying to be a best selling author. What you are doing is creating a perception to the public that you are the expert in a particular filed or subject. Just the mere fact of having an article published in a major newspaper or magazine gives you more credibility, which takes away one of the barriers clients have when finding a personal trainer.

So, how do you get started writing a book? Well, that is another post but if you are interested in learning more and want my help then I can coach you through it. if you want to do it yourself then go to Amazon’s website Create Space and they have step by step tutorials on how to get published and use their network to sell your book.

If you seriously want to have clients knocking down your door then become an expert and start writing for newspapers, industry trade journals, and even your own book.

P.S. The second step to getting more personal training clients, is one that the fear of doing ranks as high as the fear of dying! You won’t want to miss this one!

Coach Dave

"Stop Managing the Pipeline, and Start Managing Your Sales Team."

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Copyright (c) 2010 Mr. Inside Sales

How much time and money do you devote to your company’s sales pipeline? Think about the resources, the software, the meetings, the forecasting, the managing and measuring you do, and the time and effort you give it. If you’re like most CEO’s or VP’s or sales managers, your sales pipeline is your life blood. It’s what you run your company by; it’s how you make decisions, and often times it even drives your stock prices.

While the pipeline is a vital part of the sales process, it is also where the most fundamental mistake is made, and this mistake costs companies millions (if not billions) of dollars every year.

The problem is that most companies spend too much time, money and energy on measuring and managing the pipeline rather than managing and improving the quality of leads that go into – and ultimately come out of – the pipeline.

In other words, most of the leads that go into your pipeline are never going to close, should never have been put in and, as a result, your company wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars generating and then chasing, and measuring and managing leads that will never close. That’s the real problem.

Ask yourself: “What is my sales department’s closing ratio?” I’ll bet you can answer that, can’t you? A typical company will report that it takes an average of 50 cold calls or contacts with decision makers to set 15 appointments out of which 10 will turn into proposals or pitches which will result in 1 or 2 sales.

And once this metric is established (as measured by the sales pipeline, of course) the sales strategy is set – to get more sales, you just have to set more appointments. And if you want more appointments, then you have to get your sales team to make more calls! Suddenly everyone works harder, goes out on more appointments, and…and…the desired results don’t come, do they?

And here’s why: until you address the fundamental problem- the quality of leads that go into your pipeline – you won’t improve your close ratios or your sales. Remember, you can’t close an unqualified lead, so stuffing more of them into your pipeline isn’t going to get you the results you want. In fact, it will just cost your company more money, frustrate your managers and wear out your sales team.

You’ve got to stop managing your pipeline and start training your sales teams how to generate more qualified leads. That’s the only real answer.

In fact that’s the secret of all top sales producers. Look at your own top reps. What are their closing ratios? I’ll bet they are the highest in your company, aren’t they? They would never consider setting and running 15 appointments because they don’t have the time to waste. They would rather spend their time qualifying (I call it disqualifying) out the non-buyers so they can spend their time finding, qualifying and working with real buyers. And they know how to do this because they understand sales. Unfortunately, 80% of your sales team doesn’t.

And that’s why sales training is your only real answer.

But sales training is what most companies don’t do well. In fact, if you want to know how well your own sales training is working, simply shop your sales team. Either call in, or get on your lead list and have some of your reps call you. Try throwing them some objections and see how they do. If you’re like most companies, you’ll be appalled by the results.

Again, this is the real problem. Until you solve this basic problem of training your sales team, having them generate and stuff more unqualified leads into your pipeline won’t get you the results your company needs. That’s why most companies end up spending so much time and effort managing and measuring the pipeline. It’s something they know how to do.

If you want to get out of this unproductive cycle and actually start improving your sales and revenues, then here’s what you need to do: Get back to the basics of sales training and redefine what makes up a qualified lead. Identify all the elements and create a qualifying checklist. Make your reps fill it out completely before any leads are generated. If you’re not sure of a lead, have a manager re-qualify it for them.

The bottom line is you must train your sales force (and sometimes your managers) how to find and qualify real buyers. The more of these you identify and put into your sales pipeline, the more meaningful it will become.

So take the emphasis off managing your pipeline, and start training and managing your sales team. If you do it right, I guarantee you it will finally give you something you’ll be happy to measure – more sales!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/stop-managing-the-pipeline-and-start-managing-your-sales-team-3451517.html

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