The Art of Closing

Last week we talked about the 5 Steps to Successful Selling and I wanted to finish it up with the last two steps. Just to recap the first three steps were:

I. The Importance of Personal/Professional Development

II. The Necessity of Prospecting

III. The Power of Planning

Okay, well step number four is The Art of Closing. Step four is probably the step I see trainers struggle with the most. The main reason for this is trainers try to wing it and don’t use the proper tools and techniques.So here is step four and if you want to increase your sales become a master at closing.

A.)Prepared Presentation

  1. Develop rapport
  2. Establish credibilty 
  3. Enforce the need

B.) Closing Techniques

  1. Sampling – puppy dog close
  2. 3 questions – Do you see the benefits, Interested in benefits, and when do you what to start?
  3. Need/Desire and the “time door” 

C.) Closing Tools

  1. Special offers
  2. Supporting materials

The Importance of Personal/Professional Development

I wrote the other day about how important it is to master the art of sales and I said I would share with you in more detail the 5 steps to successful selling that I adapted from Zig Ziglar. So let’s tackle the first step. The first to step to successful selling is the importance of Personal/Professional development. Okay, let’s get started.

A.) Personal

  1.  Phyiscal – are you keeping your end of the deal? What I mean are you practicing what you preach? I know sometimes trainers get burned out and the last thing they what to do after a session is workout, but remember your clients are watching to see if you are doing what you tell them to do.
  2. Mental – what type of books are reading? Are you staying around positive people? What type of thoughts are you thinking? It is important to feed your mind with positive thoughts and ideas.
  3. Spiritual – Up until a few years ago this is an area I let slip away but since my father’s passing a few years ago I have found my purpose in life. Remember each and everyone of us was put here for a purpose. Find your purpose and live it!  
  4. Financial – I added this point because as a trainer you will have fluctuations in your income from week to week and month to month, so it is important to understand the value in financial planning. Also, one thing for trainers to consider is what would you do if you were hurt or injured and could not train? Long Term Disability Insurance is something you should think about in case you were laid up for a long period of time do to an injury or illness.

B. Professional

  1.  Information – What sources are you getting your info from. Make sure it is a credible and reliable source if you are going to share it with clients.
  2. Experience – The hardest part initially for a trainer is gaining that experience. As you continue to grow you can use the experiences that you learned to enhance your credibility. 
  3. Knowledge – Technology and research has really changed the way we conduct personal training today. I tell all my trainers that the way we train today is totally different than we trained 10 years ago and it will be totally different 10 years from now. It is important to continue to grow and become an expert in your niche. As I tell interns and new trainers the best piece of advice I can give you is never stop learning! Invest in your knowledge on a daily basis!  

5 Steps to Successful Selling

I was on a website today and I saw a survey that was asking fitness professionals what they wanted to learn more about. Quite frankly, I was surprised to see that many of the voters were wanting to know more about multiple streams of income for fitness professionals over sales and marketing. Now, I understand that it is smart to want to know more about how to create multiple streams of income, but don’t put the cart before the horse. In order to be successful in any business venture you must learn how to sell and today I am going to start a series of posts that will tackle the 5 steps to successful selling, which I have adapted from Zig Ziglar. Here are the five steps that we will be digging into in the next couple of days:

I. The Importance of Personal/Professional Development

II. The Necessity of Prospecting

III. The Power of Planning

IV. The Art of Closing

V. The Fortune in the Follow-Up

In the next couple of days I will tackle each one of these steps and give you an action step to take, so stayed tuned and get ready to master the art of sales.

Coach Dave