Fortune in the follow up

Okay, I know I said I was going to finish up the 5 Steps to Successful Selling series last week, but things got away from me. Sorry about that! So, today I am going to finish up with step number five, “The Fortune is in the Follow up.” In case you are just joining me with this series you can see the start of the series at the original post 5 steps to Successful Selling.

V. The Fortune in the Follow-Up

A.) Past and Present Clients – So many times I see personal trainers asking and looking for new clients and I tell them that you need to look at your current clients and previous ones to see if you can get more sessions from them as opposed to looking to add sessions through new clients. Why do I say this? Well, it is easy to get clients whom you have already established a trusted relationship with to buy from you as to build a new relationship. 

B.) New Members – Now, if you are new or need to build up a current and past client list then you need to focus in on new members to your gym or club. The key here is to build trust and rapport with them and show them that you can solve their problems. Once you have established that relationship set a time frame, say like six weeks, and follow up with them to see how things are going and keep the connection. You never know if they will decide to start training. 

I can’t tell you

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 Necessity of Prospecting

Last week I started a serious called the “Five Steps to Successful Selling” and wanted to continue this week with step number two. Step two is about the “Necessity of Prospecting.” In this step we will break down the difference between prospect vs. suspect. Also, we will talk about the prospecting/sales ratio. So without any more delay let’s get  our teeth around step number two.

A.) Prospect vs. Suspect – What is the difference between the two?

     Prospect – someone who may be a potential client.

     Suspect – someone who you have an 80% chance to close on.

The difference here is that a prospect is all the available people who you can market to and a suspect is someone who is pre-qualified and someone who is already in the behavior mindset to buy training. Focus on suspects!

B.) Prospecting/ Sales Ratio

1.) poor sales ability – numbers game. If you are willing to continously try and determine who is a prospect or suspect and market to them than you can be great.

2.) great sales ability – if you can identify a suspect and close then you will be successful at sales. You need to measure your closure rate to determine if you have a great sales ability.

In order to be successful at sales you need to know the difference between a prospect and a suspect. Make sure you close on every suspect you come into contact and try and increase your closure rate on prospects. Also, if you don’t track or measure your closure rate you will be unable to determine whether or not you have a good or poor sales ability.

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