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!  

Rebirth and Renewal

I am so excited because tonight starts my three day vacation with my family. Every year we try and make it down to the Dallas Arboretum to spend some time relaxing and taking in the beautiful flowers and scenario that the Arboretum has to offer. This brings me to my point of discussion today and that is with the Easter weekend upon us we need to take some time and reflect upon what we have be doing the last 12 weeks and open our eyes and take in what is going on around us. If you were smart, which I know if you are reading this you are, then I know that you have been going full tilt the last 3 months because these first three months of the year can really make a difference in your business. However, it is now time to relax and renew your strengths for the next 3 months. We all need rest and recovery and I hope you will take this holiday weekend to reflect on your goals and the good you are doing in people’s lives. I wish you a healthy and happy Easter and I will see you next week!

Coach Dave

Do you Twitter?

Do you Twitter? Not sure what I am talking about. Well, Twitter is the fastest growing social networking medium. if you are not using Twitter in your business you are missing a great opportunity to build a solid following of clients and like minded individuals. I am not going to go into how to set up and use Twitter, but what I will do is tell you how you can use Twitter to add value to training business.

  1. You can use Twitter to send messages to your clients as individuals or as a group
  2. You can send motivational quotes or positive messages
  3. You can use Twitter to send articles or links to other important information
  4. You can use Twitter to build up a following and create new leads
These ideas are just the surface of what Twitter can be used in your training business. Please do not wait to adopt one of the best tools of the new Web 2.0. Take action today and sign up www.Twitter.com and you can follow me at @davemcgarry. I can’t wait to get your Tweets!! 
Coach Dave

Anatomy of Sales

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