Tag Archives: Sales

I hate to lose…but…

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On Saturday it all came to an end. The Florida Gators lost the SEC Championship game to the Crimson Tide. The Gators 22 consecutive game winning streak, which was the longest in the country, came to an end as well. Now, I am going to be the first to tell you that I hate to lose. I am a very bad loser and typically take it really hard, however, this time was different. I am not sure why, maybe it is my age, maybe it is that after losing a father and brother you realize there is more to life, or maybe it is the fact that at some point you realize everyone is going to lose and losing can provide valuable insight. let me tell you if you are not failing then you are not pushing hard enough. You are probably sitting in a comfort zone. I remember when I  first started my career in the fitness industry and everything came pretty easy. My boss, who owned the gym, handed me clients without me having to drum up my own business. However, it wasn’t until I moved to Dallas and started all over again that I learned about failing. I would meet with new members as part of their incentive to join the club and time an time again all of those new members were thankful for the program I had designed for them, but they wanted to work on their own. I couldn’t close a sale to save my life. I tell you that first summer I spent in Dallas was eye opening and depressing. I was failing and was miserable, but I learned from it. I realized I needed to learn more about sales and business. It was that summer that I started reading and learning about sales, success, and business. Each time I would lose out on a client I would evaluate what I did during my encounter with the prospect. I analyzed what I thought went wrong and made sure not to do it again. You see, losing can bring out the best in you if you are willing to learn from the loss. Take notes and write down in a journal what mistakes you are making and learn from them. The really cool thing about writing it down is years later when you are looking through your journals you see how successful you have become because of the mistakes that you made.

Now, don’t think I am saying to go out and lose because you play to win, but when you lose, and trust me you will lose at some point, learn from the loss. As John Maxwell says, “Fail Forward.” Learn from your loss and move forward. Keep pushing the envelope and make it your goal next year to aim high and guarantee yourself some losing lessons.

Part III of 7 tips on how to get more personal training clients

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Last week I started a series of posts on, “7 tips on how to get more personal training clients” and today I want to finish the series with the final two. Before I finish the series let me give you a piece of advice that will help you. First of all, reading and agreeing with me is okay, but if you do not act and do something then you are missing out. One of my short comings for a long time was the fact that I read a lot, had great ideas, but never acted and implemented them. That all changed one day when a previous supervisor told me that you have great ideas but you don’t do anything about them. That lit a fire and since that day when I find myself talking about how I want to create more passive income or start a business I say to myself, “Quit talking and do something”. I hope I light a fire in you. Okay onto the final two tips. The first one is a simple action tip, but few personal trainers take advatange of what they have at their finger tips.

6.) Ask your current clients – Your current clients should be your biggest fan and you have at your fingertips the potential to get several more clients but you have to ask. Now, the key here is to make sure that you have an incentive for your client. For example, for every client they refer you can give them a few complimentary sessions in return. Think long term and big picture here. Also, don’t go to the well too often and if you ask them once and they do not respond then move onto another client. 

The final tip has to do with a marketing strategy called positioning.

7.) Position yourself – this final tip will take sometime to develop and understand. The biggest mistake I see personal trainers make is they want to everything to everyone. It is important to become an expert in a niche and market yourself as the expert. Once you have established your self as say the expert in “Back Pain” then people will come to seek you out for your help. If you are having a tough time figure out a niche just ask yourself what you are passionate about and gravitate towards that to start with.

Well that concludes the seven tips on how to get more personal training clients. Remember you need to start putting things into action because action will lead to results! Good luck!

7 tips on getting more personal training clients

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How would you like to know seven tips to start doing today that will help you get more personal training clients? Now, my goal for you is over the next month try and implement two or three of these tips and six months from now you will start making more money and have more personal training clients. Today’s post is going to include the first of three posts that I will share with you on how to get more clients. Here are the first three.

1.) Get more knowledge – Yes, the first thing I tell new fitness professionals is to read, listen, and watch anything that is related to improving you as a trainer and business person. I am sure you have heard the phrase “Leaders are Readers”. This is so true if you want to be the lead personal trainer in your area you need to keep learning.

2.)Write articles – This is something I wished I would have done sooner. Newspaper and magazine editors are always looking for a great story and by being published it does two things. One, you become tagged as an expert and two, you get free marketing to hundreds of readers and potential prospects.

3.) Speak at local companies – In today’s economy, companies have had to dial back the perks they are giving out to their employees. So, having an expert come in and speak on health and fitness is something that employees want and value. You are doing the company a big favor and also yourself because it gives you a chance to market yourself.  Also, this will continue to build you up as an expert and give you the credibility you need to make the sale. If you do a good job you will be asked to come back and each time you speak you have the potential to get more clients.

Tomorrow I will share with you two ways to get more clients without physically training anyone. As for now pick up a book or listen to an audio of someone who can give you more knowledge, which will start you on a path to more money.

First Class Service

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What can you learn from flying first class and how can you apply it to your  business?

Well, let me tell you I finally get it! This past week I had to fly to Orlando due to the passing of my Grandfather and I flew first class. This was only the second time I have had the opportunity to fly first class but what an experience. Now, it did not come cheap. We had to use a lot of our miles, as well as pay a small fee, but the airline made it worth it. The reason the airlines make it worth the money is because the airline companies know that the first class passengers spend the most money and are probably the most loyal. This is what you need to take note of. Most sales professionals and trainers spend way too much time and effort on getting new clients and don’t realize that they need to spend more time on giving their current clients first class service.

Why, you ask? Well, the clients who train with you the most are going to continue to train with you, and will also continue to spread the good news about you. So, what can you do to start creating first class service?

Here are a few things:

1.) Send a thank you card to your clients – a spontaneous card thanking them is a very nice gesture, which shows you took the time out of your schedule to show your appreciation.

2.) Comp them a personal training session – Set a number of sessions trained and after they hit that number give them a comp session.

3.) Give them a small gift – you can get creative here and you do not need to spend a lot of money here. Remember it is all about the gesture.

4.) Start a distribution list and send them motivational quotes and articles.

5.) Remember kids names, birthdays, anniversaries, etc… Use this to send emails, cards, and congratulations when you are talking to them.

 

Now, these are just a few ideas, but the point here is you need to go above and beyond to create memorable and positive experiences for your clients. The airlines have been providing first class service for a long time and they know how to get it right, so if you need to see what I am talking about fly first class and then start providing first class service.

Fortune in the follow up

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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