Selling Personal Training
Many personal trainers find it challenging to grow their client base, but if you believe in something, then it should be easy to sell it, right? Here are a couple of tips to build your confidence with securing the sale and new clients.
Believe in yourself
As a personal trainer, the first thing you have to realise is that you have the ability to help someone. Obviously it is the client’s decision as to whether the service you offer is worth the money they need to invest to achieve their goals. The most important thing in the sales process is that you believe in yourself and the product you’re selling. If person has enquired about personal training, then this means they have a need that you can help them with. Adopt the philosophy that sales are merely the process of getting the client started on their goals and you may find your success rate increases. The bottom line to Personal Training sales is that you are helping someone improve their lifestyle and health. You need to remain focussed on the fact that it’s all about helping the person achieve their results. If a client is achieving results then they will remain a happy client. When clients are not achieving results they will begin to weigh up whether they are getting value for money, and whether they want to continue. If you are not confident in asking for the sale, role playing once or twice a week with amore senior trainer or a sales team member will help dramatically. Asking an experienced trainer to view one of their sessions with a regular client can also be beneficial in picking up additional tips.
Pain versus pleasure
In discussions with your prospective client, it is really important to weigh up the ‘pleasure versus pain’ scenario. You need to get your client to weigh up the benefit of personal training (pleasures) versus the cost of it (pain). If you can do this, then your client will take up personal training. Parting with the money, exercising and making the commitment are all things associated with pain forth client. For a successful sale, you have to ensure that you emphasise and create enough pleasure in achieving the results they desire, to be able to get them to start personal Training with you. People often don’t see value in something if there is no desire on their behalf. That is, if someone considers something as a high priority then they will usually pay any price to attain it. For example, for a potential Client who strives to be in better shape for their daughter’s wedding, ask them to rate the importance of this goal on a scale of 1 to 10. Create leverage by asking them how they would feel being at the wedding after achieving their goal (pleasure) as a result of working with you. Not achieving the goal can sometimes be enough pain to get the person motivated to begin with you, so ensure you find out how important it is for them to achieve the end result.
Asking for the business
If you don’t ask you won’t make the sale. This happens especially when complimentary personal training sessions are given and then the trainer simply says ‘I hope you enjoyed the session and if you would like to continue simply book in for another one’. This is not asking for the business and is not going to get a result for either you or the client. You must ask specifically for the sale. For example, you might say, ‘From what we’ve discussed the two best options are the “quick start” or “results” programs. The quick start program is one session a week for $70 a week and the results program is two sessions a week for $130. Which one suits you best?’Then stay silent. Let the customer have time to think and answer your question. Then when they have chosen their package, get them going with their paperwork and book them in for future sessions. If your customer asks a question, welcome it and try to solve it as best you can. Try not to let someone walk away saying they need to think about it.
Chances are they have been thinking about it for months, so now is the optimal time to take action. Respond gently. You might say, ‘I can understand that you would like to think about it, but may I just ask is it the program or the session schedule that you are concerned about?’ and start the process of solving their challenges. Remember, you ‘retrying to better their lifestyle; it’s not just your business that will benefit from the relationship; they actually have more to gain than anyone by working with you.
Tags: business of fitness, Business of PT, Personal Training Business, Running a Fitness Business, starting a PT business, The Business of Fitness, The Business of Personal Training, The business of PT