Fit Business Insider – Personal Training Business – Fitness Business – Fitness Marketing

November 7, 2010 ‐ By Pat Rigsby

I’ve finally settled back in since the birth of our son Alex a couple of weeks ago. Between having some family in during Alex’s first week at home and then last week hosting our IYCA Mastermind Group and also having a couple of meetings regarding a huge project that I can’t reveal just yet, over the last week I got into my routine again.

Because I’ve been focused on other things for the past couple of weeks, I just went back and reviewed all of our Friday Updates over the past couple of weeks from our Mastermind Groups to make sure I didn’t miss anything the first time I looked them over. We’ve got one group that has been together for going on 2 years and a new group that just got started as well as the IYCA group I just mentioned -and it’s awesome to see how well they are all doing.

In fact – it got me thinking about what separates these top achievers from the trainers and coaches that are also putting in the hours but not seeing anywhere close to the same type of results.

The first thing that instantly came to mind what the fact that our Mastermind Members all have an Achiever’s Mindset. They all expect to be successful. If an obstacle gets in their path they never even consider that it will stop them. They find a way to get around it – or they just blast right through it.

No excuses. No bitching or complaining. Just determination to get where they are going.

And that’s the next real difference – they know where they are going. They have specific goals. Goals for yearly income. Goals for new leads and new clients each month. They are very clear on where they want to go so they can focus all their efforts on getting there.

And you may never notice how similar our top achievers’ businesses are because they all look different at first glance. Some are exclusively bootcamps, some are hybrids of camps, smaller group training and semi-private, some are more traditional studios and others are focused on sports performance or youth fitness.

But the truth is these fitness business have far more in common than you’d ever imagine.

To a person they all focus on the quality of their service and you should be too. If your service is bad there is no amount of marketing that will mask it. You should be retaining at least 80% of your people from one month to the next – and that is a minimum number. If you’re not, something about the way you’re delivering your service is broken.

The best of the best also have a consistent approach to bringing in new leads. Every day they have systems in place for their fitness business on how they are going to bring prospects in the door. Here are just a few of the ones they’re using:

 

• Public speaking. If you’re not doing at least 2 speaking engagements per month you’re leaving money on the table. If my numbers were low, I’d be doing one speaking engagement per week.
• Networking. Nothing sexy about it, but you should be passing out 2 week trials – preferably 3 per day, attending networking events on a weekly basis and reaching out to everyone already in your personal network.
• Fundraisers. Another one I’ve mentioned in the past that is a killer. Great for growth in your fitness business and great for your community. A win-win for sure. Just identify an organization that needs to raise money and reach out to them with your fundraising opportunity. They keep all the proceeds and you get all the leads.
• Building an email list. Every person you meet, every talk you give and every health fair you attend – you should be building your list. When our Mastermind Members send out an email for their promos they typically fill 20-30 spots in a hurry. You should set a goal of at least 1000 local subscribers on your list.
• Using the Chamber of Commerce - Hopefully you are already a member of the Chamber of Commerce. If not, change that as soon as possible. Once you are a member – reach out to other Chamber members and provide them a special offer for their employees. Here is an example letter you can use:

 

Business Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip

Dear Fellow Chamber Member,

As a fellow local business owner, I understand and appreciate your commitment to the success and growth of your business. I also know that to obtain great success, businesses must support their employees in being healthy and active. Therefore, I am offering a very special benefit to my fellow (City Name) Chamber of Commerce members!

(Your Business) will provide all chamber members with a set of free 14 Day Trial Memberships (or other special offer). These memberships entitle your employees to 14 free days of fitness and a great chance to check out what (your business) has to offer. What’s more, this offer extends to their entire family! And, if your employees choose to continue with (your business), I will discount their monthly rate by 25%.

Perhaps the best part of this offer is there is no cost to your company. With (your business) as your partner, you can promote a healthy workplace and not spend a penny! To order your free memberships, simply email me at (email) or call me at (phone number)

(Your business) is the leading local (type of fitness business), helping people throughout (your community) lose weight, improve health and enjoy a better quality of life. I look forward to helping your team enjoy those same benefits.
I thank you for considering this opportunity! More importantly, your employees will thank you!

Yours in Health and Fitness,

(Your Name)

 

• Lead Boxes – A lead box program can generate a steady stream of new leads if run effectively. Here’s a fitness marketing strategyto ensure your lead box is a powerful, cost-effective marketing tool.Starting Your Program – The first step when beginning a lead box program is selecting the type of lead box that you’ll use. Many companies sell lead boxes, so comparison shop before choosing one, and don’t let price alone be your determining factor. There are many cheap lead boxes that look cheap, and there are inexpensive lead boxes that look professional. A cheap lead box will not generate the same lead traffic as a nice-looking one.The header of the box needs to have an enticing offer, like the opportunity to win a free month of your bootcamp or a free month of training. Remember, you have to have a strong headline and compelling copy to get prospects to enter their information.Site Selection – Once you’ve decided exactly who your target market is, site selection becomes easy. Box locations need to have good traffic flow to consistently generate enough leads to make a site worth maintaining. They also need to be places where your target market does business. Chiropractor’s offices, spas, dry cleaners, salons and other types of business that cater to your ideal camper good targets.

  Site Procurement – Approach either the owner or the manager and offer a service of benefit in exchange for site procurement. This could be a free slot in your fitness bootcamp, a free lunch and learn for the business or a few sessions for the owner.

  Don’t hesitate to give up something of value so the business owner or manager feels good about what you do. This can help the person better promote your lead box.

  Then select a high-visibility area for the lead box. The lead box location must not interfere with the owner’s business in any way, or negative reactions can occur that will reduce your rapport with the business. The importance of maintaining a good relationship with the business is vital.

  Lead Box Servicing & Following Up – You need to keep the lead box attractive and well-stocked with lead pads, and have a working pen attached to the box at all times. The impression that the box creates is directly tied to your business. Leads from the lead box must be picked up at least once a week. Once you collect the leads, come back and enter them into your database. Then immediately follow up with the leads.

  If managed properly, lead boxes can result in a new group of prospective campers or clients at a minimal cost so don’t ignore this underutilized strategy.

• Business of the Month- This is one we got from health club marketing gurus Curtis Mock and Chris Batchelor over at Fitness Marketing Group.Target & Contact Local Businesses – Pick 2-5 per week and call them letting them know that their business has been selected as your business of the month. Tell them that each employee as well as their family members gets a free month of your services. Follow up with a visit to their location passing out questionnaires and vouchers for their free month.Develop a ‘Flip’ – Create a special offer for the employees and their families that will encourage them to continue on working with you.Follow Up – Stay in regular contact with the participants and make sure they know that your special offer will expire at the end of the month.

  This strategy is a great way to generate new prospects in your community and build relationships with local businesses that can eventually help you reach their client / customer base as well.

• Asking For Referrals at the Point of Sale – There is no better time to ask for a referral than when someone is new to your business. They are excited about how you’re going to help them achieve their fitness goals and they’ll probably feel even more confident about coming to work with you if they can bring a friend. Create a special offer, perhaps giving them 20% off their monthly rate for every person they refer. Then either ask them for names and contact information of people they’d like to share a 14 day free trial with or provide them with 14 day free trial vouchers. Our experience is that if you can get the information and do the follow up yourself – you’ll do better.

 

But to build a business that produces multiple six-figures, generating leads is just the beginning. These guys all treat each lead as Gold and focus on not just converting them to long term clients, but also generating referrals. Here are a few of the ways they do it:

• They give personal attention. A personal call to each prospect. A personal introductory session. A card thanking them for coming to camp. People want to be treated well and feel important. Provide that and they’ll not only become clients…they’ll become raving fans.
• They use a scripted offer. If you don’t have a scripted sales presentation you’re missing sales. Plain and simple. I’ve provided a script in several different venues…BCBP, my free Fitness Sales e-book and on PTU…model it and close more deals. If you’re getting most of your prospects in on free trials, offer to allow them to ‘trade in’ their trial for a big discount off of the next month or a 3 month program.
• They ask for referrals early and often. As soon as someone joins their programs they ask for referrals. Then they keep asking. They use discounts on services, gifts, contest and Bring a Friend events to make sure that every client produces more leads.

And once someone is on board with our most successful pros, they make it incredibly easy to stay on board. They are easy to pay because they all use EFT and have set up their businesses so they’re not chasing money at the beginning of each month. They all focus on getting people to 3 month or longer commitments. And virtually all of them have a downsell. If someone can’t continue at 3, 4 or 5 sessions per week, the best trainers won’t leave money on the table and they’ll offer them something smaller – anything from a 2 sessions per week option to a Bootcamp to Go program.

And without exception, ALL of our six and seven figure earners have Multiple Streams of Income flowing into their businesses. Here are a few of the ones they’re using:

• Bootcamps
• Small Group Training
• Semi-Private Training
• One on One Training
• Supplement Sales
• Youth Fitness
• Sports Performance Training
• Corporate Fitness
• Nutrition Coaching
• Information Products
• Workshops
• Bootcamp To Go
• Short Term Programs

 

So if you set the foundation for success by ‘getting your mind right‘ and recognizing that you deserve and can achieve success, then adapt the proven stuff that has worked time and time again to your own situation – there is NO reason that it can’t be you. There is NO reason that you can’t have a business that produces $100,000, $200,000 or even $500,000 a year.

Do me a favor and let me know if you agree below. I want to know if you believe you have a multiple six-figure fitness business in you and also how I can help you unleash it.

 

Dedicated to your success,

Pat