A couple of days ago I was reading an article about Luxottica, a pretty amazing company that most people have never heard of.
But maybe you’ve heard of some of these companies that offer their own premium brands of sunglasses:
Ray-Ban
Oakley
Bulgari
Dolce & Gabbana
Salvatore Ferragamo
Prada
Burberry
Chanel
Polo Ralph Lauren
Tiffany
Versace
Luxottica makes all of them and about a dozen others. They own Ray-Ban and Oakley and work under license with the rest.
But if that wasn’t’ enough, they also own LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Hut. So their eye doctors are the ones telling you that you need a new pair of glasses, their sales people are ones helping you choose them, and their factories are the ones making the glasses.
Basically, if there’s money to be made in the sunglasses market – they’re getting a piece of the action.
So how can you apply this in your business – here are a few ideas:
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Perform Better Summits are hands-down the best fitness seminars in the business today. Where else can you learn from such a wide variety of trainers, coaches and clinicians in order to take your skills to the next level?
What’s really fascinating about these events, though, is the broad spectrum of speakers Chris has at the events.
You have what I call the high-energy presenters – guys like BJ Gaddour and Todd Durkin can get you motivated to train, even if you’re just standing in a corner somewhere.
You also have guys and gals with a ridiculous amount of knowledge about specific topics. Alwyn Cosgrove knows business. Eric Cressey knows shoulders. Dr. Stuart McGill knows backs.
While everyone is unique in their own right, it took me a little while to realize the common bond that all the presenters there have in common.
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The other day I made a post about what was working for some of the top fitness business owners in the industry based on some of the things they shared at Bootcamp Bootcamp.
I decided to take it a step further and have some of our Elite Mastermind members offer up 3 things that are currently having a big impact on their businesses. Here you go:
B.J. & Kori Bliffert
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Implementing a scripted new member orientation before our two-week tryout, rather than winging it. Every member gets the same message at every orientation: they learn all the rules, what’s expected of them and the cost of the camp should they be invited.
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Systematized and scripted closing process. Again, no more winging it, same close every time = a predictable outcome.
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1-1 Scripted goal setting meetings after closing the new member. Though we’re still working on this one to get more Prograde sales, it has created personal relationships and a stronger sense of "we want you to succeed as much as you do" attitude with our members.
BJ & Kori Bliffert own Full Throttle Fitness Systems, a warehouse gym in Frisco, TX specializing in Fitness Boot Camps, Kettlebell Training and Small Group Team Training.
Wil Fleming
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Incentivizing referrals. By simply adding the gift of a free t-shirt we have successfully turned every one new client into at least 4-5 new leads. No longer do we have to hit the pavement for new athletes we just had to hand out shirts! The only caveat to this is to make sure you ask for all the info you need to capitalize on the referral. For athletes – that needs to include parents’ names, home phone, and sports played. This is significantly different than what is needed for adults.
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Focus on high return activities. When doing assessments, consults or conducting sessions is what pays the bills – why spend time on activities like updating your Facebook with your "killer" workout of the day? Does it really bring in clients?
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Be involved and be seen. As a coach of athletes it is of the highest importance to be out in the community at athletic events supporting Athletic Revolution athletes. Be seen and interact with parents everywhere you go. Offer to do fundraisers for the local youth teams and high schools. Oh, and don’t be a dope and forget to collect contact info anyplace you can!
Wil Fleming is the owner and director of performance at Athletic Revolution Bloomington / Force Fitness and Performance in Bloomington, IN. Wil is a member and contributor to the IYCA. He has trained over 25 division I athletes in the last calendar year alone and his Athletic Revolution works with nearly 200 athletes on a weekly basis.
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Tonight we’ll have some of the most successful fitness pros in the industry getting into Louisville for this weekend’s Bootcamp Bootcamp event. If you’re not going to be one of the folks in attendance – no sweat – I wanted to give you some surefire tips that will have your business rockin’ in no time. Here you go:
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Be Great At What You Do – If you’re a sh&tty trainer or coach – all the marketing advice in the world won’t make up for it. Think about seeing a great ad for a restaurant. It might get up in the door for one meal, but if your meal was bad, would any amount of advertising ever get you back?
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Joint Ventures – Have you ever taken the time to find out how many businesses are there in your area who serve you potential clientele? You should.
Build a relationship with them so you can eventually have them as a referral source. Start by being nice, offering free training to the owners and at least steep discounts to the staff. Send them some referrals. Eventually you will be able to get referrals in return and more structured lead generation activities like endorsed mailings or emails.
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Are you creating a success that you’re going to enjoy?
I know it sounds strange to ask if you’re going to enjoy success – but bear with me for a few minutes and you’ll see what I’m getting at.
Over the weekend Nick and I went to Perform Better in Providence, Rhode Island. We got to see lots of friends and colleagues – plus we got to head down to Pembroke, Massachusetts to visit Athletic Revolution franchisees Dave & Andrea Gleason.
Hanging out with guys like Pat Beith, Eric Cressey, Mike Boyle and Alwyn Cosgrove is not only a great time but always thought provoking.
One of the things Alwyn and I were chatting about was how much traveling he was doing and how it was wearing on him a bit. He’s one of the most in demand speakers in the industry (If you’ve ever heard him talk, you know why – he’s awesome) – but his speaking schedule has expanded so much that he’s getting on a plane about every 8 days on average.
He’s basically become so successful at this that so much travel is making it less enjoyable.
So right now Alwyn is developing his plan to make this part of what he does serve him better.
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By now you may know that Nick and I, along with Brian Grasso and Sara Nylander, launched a youth fitness & athletic development franchise called Athletic Revolution.
We’ve been very deliberate with our expansion (we have 7 locations so far) because we are committed to building the premier youth fitness & athletic development franchise in the world – and we can’t do that haphazardly 
Because we spend a lot of time focusing on building Athletic Revolution the right way, we put a lot of thought into what goes into a successful fitness business. While I can’t share the details of everything we’ve uncovered as some of it is proprietary and exclusive to AR franchisees – I can share the key components that go into any successful fitness business.
To build a successful business, you need:
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There are a lot of mistakes personal trainers and coaches make that hold them back from reaching their business goals. Here are 12 of the most common:
Mistake #1 – Thinking that aggressive marketing will make up for a mediocre service. The bottom line is this: you can generate a lot of leads with a strong marketing push – but you won’t keep those clients if you’re all sizzle and no steak. You have to deliver great results and you have to create an environment that your clients love being in.
I don’t know of any great personal training business that doesn’t get a lot of their clients from referrals. Obviously, you can’t generate referrals with a run of the mill service.
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Recently I’ve been getting a number of questions regarding fitness sales, so the follow up on my recent blog post sharing 3 sales tips I wanted to go ahead and share a small sales manual that I provided to our training staff. You can download it below (click on the image or the link):
Enjoy the manual and be sure to tell me all about those deals that your closing!
Dedicated to your success,
Pat Rigsby
Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.
Selling personal training, bootcamps, youth fitness programs or even health club memberships – that’s the foundation of your business.
No sale – no client, camper or member.
But most fitness pros I know hate selling. But that’s only because they’re not comfortable with it yet.
Here are three tips to change that and make closing sales much, much easier.
Fitness Sales Key #1 – Everything Leads To A Sale
Sometimes I have to remind the trainers we work with that while sending press releases, getting on TV, making blog posts, writing articles, creating product and all the rest are great…they’re all just a means to lead to you selling something.
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