How does one market and sell strength training effectively?

We have all been shot down from potential clients. It happens to some of us more than others, but nonetheless, we have all been there. Where do we lose some of them? Our lack of knowledge? Their lack of funds? What is it exactly? 

The one thing I have noticed is that if you do NOT show the value in what you are providing for them, then nothing else will matter. However, showing value can mean a lot of things. By providing such value, one will definitely increase their sales. So let’s go over a few points that will lead to further success when selling PT.

Listening: Listen to everything they are telling you. This is about THEM – not YOU. Find out what their goals are. When it is your turn to speak, then speak. But they are there in that seat for a reason and they need some kind of help that you can provide for them. They will listen to you, but first you must hear their wants and needs.  You’re looking for what is causing them trouble or “pain”.  What keeps them up at night so to speak.  Matching the benefits of your service to solving that problem(s) is the value.

Passion: This is what always rings in my ears! People WILL sense your lack of passion if it’s not present. If they feel you are in this for a paycheck and don’t value their goals and success then they will not be apt to purchasing sessions with you. They must be able to feed off your excitement and energy.  You don’t have to be jumping out of your skin, but make it a point to be more personable and social if you’re an introvert.  There’s no need to be nervous, be confident.  If they’ve already made the effort to come in and meet you, there’s a really good chance they will want to work with you.

Explaining High Intensity Training: I find this to be interesting here. I typically get two different responses when I explain High Intensity Training to future clients.
1: That’s it? That’s all the training I’ll be doing? That won’t work!
2: Hell yes! Less gym time?! Of course! Let’s do this!

Obviously, I don’t go into great detail about HIT, but I cover basics and use the sun tan analogy frequently. It’s an analogy that people can relate to very well. When I start making sense to people, this is where I capture their interest. Not with science, but with LOGIC. When I explain 2 + 2 = 4, they understand and at that point I have their ears. You can see on their countenance how deeply intrigued they are IF you explain it correctly. This is where I can set myself apart from the competition and demonstrate that I’m a professional and know what I’m talking about.  I’m a true student of the craft.  You won’t sell everyone, but you can make a big impact on everyone.  This is the value to you, as a trainer, in having a system in place.  A comprehensive philosophy.  You’re not just making things up as you go along or randomly slapping exercises together.  There is a logical purpose and reason for every aspect of your program design generally and fine tuned for each client.

Devotion: This works in conjuction with passion. You must be devoted to what you do. People will sense this lack of devotion as well. This will manifest itself in return clientele base.  Meaning repeat business.  Your real income BY FAR, if you do it right, will be repeat business.  It’s so much harder to get someone new from the outside “fresh” than it is to have someone who has already bought from you and knows, likes, and trusts you, buy again.

Education: If you are passionate and devoted, then I firmly believe you will be educated. If you know what you are talking about, future clientele will listen and take you seriously..

Workout: Again, listen. Ask them what they want to work on. Typically guys want an upper body workout, where women want a lower body; not always, but generally speaking. Address what they want and make sure the workout is of great value.

Referrals: After you have a solid base, most clients SHOULD come from referrals. The passion, devotion, education and results you provide them should and WILL get you many referrals.  Many times, this will happen in an organic way.  BUT, you don’t want to sit around and wait for it to happen.  There are certain tools you can make use of to stimulate referrals from clients while rewarding them for it at the same time.  

Bottom line: If you listen, have a set consultation system in place, care, and show them this is your true vocation then you will have an upper hand in attaining them as a new client and the sale will come naturally and easily. If you are a HIT advocate, then I recommend that you use this as a marketing tool in your introductions.  It is EXTREMELY effective in terms of body re-composition and it is VERY effective at selling and saving your clients time.

OK, Chris here again.  Thanks Jay!  Good stuff in there.  That’s exactly how we go about it here and I suggest other trainers to as well.  If you’re an entrepreneur, the good thing is you don’t have to come up with all of these things on your own.  Many of these business tools and systems that are proven and a reproducible process have already been created and are available through S.P.A.R.T.A. here.

If you’d like to connect with Jay or learn more about his methods especially his HIT training philosophy and how he wins over new clients with it, you can connect with him on Facebook here.

And don’t forget to stop by and check out the S.P.A.R.T.A. store for the business tools you need to make your business more professional.

• You’re the one on the treadmill, out of breath AND stamina between managing clients, paperwork, state compliance?
• You’re paying more taxes and taking home less pay?
  
• You’re not MAKING MONEY but you’re so busy, you ask yourself where does the time go?
• You are stuck in a plateau; a predictable week that resembles groundhog day?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a team, to have some support and to make some money?

You can accomplish this in 2 hours with an initial investment of $50.00

REGISTER HERE

If you missed the “Breakthrough Your Fitness Business Plateau” call earlier this month (available for purchase here) then you may have not heard about a new program designed to help you build up the resistance and interval training you need to sustain and grow your business.

On Tuesday November 29th, 2011  from 12-2 pm join Chris Lutz, Christy Dombrowski and Jaclyn Mullen in our follow up afternoon workshop: “Breakthrough Your Fitness Business Plateau” where there will be in person networking, peer support, a mastermind pairing as well as four, twenty minute workshops on: Establishing an online presence, Increasing Revenue, Local Marketing and Client Development/Relations. This is the second part of our program, there will be many more to come in future weeks.

Chris Lutz, Owner and Master Trainer, S.P.A.R.T.A

Chris Lutz is the owner and founder of S.P.A.R.T.A. He has a degree from George Mason University in Exercise Science and is in his 11th year of professional instruction as a certified personal trainer. Teaching, reading and writing about proper exercise methodology are his biggest passions. Chris and his team can properly teach you how to train your clients to obtain a full body workout in 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week using a safe, effective and efficient method called high intensity training.

Christy Dombrowski, Owner and Master Trainer, Foxy Body Fitness

Learn how the Owner and Master trainer at Foxy Body Fitness levearged a $5.00 ad that yielded her mega results and grew her clientele! Christy Dombrowski is a fitness and educational extraordinaire; she is a certified K-12 Health and Physical Education Teacher from the University of Virginia, has her Bachelors of Exercise Science from George Mason and maintains specialized certifications in Pilates/Yoga Fusion, Spinning, Pilates Reformer, Group Fitness and Kickboxing.

Jaclyn Mullen, Entrepreneur/Creative Marketer, Jaclyn Mullen Media

Jaclyn Mullen is a Los Angeles based entreprenuer who specializes in marketing and branding, especially social media. If you’ve ever wondered how to talk Twitter, Jaclyn can help you! Aside from that, you need to know who your ideal clients are, what social platforms they are on and how to brand yourself. Jaclyn’s expert advice has been utilized by several clients and brands in the entertainment, beauty, fitness, consumer package goods and legal industries.

Event starts at Noon and ends at 2:00 pm.  Attend in person or virtually online.

So you see, $50.00 gets you:

• This in person workshop
• Advice from the three experts featured above
• One free, hour long group mastermind follow up call with the participants from the days activities
• Matching with a peer partner who attends the workshop that day for moral support
• Networking with other fitness professionals in the DC Metropolitan area
• A discount price on our program coming out mid December.

WE WANT YOU TO GET OFF THE STAGNANT TREADMILL IN 2011 and GET ON THE CASH FLOW TREADMILL IN 2012!

Sign up now, there is limited in person availability. $50.00 will save YOUR seat.  You can attend in person or virtually online.

 REGISTER HERE

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday November 29th, 2011. Program begins promptly at 12:00 noon. Got questions? chrislutz@spartatraining.com

If you haven’t heard of it, Linked In is a professional networking site.  It’s more than just an online rolodex or resume which is what most people think it is.  There are many other uses and applications you can use to network and attract more potential clients. Take a look at what I’ve done with my profile as an example of all you can do.  I have:

• My Twitter account linked to my Linked In status.
• Virtually my entire resume including specialties.
• Over 800+ connections.
• My websites and blogs listed.
• I have almost 30 recommendations. I use it to easily ask for testimonials and then you can use them anywhere. Plus they are displayed on my profile.
• I’m a member of about 50 discussion groups 3 of which I created. You can participate in those and network with your peers and other business leaders quite easily.
• I have this blog fed right into my profile page so when I post it shows up there automatically.
• And I used Google Docs to display a MS powerpoint sales presentation that anyone can view.

It leaves the possibility for me through my network to potentially contact as many as 8 million people.

I’ve used my profile or all of the things listed in the article.  And there are many other things you can do and it’s all free.  If you wanted to get in contact with another business leader in a big company, but don’t want to get stopped at the door, you could probably do it through your network on Linked In using the “get introduced” function.  By the way, if you’re not connected to me, log in and go ahead and connect.  If you need my email to connect, it’s info@spartatraining.com.

Read the article here and start to get more leads for your personal training business.  If you don’t necessarily like going to networking events in person, this can offer you a decent alternative.

In addition to using great free tools like this, be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.

My clients love the taste and simplicity. It takes away all the guess work,
time and hassle of shopping and cooking and it provides perfectly
balanced nutritional meals portioned perfectly. Even better…trainers
(you and I) make money when our clients buy the meal program.
Also, we can make money when we sign up our fellow trainers and their
total sales hit certain benchmarks. We make between $60 and $80 for
every 28 day meal program your client purchases and you make $1,200
every time your team sales hit $15,000.

They offer 3 different meal plans between $299 and $389 plus Fedex
shipping. They provide excellent customer support for us. You can
signup for free (yes…100% free for trainers to join, NO catches).

Sign up for free HERE through their affiliate site.

If you’d like to take some of the nutritional burden off of yourself, but still have a revenue source in the process, this is the way to go.

You can sign up for free HERE through their affiliate site, Personal Trainer Food.

A “NEW” Revised Edition of the Original Book that Rocked the Internet in 2010. The New “Diet, Exercise & Weight-loss Bullsh*t – Exposed!” now includes the Absolute Best Collection of No-Nonsense Diet, Exercise, & Weight-loss FACTS – Ever! This book can be the “Blueprint” to your own exercise and eating success. Whether you’re struggling to lose a few pounds, or a bonafide Gym-Rat looking to accelerate muscle-growth. You will find your answers here. The Truth About “Calories”, “Carbs”, “Fat-loss”, “Weight-Training”, “Metabolism”, “Belly-Fat” “Genetics”, “Cardio” ,“Building Muscle”, “Cellulite”, “Supplements”, “Eating”, “All types of Exercise”, and so much more. Today alone, millions of people will decide to change the way their body looks. Unfortunately, that’s about as close as many will get to actually doing it. Why? Because too often, the dumb things people believe, the stupid things people do, and the crap people buy makes it nearly impossible. NEW DIET BOOKS? Every few months a new book hits the news-stands claiming to have the magic solution to weight-loss. One-hundred-thousand different books have made it to book-store shelves in the past 10 years. Haven’t we all learned our lesson? Apparently not. TV INFOMERCIALS? They make billions selling lies, scams, and bogus products. Don’t be fooled by the high-energy “rich” TV Fitness Trainer. Notice the fine-print on the bottom of your TV screen. It usually says “These results are not typical”. Trust me, they’re not. DIET SUPPLEMENTS? A complete rip-off. We mistakenly believe the paid testimonials and sexy claims that promise us we can shed pounds like magic, or build huge rock-hard muscles in only a few weeks. Duh! FRIENDS & CO-WORKERS? You’ll hear some of the dumbest advice ever from other-wise intelligent people. The only problem is that when it comes to accurate exercise and eating advice…they simply don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Often, it’s not their fault, they’re just repeating the same dumb nonsense they’ve heard – and believe – from others.

About Franny

Franny Goodrich is the author of three published books on the topics of diet, exercise and weight-loss. Edgy and often controversial, Goodrich makes no apology for anyone’s ruffled feathers, or a few raised eyebrows, especially within the billion-dollar weight-loss Industry. He continues to be an aggressive consumer advocate against frauds and scams. Goodrich’s first book, appropriately titled; “Diet, Exercise, & Weight-loss Bullsh*t -Exposed!”, is a humorous, yet informative expose’ on the myths, lies, and scams within the Industry. It became an instant and huge internet hit. A New Edition was released in 2011. Goodrich’s second and third book; “Kiss The Fat Goodbye – Uncensored”, and “What Works, What Doesn’t, & Why”, respectively, are both largely collections of excerpts from his popular web-pages, advice blogs, magazine articles, and personal interviews. Goodrich, an Exercise Science Buff, is a former National-level Track and Field Athlete and Natural-Bodybuilding Competitor. He has been a successful Certified Personal Trainer (ACE). Goodrich has nearly 30-years teaching-experience in the fields of Fitness and Athletics. In 1990 Goodrich created and owned the North Carolina-based Health Club Chain “World Famous Big Ape Gym”. In 2008 he formed the Exercise and Weight-loss Consumer Advocate Group; “Body Coaches of America”. Currently a freelance author and writer Goodrich’s latest project is the development of an on-site workshop based on topics discussed in his books.

Be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.

It’s already going to be hard for us just because of the nature of what we are doing.  We need to do everything we can to raise that standard and attract the right customers and employees.

Take it seriously, make your clients, prospects, and employees take it seriously too.  Stand up and project a professional image.  Build your brand.  Look nice. Look like you really know what you are doing compared to the unprofessional people out there.  Don’t settle for the same old crap from clients and employees.

Here are a few business tools that can help you do that.

Chris Lutz- Master Trainer

Personal Trainer Business Tools and Forms

Be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.

Send Your First Email Newsletter Today – AWeber Communications

Updated tips from AWeber Communications newsletter and autoresponder service.

Be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.

What do you think about this? Personal training, I would say is not a mundane repetitive activity where money is a sole motivator to the staff member. Have you experienced this in your business?

Be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.

Here’s what’s included for you:

The Hyper Intensity Training Manual
Instructional Videos
Live Action Training Videos
Workout Log Sheets
Free Bonus #1: Special Report-”5 Advanced Strength Training Techniques Used In The NFL”
Free Bonus #2: 30 days FREE unlimited access to “High Intensity University”
Anti-Procrastination Bonus: “The H.I.T. All-Star Roundtable, Volume I” MP3 Download
**NOTE** THIS BONUS ENDS AT MIDNIGHT EST FRIDAY JUNE 24TH**

I’ve used them myself and this was what I had to say:

“Lately, I’ve had great results building my chest, shoulders, and traps especially using advanced HIT techniques like static holds and strongest range reps outlined in Dave’s book. It’s done a lot for my confidence as a man having larger neck and shoulders. I’ve increased them so much, I could no longer button the top button on my dress shirts anymore. I need new clothes, but I’m happy because my muscles have noticeably grown and I’ve been training HIT style for over a decade!! These techniques work!!”

Click Here! to get your copy.

All of this for only $19.95

We were happy to contribute some of the videos to Dave’s product. Remember, if you buy through us, you’ll get an extra bonus from S.P.A.R.T.A. Simply email us your receipt and we’ll send you a copy of our own ebook: 17 Advanced High Intensity Training Techniques

So even if you’ve been training for years, these techniques can re-ignite your progress and in a visible noticeable way in your body.

We’re really excited this product is finally out there, we hope you are too. And remember, it’s only $39! AND, if you’re not happy with it in any way, there is a 60 Day money back guarantee so there’s no risk.

Click Here! to get your copy now.

Be sure to check back or subscribe to S.P.A.R.T.A.’s business of personal training blog for more updates and personal trainer business tools and services.