Fitness, Business, Fitness Business, & Achieving Life Goals

#10 Successful Personal Trainers Are Mentors

A mentor, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a trusted counselor, tutor, or coach.” I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that all successful Personal Trainers have had at least one mentor in their lives. I’ve had many. And I would not be the professional or the person that I am today had I not. (some are named in my earlier post Mentors BOGO: Be One, Get One) My mentors were and are people I trust, like and admire who have been open, honest and willing to share their expertise with me.

I would also like to believe that I have, in turn, been a mentor to others whenever I have been able. It is enormously fulfilling to help others reach their potential.

If it is as rewarding as I say, why don’t more people mentor others? Maybe they don’t think they have enough experience. I understand that, although I think everybody has something to share. I’ve also heard (and this is the one that floors me) Trainers say, “I’m not telling other Trainers how I do things because then they’ll be taking clients that I should be getting.” So, they’re not willing to mentor others for fear that there’s not enough business to go around and that somehow helping other Personal Trainers become better limits their own earning potential. That simply shows their insecurity and, frankly, ignorance.

If you truly believe you are a great Personal Trainer then you know you can get the clients and aren’t threatened by others. And to think there aren’t enough clients to go around is ridicoulous. How many people need post-rehab training, want to be in better condition for their sport, want to function better in their day to day activities, and of the nearly 70% of the population that’s overweight or obese, how many would like to lose weight?

Successful Personal Trainers are mentors because helping others succeed is a way of giving back and a way to share in the joy of others reaching their goals.

 “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

Check out the full Successful Personal Trainers series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

#8 Successful Personal Trainers Get Referrals

One of the best ways to gain new clients is to get referrals. An advertisement that you may see in the paper, on the news, or hear on the radio, will never carry the weight of a friend or someone you trust making a recommendation to you.

Some people will refer others to you on their own (we love those people), but often times you will need to ask for referrals.  Many Personal Trainers hesitate to ask for referrals for the same reasons they don’t like to sell. They feel it is seedy to ask, that they shouldn’t have to ask, or that they don’t view it as a way to help more people.

There are times that are more appropriate to ask than others. In spite of some “systems” preaching to get referrals at the point of sale, I believe it is not a time you should ask. At POS, you haven’t yet had the opportunity to create enough value for the client to send their friends and family to you. The perfect time to ask is when your client is feeling successful and happy about their workouts. (you can prompt this as well by simply asking them how they are feeling about their progress and the workouts in general) When they express their happiness in how it’s going, then is the time to ask, “Is there anyone else you know that you think would benefit from training with me?” “I’d love the opportunity to sit down with them and see how I might be able to help them reach their goals.”
You can also get them to help promote new programs, classes, and/or small group training. “I’m starting a new _______. Do you know anyone that might be interested in that?”
People that are happy with their progress, the program, and like and trust you, will be thrilled to refer their friends and family to you, but sometimes they may need a little nudge to remember to do that.

You should also look to getting referrals from other health/fitness/beauty (yes, beauty) professionals, such as doctors, physical therapists, massage therapists, hair stylists, etc. And, like with your clients, you need to build value and trust with these professionals before you can ask for referrals. We’ll discuss those in more detail in a later post.

Successful Personal Trainers get referrals. Are you getting yours?

Check out the full Successful Personal Trainers series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #4

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #5

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers: #6

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers: #7

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Trainingpage on Facebook.

#7 Successful Personal Trainers Know How to Market Themselves

According to Wikipedia, marketing “is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and creates value for their customers and for themselves.” My own definition is more like “seeking out, connecting with, sharing who we are and how we can help your target audience.”

First, of course, you must know your target audience. Who is your niche market? Where do they hang out? Are they meeting at conferences, senior groups, clubs, churches, schools, community or other organizations? Or are they connecting with others using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Youtube, etc.?

Note: I’m not going to ignore the use of Direct Mail or more “traditional” marketing techniques. Well, actually, I am going to ignore them in this article (for some, they do still work). But they don’t directly connect you with your audience and successful Personal Trainers know that the best way to build rapport and trust is through interaction.

So now, you’ve done your homework and found your market, what do you do from here? You need to find a way to join in their conversations. Connect with the group leaders and see if you can… join the group, volunteer with the group, or present to the group a topic that would be helpful to them. Like selling, your first priority is to be of service to them. You must create value, trust, confidence in you as a resource before you ask for anything in return.

Social media works the same way. Find which ones are used by your target audience. Create a presence by offering helpful information to others. They will then share your information with their friends. Their friends share with their friends, etc, and before you know it, you have a large audience of potential clients.  

Obviously there are a lot more specifics, but the essence of marketing in this day and age is connection and conversation. Successful Personal Trainers know how to market themselves by actively getting involved with their target market, whether it’s face to face or using social media.

How are you establishing your presence? 

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #4

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #5

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers: #6

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

#6 Successful Personal Trainers Over-Deliver

Successful Personal Trainers understand that a big part of the perceived value of their training comes from what is expected of them and what it is they actually deliver.

An example of perceived value is when I took the family to see the movie Avatar in IMAX 3D, thinking, all the while, how expensive it was. I mean, it’s just a movie, right? However, once the movie started it far exceeded my expectations and I immediately wanted that experience again. And yes, I was happily willing to pay for it again.

What are the expectations of potential clients? The service industry is woefully lacking in people that actually understand good service. Grumpy cashiers, store employees that don’t seem to know you’re waiting for help, and those that literally roll their eyes or groan when you do ask for assistance are par for the course. So even the basics are a step up.

The basics include: Knowing how to create individualized programs, being punctual, having professional attire, warm and friendly greetings, leaving your personal problems at home, asking about them and really listening to their answers, making sure they know all policies from the start, guiding through and educating them about their workouts, talking with them not at them, ignoring other conversations in the room and keeping your full focus on your client, and asking the client how they feel about the workout.

How can we exceed the basics and create experiences that enrich your relationship with your client? The listed are some possibilities if they fit you and your scenario: be entertaining (a good sense of humor goes a long way), keep adapting/changing their program as they are capable, offer praise often, make sure they leave feeling good about what they just accomplished at the end of each workout, reach out to them at other times by email, phone, cards, social networking, to check in with them, wish them happy birthday/anniversary, other important events in their life, etc. Do something unexpected and nice for them.

Those are just some thoughts on what might make your clients really feel taken care of, over and above expectations. What do you do to over-deliver or create that experience for your clients? I’d love to hear your ideas.

Check out the full Successful Personal Trainers series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #4

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #5

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

#5 Successful Personal Trainers are Specialists

Successful Personal Trainers realize that you will draw more attention when you own a niche, a specific, narrowly defined market.

 Whether you are a weight loss specialist or a youth fitness specialist, you need to narrow your market in order to get more business. This stumps the average Trainer. “By narrowing my market, I decrease my chances of picking up new clients.” is the thought process.

Think about this, in a sea of Personal Trainers that “do everything” how exactly do you stand out? Being a generalist says that you specialize in nothing. What if I’m looking for someone to help me continue getting my newly replaced knee back in shape (after I’m through with physical therapy), and none of the Trainers at my club list post-rehab as their area of expertise, I might as well roll the dice to find someone to work with, IF I don’t decide to go elsewhere. But, when one Trainer states that they are post-rehab conditioning specialists, they will stand out dramatically to me and will be the one I hire.

The fact is, the more specific that niche, the more likely you are to be found. If you are a senior weight loss specialist, even among senior fitness specialists, you stand out for those older individuals where weight loss is their primary concern. Now, I will throw this caveat in, your niche has to have enough of a market in your area to be viable. In New York City a Bridal weight loss expert has vast potential for clients, where, in Saco, ME, with a handful of weddings per year, wouldn’t work as well.

While many Personal Trainers think that it deminishes their market, having a niche actually increases your chance of being found, building your business. It also doesn’t have to be all that you do, but it is what you market yourself as. I am a post-rehab conditioning specialist and that accounts for about 60% of my training. The other 40% is weight loss, general fitness, sports conditioning, etc.

For more on the need to niche, see Jack Trout’s book Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition for more.

Check out the full Successful Personal Trainers series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #4

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

#4 Successful Personal Trainers Have a Business Vision

“As you climb the ladder of success, make sure it’s leaning against the right building.” – ? I can’t remember who said that, but it is the truth. In order to know if you’re doing the right things for your future, you need to define what you want that future to be.

What’s your business vision of where you want to be 5 years down the road? 10 years? 20 years? What’s your end game? We all have a balance of things that we want. Financial security, family, influence, enjoyment, fulfillment, recognition, etc. are all possible ingredients of our ideal life. What’s important to you?

Exercise: take 30 seconds (no more) and list the top five things that are important to achieve in your life. Ready… START. With a timed test, we don’t have time to debate in our head what and why things are important. It’s a gut reaction, and a lot can be learned from that. What did you come up with? Did any of those surprise you? In example, let’s say financial freedom is one of those. What does that mean to you? Do you want to build a business, sell it for huge money, and never have to work again? Or, do you want to make “X” amount of dollars per year as long as you chose to work? By when do you want to achieve this goal? How does it fit in with your other goals? Where’s the overlap and the balance?

It’s sort of like periodizing your life. Define when and what you want the results to be. Then you can back track and label the timeline with the steps that will take you to your goal.

Successful Personal Trainers have a clear vision of where they are going, when they want to be there, and what steps are necessary to get them there.

Check out the full series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #3

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

#3 Successful Personal Trainers Love to Sell.

It’s interesting how many Personal Trainers hate to “sell”. When talking about sales, what typically comes to mind is the sleazy car salesman who will say anything to get a sale. I, myself, as a club manager in the early ’80s, went through a sales training program that emphasized selling multi- year membership contracts and hoping that they wouldn’t show up. There were club salespeople that would sell memberships for classes that we didn’t even offer. Needless to say, I resigned shortly thereafter with a stong dislike for anything to do with sales. It wasn’t until years later when a friend pointed out to me that I was the biggest salesperson around, that I was able to re-define my ideas of what “selling” really was. My “selling”, that my friend pointed out, was my enthusiasm for fitness and my belief that I could help make others’ lives better. In essence, that’s what selling is for us.

When we sit down with a potential client, we use our motivational interviewing techniques to uncover what their needs, wants, and what obstacles they have. Then, not unlike a doctor or physical therapist, we make an honest recommendation as to what we believe is the best course of action for them to reach their goals safely and effectively. The financial aspect, at this point, shouldn’t come into play. This recommendation is our best case scenario for them. It may sound something like this, “Based on what you’ve told me, that you’ve had difficulty sticking with a program, become easily bored, and tend to get injured when working out on your own, I recommend that we work together ___ times per week. That way we can build your initial program, gradually ramp up the intensity while constantly monitoring your form for safety, and change it up before you get bored. It’ll keep you accountable and help you stick with the program, not to mention get you the results you want faster. Does that sound like something you’d be interested in?”

That’s the idea. Specifically address their situation, make an honest recommendation, relate specifically how your recommendation will address their issues and get them to their goal, and ask if they’d like to have your help in changing their health/fitness.

Successful Personal Trainers love “selling” because it is offering the potential client their best chance at success. Wouldn’t you love giving everyone that chance? Embrace that moment and make them the offer that can change their lives.

Check out the full series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #2

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

#2 Successful Personal Trainers are Coaches.

Coaching, which begins with the utilization of Motivational Interviewing techniques, is what it takes to get your clients to create and sustain change. Coaches are not dictators of what to do. They are facilitators for the client to discover their own path of change. In other words, coaching gets them to come up with their own solutions. When they come up with the answers, what they need to do, and what they’re ready to do, they are more likely to follow through with them.

By asking open-ended questions, the coach can help clients clarify their goals, past and potential future obstacles. Together the coach/client team problem solve, define action plans and create a system of accountability.

A coach offers the client safe, open, and honest dialogue without judgment, ongoing support, encouragement, and help them to accomplish more than they believed possible.

Successful Personal Trainers utilize coaching techniques to get and keep their clients engaged in their programs. While some Trainers inherently use many of these skills, a formal training program will take you to the next level.

FYI: in a recent New York Times artiicle Approach May Matter In Advice On Weight

Recognized Coaching certification organizations:

Wellcoaches (the Wellness Coach program I went through)

International Coach Academy

International Coach Federation (ICF)

A good resource to get started:
Lifestyle Fitness Coaching

Check out the full series.

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers (Series)

Top 10 Traits of Successful Personal Trainers #1

P.S. Also, follow my Business of Personal Training page on Facebook.

I guess first comes the question, “Are you writing a blog?” In my Long Tail post, you’ll note that , in this day and age, everyone can be a producer of ideas and information. Blogs can be about anything, can BE anything. Web Logs started as online journals. People writing about their “stuff”, their lives and interests. Since then, we(B Logs) or blogs have expanded to be very specialized information sites.

Why would you want to write one? What would you write about? What do you hope to gain from writing one? These are just a couple of the questions you should ask yourself before starting a blog.

In general, we blog to communicate. Possibly to give help or get help or support for your ideas or debate your ideas. But communication is at the heart of it. So, I’m going to spill my guts in an effort to give an example of why some of us blog.

I have over thirty years of health club management and Personal Training and I write posts sharing my information and ides to help others. That’s it really. Really? you ask.. Well it’s certainly is the main reason. Yes, other things can happen as a result, and that is a bonus. Let’s look at my reasons:

Primary) A desire to help, to inspire thought AND discussion (I also learn from those who take part in discussions)

Secondary) Become known as an authority (both for health/fitness and fitness business), to create an audience that trusts me as an authority and as a person, to get better at writing and write those couple of books I have in mind, to build a following of people that might be interested in a product I put out, if and when I ever have one, and, at that point, maybe I make a little money. Maybe.

That’s me. Others may use a blog to sell products, to support a product (how to do this or that, troubleshooting, etc.), tell a company story, just to be entertaining,  or a combination thereof.

Communication/blogging is a very real way we can become known and I think we all have something to share with others. So, I believe most of us should have a blog. Here are some of my fitness friends’ blogs:

Nicki Anderson http://www.nickianderson.com/

Linda Melone http://lindamelone.wordpress.com/

Carla Birnberg http://mizfitonline.com/

Joe Hashey http://www.synergy-athletics.com/

Everett Harman http://mens-fitness-and-healthdotcom.blogspot.com/

Narina Prokosch http://blog.victoriawellness.com

Andrew Zagami www.a2zpt.com.au/blog/

Sara Lewis Www.Mixfitness.net/blog

two sites I contribute to http://ensemblefitness.com and  http://www.guidingstars.com

and just starting his blog, Mark Roozen http://rozysremarks.blogspot.com/

What about you? Are you currently blogging or soon to join the ranks? I’ll get into more of the ins and outs of blogs in follow up posts. I’d love to hear you thoughts and questions on the subject.