Fitness, Business, Fitness Business, & Achieving Life Goals

#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.

Be Your Own CEO While Working for Others is a session I will be presenting at Club Industry East in Boston this year. The idea came from club employed Personal Trainer complaints that I’ve heard through the years. “The club is getting half of the money, so why should I work hard at selling Personal Training for them?” That kind of mindset limits their ability to build their business. Which isn’t good for them or the club.

I get it. You don’t want to work for “the man.” You want the money to be all yours. I can’t blame you. BUT, if that’s the case, then you had better be ready, willing, and able to go and start your own business. And, by the way, the money is never “all yours”. What about your facility overhead, taxes, insurance, etc. that is currently taken care of by the club you work for? Now, I still believe that most people should be working toward owning their own business, but know what it really takes to do that. Don’t just think it’s as simple as hanging a shingle. Read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

So, in the meantime what do you do…resign yourself to doing a half-a** job because you’re working for some else? Get over it! Your brand, your reputation, how smart you work, your business within the club, is in your control. Yes, the club takes it’s cut, but you get yours as well. Are you doing what it takes to make the most you can in the club. Ask yourself these questions(and there are more):

If there are Personal Trainer tiers, are you taking the steps necessary to move up to the top tier?

Are you always friendly, smiling, and approachable?

Do you always look and act as a professional?

Are you exceeding your existing clients’ expectations, constantly showing the value?

Are you asking them for referrals?

Are you spending time in the club and on the workout floor (on your own dime if necessary) connecting with members and seeking opportunities to sit down with them to problem solve and make a recommendation (if appropriate) to train?

Are you connecting with your club sales people and letting them know what you specialize in and what kind of members you work best with? You could even treat them to a session so they will know what they’re promoting in you.

Are you opening your schedule up to connect/integrate new members into the club.

Are you teaching group exercise classes for greater exposure as a fitness expert and to build rapport with a large group of people?

Are you doing small group trainings to maximize your $/hr earnings?

Are you creating an contact/email list to: re-connect with people, see how their program is going and if you can be of help to them, send e-newsletters, blog postings, links to articles of interest which helps to make you the go-to person for information?

Are you using/creating the tools to monitor your productivity? (i.e. a closing ratio spreadsheet)

This is not a complete list, by any means, but is a great start on taking control of your business within the club you work for. Good luck, make it happen, and if I can be of help to you, please email me at m a r k @ m a r k n u t t i n g . c o m.

Best wishes, Mark