clients

When You Refer, Your Brand is at Stake

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It’s very important to have a network of professionals that you can refer your people to. All of those things that they need that you do not do. This could be a chiropractor, a massage therapist, a registered dietician, or even a good car mechanic.

Being able to help your members/clients solve a problem that they have is a great way to build social currency (being held in higher esteem). Which equals greater loyalty. So, yea! However, be careful who you refer people to. Every referral that you make is a reflection on you and your brand. As said, a successful referral increases the positive feelings that people have for you, but, a negative experience can have the opposite effect. You lose respect and loyalty.

Build your referral network by getting to know the people you intend on referring people to. Chiropractor? Go talk with them and get an adjustment. Massage therapist? Get a massage. Don’t refer unless you know what they can do. Sure, it will take longer to build that network, but your clients, the people you referring your clients to, and your brand will thank you.

Note: What got me going on this was that I was talked into joining this online referral group. As I made connections to other businesses, I kept getting asked to refer them when I really didn’t know anything about them. Referrals are precious. Use them only when you know that they will serve your people well.

Reopening Communication Begins With Your Team.

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Once the pandemic restrictions are lifted, clubs/studios around the country will slowly start to reopen. Much of what I see published these days about plans for reopening is the importance of communicating with your members/clients. This IS very important. Not only does your facility need to take all of the steps necessary to create as safe an environment as possible for your members/clients, but you need to let them know exactly what you have done and will be doing. Their perception of safety is what will bring them back through your doors.

However, before that, you have to communicate with your team. They are going to have their own fears and concerns and if they don’t understand or agree with the reopening procedures, they won’t be able to pass that on to your members/clients.

Start by involving them in the discussion. Before you tell them what the new rules are, ask them what would make them feel safe in delivering their services. Ask them what they think would be important guidelines to put in place. Even if they come up with the same ideas that you had, if they say it first, there will be greater understanding and buy in. They may also come up with some items that you had overlooked. After they are satisfied with their list, ask their thoughts on any additional ideas that you might have had on your list.

Once reopening procedures are set, walk your whole team through the club/studio, mapping out how all of the new guidelines will be actualized. Answer all your teams questions thoroughly so that they are all on the same page and can communicate the guidelines to your members/clients. Document all of this in writing and/or video for their future reference.

Finally, role play potential challenges that may come up with members/clients. There are going to be members/clients that either don’t understand or don’t want to play by the rules. Role play these scenarios with your team and discuss the possible outcomes with them.

The best opportunity you have to get your members/clients back in your club/studio as soon as possible, is to have your team prepped, ready, and eager to help them with the transition into your facility’s new normal.

Good luck!

The Most Rewarding Clients

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Let me start by saying that this is my opinion about what is most rewarding to me. You may get jazzed up by a completely different demographic. That’s cool. We’re all different and so are our clients. For me, though, the most rewarding clients are the ones that are coming back from injuries, illness, or simply years of disuse, and have become tentative about starting an exercise program. Let me tell you why that is.

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Helping clients become better athletes or better at life, choose the population that is most rewarding to you.

Many trainers like working with athletes or high ambition/high motivation clients. It’s easy (so to speak) because they expect to accomplish their goals and are willing to work for it. Those with injuries, illness, or limited through disuse can be more challenging. There tends to be a lot more individual problem solving, from the psychological end as well coming up with unique adaptations to deal with their physical limitations. That challenges my mind and creativity and I love discovering new ways to do things.

The other part that I love about working with this population, is that they are usually unaware of how much they can change their physical lives. Most often they are amazed at the things they are capable of doing after training for a time. They come in thinking that they’d be happy if they could just go up and down stairs more easily and, with consistent work and progression, they’re out paddle boarding or hiking mountains. That kind of life change and their excitement about it, is what has kept me passionate about personal training for almost 40 years.

My point in talking about this is simply to let other personal trainers in on the benefits, the joys, of working with a physically challenged population. So, if you get the chance, take on some clients that fall into this category and see for yourself how rewarding it can be.

What’s Getting One More Client Worth?

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I’ve known many personal trainers through the years who “couldn’t afford” to pay for further education, mentorships, networking groups, and/or services that could help them build their business. It’s interesting that the inability for those trainers to see the value is not so different from how some individuals looking for health and fitness results balk at paying for personal training. It’s about finding the value.

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Now, not all programs or products are worth it and that’s why you want to rate each offering individually for its value.

As personal trainers, one of the basic questions is, “Will this get me more clients, and, if so, how many?” When you look at the value of a new client, you are also not simply looking at one session, or a week’s worth of sessions, but what the lifetime value of gaining this client.

To figure out the lifetime value of a client, look at how much you receive for the average personal training session (your income, not the fee they pay), multiply by the average number of times per week that you meet with clients, times the number of weeks you train clients each year (hint: it’s never 52), and finally multiply that by the average number of years that clients stay with you.

In example:

  • Average income/client session = $35
  • Average sessions/week = 2
  • Typical weeks/year = 46
  • Lifetime of client = 7 years

$35 x 2 = $70, x 46 = $3220, x 7 years = $22,540

Yeah… that’s right. The lifetime value of one new client could easily be $22,540!

So, back to the question. Is spending $500 (or more or less) on a program, conference, or… whatever, worth it? If it will get you one or more clients that you wouldn’t get otherwise, the answer really is easy. Yes. How can you afford not to?

Invest in the future of your business.

Should You Start Podcasting?

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Podcasting are digital recordings (usually audio ) that can be accessed on demand either by streaming or downloading. The topics range from comedy (most popular) to fitness to education. They can be any length, although from everything that I’ve read, the sweet spot is about 30 minutes.

men's Fitness after 50

One of my upcoming podcasts

I’ve been thinking about podcasting for about a year now because the podcast market has been growing every year and is a great way to reach your target audience. This is one more way that we can reach out and inform, and, in doing so, help more people to reach their goals.

There are some exciting statistics on the reach and effectiveness of podcasting.

In recent research from March 2018, PodcastInsights notes that:

  • 50% of all US homes are podcast fans (Nielsen, Aug 2017)
  • 44% (124 million) of the US population has listened to a podcast – up from 40% in 2017 (Infinite Dial 18)
  • 17% (48 million) listen to podcasts weekly – up from 15% in 2017
  • 16 million people in the US are “avid podcast fans” (Nielsen Q1 2018)
  • 49% of podcast listening is done at home, down from 51% in 2017
  • 22% listen while driving (in a vehicle), same as 2017
  • Podcast listeners listen to an average of 7 different shows per week, up from 5 in 2017
  • 80% listen to all or most of each episode, down from 86% in 2017
  • 65% of monthly podcast listeners have been listening for less than 3 years

Fitness,Business,the Fitness Business,and Random Stuff Inside My Head

Another of my upcoming podcasts

If you’re unsure of how to go about starting, there are online courses and even podcasts on how to start a podcast. I just finished taking an online course from Adam Carolla (#1 podcast at PodcastOne). ADAM CAROLLA Teaches You Podcasting!

I know, you probably are thinking that you’re already spending too much time away from your clients to jump into something new. I get it, but here’s the thing, building your business requires that you spend time ON your business, not just IN your business. ON your business includes building your (or your company’s) brand. That includes social media marketing, blogs, videos, and yes, even podcasting. It all adds to your credibility and helps build an audience that knows, likes, and trusts you, and when that happens, you become their preferred choice with whom to do business. The payoff in new clients and more loyal current clients, will be well worth the extra time investment.

 

 

My Profile Picture, My Brand

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Your brand, as a personal trainer and fitness professional, is what people think about you. Their perception of you and your business, is created by everything you do and all of the content you put out. This includes all of your social media posts and even your profile picture.

trainer quad

I admit that I’m going on a little bit of a rant here, but, I think I need to at least make you aware of the issue. I would bet that at least half of the personal trainers out there use some kind of self body shot for their profile picture. I’m sure that the prevailing thought is that, “I worked hard, got into great shape, and I want people to know that I can do that for them.” Well…. yea for you. No, seriously, congratulations. However, I have a couple of issues with your posting that picture.

  1. You are perpetuating the idea that if you look good, you must know what you’re doing. We all should be able to admit that we know that’s not true. So, why play into that illusion.
  2. As much as you think you are attracting clients by showing off your body, you are intimidating many potential clients as well. The more you show off your perfect or near perfect body, the worse “normal” people feel about their own.
  3. Body shots, in general, also make it very difficult to make out your facial features and, when clients and/or potential clients are trying to connect with you, you want to make it easy for them to recognize you. (This is the same reason that you shouldn’t use a picture of your dog as your profile pic.)

marknuttingc.jpgSo, what is the best profile picture? In my humble opinion, I would choose a tightly cropped headshot, professionally taken (or at least very clear), that portrays what you want your brand to be. Choose a warm and welcoming headshot that gives the air of professionalism and makes it easy to know that it is, indeed, you.

Presence; a Book Review

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Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy is probably classified as a self-help book, but it’s a lot more than that. In essence, social psychologist Cuddy, reveals the science behind creating personal power and presence and where and how that can be used in our lives. presense

A large part of that power and confidence can be controlled through our conscious attention to our body language. Cuddy discusses “power poses”, body positions that, when adopted, can leave us feeling empowered, confident and in the moment (present).

I’m sure that you, as do most of us, “read” people’s body language to gather insight into their personality. Hunched and averting direct eye contact may mean they are shy or wary. So, the emotional state creates the posture… unless it’s the other way around. Cuddy goes on to describe research that shows how changing your posture can also change how you feel, becoming happier, more open, more social.

I say that it’s a lot more than a self-help book because I can see how I can utilize some of the principles to help my clients. So many of the people we see have poor self images. If we can, through a few simple exercises, make others more confident and happier with themselves, wouldn’t that be a wonderful ability to have.

https://embed.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are

If this interests you, I highly recommend reading Presence. As a teaser, check out Ann Cuddy’s TED talk on the topic.