Being a personal trainer, no one really gives you the blueprint on how to sell your services when trying to get more clients to grow your business. Selling is important because if you’re not able to convert the people who are interested in training with you into paying customers then you’re never going to have a successful business. As personal trainers, we are the ones who change people’s lives for the better, but it’s impossible to do so without selling them the fitness packages they need to get results. The more people you help, the more money you’ll earn in return.

So, here are a couple of tips on how to sell personal training to help you increase your closing rate:

1. Learn to Love Sales

Okay, that may sound a little cheesy, but it’s important that you have a positive outlook on sales in order to be good at it. If you view it as an “unnecessary evil” in growing your business then you’ve got the wrong idea. Sales and personal training go hand in hand. You want to have a good relationship with your clients, right? Learn how to sell to them in a way that it doesn’t even feel like a sale, but more like a friend trying to help another lose weight and get in shape. Most personal training or boot camp business that fail do so because they lack the ability to convert leads into clients. Be open minded about sales, and try not to hate the process.

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to stop thinking of sales as a negative thing. Selling only feels negative because we all hate getting sold to insincerely, so if you have a better outlook on it then you’ll come across much more genuine and likeable.

2. Be Passionate.

Energy is contagious, and if you’re fired up about helping your potential clients lose weight and look great then that will show whenever you sit down to meet with them. Even if selling isn’t your strong point, being passionate about your services will help sell more than if you were unenthusiastic. No one wants to train with someone who lacks energy, so make sure that you’re excited and in a good mood during consultations.

Remind yourself of why you became a personal trainer in the first place. It’s not an easy job, and not an easy business to run if you’ve got one, but if you remind yourself that you’re in it to help people then you really can’t go wrong. You have to have a passion for changing lives and if you do, you’ll grow your business faster than you thought possible and achieve the type of freedom you want.

3. Figure Out the Reason Why.

People from all walks of life will come to you for help with weight loss, muscles building, strength training, or just to become healthier overall, and it’s your job to find out why. Why does the person you’re meeting with want/need your help? And why do they want/need it now? They may have been overweight for years, so what would finally drive them to seek help?

Believe it or not, in order to sell more personal training you’re going to need to know these things because simply losing weight might not be the real issue. They may have seen a recent picture of themselves and didn’t realize how out of shape they have gotten, they might have trouble finding decent clothing in their size, maybe they’re a busy mom who just doesn’t have any energy to play with their kids anymore, what if it’s a medical issue that’s causing them to want to lose weight. Getting to the bottom of it is important because if you’re really wanting to help them, then you’ll need to know the reason why.

Here are a few open-ended questions you can ask:

“What is it in particular that bothers you about your extra weight?”
“When did you start to notice that your energy level decreasing?”
“What made you want to try my personal training/boot camp now rather than later?”
“How do you feel when you get dressed in the morning/go shopping?”
“Are there any events that are coming up soon that you’d like to look great for?”

Getting to know your prospect better will help seal the deal when explaining why and how your services will help them to achieve the results they want. If you want to know what the biggest secret to selling personal training is, this is it.

So, the next time you find yourself sitting across from a potential client be sure to remember these three tips and you’ll discover a much easier, and more enjoyable process to your sales approach.

This entry was posted on January 17, 2014 at 3:12 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Boot Camp Business, Boot Camp Marketing, Fitness Business, Fitness Marketing, How To Start a Fitness Boot Camp Business by Steve Hochman | No Comments Yet