You want more training clients. You want more for team training, for small group and for one-on-one. You want this for at least two reasons: One, to increase revenue – make more money — and two, to change more lives. And let’s assume that you have the basics figured out:
— Only one person sells training.
— Your membership salespeople are getting 70 percent or more of new members to meet with this personal training salesperson.
— This personal training salesperson is eager and not afraid to ask for money.
If you have all of that covered, then let me give you six easy steps to help your personal training salesperson sell more packages.
1. Prospects need to know what they are getting in to. This is first discussed at the point of membership sale. Membership salespeople, when booking the appointment with the personal training salesperson, need to instruct the new member to wear workout clothes, as they will be exercising. When the personal training salesperson calls to confirm these appointments, he or she needs to remind them of the same thing.
2. Meet and greet: When a member first meets the personal training salesperson, there needs to be a handshake, smile and introduction. As simple of a process as this is, it needs to be role-played and practiced. The purpose of the meet and greet is to alleviate intimidation, gain trust and build rapport. Be sure to explain what is going to happen over the next 60 minutes.
3. The sit down: After the meet and greet, have a seat and discuss goals and health history. Listen, listen and listen. What are the member’s goals? Why are those goals important to him or her? How does he or she plan to reach those goals? People buy from people they like and people like those who listen and show interest. Put down the pen and don’t be so clinical.
4. The workout: Put them through a fun, functional strength workout. This includes a dynamic warm up, 20 minutes of strength and a big-burner finish. Show them what it will be like to work with a coach. Demonstrate that by working with a coach, it doesn’t mean running on a boring treadmill, or sitting on a piece of selectorized equipment. It means swinging kettlebells and using ropes. If you want the exact, recommended strength workout that I want you to use for this assessment sales process, e-mail me at jason@jasonlinse.com with “assessment workout” in the subject line, and I will shoot you back the workout.
5. Back to the table: Back at the table, coach them on cardio. High intensity interval training, or HIIT. Talk about the workout they just did. How did they like it? What did they think about it? Then ask them this question: “Would you like to work one-on-one with a coach or share the cost of a trainer with other people?”
6. Handling objections: In today’s world of selling personal training, you are much better off forgetting about high-pressure sales. It turns many people off, and good luck finding and keeping a personal training salesperson who you require to sell that way. Instead, when a member objects to purchasing training, no problem. Simply let them experience an actual small group or team training session at no cost. Two or three of them would be even better. The key here is to have a personal training salesperson schedule this complimentary session right then and there. The purpose of putting members through a fun, functional workout is to allow them to sample what it is like to work with a coach at your gym. But if they are still on the fence, get them into a live session as soon as possible, and follow up immediately after.
Follow those six simple steps every single time with every single member who meets with a personal training salesperson and you will see your personal training revenue increase.
Keep changing lives.
Jason Linse is president and founder of The Business of Fitness, a consulting company. He graduated from Minnesota State University with a degree in public health and corporate wellness. He started working in the fitness industry in 1995. In 2005, Linse started with Snap Fitness at its headquarters, helping them grow from 14 locations to 1,100 locations by October 2010, when he left to start the Business of Fitness. Linse also owned a gym for two and a half years before becoming a consultant. He also owns a personality assessment company called People Plus+ Fitness. He can be reached at jason@jasonlinse.com or at 612-310-1319. Visit www.jasonlinse.com.
