It's not enough to just give a prospective client a free session. You need to use it as a sales tool. It is an advertisement of your skills, in the same way a giant billboard is for McDonalds. It is also your chance to extract useful information to then use in the sales process later. Every question you ask will give you information about the client that can then be used to close the sale later on. There is also a formula that I use for the free session which I will describe below.
1: You need to make sure they sweat, most people do not sweat during their workouts. Yet everyone sees sweating as a sign that they worked hard.
2: You need to make sure they leave tired. If they are tired when they leave they will also think they have worked harder than they normally do. Which if you have done your job will be the truth.
3: You need to make sure they fail or give up during the workout. Either they have to try to quit an exercise or you need to push them until they cannot lift the weight anymore. There are many ways to give up or fail, but it needs to happen. Most people do not work this hard in their own workouts, so this shows to them that you can motivate them better then they can themselves.
4: They have to say, with out prompting that the workout is hard. Usually about halfway through is a good time to make this happen. Usually I will use some type of timed exercise or interval to make this happen. Having them admit it's hard reinforces in their brain that you can and will make them work hard everyday.
5: This is what I call the shock effect. At the beginning of the session I take their measurements and body fat percentage. Which I then show them after the workout, and compare it with where they should be. I show them how out of shape they are. It's a wake up call. Most people think they only need to lose 5-10 pounds, when the reality is it's more like 15-25. This shock let's them realize they need a plan and they need help, and they need to act fast. Which is great because you have just demonstrated that you can help them.
I also ask a series of questions that help me pre close the client before the sales presentation. I call them the no's and yeses. I ask a series of questions they will answer "no" to. These questions show them they are on the wrong route to achieve their goal. Then I ask the yes questions this gets them used to agreeing with me and saying yes.
These questions are also designed to lead their own reasoning to realize they need help from a personal trainer.
The next step is to show them their results. Leave them with something to think about when they go home. I never sell after the first session unless they are a motivated buyer. After you show them the results of the body analysis book them in for one more free session. You will make the sale at the end of the second session.
At this point they go home and think about what just happened, they contemplate the "shock effect" and usually end up selling themselves on the personal training. The next session it is very common that they will ask you questions about the cost of training. I always say "let's talk about that later and let's focus on you now". I also use the second session as an education session. I tell them what I am doing. Why it works, and why it will work for them. I also explain how the body works. I call this "information overload". I give them so much information that they cannot process all of it. This reinforces what they already decided after the first session, they NEED a trainer!
Now that the second free session is over you have done a few things that fall Into the sales process these items also make it easier to close sales.
1. You have built rapport
2. You have broken down their guard
3. You have gotten to know them and show you care
4. you have collected knowledge about them that you can use when their objections come up.
5. You have also gotten to know them and feel comfortable enough to challenge their objections.
6. You have asked the yes and no questions and have started to lead their reasoning process and started to pre close the sale.
All of these things are important when it comes to attacking objections. Even if they know they need a trainer they will still object. So be prepared. In my next post I will explain some main objections and what I say to overcome them.
For more tips and to learn the entire sales process and have access to charts and scripts. Check back as my book " The step by step guide to selling personal fitness training" is about to be released.
Train hard!
Jared Roy
No comments:
Post a Comment