How to get referrals for your personal training business

What’s the fastest, easiest, most reliable AND and most
cost effective way to get more personal training and boot
camp clients?

I’ll give you one guess.

Referrals… that’s what.

While I’m all about having multiple poles in the water at all
times and using funnels like…

– a killer web site
– lead boxes
– deal of the day promos
– direct mail and print ads
– email promotions
– pay per click ads
– Facebook marketing
– joint venturing with local businesses

no other fitness marketing beats getting referrals from the people
who know, like, and trust you and use your service on a daily basis.

Truly, one of the biggest compliments you can get as a fitness
expert is when one of your clients tell a friend about you, right?

Now if you’re one of those trainers who says; “yeah but I can’t
seem to get referrals no matter how much I ask”
, then I can
tell you that you don’t referral generation problem…

you, my friend, have a client experience and client loyalty
problem.

There are only two secrets to getting all the referrals you can
handle.

SECRET #1: Deliver on your promise and exceed your client’s
expectations. In other words give your clients the results they
expect to get.
duh… that’s a no brainer

And give them an experience in service that they can’t get
anywhere else.

– make your training center their second home

– keep the workouts fun and exciting

– maintain a clean and modern training facility

– organize things outside of your facility like client appreciation
parties, charity walks, and mud runs…

…in other words grow your training center beyond your
four walls.

SECRET #2: Make referral generation a condition of doing
business with you.

By that I mean the moment a client signs up to train with you,
as you shake hands and welcome them aboard let them know
that as they begin to see amazing results – the greatest compliment
they can ever give you is to refer their friends, family and co-workers
to you.

See, once you set that condition, as long as you are delivering on
your promise… you can ask for referrals and you’ll get them all
day long.

Now as far as what type of referral generation system to run…
you’ve got a TON of option.

For example, Tulsa Fit Body Boot Camp owner Stephanie
Flynn ran a simple referral contest that got her a BOATLOAD
of new clients.

She created a contest that ran for a week.

The rules of the contest were simple… the client who delivers
the most referrals during that week wins a iPad mini.

The “offer” was simple, too.

Stephanie told her clients that they could offer her 14 Day Fat
Furnace to their friends for only $25, just for that week.

The client who refers the most during that week wins the iPad
mini. Stephanie keep a marker board up and tracks who’s sent
the most leads (this also creates a fun sense of competition for
her clients).

Three reasons why that’s brilliant…

1. These are referrals from existing clients so they are far more
qualified and are more likely to convert into paying clients.

2. By charging something, in this case $25 she get the person’s
credit card info making it easier to convert them into paying clients
when the time comes.

3. Stephanie doesn’t pocket that $25, oh no. That’s what an
amateur what do. She uses the money to love up her new clients.

See, she spends that $25 that she got back on that new clients
during the two weeks they’re on board. She’ll send them a welcome
to boot camp card in the mail, then give them a Starbucks gift
card, and even some FBBC gear.

It’s all about the WOW factor and giving that person not only
a great workout, but also a great experience that they’ll want
to stay on board for.

Exceeding expectations.

And while Stephanie motivates her clients in person and via email
during that week of the referral contest – her clients are telling
their friends and co-workers via email and on Facebook to come
try Tulsa fitness boot camp for two weeks for only $25.

That’s how to run a referral generation contest.

Now, that’s not the only referral generation strategy to use
though.

You can run something similar and give your clients a $100
plastic gift card to hand out to their friend and co-workers.

Again run the contest for a week, track it on a marker board and
keep the friendly competition alive.

But here’s the “trick” to getting the most from the plastic gift
cards during a referral contest like this.

Every day ask your clients for the names, emails, and phone
numbers of the people they gave the gift cards to.

This way, instead of waiting for that person to come in and
redeem that gift card – which may or may not happen in this
decade.

You can reach out to each new referral, let them know that
you’re calling to activate their gift card that they got from
their friend who’s also a client of yours.

It’s all about being proactive!

Another one of my favorite referral generation strategies is
the email promotion that I crafted for my coaching clients.

It’s called the Fitness Ambassador Contest and it works like
this…

– a six week transformation program that’s offered to your
clients and to your prospects.

– the program WILL MAKE YOU MONEY becuase it’s $199
for the six weeks for people on your prospect list and only
$99 for your existing clients.

– the whole thing is based on a point system… fat loss, strength
gain, and referrals get them point.

And that the end of the six weeks the person with the most
points wins and become your fitness ambassador.

Basically they become the ‘face’ of your business in your ads
or on your website and you get them a makeover for winning
the contest.

Of course you also have all those people who joined the
program to convert into paying clients.

Even if you have a small email list of clients, past clients
and prospects this email promo will work great for you.

I crafted all three email for you to mail out to your list, and
you can get them from here for only $1.

I’d say that’s a pretty good deal, right? 😉

email marketing for personal trainers