How to Sell Personal Training (and a Warning About Competition)

Do you ever get annoyed when you see an inferior trainer getting more clients than you?

Personal Trainer, with a pad in his hand, isolated in whiteHow could you not? You’re missing out on cash and you know those clients are getting inferior training and they’re not gonna get the results they want.

Or maybe they’re not going to another trainer…maybe your would-be clients are going to big box gyms or falling for scam diets or any of those other fake solutions that they think are “good enough” but you know are complete dead-ends.

I’m sure you often find yourself asking “WHY?”

Why are those people falling for fitness solutions that just don’t work?

Why do those mediocre businesses and scam artists keep getting away with this?

Why aren’t you getting the clients and the income you deserve when you so obviously offer better results?

I’ll tell you why…you may not like it, but I’m about to tell you the truth, and it’s your responsibility to take action on it…

All those other guys know how to sell better than you do.

Don’t worry though, because I’ll show you how to out-sell them in a moment…

Warning Time

 

But first, I need to give you a warning.

First, you need to understand that your competition problem goes beyond other people in the fitness industry.

Because the truth is, everyone in every industry is ultimately trying to get the same three resources out of the market: attention, time and money.

And for your training to work, your clients need to invest all three in you.

Why should they invest their attention in you when they could spend it on their Facebook friends?Flat design: megaphone

Why should they invest their time in you when they could spend it on Netflix?

Why should they invest their money in you when they could spend it on redecorating the kitchen?

Those may sound like silly questions, but these are the kinds of things your prospects ask themselves deep down when they’re debating whether to sign up with you. That means that you’re not just competing against other fitness businesses, you’re competing against everyone else who wants your market’s attention, time and money.

This is your warning: if you want to learn how to sell personal training you have to learn how to OUTSELL all the distractions in your prospect’s life. That means you can’t just do a “good enough job” on selling – you have to be the BEST salesperson in your community offering the BEST service.

Here, I’ll show you how to do it…

Preparing to Sell

 

Since today I want to really zero in on selling, I’ll assume that your marketing funnel is already bringing in leads and you’re already producing the amazing results to prove yourself.

Let’s take a look at the moment of truth – the sales presentation.

But we aren’t going right into an actual presentation with a prospect. Not yet. First we’re going to look at how you practice for the selling process.

The best way to practice your selling technique is to ROLE-PLAY. Find friends and family who match your client avatar, or at least have them play them as a character, and offer to buy them coffee if they’ll let you sit down and practice with them.

(Besides, all the greats do it. Brian Tracy, Tom Hopkins, Tony Robbins, you name ’em.)

I gotta tell you, I did a LOT of sales role-playing back in the day. It’s the only way to get good at it without losing real prospects.

In fact, I recommend you do as many role-play sessions as you can possibly stand before you even try to schedule new presentations. Do dozens of them. Do so many that you start to get bored of them.

Two Friends

As with any kind of role-playing, you have to keep in mind that the real thing will always be more difficult…but the point of this exercise is to turn as much of the consultation into sheer muscle memory and scripting as possible so that you’ll have much less anxiety in the moment.

And also, role-playing allows you to get all of the crappy sales presentations out of your system. I don’t care how talented you are or aren’t when it comes to sales – we all have a certain amount of duds we have to work through before we become closers.

And if you’re worried about sounding too robotic and formulaic – don’t. At this stage, that’s the last thing you need to worry about. Once you’ve got the basic formula thoroughly programed into your brain, you’ll find that you naturally start to improvise and sound more natural.

Now in a moment I’ll give you my blueprint for the presentation itself, but first I want to give you a tip that applies throughout the presentation.

And I have sort of a goofy metaphor to explain it…

Create a String of Yeses

 

This subtle but critically important trick can dramatically improve your closing rate for sales presentations, and it’s incredibly easy to use.

And to make sure you understand it, I want you to picture yourself building…

A bracelet.

Stick with me here, because you’re going to remember this one.

Imagine you’re building a bracelet…and you’ve got a few really big pretty beads you want to include on it. But you know you can’t slap them all on a string and leave it at that. You’ll just have this awkward cluster of beads with a bare string on them.crafts with beads

So to give the bracelet shape you include a lot of smaller, less pretty beads between the big ones and there you go: a lovely, perfectly functional bracelet.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering: what does your pretty bracelet have to do with how to sell personal training?

I’ll explain…

The bracelet represents your sales presentation. Each of the big beads is a major YES that you need to hit if you want to close the sale. These are the yeses you get when you overcome major objections like price or lack of time. The biggest, prettiest bead is the YES you get when you close the sale.

And all the little beads are the small, seemingly unrelated yeses that psychologically prime your prospect to say YES to your sale. They may not seem that important on their own, but they really tie the whole thing together.

Could I please have you fill out this ParQ?

Yes.

You with me so far? 

Yes.

Wouldn’t it be nice to drop those 30 pounds for good? 

Yes. 

Seriously, any casual small talk way you can get an extra yes into the conversation is a good idea.

The Blueprint

 

Now here it is: your step-by-step blueprint for selling fitness training programs.

Step 1: Introduce yourself with a big, warm, friendly handshake and smile. 

HIGH ENERGY! If you aren’t excited about personal training and showing that excitement with your body language, don’t expect your prospect to get excited either.

Step 2: Show your prospect the ParQ and clearly explain the format of your meeting.American dollar symbol blueprint

Make sure you give them the expected total time (usually an hour) and stick to that so they know you aren’t wasting their time.

Step 3: Have them fill out the ParQ.

Remember that the ParQ is way more than a mere formality – it’s your cheat sheet for getting into your prospect’s head and understanding their life story.

Step 4: Turn their 7 into a 10.

Somewhere on your ParQ you should have a question that asks “How serious are you about personal training?” with the option to circle 1-10 below. Most prospects will put themselves in the 7-9 range.

Once they’re done with the sheet, go to that question and ask them why they didn’t put 10. Whatever objection comes up, tell them that you can solve that problem and ask if there’s anything else holding them back from a 10. Once you’ve teased out each objection, tell them you’re going to set those problems aside for now (because you can solve them) and mark them as a 10.

Or better yet, have them circle the 10 themselves. 

Step 5: Guide them through a test workout. 

Obviously, this is your chance to assess your prospect’s current fitness level, but it’s also their chance to assess your training style. Really put your best foot forward here: be encouraging, but firm. Make sure they feel like they’re really accomplishing something.

Step 6: Check in with them.

Ask what they did like or did not like about the workout. Explain why you had them do the exercises they did. Explain the science behind your workout. Anchor the conversation by always tying back to the benefits of your training (otherwise your prospect might get bored).

Step 7: Explain your nutritional plan.

Again, give them the science and keep it interesting by tying it back to the benefits.

Also, this is a great opportunity to drop in take-home tips that will build rapport and authority with your prospect. Since a lot of people skip breakfast, you may want to give them your idea for a healthy, 1-minute breakfast.

Step 8: Check for any last-minute objections. 

Seriously, make sure your prospect is 100% confident before you go in for the close.

Step 9: Close the sale.

If you’ve followed the instructions and built your authority, rapport, and string of yeses, this part should go smoothly.

There you have it: a fast and easy guide for how to sell personal training. If you want more info, check out this video:

Committed to your success,

Bedros