Due to poor marketing, most new businesses fail within the first few years of opening. This is surprising to most people because they don’t realize how critical good marketing is. Just because you have an incredible idea, great staffing, or even an awesome location doesn’t necessarily mean that your business will be successful. As scary as all this sounds, if you have a dream of helping people reach their fitness goals then pay attention to these personal trainer sales systems because I have been just like you and I know just how overwhelming it can be.
Lead Generation:
It’s pretty difficult to close a sale when you don’t have prospects coming in your door. So, a big focus should be on generating leads and there are many different strategies you use to go about generating. I personally prefer online tactics to offline, mainly because they reach a far bigger audience than you could hope for and at a much faster pace. A few of these include:
– Email Marketing – Email is great way to deliver specific information and special promotions to a targeted audience.
– Social Media – Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Linkedin, Instagram are all places where you create a profile and establish a group of followers. You can develop contacts and leads, and post about various promotions and special offers.
– Google AdWords – This particular tactic might not be for everybody because it can get costly, but if you have the budget then it’s worst investing in. I suggest partnering with Google’s paid advertising program to get leads to visit your site.
The possibilities of online marketing are virtually endless, but it’s also very important to get out there and promote your business the traditional way with things like fliers, ads in local newspapers, and postcards. Once you have your lead generation working for you, then you can work on developing a successful lead conversion model.
Lead Conversion:
Conversion is a critical part of most businesses, especially when it comes to fitness. How can you grow your business if you aren’t retaining those leads you just generated? It doesn’t matter if you’re the one in charge of conversion, or if you have a sales team in place to take care of that for you, it’s extremely vital to have a plan developed so that you, or your team, will have a high lead conversion rate.
Check in with your team often to ensure that they are following your plan, and then track what works and what doesn’t. This is a great way to figure out what techniques work for your area and improve on them. Make changes to things that don’t work as well and over time you’ll end developing a successful lead conversion that grows your business.
Drip Marketing:
Keep in mind that not everyone from your lead generation efforts will become paying customers the first, or even second time you try to convert them to members. That’s okay! It doesn’t mean that they’ll never buy from you, or that they’re a lost cause, it just means that they need a little more time to let the benefits of your offer sink in. This is where drip marketing comes in. Typically, drip marketing consists of emails, mailers with valid information, and special promotions that grab the reader’s attention. Keep this up because the more valid information you put out there, the more likely you’ll get those prospects that were “just looking”.
Avoid Common Mistakes:
You should try to consider any pitfalls that you might encounter along the way because it’s important to plan corresponding solutions to whatever may occur in the near future or down the road. Some common fitness sales system mistake include:
-Lack of focus in marketing or focusing too much on marketing to the point where you overwhelm yourself is a very bad thing. There’s a lot of really great information out there, but it’s important to figure out what works best for your business and focus in on that. Try 2-4 different marketing strategies and once you feel comfortable with those, add in a few more until your business is booming with new clients.
– Lack of preparation. Failing to plan is planning for failure, so, with that in mind be sure to follow up with your sales team and implement an easy-to-follow plan so they’re consistently bringing you new clients.
– Lack of tracking what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s hard to become a successful business when you’re not tracking what strategies and techniques work and tweaking what doesn’t.
Using these tips and tricks when developing your personal trainer sales system and making your new perfected sales system a priority will produce fantastic results for your fitness business. Remember to not get overwhelmed with the all the options available and focus on what grows your business the most.