No, You Don’t Need to Do Cold Outreach to Attract New Clients
As a personal trainer or fitness coach, attracting new clients is arguably the hardest piece of the puzzle while also being the most essential piece because you have to make money and if you don’t have clients you aren’t going to make money. So what’s the secret to attracting new clients without selling your soul, giving away too many free sessions and burning through your cash? Lucky for you, after 10 years in the biz, we’ve cracked that secret wide open and we are going to share that exclusively with you in this post, but first, let’s focus on that word “attract”.
Here’s the definition:
cause to come to a place or participate in a venture by offering something of interest, favorable conditions, or opportunities
Nowhere in this definition does it say you have to cold call or cold DM people to get them to sign up for your services. However, it also doesn’t say sit back, do nothing and the people will come to you. You HAVE to put in the work somewhere, it just doesn’t have to be all this salesy outreach BS. In fact, we built our business to 7-figures from the ground up without doing any cold calling or even any marketing for that matter.
Of course, it took us 10 years to do that, but you learn a lot in 10 years and in sharing this info, we’re hoping to cut the time it takes for you to build your business as big as you dream. So, here are 6 things that will cause people to take interest in your services without having to be a salesperson.
- Be Unique in Your Skillset:
What can you offer that no one else can? Everyone has the basic certification that gets you in the door, but what kind of skill set would set you apart from ALL the other trainers? For us, that was diving into physical therapy, which then led to Michael’s discovery of the concept of moving and training in all three planes of motion. And that snowballed into learning Applied Functional Science to better understand the true biomechanics of the body which allowed him to develop his problem solving skills so he could actually FIX his clients’ knee, elbow, back, shoulder and anywhere else they were having pain. This ability to fix his clients’ pains without having to refer them to a doctor, is what set him apart from every other trainer in the city.
- Treat People Differently
From a soft skills point of view, learn how to treat your clients the way they want to be treated, not how you want to be treated. All of your clients have different personalities and different ways of moving, so you should know how to treat each one of your clients to meet their individual needs. For example, everyone likes to be motivated differently. So you just yelling at everyone in the class to push harder or go faster is going to scare off all of those clients who don’t like to be yelled at. Understanding how each of your clients likes to be pushed and motivated based on their personality type will be key in keeping ALL of your different types of clients coming back.
- Focus on Retention
It’s a lot easier to keep someone who’s already in the door than going out and finding new people to bring into your door. So how do you keep your clients? You create a 5-star experience. You have to figure out what your clients want out of their fitness experience. Do they want to have fun? Do they want you to always be correcting their form? What do they want? Best way to figure that out? Ask them. Get feedback from your clients! Ask them how they thought your session went. What did they like, and more importantly what did they not like? This is the MOST VALUABLE information you can collect because then you know EXACTLY what your clients are looking for in their sessions and you can start to make changes whenever necessary to make sure your clients are always happy. Because a happy client is going to continue to come back.
- Word of Mouth
These days, word of mouth marketing is the strongest, cheapest, most beneficial tool you can utilize. How often do you purchase a product without looking at the reviews? Not very often, right? Well the same reasoning applies to your services. People want to know from other people that what you’re providing is going to benefit them. So get your clients talking about you! Talk is cheap and in your case, it’s free AND powerful. So start a referral program or collect testimonials of people raving about your services. Have your clients do your marketing for you.
- Brag a Little (or a LOT)
With social media being the hub of marketing efforts, it pays to show off. You being modest about what you have to offer will get you nowhere. So start bragging! You are kickass, you are changing people’s lives, people should know about it! Get on social media and post videos of your workouts, your clients’ successes, and you being you! People buy from people, so potential clients want to see your energy and your spirit and be able to relate to you and make you a part of their journey. Sell yourself by just being you, should be easy right?
- Adopt a Winner’s Mindset
To be a winner you have to think like a winner. Commit yourself to striving to be a little better everyday. You are essentially an entrepreneur which means you will face the struggles of being an entrepreneur. There is a reason not everyone starts their own business. It’s f*cking HARDDDDD. But it’s worth it. You will have really good days and really bad days so you just have to set your expectations knowing that it’s not all unicorns and rainbows and you’re not going to hit your goals overnight. With a winner’s mindset you have to learn to persevere, you have to learn to ask for help, you have to invest in developing yourself, and you have to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not an easy road and the path isn’t always clear, but you CAN do it! And you WILL do it!
Attracting new clients is all about getting the ball rolling. Once the ball is rolling, it will continue to roll. But you have to have a good foundation first. The 6 points we just listed will help you build a long-lasting foundation that will survive even the craziest of curveballs, like say a pandemic where most other gyms and trainers are being forced to shut down. To summarize, invest in your education, focus on what will bring you long-term success and listen to your clients, they are your biggest asset.
I know all of that sounds like a lot, which is why we put together a whole course that covers how to put all of those things into practice. We will hold your hand along the way, work with you one-on-one and give you the confidence and knowledge you need to be successful. To learn more about this course, click here.
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