Learn More About Becoming the Go To Trainer
With the world of online training being so attractive and in theory
lucrative, because after all, everyone's on the internet, we cannot
discount offline marketing. And if I'm honest, if you're an in-person
personal trainer, the best way to sell yourself is through offline
marketing.
Online Vs Local Marketing
As a local trainer, speaking face to face, you're able to very quickly
build trust with the people around you. If you were to watch a load of
videos of me talking about nutrition, which I regularly do, then you
will have to watch quite a few videos to buy into what I'm saying.
You'll have to really get a feel of what I'm about and just experience
all the nuances of me as a person. You won't meet me once and think,
"This is a great guy, I'm going to buy what he's selling." It will take a
while.
Now compare this to offline. If we met in a gym and started having a really good chat and spent 10, 15 minutes together talking about nutrition and expanding the conversation, the likelihood is if I'm a nice guy and you resonate with me and you think, "Yep, I like this dude." Then you'll probably say, if I ask you, "Do you fancy meeting up again? Do you want to do a session? Do you want to do X?" Because we've been able to build rapport. We've been able to look each other in the eye and say, "Actually I trust this person. I can see their values are in the right place." So with the online world, yes, we can argue everyone's online, but offline, you get to build rich relationships very quickly.
Now compare this to offline. If we met in a gym and started having a really good chat and spent 10, 15 minutes together talking about nutrition and expanding the conversation, the likelihood is if I'm a nice guy and you resonate with me and you think, "Yep, I like this dude." Then you'll probably say, if I ask you, "Do you fancy meeting up again? Do you want to do a session? Do you want to do X?" Because we've been able to build rapport. We've been able to look each other in the eye and say, "Actually I trust this person. I can see their values are in the right place." So with the online world, yes, we can argue everyone's online, but offline, you get to build rich relationships very quickly.
The Numbers Game
The last time I worked in a commercial gym, I got a full client list in
six weeks. And that's purely because I played the numbers game. I knew
that if I spoke to let's say 100 people, 10 of those people would be
maybe interested in personal training. Seven of those people were maybe
interested in a free taster session or having an assessment or something
like that. And maybe three people were actually ready to buy, ready to
change and would want personal training services. So if there's 5,000
people in that gym, and I know that out of every 100, there's a
potential that I'll get three in my business, it's just a numbers game.
So every day I turned up to work and I said to myself, "I need to speak to 50 people today. I need to speak to 50 people today." And by the end of the week, I might have had six or seven clients. And it's because I knew that if I was able to get in front of people, just chat to them, show them that I'm a real person, that they can trust me, that I'm knowledgeable, that I can help them with their goals, then I would be able to get a full client list very quickly.
So every day I turned up to work and I said to myself, "I need to speak to 50 people today. I need to speak to 50 people today." And by the end of the week, I might have had six or seven clients. And it's because I knew that if I was able to get in front of people, just chat to them, show them that I'm a real person, that they can trust me, that I'm knowledgeable, that I can help them with their goals, then I would be able to get a full client list very quickly.
How NOT to Market Your Business
If you go into many commercial gyms, you'll see a lot of trainers
standing around doing little bits on their phone, posting their lunch on
their Instagram, when there's a whole gym full of potential clients.
Marketing is about being able to get yourself in front of people, to have an opportunity to explain what you do. It's not as easy posting your lunch on Instagram and converting a client into a business as it is to going up to someone on the gym floor or in a local environment and chatting to them and building rapport, building trust.
So for me, your first objective is wherever you're working as a personal trainer, put yourself on the map by talking to as many people as humanly possible. If you're in a gym of just 1000 people, how can you get an opportunity to speak to all of those 1000 people? And if you did, what would happen to your business?
Marketing is about being able to get yourself in front of people, to have an opportunity to explain what you do. It's not as easy posting your lunch on Instagram and converting a client into a business as it is to going up to someone on the gym floor or in a local environment and chatting to them and building rapport, building trust.
So for me, your first objective is wherever you're working as a personal trainer, put yourself on the map by talking to as many people as humanly possible. If you're in a gym of just 1000 people, how can you get an opportunity to speak to all of those 1000 people? And if you did, what would happen to your business?
What If Your Work In a Small Studio?
Now you might be working in a small studio where you don't have quite the client base. So again, the same principles apply. Where are there people? Local to you, where are there mass gatherings of people?
So you could look at sports teams, you could look at corporates, you could look at friends and family that you know. You could look at restaurants and bars and the people within it that might be looking to lead a healthy lifestyle.
What you're doing is you're looking for traffic, you're looking for eyes. So for example, a local corporate, could you set up something where you run maybe a monthly boot camp and off the back of it you maybe do half an hour of neck, back and shoulder massages, which I did when I was a personal trainer?
Could you set up a talk with a local cafe where one evening after opening hours, you'd go into the cafe and you do a free nutrition talk. Maybe try and get 20, 25 people down, have a chat about food, nutrition, optimizing health. And the chances are a couple of people in that audience might be interested in your services.
Could you really work your phone book and think about friends and family? Probably you could work a little bit harder there. What other places locally have eyes, have traffic that you could maybe do a little initiative with, a partnership with, run a boot camp, do a talk?
Offline marketing; please do not discount it with the shiny world of online media and being able to use Instagram and Facebook and all these other platforms that come and go, please do not discount the art of simply getting in front of people and building relationships.
So you could look at sports teams, you could look at corporates, you could look at friends and family that you know. You could look at restaurants and bars and the people within it that might be looking to lead a healthy lifestyle.
What you're doing is you're looking for traffic, you're looking for eyes. So for example, a local corporate, could you set up something where you run maybe a monthly boot camp and off the back of it you maybe do half an hour of neck, back and shoulder massages, which I did when I was a personal trainer?
Could you set up a talk with a local cafe where one evening after opening hours, you'd go into the cafe and you do a free nutrition talk. Maybe try and get 20, 25 people down, have a chat about food, nutrition, optimizing health. And the chances are a couple of people in that audience might be interested in your services.
Could you really work your phone book and think about friends and family? Probably you could work a little bit harder there. What other places locally have eyes, have traffic that you could maybe do a little initiative with, a partnership with, run a boot camp, do a talk?
Offline marketing; please do not discount it with the shiny world of online media and being able to use Instagram and Facebook and all these other platforms that come and go, please do not discount the art of simply getting in front of people and building relationships.
Improve Your Communication Skills
The other reason this is really important is to become a successful coach, you have to really hone your communication skills over time. Shy trainers generally don't get as good of results with people because they won't be the trainer that asks the hard question. Coaching can be tough. Sometimes you've got to set a client down and have a really personal close and sometimes difficult conversation. The trainer that's not used to talk to lots of different people in lots of different ways and breaking down lots of different barriers will likely be the trainer that isn't able to have those hard conversations with clients. So make me a promise after this video today, work on your local environment, become the go-to person. That doesn't mean be selfish. That doesn't mean try and be the only trainer in the gym with all the clients, because normally you're a gym team. And a gym team of trainers should work together.
For example, you might have a specialty in sports performance. Another coach might have a specialty in female health. Another coach might have a specialty in elderly health. Another coach might have a specialty in body composition and transformations. You should work together. If someone comes to you and says, "I'd really like to work with someone that understands elderly people. I'm an elderly gentleman, I still play a little bit of sport, but I've got aches and pains." If that's not your specialist area, you should probably send them to the trainer that is a specialist in that area.
So being the go-to person, being trusted isn't about being selfish, not about not working as a team, but it's about being seen. It's about being known, and the best way to be known and build your business is to work harder, getting yourself in front of as many people as humanly possible in your immediate environment. So if you are working in a commercial gym, get on the gym floor, work hard, play the numbers game. If you're not, get out in your local environment and start to create connections and run initiatives where there is people, because normally marketing is about getting yourself in front of people and being heard.
For example, you might have a specialty in sports performance. Another coach might have a specialty in female health. Another coach might have a specialty in elderly health. Another coach might have a specialty in body composition and transformations. You should work together. If someone comes to you and says, "I'd really like to work with someone that understands elderly people. I'm an elderly gentleman, I still play a little bit of sport, but I've got aches and pains." If that's not your specialist area, you should probably send them to the trainer that is a specialist in that area.
So being the go-to person, being trusted isn't about being selfish, not about not working as a team, but it's about being seen. It's about being known, and the best way to be known and build your business is to work harder, getting yourself in front of as many people as humanly possible in your immediate environment. So if you are working in a commercial gym, get on the gym floor, work hard, play the numbers game. If you're not, get out in your local environment and start to create connections and run initiatives where there is people, because normally marketing is about getting yourself in front of people and being heard.
