From Prospects to Paying Clients
Once I learned this simple sales process, selling became easy. So easy that I always convert 9 out of every 10 leads into a paying PT client.
People hate pushy sales people, people don’t want to be sold to… people want to buy. There is a big difference!
Whenever someone tries to sell me anything my guard goes up and I can’t get away quick enough, but I have no problem buying from someone if they have the solution I need.
If a trainer is too pushy it stinks of desperation, so I recommend you use the ‘consultative selling’ approach.
The consultative selling approach is where you ask a series of qualifying questions that will establish if what you have to offer will be a good fit for them.
By ‘pulling back’ slightly your prospect will subconsciously want to train with you even more (humans want what they can’t have).
The prospect should be speaking 70% of the time, the one who does the least talking is in control of the conversation (and you should be the one in control).
Silence is golden. Your prospect will be less interested if they feel like you’re trying to pressure them into a sale, so do not talk over them. You don’t need to fill every second on the call.
So, on the phone…
Get their name at the beginning of the call and use it throughout the conversation to build rapport.
The Opener
It’s important to start your call by grabbing your clients’ attention right away. Take a minute or two to make small talk and get your prospective client to feel more comfortable talking openly with you. You can try something like this:
"Hi (client’s name). It’s (your name). Thanks for taking the time out for this call. How’s your (day of the week) going?"
I know that sounds simple, but it's just the start. It's likely that your prospect will respond with something like, "It's going okay."
Don't stop there. Ask a follow-up question. "What have they been working on today? What plans do they have for the rest of the week? What are they looking forward to right now?"
Your goal is to make a connection so that they feel safe openly sharing with you throughout the rest of the conversation.
Get their permission to ask questions early on and they will be more open to you.
Steering The Conversation
Always allow your prospect enough time to respond to your questions. You don’t want them to feel rushed into a sale. Rather, you want them to feel engaged in a genuine conversation with someone who cares about what they are saying.
At the same time, it’s your job as the seller to take control of the call and steer the conversation towards your end goal.
“How can I help you today?”
They will give you a basic answer like ‘I want a personal trainer’, but we need to dig deeper and find out their real reason, the thing that keeps them up at night worrying.
Continue asking them questions, if they ask you a question give them a brief answer and ask them why that question is important to them – turn it around so they’re talking again.
The more questions you ask the more they talk, the more they talk, the more pain you’ll find, the more pain you find the more likely they’ll begin training. The only reason you won’t make a sale is because you’ve failed to find their pain!
What’s great about this method is that we can eliminate all their objections before they occur.
"All this sounds pretty great! But I’m sure you have some reservations. What do you think might be holding you back from your fitness goals?"
Give your clients enough time to think of all the hurdles that they see in their way. Be sure to ask them if there is anything else they can think of, so you’re able to write down all the hurdles you’ll have to jump.
Here are some of the most common examples you'll likely encounter:
Your job is to identify every hurdle, and then help your client “jump” over them by offering solutions. Here's a simple question to get the hurdle conversation started:
Once they’ve finished you can ask:
"If I were able to offer you a training program that could overcome everything that’s holding you back, do you think you’d be interested in signing up?"
“If we met for a consultation do you need to discuss with your wife/husband/partner to get started or is the decision up to you?”
(If they do need to discuss with someone else, ask them to speak with the person before booking a consultation or get them to bring them along as well).
I will always qualify my prospect over the phone, then meet with them for a face to face consultation.
By asking your prospect a set of qualifying questions over the phone you can weed out the tyre kickers and only meet with the best leads
There are 3 things we need to establish before we meet with a prospect face to face;
- PAIN/PLEASURE: There are two reasons people buy. To avoid pain or to move towards pleasure. Your job is to find out what motivates them.
- INVESTMENT: Do they have the financial/effort/time investment to participate in our program.
- DECISION: Will they be in a position to decide yes/no if we meet them for a consultation.
1. PAIN
“So, why do you want to hire a personal trainer?”
Now they’ll give you an answer like “I want to lose weight’ or “I want to build muscle’. But we want to know the real reason.
“Why do you want to lose weight?”
“Why do you want to build muscle?”
So we keep asking; why, what, where and how questions to keep digging further…
“Why do you want to lose weight?”
“What will happen if you don’t lose weight?”
“Where would you like to lose the weight?”
“How will you feel if you don’t lose weight?”
(Make sure you write everything down for later use).
The ‘real reason’ they’re calling will be because…
- They can’t get a boyfriend/girlfriend
- They’ve gained 20 pounds and their partner is no attracted to them
- They’re worried they won’t live another 10 years and see their kids grow up etc etc.
These are the real reasons, the emotional reasons, the things that keep them up at night worrying. And this is what you need to uncover.
Keep asking them open-ended questions;
“There are lot's of people 20 pounds overweight, why is it important you lose it?”
“How will it make you feel in 12 months if you’re still 20 pounds overweight?”
Ideally you want to find prospects with a BIG REASON WHY, these people will do whatever it takes to get in shape and will follow your program closely.
The information you gather now will help you authentically suggest one of your programs to them. It will also help you foresee some of the hurdles your prospect might stumble on before agreeing to work with you.
Some useful information-gathering questions include:
"What’s your current exercise routine look like? Have you ever followed a specific workout program before?"
"Have you ever worked with a PT or online trainer before? If so, what did you like about working with a trainer? Is there anything you didn’t like about working with your trainer?"
"Do you have any health issues or injuries that might affect your exercise routine?"
"What are your major exercise goals? Are you looking to lose fat/gain muscle/build stamina, etc.?"
"Where would you like to see (this goal) in 3 months? In 6 months?"
2. INVESTMENT
Next we want to make sure they’re willing to invest in our program, can they afford our services and do they have the time and energy to follow the program?
You don’t want to come across as though it’s all about the money, so keep mixing in questions that you’ll need to know anyway like the time of day and what town they’d like to train in.
“You’ll need to train at least 3 times per week, is this something you can do?”
“To reach your goals you’ll need to follow the program for at least 3-months, is this something you’re willing to do?”
“The price will be approximately X €'s per month, is this within your budget?”
3. DECISION
O.k. so we’ve discovered their pain and if they’re willing to invest in the program. Now it’s time for them to make a decision.
“So, I have the following time slots available to meet for a consultation (give them 3-4 different options). What works best for you?
Never get too attached to the sale and always be willing to walk away if the prospect doesn’t meet your criteria.
Whenever I have broken my own set of rules I’ve always regretted it. Not all clients are equal and you must actively weed out anyone that will be a pain to deal with later on.… the more sales presentations you do the more natural it will become.
During the Consultation…
Using the set of notes I took during the telephone call, I run through everything we have already discussed. I continue discussing their pain/pleasure points to get them back in an emotional state (people buy on emotion NOT logic).
I then begin setting timeframes and mapping out a plan of action we’ll take together, this will get them excited.
Then I ask them the following question (this is really important for the close);
“What are you looking for from a personal trainer?”
They will give you a list like; ‘I need someone to motivate me”, “I need someone to help with my nutrition”, “I need someone to show me what to do” etc.
Take your pen and paper and as they run through their list say…
“yep I can do that”
“yes – I’ll motivate you”
“yes – I have nutrition plans for you to follow”.
By pre-qualifying your prospects over the phone, removing all their objections early before they arise, and meeting all their criteria for what they’re looking for in a personal trainer, I can use an assumptive close.
Wikipedia: Assumptive close: also known as the presumptive close, in which the salesperson intentionally assumes that the prospect has already agreed to buy, and wraps up the sale.
Closing The Sale
Once you’ve offered your prospect a program that obviously meets their specific needs, it’s time to talk price. This is usually the most difficult part of the call, but just be as clear as possible.
"I’m so happy you’re interested. It looks like we can definitely make this work! The (name of program) costs (monthly/weekly cost), and that includes (the parts of the program you already explained).
Before you get started, I usually ask for a (1-3 month) commitment to ensure you get the most out of the experience. If you sign up today, we can get started by (date). So are you ready to do this?"
Allow your customer as much time as possible to think about your offer. Just be quiet and wait. Don’t try to talk them into a sale too quickly - often they will think out loud before talking themselves into the sale.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you have your payment information on hand so you can give it to them as soon as they say “Yes.” Be clear about how that payment method will work, when they will receive it, and when you'll expect to receive notification that the payment has successfully been made. In other words, set clear payment expectations.
Now is the time to book them in for their first session and to fill in the PARQ, credit card details and any other info you need.
“So {name}, I have the following time slots available (give them 3-4 options), what day is best for you?”
The more practice you get the more natural your delivery will become, the more natural it becomes the more confident you’ll get and closing sales presentations becomes easy!
Recap
Once you practise the simple script outline provided here, you'll be well on your way to selling your online personal training services with ease. Remember:
- Have a good opener.
- Take control of the direction of the conversation by setting expectations.
- Gather information about your prospective client's needs and wants.
- Identify hurdles and jump over them with solutions.
- Pitch a program that meets the needs your prospect has identified.
- Agree on a price and close the sale.
