Referral Madness - Marketing Fitness Training

   You can market your fitness skills in many ways. The internet opens up many new and exciting possibilities. There are still the old standard methods such as T.V. commercials, radio ads, the yellow pages, the classifieds, and community papers. There is another tool that sometimes gets overlooked but it is one of the most effective methods of marketing. I am referring to a good old reliable one- the client referral!
   A referral is when someone speaks about you, or RECOMMENDS  you, to another person.    If you provide quality service, clients will mention this to family, friends or co-workers. This type of referral comes with a ready-made character reference. The client has likely pumped up your skills, your fitness knowledge, your personality,, and your motivational abilities. Any of these acquaintances that approach you about your services will be more eager to sign up.
   Charlie,a super client of mine, was a master at sending referrals my way. He was in the real estate business. Charlie rubbed shoulders with many people. He always kept open ears and eyes for opportunities that might benefit me. Situations like this have the potential to snowball as successful referrals and can lead to more referrals.
   The majority of my clients came by this word-of-mouth method. One of my clients even referred his ex-wife to me for a fitness consultation. (He did stipulate that he would prefer that I not train her at any close proximity to his work-out schedule.)
   Some of the more proactive Fitness Trainers will request leads from their clients. Many are successful at this. However, you do not want your clients to feel like you are squeezing them. You also don't want to leave the impression that you are pestering your client's friends and relatives. Subtlety is probably a good trait to work on improving. However, some of you can pull off the aggressive sales routine smoothly. Good for you if you can!
   Many fitness centers will insist that the Fitness trainers working there actively seek and follow-up on referral leads generated by existing customers. That is an accepted practice. The potential downside is that you can wind up in a pressure cooker situation in which the hustle becomes the primary focus rather than your skills as a Fitness Trainer. Once again, this depends on the philosophy of the Fitness Center and the type of environment that they expect you to work in.Will they assist you in generating leads or will it be all on you?  If you work for yourself, you will certainly want to work on client referrals at whatever level of assertiveness that you feel comfortable with.
   In summary, providing quality fitness services can be your best marketing tool by getting your clients to speak highly of you to others. Client referrals are also free of cost!

 
Until next time,.........keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

"That Little Bobby Strong is such an awesome Fitness
 Trainer. We should sign up the whole whole clan and tell our
 neighbors!"

"The guys next door told us about this super Fitness Trainer  named  Little Bobby Strong.We should all give him a try! "

Word of mouth advertising is a great marketing tool!

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