Am I Missing Something? Fitness Training and Sales

   Some Fitness Trainers dislike attending fitness conferences. They feel that they are an unnecessary evil - a distraction from the actual job at hand. Not me! I love them!  I would rather attend one of these functions than go to the movies. Fitness is my passion! The more new knowledge that I can absorb, the better! 
   I am like a back alley junkie in an Afghan poppy field at such events. I sit in on as many seminars as I can. I browse through the exhibition booths like a hopeful bride in a jewelry store. I hobnob with my fitness contemporaries. I come away feeling revitalized, enthused, and full of positive energy.
   The last one I attended was by far the best ever. I came home pumped up like Hans and Franz on a protein shake buzz. Then a strange thing happened. I was beset by this eerie empty feeling as though there was something lacking. Had I left something behind? Had I forgot to show up for one of the important seminars? I was sure I hadn't. Yet I still had this lingering feeling of being incomplete. What was causing this?

   Then I had that moment of mental clarity. There WAS a missing piece of the puzzle!
It was a vital skill known as SALESMANSHIP! 


   Can you picture a real estate conference without a seminar focusing on sales? How about a convention of car dealers? What do they key in on at insurance company gatherings? You can bet that a discussion about sales skills takes a center stage! My last fitness conference, as inspiring as it was, had nothing focusing on this crucial topic.
   The product sells itself! You've probably heard that one too. Unless you have a monopoly on something that is essential to existence, you better have a great marketing plan. Nothing sells itself! Even with expert marketing, someone has to close the sale! No sale equals no client! 
   There is an old saying that sales people are born, not made! It is a skill that I was certainly not born with. My Mom was perennially the top Tupperware salesperson in eastern Canada during her working years.
Throw my Mom into a packed weight room with me and let's have a contest to see who signs the most people for Fitness Training sessions. Guess what! Even without a Fitness Training background she'd kick my butt around the block! It would be like throwing a beer hound couch potato into an Ultimate Fighting ring with George St. Pierre. Obviously, I inherited the family trait of male pattern baldness but the genetic salesmanship gift passed me by. Sales skills trumps knowledge of the product any time! Ideally, it would be good to have both.
   I'm certain that I'm not the only trainer with the sales skills of a mere mortal. For those of us lacking this genetic gift of extricating money from a reluctant prospect the key is to work at it. There are many components to improvement in this art:

•  Read some books on salesmanship.
• Attend courses and seminars on sales technique. As much as I love fitness conferences, they seem to have taken this art for granted. You will likely have to find these courses elsewhere.
• Seek the advice of people who earn their living by sales. They are also often great sources for  client referrals. Other Fitness Trainers can be role models but as I have said before, many are protective of their 'trade secrets'.
• Practice the art. Record yourself performing a sales script and keep doing it until it feels natural rather than forced.
• Write out sales scenarios and practice them. Sure, it can be a drag but you have to work on your weaknesses.
• Work on being persuasive rather than pushy.
• Make the research of sales and marketing technique an ongoing goal. Make use of libraries and the internet for sources of knowledge. 
• Encourage your existing clients to give you a positive referral to their family, friends and acquaintances.  Let them make the preliminary sale for you!

If you work on your own, you have time to improve these skills. If you work for a Fitness Center, they may assist you in signing clients or do the recruiting for you. However there are also clubs that want you to be ready to go and they have no patience for a learning curve. These clubs churn out trainers like cannon fodder at a rapid rate.
   Keep this in mind! You are not selling a house or a car. The investment for the prospective client is not an amount that will put them into major debt for years. They will not need financing from a lender for Fitness Training. Remind them of this! It is a small expenditure for potential life changing services!
   Remember, your current clients are also on contracts with an end date. Provide excellent service so that there is little need for a sales pitch to resign them.

Until next time,.............keep fit!

"Come down and see Flash Cadillac!  Have I got the ride for you!"
No one expects a Fitness Trainer to have the polished sales technique of a used car dealer.
Nevertheless, many trainers would be well served to improve their salesmanship skills.

Little Bobby Strong

















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