Lesson #1
LESSON NOTES: CLIENT CONNECTION + GLOW
Fitness business owners spend a lot of time discussing how to e-attract new customers to their business. For now, I would like to focus on the idea of creating a Mind Blowing first impression with your clients so that you form an immediate connection with them and they think ‘How could I NOT hire this trainer?’
GLOW
Have you ever had an experience where you meet someone for the first time and their personality is so warm, open and engaging, that you feel like you have been their friend for years. If so, then you have truly been in the company of someone who has what I call GLOW, and you usually want to spend a lot more time with this person. As a personal trainer and coach, your goal is to shine with that same level of GLOW during all of your interactions with your clients, especially during your first sessions with them. In fact, you never know when you are going to meet your next future client, so you can rarely if ever turn it off. Your GLOW will draw new clients to you and help you set the stage for having a trusting and comfortable relationship with each individual, as well as inspiring and successful sessions where they want to learn more from you.
Often GLOW is not an easy trait to teach, but the following piece of advice has been an excellent daily reminder for me and may prove helpful to you for increasing the GLOW in your life as well as your business. As trainers and coaches, we have it good! Our main job is to connect with people and provide them with the tools for building their happiest and most successful life. How lucky are we?! So my advice to you is this - Any day that you wake up and you are dreading going in to work or unexcited to work with your clients, immediately take a good look at your life in order to make the small tweaks and changes that need to be made in order to get you amped to head in to work every day. If you are not GLOWing, there is no way you can pass any GLOW along to your clients. Trust me, they are coming back to you for your GLOW far more often than for your programming skills. So, consider your schedule, your living situation, your friends + relationships, your client roster. Review everything, remove GLOW reducing elements, and expand GLOW increasing elements. Build your happiest most confident life, lead by example and new customers will have no other option than to hire you!
EXERCISE
In reviewing both your personal and business life at this time, where are there opportunities for you to make adjustments and changes to remove elements that are reducing your GLOW?
Where are there opportunities for you to introduce elements for increasing your GLOW and happiness?
Consider the facility where you are currently training. Is this facility living up to the standards of GLOW that you and your brand represent? How can you do your part to improve the GLOW of your facility or perhaps find another location for your practice?
Lesson #2
LESSON NOTES: CLIENT CONNECTION
During an initial consultation or first session with a client, I commonly see trainers make the mistake of fumbling their opportunity to NAIL the first impression by forming an immediate client connection. Your ability to quickly gain a new client’s trust you, so that they open up and share their thoughts with you, is usually the difference between ‘newly hired’ and ‘newly fired’. Consider the following ideas when planning out your first session with a new client:
KEEP IT FRESH: Plan all initial meetings with clients when you are TOP of your game, fresh, and not rushed for time. Throwing in a consult at the end of a 6 session day is definitely not recommended.
CELEBRITIZE: Make sure that your new clients feel special, like they are seated in the First Class cabin, and that they are the celebrity for the day. Often trainers make the mistake of making a consult session a show that is all about their services and experience. Yes, you should definitely inform them about your services, but always do so in a manner that relays how your services and experiences will directly improve their experience with you. During your facility tours, instead of showing them equipment, ask about their gym experience and what programs they have done before. Dig deeply into learning about their goals, challenges and fears with an honest curiosity. Listen intently to them with eye contact. Focus and meditate on their words while taking exceptional notes.
MAKE IT MEMORABLE FOR YOUR BRAND: Chances are, if they are interviewing you as a possible new trainer, then they are also weighing their options with other trainers and other facilities. Therefore, your initial interactions with them MUST be memorable for you and your brand to stand out amongst their options. Think about your brand and what you can do or provide to them that will help to differentiate your initial session from your competitors. A perfect example: We have a trainer at DIAKADI whose focus is on better connecting her clients to naturally raised whole foods. For breakfast advice, she has an incredible green smoothie recipe to help her clients kick start the day. For every first session she hosts, she brings a thermos of her famous green smoothie to give a taste to her clients. Who would you hire and remember better? The no frills trainer or the one that brought you a free green smoothie to try?
RECOMMENDED READING: For more advice and thoughts on connecting better with clients, consider the following references:
Peak by Chip Conley
The Starbucks Experience
EQ
EXERCISE
Consider your first sessions with new clients and determine 1-3 new ways that you can improve your immediate connection and first impressions with clients. How can you incorporate these changes into your current practice?
