I always enjoy reading these type of pieces on other blogs (shout out to Eric Cressey for his random thoughts on sports performance instalments that I’ve been reading for years). Short and snappy articles about things related to being in the fitness industry, so I’ve decided to do my own version based off things I’ve been thinking about recently.
I’m also lucky to be the person who looks through all the LTB communities Facebook posts each week. This means I see what’s topical according to 800+ trainers so I’ve got a good vantage point!
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Think of Your Marketing Like a Dimmer Switch
Can you relate to this cycle?
Realise you need clients > do some marketing > get some more clients > stop marketing > lose a few clients > realise you need clients
All personal trainers do it and I was no different. You only realise you need to start doing marketing when you need more clients.
Rather than turning your marketing off and on like a switch, think of it like a dimmer that is turned up at points and down at others.
Aim to have habits you do weekly that keep your marketing at a reasonable level. Some examples could be:
- 2-3 social media posts highlighting your client base
- 1 blog every month
- 1 awareness Facebook advert
- a free community seminar every 3 months
- 10 texts to old clients/ leads sent out
Hate marketing? Read this: Learn to Love Marketing in 3 Easy Steps
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If Not You, Who?
Personal trainers don’t like selling. They like the result of a sale happening, but don’t like the process of selling to someone.
A mindset shift you can make here that will help is to think “if they don’t sign up with you, who will they spend X amount on?”
How many clients do you know who have gone from WeightWatchers to slimming world to Joe Wicks to something else without any real sign of consistency or progress?
If it isn’t you that they are going to pay money to, who will it be?
Your service could easily be the thing that helps them stick with exercise and find a style of training or eating that works for them.
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Clients Don’t Need to be Wowed
Rather than wondering how you can create moments of wow with your client base, start by ensuring your foundation level of customer service is at a high standard.
Ensuring you’re on time, keeping your word, asking for feedback, producing quality education and constantly improving your knowledge are all enough to stand out.
Think less about moments of wow and more about doing the basics really, really well.
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Break Your Main Tasks Down Into Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by how much you feel you have to do and want to improve.
By breaking your tasks into daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, you can start to chunk things into slots.
Just like you have a recurring client on Wednesday at 8am, you’ll have recurring tasks.
Some examples could be:
Daily = reply to all emails and messages
Weekly = update client spreadsheet, update accounts, update leads/ consults/ conversions, development time
Monthly = contact 5-10 ex-clients and leads, revisit education focus, assess marketing
Quarterly = revisit onboarding procedure, send out client feedback forms
Yearly = submit accounts, set goals for the year
Looking for more time management tips? Read this: 7 Tips for Better Management
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Make Time to Think
Image from the Daily Stoic website.
In Ryan Holiday’s new book, Stillness is The Key, he makes the case that we should all make time to think in our overly busy schedules. He states that “a lot of the distress we feel comes from reacting instinctively instead of acting with conscientious deliberation”. To aid this distress we should make time to stop and think.
Try adding in a 15-30 minute slot into your week and answering questions like:
- What’s important to you
- What’s going on in your life
- What you’re working on just now and why
- How you could better support your client base
- What big things do you need to get done over the next few days/ week/ month
- New content ideas
- What might be hidden from view or what opportunities you’re missing out on
I have a weekly recurring 30-minute slot for “thinking” every week. However, I’ll be completely honest and say that it only gets used 50% of the time. Whenever I use it, I come out the other end with more ideas, feeling clearer about what I’m working on and five to ten more to do’s that had slipped my mind.
There we have 5 random thoughts on personal training. I hope you’ve enjoyed this first instalment and have taken something you try to implement or action. Maybe it’s to start doing some of those marketing habits or to take 20 minutes today to stop, put your phone away and think.
Find Out More About LTB
If you would like to learn more about what we offer at LTB, head here to check out our membership benefits and to learn about our 2-week free trial. You can come on board, watch any of our courses (ranging from programme design to marketing), download any of of our documents (things like marketing checklists and PAR-Q’s) and then decide it’s not for you on day 13 without paying a penny!