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Featured Personal Training Article:
Personal Training: Name One Good Reason Why Someone Should
Hire You
by Aaron M. Potts, ISSA CFT
By the time you have gotten past the title and read the first
line of this article, you should already have the one reason in your
head why a prospective client would hire you. If you don't, then you
may have already discovered the biggest obstacle to the success of
your personal training career!
What we're talking about here is a very important sales tool known
as a "Unique Selling Proposition". Basically, this is the single
most important thing about your business that makes you stand out
from other professionals in your industry. The basic, bare bones,
from the gut, instinctive answer that comes to your mind when
someone asks, "Why should I train with you instead of another
trainer"?
After all, isn't this the absolute most important question that you
could possibly answer? Isn't this similar to a question that you ask
yourself every single time you are about to spend money?
When you are headed out to the grocery store, you decide to go to a
particular store. Why? Better prices, usually, although that is not
always the answer.
If you are going to get gas in your car on the way to work, you
choose a specific gas station to fuel up. Why? Price sometimes, but
often with a convenience store, location is more of a deciding
factor.
What about if you are going to go shopping for clothes? What makes
you decide to go to an anchor store like Sears or JC Penney instead
of going to Target, or Wal-Mart? Certainly not price, since the
department stores are usually cheaper. Why did you go to the mall?
By now you should be starting to see a pattern developing here.
Whether you are talking about buying groceries, gas, or clothes,
each time when you decide to shop at a certain establishment, there
is always some underlying reason WHY you decided on that store.
Whatever that reason is, that is the Unique Selling Proposition of
that store, and the way they got your business!
For grocery stores, it is often selection that brings in customers.
Gas stations have price wars, but in the end it often ends up just
being about convenience. Clothing stores get a lot of their business
from the brand names that they carry, rather than their rock-bottom
prices.
Those 3 examples were chosen to illustrate an incredibly powerful
point for you in your personal training business. That point is that
you need a Unique Selling Proposition, and contrary to popular
belief, having a lower price is not the one that you want to choose.
In fact, lowering your prices can help you to actually LOSE
customers, and will definitely help your business to a lower bottom
line!
Now ask yourself the same question again, only this time, really
take the time to think about the answer. Why should someone train
with you instead of another trainer? It is possible - in fact, even
likely - that you may not have a good reason! If that is the case,
your business is surely suffering as a result, and coming up with
your own Unique Selling Proposition should become your highest
priority.
Here is a brief but hardly all-encompassing list of ways that your
business may stand out from your competitors. Even if none of these
ideas apply to you, utilize this list to start thinking of other
ways to make yourself a more appealing option for potential clients
than your competitors.
Customer Service. This has been one of the most basic business
success secrets since the dawn of time, yet personal trainers often
don't take care of their customers nearly as well as they should.
For some great tips on customer service, see the article 'Personal
Training: 6 Secrets of Award Winning Customer Service' at the
following URL:
http://www.completepersonaltrainingbusiness.com/article2.html
Experience. People have always valued businesses who have a lot of
experience in the service being provided, and that is certainly true
for personal training. Your client's very health and well-being is
in your hands! Don't expect long-term personal training clients if
you don't have the knowledge to get them the results that they are
looking for.
Education. Although education is certainly no substitute for
experience, in a health profession such as personal training, you
won't get far without the knowledge to get your job done properly.
This can include your basic certification, your Continuing Education
Credits, and any applicable college or trade school classes you take
during your career.
Niche. Having a niche market is probably the most effective way to
stand out from the crowd! If you are a trainer who "trains
everyone", how can you possibly be very good at training a
particular group of people? How can you claim to be the best trainer
in town for athletes if you only train one athlete, and your other
clients include a housewife, a corporate CEO, a teenager, a police
officer, a kindergarten teacher, an elderly couple, and a swimsuit
model? Specialize in ONE group of people, and not only will it build
your credibility, but you can charge more for your sessions, since
you are specialized in training that particular niche.
Value. Another basic tenet of business success, yet one that
trainers often overlook. When all is said and done, what does your
client get for signing on with you? Just training sessions? All
trainers are doing that! What ELSE are they getting for their money?
If you have to think about it, then you might need to build some
more value into your business model!
Facility. If you work at or own a fitness facility or training
studio, what makes your facility stand out from other facilities in
town? Do you have more equipment? Do you offer more unique training
programs? Does your facility have child care? A locker room? Private
training areas? Think about why someone would walk into your door
instead of the gym across the street.
Hours. Whether you work in a facility or do home training, what are
your hours? Are you willing to train someone at 5:00am? What about
9:00pm? Today's world is full of incredibly busy people! If you try
to stick to "banker's hours", you will have a hard time succeeding
as a personal trainer.
As you can see, there are many ways that you can make your service
or your facility a better option for your potential clients rather
than them hiring one of your competitors. You should take the time
to brainstorm even more ideas than those covered above, as that is a
short list at best. There are many other ways that you can make your
business the best option for your target market!
Once you have a few ideas in mind, choose the one thing that you
feel truly makes your business "unique". What is that one single
product, service, or business practice that has the power to yank
your potential customers away from your competition?
Once you have the answer to that, promote that idea in everything
that you do! Don't promote the fact that you are a trainer. Promote
the fact that you are the best trainer for your target market
because of your Unique Selling Proposition.
Make your business unique in some special way, promote that idea,
and your business will grow in leaps and bounds. As you get more
successful, you will come up with even more ways that your business
is the best option for your target audience.
You will get more and more clients and those clients will be happy,
healthy, and spreading the word about your great services. That,
ladies and gentleman, is what we call a Win/Win situation!
About the Author
Aaron Potts is a Personal Trainer and Fitness Success Coach whose
customers include consumers as well as other fitness professionals.
Sign up for his free Fitness Journal at
http://www.fitnessdestinations.com or visit his coaching site at
http://www.ptsuccesscoach.com.
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