'No-Pressure' Sales Techniques for Personal Trainers
Jim Labadie
Part II of this ongoing series looks at 'no-pressure sales'. If you hate selling your services, you need to read this informative article! "I'm not a sales person by nature." Something I used to tell myself all the time. I know as a fitness professional that high-pressure sales tactics don't come naturally to us. That is a good thing. But a lot of us hold the belief that a sales person is supposed to be someone who is pushy. I've come to learn that selling has absolutely nothing to do with pressuring people. Nor should you place any pressure on yourself. Selling your services requires nothing more than having a conversation with a fitness prospect. If you can't hold a conversation with a person then you are probably in the wrong industry in the first place. During the time you are talking you will find out whether or not you and that person are a good fit for one another. If you are, great! If you aren't, it's no big deal. There will be more prospects, right? In case, you haven't noticed the majority of the country needs your help! In a selling situation you always get back what you put out. Meaning, however you are acting is how the prospect you are communicating with will respond. If you are acting a little nervous the prospect will sense it and may begin to get nervous about hiring you. If you are acting a little pushy your prospect will sense it and begin to push back. Just relax and talk to the person. But here's the key. Your prospective client should be doing the vast majority of the talking. Sales is about them, not about you. It's natural for any person to want to rant and rave about the terrific services they provide and all the wonderful things they can do for that person. But it's even harder for us as fitness professionals because we have the ability to help people like few other professions can. However, you have to do it. You must listen to what they want. It's not your money, yet, it's their money. If you want to get a new client you'd better listen for what it will take to get them as a client. It really is incredible what happens when you listen to your fitness prospects. They will tell you exactly what it is they want from you. By simply repeating back to them that you will provide them (assuming you can) with the exact results they are looking for, you'll probably have a new client. If you ramble on and on about the things you do for your current clients you may miss the one thing that this prospective fitness client is looking for. You could list all sorts of benefits that you provide. But if they don't hear the benefit they want then they probably aren't going to hire you. People buy for their reasons, not yours. Asking questions and listening to prospects allows you to find that reason. Promoting benefits makes for good marketing, but not for good selling. And for those of you who don't know, marketing brings prospective clients to you. Selling turns those prospects into paying clients. There's an enormous difference between the two. Remember, there is no pressure when making a sale. Simply have a conversation with your fitness prospect. Ask lots of questions about what they want. Assure them that you can provide the results they are looking for and more than likely you'll have more money in your pocket by the time you are done talking!
Coach Jim Labadie is a fitness entrepreneur, sales expert and speaker. He is currently working on his new website www.howtogetmoreclients.com
If you'd like more information please email him at Jim@howtogetmoreclients.com
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