If you are someone who is sitting around waiting for clients to come to you, then you will be waiting forever.
When I started as a PT, I was the same, I thought just get hired at a Gym, they will give me clients to start training. This was definitely not the case, I learnt very early on that you really have to graft on the gym floor to get them.
But what if you are like me when I started, lacking confidence to go up to someone, scared of being rejected, fear of judgement and because of this you are scared to go up to some and start a conversation.
Over the years, I have learnt that MEMBER’S DO NOT LIKE ASKING FOR HELP. I can’t alliterate how important this is to understand. As humans we are wired to do things ourselves first and asking for help can make us feel that you are being perceived as needy, incompetent or feel people are too busy for them. So many members will work really hard to make sure people don’t see them this way.
However, there are so many members in your gym that are experiencing this and are failing to reach their goals, which could all be solved with your knowledge.
Let’s firstly look at the barriers on what is stopping members coming to you:
PT is too expensive
They feel they need to be in a certain shape or have a certain fitness level
They actually do not know what it entails or what to expect
They are afraid of looking like an idiot or being judged
They have previously had a really bad experience.
Now knowing this, can you understand how fearful you are of approaching members, members are feeling exactly the same.
What now? You now need to initiate a process that will allow you to approach these members and for you to make the first move.
I am not advising you to go up and just start a random conversation and see what happens. Anything you do, there must be structure and a reason. It's about building connections, growing good quality leads and rapport with members. Here are my top 3 ways to approach members in a structured way:
Simple Hello - Many PT’s over complicate it by thinking about the sale. At the beginning say hello, how are you, get members to start to warm up to you. Think about it, if someone were even thinking about the idea of a PT, would they ask the person sitting on their phone or the one that always says Hello when they walk in.
Surveys - From the advice I have had from mentors and coaches throughout my time, this is probably the only thing you need. Extrovert or introvert this will enable you to make so many conversations with members. Take a clipboard and pen and stand in a place where there is a flow of members passing by. Simplu, say you are asking questions on behalf of the gym about members, you will be amazed at the number of people that will stop and answer the questions. Here you can offer a free PT sessions to draw them towards your business
Form Correction - This is simply going up to someone and correcting their form, a super easy way to start a conversation. Like anything, not everyone will want it and that's fine. Your intentions were good and you can't please everyone. In my experience, people really appreciate this, as people are super self conscious about what they are doing. This can lead to you watching their set and starting to build conversation around their goals and again offering a free session.
I need you to always REMEMBER this, when speaking to members, you are not selling. You are helping them get one step closer to their goals, that's all. The importance of doing this, is that people don’t buy from us now, they buy down the line because of problems you can solve.
So, this may feel long or too much work, but this is the difference between waiting around for clients or 3 months down the line having a full diary.
Get going for the above and let me know how it goes.
Nisha Parmar
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