Marketing Without Spending a Fortune

One of the most common questions I get goes something like this:

“How can I fill up my schedule without spending a fortune on ineffective advertising or direct mail?”

What they really mean is:

I don’t have enough clients. Can you help?

Well, the better question is:

“What didn’t I do in the past few weeks to cause me not to have as many clients as I want?”

I guess what I’m saying is the answer lies in your own actions. Every day you get to decide whether you’re going to work on your business or just complain about the problems within your business.

So, with that in mind, here are several things you can do ASAP to get things rolling… if you’re willing to take ACTION:

1. Evaluate your sales system

Without an effective sales system, an increase in leads isn’t going to help you much. You need to have a systematic approach for presenting your offerings to your prospects that will give you the highest possible outcome when it comes to generating clients and increasing revenue. Here are some tips:

• Use a script. Every presentation should be the same. Develop your best approach, and use it every time.
• Use an alternate choice close. Present 2-3 options and ask the prospect which one they want to get started with.
• If your ideal offering is 3 sessions per week, make sure there is a 4 or 5 session per week option. This will make the 3 session per week option look less expensive by comparison.

Bottom line: bad sales system = bad income.

2. An easy way to ask for referrals

While you should have several referral systems in place, this one is probably the easiest. EVERY time someone says anything positive about your services reply with this:

“I’m so glad you’re seeing great results and enjoy working with me. I enjoy working with people like you that are truly motivated to achieve their goals. (Pause) By the way, most of our new clients are referrals from current clients that are enjoying their experience with us – so if you’re pleased with your progress please tell your friends that would like to achieve similar results about us.”

Many will respond by saying that they’ve already told someone about you. If that is the case, then simply thank them for doing so by providing them with a gift card or certificate that they can provide to a referral.

3. An easy way to reactivate former clients

Here is a simple way to reactivate former clients. Go though your database, and call your former clients using this simple script:

“Hi ________________, this is ________________ from XYZ Personal Training. I just wanted to give you a call to see how you’ve been doing since your last session?”

If they say they’re doing fine, simply say:

“I am so glad to hear that. If you need anything or want to come back in for a session, please give me a call.”

If the response is something like, “I’ve been slacking on my workouts,” or, “I need to get back on track,” follow up with:

“Let’s schedule you to come back in for a free session this week. Which is better for you, Tuesday or Wednesday?”

Remember, if people forget about you they can’t refer.

4. Reaching out to local businesses

If you want to fill up with prospects fast, you can do a business call campaign. A business call campaign is probably not in everyone’s comfort zone, but if you’re willing to do it you are guaranteed to generate a bunch of new prospects in a hurry. The added benefit to something like this is that it makes your camp a lot more energetic with bigger numbers and really expands your network in a hurry. So here is what you do.

Pull out the phone book and turn to the yellow pages. Start with the ‘A’s’ and begin calling all local businesses that might have an employee that fits your target market. Here is a easy script for you to use:

“ Hello, this is __________ from ____________ and in celebration of our “Get (Your City) Fit Month” I wanted to call a few local businesses, and the first person to answer the phone WINS A FREE TWO WEEK COMPLIMENTRAY MEMBERSHIP in our large group training program………..

AND THAT’S YOU!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

Now all you have to do is RSVP by going to my website and entering your claim number in the next 48 hours (have form or contact page) or by coming to orientation this Saturday at 10 a.m. to secure your spot……Would you rather attend orientation this SATURDAY or register through the website and attend the orientation next week??? GREAT!!!! And your first and last name was? And I also need second phone number where you can be reached?

Ok __________, when you come to orientation, ask for (name) and it should take about 10 minutes to get you registered. And if for some reason you cannot make your appointment (DATE/TIME) – can we count on you to give us a call back at (number) with a better time?”

If you commit to making a dozen calls a day you’ll get 3-4 people that want to take you up on your offer. Of those, 1-2 will show up. Five days a week of that means 5-10 new leads a week, or 20-40 new leads per month.

Now, here’s how you turn them into paying clients:

Following orientation or the first day in your facility, show them that they can trade in the 2 weeks for one month free if they enroll in 3 months of large group training (or 6… your choice) if they choose to during their first visit.

Even if you only convert 25%, that’s 5-10 new clients per month. Not bad for a few phone calls.

So there you have it, four ways to add more prospects and more clients without spending a dime. And remember, these are in addition to the things you should be doing on a daily and weekly basis while executing your fitness business growth plan. If you’re working a plan list, you should have no problem filling up your schedule in a hurry, with almost zero out of pocket cost.

By Pat Rigsby