Fitness Business School – Do You Need a Front End Offer?

Full Transcript

Hey, Pat Rigsby here. And in this episode, I want to talk with you about front end offers and really whether or not you need them. I mean, they’ve become a really prominent part of our industry. And it’s a question I get asked a lot. So we’re going to dive deep into it during this episode,

Welcome to The Fitness Business School podcast – the show for fitness business owners who want to grow their income, increase their impact and improve their lifestyle. Be sure to listen til the end of this episode, because we have a brand new special offer exclusive for listeners. So stay tuned.

So the front end offer is become a really prominent part of most fitness businesses over the past decade, or maybe a little bit longer than that. I certainly didn’t invent the concept, but I gave it this name back in about 2007 when I was trying to categorize the stages of that kind of lead to prospect to client journey. And, you know, at that time it was very common for health clubs to give away day passes, to attract prospects, to come into their facilities and for trainers to sell a three pack of training to get on board. If they weren’t ready to commit to more you know, more expensive or bigger packages of sessions.

So in my business, we started off by offering a free week at our health club. Soon, we moved to two weeks free and eventually offered one month free for a variety of scenarios. And, and to be honest, it, it worked great. The conversion rate was amazing. And with training one month and six week paid programs were alternated with two or three free sessions as a way to get people to experience how we could help them in maybe a, a lower risk or a less intimidating fashion. Now, when I started teaching this to other business owners, the idea was simple. Those trainers didn’t enjoy selling, and they were kind of uncomfortable asking someone that had just met for this big financial commitment. I mean, let’s face it. Most of the people in our industry haven’t come from a business background and they weren’t super excited about selling. So this gave him kind of a, an easy on ramp to build a relationship and get more comfortable in that environment. And with this approach, this hope was that through experiencing what the business had to offer, the prospect was more open to you know, making that significant commitment. And the business owner was more comfortable moving the business relationship forward with somebody they had already coached. And, you know, it was just easier for them than trying to convince somebody that they didn’t really know yet.

So admittedly, in many cases, the idea was better than the reality, many business owners early on when I started teaching this really just waited around during the trial or the challenge or whatever the front end offer hoping you per the participating client would just walk up with a credit card in hand and volunteer it and say, Hey, I’m ready to give you a 12 month commitment. And, you know, they, they kind of hit behind this excuse that the training should just sell itself. But you know, the nice thing was that some others use this tools a less risky way for the prospect to walk in the door and experience what they had to offer. Then they transitioned those people in a systematic kind of choreograph way into a longer program on a really consistent basis. And it even served a little bit as a tryout because you’d be able to spend a little bit of time with this new prospect and see if they were a fit. See if you know, was somebody you wanted to work with long-term. So I guess the question now I get very regularly is should you use a front end offer in your business? And I’ll, I’ll explain it or answer it in this way. If you put yourself in the prospect’s shoes, a front end offers a really, really good thing. Now there’s going to be plenty of die hard business owners that say, Hey, the prospect needs to make a commitment. If not, they’re a tire kicker, a time-waster as you probably have guessed by this point, I have a completely different perspective on this, right? I think we’re asking someone to get out of their comfort zone, rearrange their schedule, get over their fears, ignore their past failures and to pay us to come in and do something they’re likely not very good at it.

All right, now that’s a big ask and shouldn’t somebody be able to get to know us first. And if they’re going to make that commitment, they not only have to decide that they are going to commit, but they’ve got to decide where the right person to make that commitment with. So, you know, they, they need to feel like, Hey, this is a fit this culture, this environment, this coach, you know, I need to know that before I’m making this 3, 6, 12 month commitment, the, you know, the, the, how they get to know you part can be anything from a single visit to six weeks of training. The details are not the focus. Like you can find the right fit for you. The client is the focus. How do you get them in the door? And how do you make sure this is a fit for both parties? And, you know, if you can get them to feel comfortable enough to walk into an unfamiliar place, meet new people, get out of their comfort zone. You know, how do you get them to believe that you’re finally the person, this is finally the place that’s going to allow them to reach their goals and actually maintain them, whatever your answer is like, how you’re going to be able to do that.

That’s your front end offer see between the competition that’s growing everywhere and all the low cost, low risk type of things that are available with online or distance or virtual training. And the fact, the prospect isn’t already comfortable and confident in this whole fitness environment on average, let’s face it. Most people are not using a coach or a trainer. Most people are not part of an active program. So the majority, this is uncomfortable. It makes a lot of sense for them to want to try before they buy now, how you let them do that is up to you. But in my opinion, a front end offer is the perfect opportunity for you to find a fit for you and the client to eventually work together.

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