Fitness Business School – Turn New Clients Into Forever Clients

Full Transcript

Hey, Pat Rigsby here. And in this episode, I want to talk with you about how to turn new clients into forever clients. So let’s get to it.

Welcome to the fitness business school with Pat Rigsby, the podcast for fitness entrepreneurs who want to make more income, have greater impact, and enjoy more freedom in their ideal business. If you’d like an accelerated route to these goals, email me at [email protected] and put BGA in the subject line and I’ll get you all the details about our business growth accelerator program.

One of the things I’ve been really spending a lot of time thinking about and strategizing about is how to turn new clients into long-term or hopefully even forever clients. My business is I think kind of unique in the fitness industry in that, you know, I’ve got some coaching clients that I had all the way back in 2007, I’ve got people around, I’ve got dozens and dozens of clients that have worked with me from at least 2009 or 10, and still work with me today. And that longevity, that connection and that relationship is something that really not only am I proud of, but I strive for, and I want that to be more of my business. And as I get connected with more and more people as the industry grows, because it definitely has grown and I spend more time with people and our coaching programs, you know, they continue to grow and serve more people. It’s been really important to me to think about how we can get those new clients to feel as connected and cared for and successful as we were able to do with those old clients in a way that has allowed them to stick around.

And one of the things that that is really been on my mind is something I think all of us can think about and get better at, including me, and that’s trying to really focus on the first big client win. And when I think of this, it’s like, okay, you know, what, if a client gets a big win, we’ve gotten past any thought of buyer’s remorse. We’ve given them this kind of new, new outlook on life where it’s like, you know what? I can do this. I can be successful. This works. I believe in myself, I believe in the program. So the buy-in’s there and all those kind of things that, that come along with being new, like fear and discomfort. And I’m wondering this is going to work. If this time it’s gonna be different. All of that stuff really can be minimized if we can move somebody to that first big client win.

So I’ve come up with kind of five steps that I think need to be in place to make the most of this. The first is identifying what that first big client win is. If you, You are working with clients one-on-one yeah. It may be an individual thing. You may need to look at each of them and kind of team up and figure out, okay, what do we need to do together in the first two weeks, four weeks, six weeks for them to, I feel like, man, this is everything I hoped it would be. And more what’s that first big win. Is it, is it losing that first 10 pounds? Is it achieving, you know, something like a performance goal, like they’re their first chin up. I mean, it could be anything number of things, but basically it’s this milestone on the longer journey, they may come to you wanting to lose 40 pounds, but if they can lose that first 10 and do it in a way that they feel sustainable, Man, they They’re going to feel like they’re on top of the world. So the first thing that we need to do is identify what that first big win is.

And then once we know we can do what I consider step two, we can optimize onboarding. I think onboarding is such a critical phase of the coach client relationship. It’s making sure that somebody isn’t overwhelmed. So it’s not just kind of filling their tea cup with the fire hose type of thing. It’s more of a, okay, here’s what you do today. Here’s what you do tomorrow. And there needs to be something personal, involved, a personal conversation, a personal meeting where you can make it feel simple. It’s not just enough to tell them. And it actually be simple. They need to feel it simple. So if they have, I have questions that maybe you didn’t think about, you can answer them. You can really put them at ease so they can get into motion because that’s really the hardest step. I mean, I’ve had at this point over 40 different recurring revenue programs, like subscription type programs and getting somebody I need to go from inaction action is by far the hardest step, not getting them to buy, getting them to actually apply the first thing, put something into use by far the hardest step. So we want to optimize onboarding, make sure it feels simple, make sure it’s personal and make sure it allows them to get into motion and start to rack up those kinds of small and, and start to feel like, Hey, this is different. This is something that I can do. So they gained some confidence.

Then step three, three is we want to celebrate those small wins. You know, I talked about the phrase, win the day very regularly. In fact, it’s probably one of the things that I say the most to others and think to myself, like, what do I have to do to, to win the day or when, when something starts off miss, how do I turn it around and make today a win? Well, we need to celebrate the small wins to help these guys stay on track to help clients really feel like, you know what, Hey, I did a good job today. I can do it again tomorrow. And again, never let this overwhelm on them and become too big. So we’ve got to celebrate those, those behavior-based victories. If somebody shows up to work out, we need to congratulate them because it’s a big deal. We may not think it’s a big deal because this is our livelihood. But in our industry, the common approach is I’m going to text you. If you don’t show up and make it, do you feel worse about something you probably already feel bad about? Instead of saying, you know, you did a great job today. You put an hour in of self care, you gave yourself some momentum. You took care of yourself, you filled your cup first. So you’re going to be better for everybody else in your life today. And you know, high-fiving people doesn’t have to be a lot, but it’s, it’s kind of that just good job, atta-boy, that most people just don’t get in their lives.

And then number four, we want to use the big win. That’s going to happen that milestone after these incremental steps, these smaller wins. We want to use that as a spring board, right? We want to use that is that moment. Or we get somebody to say, yeah, I do want to upgrade. Yes, I do want to continue. Yes. I’m happy to introduce you to him because if you we’ve been in this business long enough, you’ve probably understood that man, the best time to ask somebody for a referral is when things are going really, really well. I mean, they just hit right milestone. They just lost their first 10 pounds. Well, of course they want to tell other people about it. They want to invite people to experience this because it’s fun to not succeed anonymously. And you want to share the things that are good in your life with the other people you care about. So use those big wins as a springboard, get those people who really achieve some milestones in that first 28 days or, or, you know, six weeks to commit to something longer term. But don’t think of it as just, Hey, I’m going to sell this person into this longer thing. It’s, I’m going to get them a win. So this is a no brainer and they would never want to leave. And that, That can be really, really powerful for people who are good at their craft. And I know if you’re listening to this odds are you’re, you’re among the best practitioners in your market. This is, I mean, that’s kind of the crowd that I tend to best connect with are people who are good at what they do, and they really care about their clients. So think of this is I’m going to help my clients succeed as a vehicle to grow. My business seems like common sense, but you’d be amazed at how many people that separate those two, those two concepts.

And then step number five, track the back to that first big wins. So you can help more and more people replicated as you do this. You’re going to find better ways to do things. You’re going to be able to optimize the journey for people. You’re going to see things that work for one person that you can borrow and transplant to another. That’s one of the neatest things about my job is I get to talk to these clients from not only all over North America, but all over the world. And you know, I get to transplant ideas that are working in Toronto to people in Florida or transplant ideas from people in London, to people in California. So I get to be this kind of aggregator of best practices and share them with other people. And you do too, but you have to notice it. You have to keep your head up, so to speak and be aware of the fact that there may be something that happened with this single client today that helped them achieve their big win that you can introduce to everybody else that might give them even a better chance of succeeding. If you, you want to keep clients long-term. And if you want to avoid having a revolving door as a business, which I know you do, I mean, that’s kind of a rhetorical question. You know, this has been kind of a, a really important thing for me to think about. And honestly, I probably was way too abstract in my thinking about this throughout the years. And it still worked out. I mean, I have so many people that I’m still connected with as is clients that I had a decade or more ago in an era where most people that are quote unquote coaches and our industry haven’t even been out of high school for a decade. So it’s, you know, it’s something that I know has worked for me and I have so much tangible evidence and I’m excited about really dialing it in and making it more systematic and more strategic rather than, you know, taking all these things as kind of big picture ideas. And I know it’s going to make it even better and I know it’s going to make it better for you too. So focus on getting your clients that first big win and using that big win to build a much better Relationship.

Thanks for listening to this episode of The Fitness Business School. And before you go, I have a quick announcement. When I first connect with a fitness business owner, they almost always ask me, “How can I get more leads or how can I get more clients?” Well, I have an exclusive offer for you and it’s going to help you do just that. As a listener of this show, you can test drive Fitness Lead Academy for six full weeks for just a dollar. Fitness Lead Academy is a one of a kind program where you get done-for-you marketing tools and coaching to attract more qualified prospects and convert them into paying clients. Imagine having three marketing emails written for you each and every week for easy-to-deploy promotions provided to you that are proven to convert and they’re ready to use and proven ads and social media posts given to you each and every month as well. Plus you have access to three weekly live video coaching sessions to help you with everything from dialing in your brand to navigating things like building funnels and getting ads approved. You get all of this and more when you join Fitness Lead Academy. And to prove that FLA can serve you as your virtual marketing department and not only save you plenty of time, but also consistently bring you more leads and clients, you can get access to the entire coaching program for six full weeks. Again, for just $1. If it delivers for you in the way that I expect it will, you can continue on for just $199 a month. So basically, just one additional client each month and you’re ROI positive. And I’m sure that if you apply what we give you, you’re going to get more than just one additional client each month. And you’re going to likely save at least 10 hours a month to take advantage of this special offer. Just go to TestDriveFLA.com to try it out for six full weeks. If it’s not what you’re looking for, you can cancel it any time.

Just go to TestDriveFLA.com to get started.