How to Profit from Walking Billboards
By Fitness Atlantic Writer: Jim Labadie

There's no such thing as a "slam dunk" when it comes to selling your fitness services. You may have noticed when people seem like they want nothing more than to hand over their checkbook they suddenly have a few questions they'd like answered first. However, if there's any type of prospective client who is close to being a "slam dunk" it is a referral. And while I strongly suggest you go through the formal sales process, it should not take much more than you staying out of your own way and letting them sell themselves to close the deal. If the person who referred them to you held up their end of the bargain then they are, for the most part, pre-sold.

Walking billboards…Successful clients are your best form of advertising.

As a fitness professional you've probably already discovered your best form of marketing is the walking billboards you create. What else can possibly compare? Nothing, really. So what steps are you taking to make sure these living testimonials are spreading the word about you? Are you being pro-active and making sure your clients know the types of referrals you are seeking? Are you educating your clients and constantly reminding them of the benefits they have received from your services?

Make It Happen

Too often trainers take a reactive approach to their business. They wait for good things to happen instead of making them happen. Oftentimes I hear of fitness professionals who don't like the idea of bothering their clients by asking for referrals. If that sounds like you then I've got a simple cure. Sit down with your client at the end of a session and ask them how it is they feel you have helped them.

Ask them to paint you a vivid picture of the way they felt and lived their life before meeting you. Of course you then ask how they now feel after having worked with you. If you've done your job they should be going on and on about you and how you've changed their life for the better. Don't you think they want their friends and family to experience the same joy and well-being?

Ask, and You Shall Receive

Next ask them who they know who is in a similar position to how they were before meeting with you. Remind them of the vivid details they just expressed to you. Allow their minds to wander as they search for the perfect referral for you. Something you need to understand is if you don't teach your clients exactly what you are looking for in a referral they will never know.

And don't let yourself fall back into a reactive mode. If they know someone who would make a terrific client then be sure to get the prospect's contact information. Don't just wait for them to call you, you call them. If you think that's too pushy then look at it a different way. You are a fitness professional. You have a moral obligation to reach your hand out and try and help this person. They may or may not become a client, but it will not be for a lack of effort on your part.

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