"Oh, well let me think about it"

[WoofieNugget]

If you read correctly you will see I said that I was able to qualify and consult potential clients more effectively. People perceive more value in my service, thus pay more for my services.

This is very key - not wasting your time. At my old gym I would do far less consultations than all of the other trainers looking for clients...but I would close almost all of them because I wouldn't sit down with anyone unless I knew they really wanted training and had already qualified mentally and financially.

Once you are a good trainer, people will see it - maybe not right away, but the better you get results for your clients word will spread. The better you focus on your clients during sessions, word will spread. The better you go above and beyond their expectations, word will spread. The better you become more educated and qualified than anyone else in the building, word will spread. And you will be turning away people and have a waiting list - not trying to sell them.

[unauthorized]

wow... your comprehension skills are terrible. where did i say my services were better? I never made that cliam (even though I do beleive it is true).

If you read correctly you will see I said that I was able to qualify and consult potential clients more effectively. People perceive more value in my service, thus pay more for my services.

you really are a numbskull.

Instead of answering my questions, you would rather attack my comprehension skills and call me a numbskull? How classy
Sack up and move to Los Angeles and see if your tactics work? Not even LA, how about Florida or NY? See how long you will last? In LA, there are private studios on almost every main blvd/street, the city is infested with independents. There are trainers that will be just as good or even better than you, training wise and marketing wise.

[unauthorized]

The dumb lazy trainer who just knows about marketing will indeed be busy... for a while. Then they'll run into the problem of their clients getting no good results. So the clients will drift away, the marketing trainer will get some more, and so on - eventually they'll run out of potential clients.

As long as the dumb lazy trainer knows how to market, them running out of clients will take longer than you think.

At my gyms, we have over a dozen trainers at both. Some trainers have zero clients, while at both gyms 2-3 trainers account for over half the total sessions done. Yet everyone pays the same rate for PT. If your theory that people choose only based on price were true, then the clients and sessions would be spread evenly amongst all 12-18 trainers. And yet they're not.

What about independent trainers who don't work for a gym. Ones who have their own gym?
What about them?

Whereas the trainers currently with 0-3 clients, they could have $5 sessions and still not getting anyone new.

As long as you can sell your services and market yourself, then you will have clients.
If a trainer charged $5 for a group training session, and that trainer sold and marketed that well, he could easily have 20 people in his or her class.

[PerFit]

Instead of answering my questions, you would rather attack my comprehension skills and call me a numbskull? You sound like an e-thug
Sack up and move to Los Angeles and see if your tactics work? See how long you will last?

Wow you cant read again?

I think my credibility speaks for itself on these forums. You asked me what makes me a better trainer than everyone in my area, I simply replied saying I never claimed that.

Are you really finding it that hard to understand what Im saying?


Yes, let me move from australia to be a trainer in LA, thats a great idea!

facepalm.

[unauthorized]

Wow you cant read again?

I think my credibility speaks for itself on these forums. You asked me what makes me a better trainer than everyone in my area, I simply replied saying I never claimed that.

Are you really finding it that hard to understand what Im saying?


Yes, let me move from australia to be a trainer in LA, thats a great idea!

facepalm.

I never said "in your area". I said "the next trainer". You might want to read my questions again

Credibility on a message forum doesn't hold weight..sorry. That's like you throwing your certification in my face, telling me you're this great credible trainer because of it.
You still can't answer my questions. Why?
Yeah, why would you move to LA. Too much competition? That would be a horrible idea wouldn't it? What works for you in australia doesn't mean it will work for everyone in the world. If you were sitting in a big city trying to pre-qualify them, they would of already disqualified you, and found someone else.

We obviously have our own beliefs in what works. You do what you do, and i do what i do. What i do has kept me in this business for 10 years in a massive city, that could be a state itself. How does your palm smell?

[justinslayer]

children, children calm down. It's just a message board

Money and what city or country you're in, is what it's all about

[KyleAaron]

As long as the dumb lazy trainer knows how to market, them running out of clients will take longer than you think.

For the third time, this is not what I have seen happen. Within 12 months most are bust.

What about independent trainers who don't work for a gym. Ones who have their own gym?
What about them?

What about them? The same applies. It's the old 80/20 rule - 20% of trainers have 80% of the clients. PT studios open and close all the time. If you regularly pass where a boot camp is run, you rarely see the same trainers for more than 3 months.

This is the same in any business. It's just particularly acute in PT.

This is why whenever we try to discuss client numbers, everyone goes quiet.

[SerpentHearted]

wow, it got stupid in here.

[BodyQuest1]

I was able to qualify and consult potential clients more effectively.

.

How? Could you give us examples of prequalifying questions?
Thanks

[ggecko22]

This thread was originally about overcoming the standard "let me think about it" objection- let's have this forum be of some use to us and maybe provide responses for overcoming that objection (for those of us who do actually attempt and not just accept the first no). Personally, I show empathy saying "I can understand that..." Then I bring up their goals again and how it will change their lives (a convo I've already had with them before I spent a second working them out). After bringing those positives back to light, I islate the objection and overcome it. Its not as easy as saying "Ok no problem, maybe next time" but if success were easy, everyone would be rich, be in perfect shape, and live an amazingly fullfilling life. The reaity is that very few people experience these things because very few people have the balls to get it.

[PerFit]

How? Could you give us examples of prequalifying questions?
Thanks

Sure, I can give you some rough Ideas but I've actually put a lot of time and money into educating myself with it all so im not just going to spill the beans as it would be disrespectful to the person who provides me with the education.

Basically you want to cover what your services are. Talk about the frequency and duration in which people train with you. Give a price range per week/fornight/month and ask if its in their budget. If they say yes they cant use that as an objection in the consult. If it is too much either offer them a cheaper product (group training or take home package).

Book in a time for a the consult and ask ANYONE who is involved with the descision to come along. This gets rid of the "i have to go home and talk to my husband about it " objection. You let them go home and talk to the husband and they will regurgitate what you have said in the worst way possible resulting in the husband saying "wtf do you want to waste your money on that crap for? you tried the other thing and that didnt work and this will be the same blah blah blah"

Kindly let them know that you would like come to angreement with them during the consult and they are more than welcome to say yes or no. no pressure.

This thread was originally about overcoming the standard "let me think about it" objection- let's have this forum be of some use to us and maybe provide responses for overcoming that objection (for those of us who do actually attempt and not just accept the first no). Personally, I show empathy saying "I can understand that..." Then I bring up their goals again and how it will change their lives (a convo I've already had with them before I spent a second working them out). After bringing those positives back to light, I islate the objection and overcome it. Its not as easy as saying "Ok no problem, maybe next time" but if success were easy, everyone would be rich, be in perfect shape, and live an amazingly fullfilling life. The reaity is that very few people experience these things because very few people have the balls to get it.

As myself and others have said in this thread, there really shouldnt be any objections to handle if you prequalify them correctly. You really only want to sit down with people who are keen for services and you have already ticked all the boxes when you first spoke to them. If you prequalify them and mention your price range which they say is in their budget, they cant say "on its too much at the moment" as youcan just say in a nice tone "oh but on the phone you said it was in your price range?"



I'm not saying it to be an ass but if you are sitting down with leads and not closing them 90%+ of the time, its YOU that is at fault, not them.

[ggecko22]

As myself and others have said in this thread, there really shouldnt be any objections to handle if you prequalify them correctly. You really only want to sit down with people who are keen for services and you have already ticked all the boxes when you first spoke to them. If you prequalify them and mention your price range which they say is in their budget, they cant say "on its too much at the moment" as youcan just say in a nice tone "oh but on the phone you said it was in your price range?"



I'm not saying it to be an ass but if you are sitting down with leads and not closing them 90%+ of the time, its YOU that is at fault, not them.[/QUOTE]


Couldnt agree more with the fact that if theyre not closing, its your fault. However, if your closing everyone or even 90%, youre selling yourself short. If youre prequalifying people to the extent that everyone that you sit down with closes, youre missing out. Some people may not pre qualify to a T, but when you work them out and exert a little assertiveness, they buy. These individuals may not have fit your criteria during the pre qual, but more won over eventually. Ya, more people will say no, but more people will ultimately say yes as well. That said, if you literally have people wiating to train with you, you can obviously be more selective. If your schedule is not completely full, though, you shouldnt be trying to have them say no before you even work them out or give them some sort of consultation- a real opportunity to convince them that you can and will help them, which usually cant be done in 5 minutes.

[PerFit]

Couldnt agree more with the fact that if theyre not closing, its your fault. However, if your closing everyone or even 90%, youre selling yourself short. If youre prequalifying people to the extent that everyone that you sit down with closes, youre missing out. Some people may not pre qualify to a T, but when you work them out and exert a little assertiveness, they buy. These individuals may not have fit your criteria during the pre qual, but more won over eventually. Ya, more people will say no, but more people will ultimately say yes as well. That said, if you literally have people wiating to train with you, you can obviously be more selective. If your schedule is not completely full, though, you shouldnt be trying to have them say no before you even work them out or give them some sort of consultation- a real opportunity to convince them that you can and will help them, which usually cant be done in 5 minutes.

I totally hear what you are saying and its a valid point. The way that I prefer to do it is spend more time "farming" for leads rather than wasting time sitting down with potential time wasters.

Both methods are credible and chances are will end up in the same amount of clients. Let just use some ballpark figures here. You dont have to agree with them



Your Method
50% of time getting & and somewhat prequalifing leads
50% of taking consults.

My method
75% of time getting and strongly prequalifying leads
25% of my time taking consults with those who tick all the boxes.


You will have more face time with clients, probably have a significantly smaller closing rate than mine.

I will have a much smaller face time with potetioal clients but will close most of them.



Chances are we may have the same amount of clients from this but i honestly feel the quality of the clients I have will be better purely becuase i did not have to sell to them as hard (or twist their arm so to speak). I honestly find the ones you REALLY need to convince are usally the ones who are the worst clients (skipping sessions, not sticking to ewating plans etc) as they really werent all that willing from the start.

Even when I started out I was very selective with the clients I chose. I'll tell you right now that I turned away clients willing to pay thousands on the spot but I knew they were not the right type of client. I knew they would flake and be a pain in the ass and ultimatley complain to the world they arent getting results.


Better committed clients leads to better results which leads to better testimonials which leads to better maketing materials which ultimatley leads to more clients.


I'm thinking long term for my business and not trying to make a quick buck.

[ggecko22]

I totally hear what you are saying and its a valid point. The way that I prefer to do it is spend more time "farming" for leads rather than wasting time sitting down with potential time wasters.

Both methods are credible and chances are will end up in the same amount of clients. Let just use some ballpark figures here. You dont have to agree with them



Your Method
50% of time getting & and somewhat prequalifing leads
50% of taking consults.

My method
75% of time getting and strongly prequalifying leads
25% of my time taking consults with those who tick all the boxes.


You will have more face time with clients, probably have a significantly smaller closing rate than mine.

I will have a much smaller face time with potetioal clients but will close most of them.



Chances are we may have the same amount of clients from this but i honestly feel the quality of the clients I have will be better purely becuase i did not have to sell to them as hard (or twist their arm so to speak). I honestly find the ones you REALLY need to convince are usally the ones who are the worst clients (skipping sessions, not sticking to ewating plans etc) as they really werent all that willing from the start.

Even when I started out I was very selective with the clients I chose. I'll tell you right now that I turned away clients willing to pay thousands on the spot but I knew they were not the right type of client. I knew they would flake and be a pain in the ass and ultimatley complain to the world they arent getting results.


Better committed clients leads to better results which leads to better testimonials which leads to better maketing materials which ultimatley leads to more clients.


I'm thinking long term for my business and not trying to make a quick buck.

Good point. It's important to have as high of a success rate as possible in order to truly build a brand orientated with success. At the same time, I love motivating people and showing them that they can actually succeed, despite their past failures. If you really have to twist their arms, youre right, theyre not heideal client. I do think a certain level of assertiveness is necessary though. Reason being, a lot of people dont think that they can do it, so sometimes you need to enlighten them to the fact that they actually can.

[PerFit]

Good point. It's important to have as high of a success rate as possible in order to truly build a brand orientated with success. At the same time, I love motivating people and showing them that they can actually succeed, despite their past failures. If you really have to twist their arms, youre right, theyre not heideal client. I do think a certain level of assertiveness is necessary though. Reason being, a lot of people dont think that they can do it, so sometimes you need to enlighten them to the fact that they actually can.

No doubt. Thats a good part of this job. 2 rules I have learnt over time is:

1) You cant help every one. Spread yourself too thin and it will lessen your quality of sercive

2) Never help anyone more than they are willing to help themselves. Sure some people need that inital push to find out what they can actually do but if you have to push them from the start, chances are you will have to push them all the way which ultimatley drags you down.

Its all about finding that balance

[Simmo0508]

No doubt. Thats a good part of this job. 2 rules I have learnt over time is:

1) You cant help every one. Spread yourself too thin and it will lessen your quality of sercive

2) Never help anyone more than they are willing to help themselves. Sure some people need that inital push to find out what they can actually do but if you have to push them from the start, chances are you will have to push them all the way which ultimatley drags you down.

Its all about finding that balance

This.

They have to want it for themselves. We as trainers are helpers, the people to point them in the right direction, we aren't the "do-ers". A lot of people think by paying to work with a trainer, the results come purely as a result of that. It doesn't work that way. They still have to do all the hard work themselves, be it physically, and with the food at home. We aren't gonna move their legs on the treadmill for them, we aren't going to press that barbell for them, it's their job to do that.

We are trainers, not parents or babysitters. If they don't want to be there and be trained, then don't bother wasting any of your time trying to convince them otherwise, when that time can be used to train people who DO want your help and ARE motivated. You can't tell someone to become motivated. You can influence their way of thinking and get people more positive, sure, but they have to want it themselves.

If you try to twist people's arms and convince them, then like Jules said they tend to be the weaker clients (in terms of reliability etc.) and will mess you around because they never really wanted it in the first place. You also come across as desperate in the process, and a part of good business is to never appear desperate. Our job is appear as hot commodities and in demand. Always portraying that image.

[unauthorized]

For the third time, this is not what I have seen happen. Within 12 months most are bust.

What you see is not what everyone else sees.

What about them? The same applies. It's the old 80/20 rule - 20% of trainers have 80% of the clients. PT studios open and close all the time.

So you throw in independent trainers and in house trainers in 1 basket? PT studios open and close all the time? If so, that will be due to poor marketing and location, regardless if the trainer is good or not. In my area, they are everywhere, and i don't see them closing down. I have tons of competition, and i hold my own very well.

If you regularly pass where a boot camp is run, you rarely see the same trainers for more than 3 months.

Are you speaking of independent trainers or in house trainers? If you're speaking in house, then yes, because in house trainers constantly bounce around from gym to gym. They also have companies, that run outdoor boot camps that hire trainers to conduct them. None of these trainers are their own bosses, so they're easily replaceable because someone above will no longer need them for some reason. These trainers will also leave from company to company because they seek more pay, or PT is not for them and they look elsewhere to make money.

I see plenty of independent trainers who run camps, that are still there years later. It's not like they can fire themselves, or another trainer will replace them at the same time, same place area.

[KyleAaron]

So you throw in independent trainers and in house trainers in 1 basket?

Yes. In terms of the success of the individual PT, it comes to the same thing; by "success" I mean having a good number of clients with a relatively low turnover of those clients.

Obviously in terms of what the PT can do in marketing, and how much of the session fees they receive and so on, things are different for independents and in-house PTs.

But in the end it comes down to the individual.

PT studios open and close all the time? If so, that will be due to poor marketing and location, regardless if the trainer is good or not.

I disagree. I know of a successful PT who works from her garage in a rural area of low income, a village of 300 people, 30 minutes' drive from a town of 8,000 with a slightly below median income. Whereas I also know of unsuccessful PTs working at well-equipped gyms in the CBD.

One has a poor location, the others good - yet the former succeeds while the latter fail. Why? It comes down to their individual competence.

I'm not claiming I could be successful in the same place that woman is, or that there could be 20 trainers there and all do well. Obviously local markets have limits, and not every trainer will be good enough to succeed in every place. Nonetheless, if you're good enough you can succeed almost anywhere; if you're bad enough you can fail almost anywhere.

I have tons of competition, and i hold my own very well.

Once again, no actual numbers come up. PTs are very reluctant to talk about this stuff.

[PerFit]

wow, it got stupid in here.

meh, just a difference of opinion and miscommunication i beleive

[PerFit]

Yes. In terms of the success of the individual PT, it comes to the same thing; by "success" I mean having a good number of clients with a relatively low turnover of those clients.

Obviously in terms of what the PT can do in marketing, and how much of the session fees they receive and so on, things are different for independents and in-house PTs.

But in the end it comes down to the individual.


I disagree. I know of a successful PT who works from her garage in a rural area of low income, a village of 300 people, 30 minutes' drive from a town of 8,000 with a slightly below median income. Whereas I also know of unsuccessful PTs working at well-equipped gyms in the CBD.

One has a poor location, the others good - yet the former succeeds while the latter fail. Why? It comes down to their individual competence.

I'm not claiming I could be successful in the same place that woman is, or that there could be 20 trainers there and all do well. Obviously local markets have limits, and not every trainer will be good enough to succeed in every place. Nonetheless, if you're good enough you can succeed almost anywhere; if you're bad enough you can fail almost anywhere.


Once again, no actual numbers come up. PTs are very reluctant to talk about this stuff.

I cant help but think unauthorized and al shades are the same person

[WoofieNugget]

I cant help but think unauthorized and al shades are the same person

No, if it was Al Shades the fact that group training is the most amazing thing ever would have come up by now.

[PerFit]

No, if it was Al Shades the fact that group training is the most amazing thing ever would have come up by now.

i stand corrected

[KyleAaron]

Plus, I do think it's quite possible for two people to be stupid in remarkably similar ways.

[justinslayer]

No, if it was Al Shades the fact that group training is the most amazing thing ever would have come up by now.

Time is money. If you want to train less hours, and make more $, then this is true.

[justinslayer]

Once again, no actual numbers come up. PTs are very reluctant to talk about this stuff.

What numbers are you talking about?

[ErikRok]

There is also another determining factor of whether or not "I'll think about it" is worth just letting go.

That is if you own your own business or are employed by a gym. If you own your own business and you reached the point where your prospect has to "think about it", then you better believe you should not let that prospect go. Definitely follow up quite a bit. Not in a desperate stalker way, but following up to check in on them, see if there is anything you can do for them. Hell, send them a thank you card just for being interested. That stuff goes a long way.

If you are employed by a gym, with tons of possible clients floating around, then you may not have as much motivation to try and pursue the "I'll think about it" people

[popupwindow]

What numbers are you talking about?

He's talking about client numbers mainly, but also years in the industry, average client turnover (how long they stay with you), how many sessions you do a week and that kind of stuff. He's right that people will say how great being a good marketer is, but not answer to any of the statistics I mentioned.

[KyleAaron]

He's talking about client numbers mainly, but also years in the industry, average client turnover (how long they stay with you), how many sessions you do a week and that kind of stuff. He's right that people will say how great being a good marketer is, but not answer to any of the statistics I mentioned.

Put another way, your marketing approach is like your favoured workout regime: results count. Nothing else.

Tell us the results of your approach, and I will then be interested to hear about your approach. The internet is full of "trainers" who train no-one but are making money selling what they claim is the ability to succeed commercially as a trainer.

Sure, people can make figures up, and who'd know. The thing is that when you are actually putting things into practice, the examples of actual clients just slips naturally into the conversation unless you're deliberately holding back because of confidentiality or whatever. Not because you're trying to prove your point as such, but just because when talking about the real world applications of our approaches, we will naturally use the results to illustrate what we're saying.

So if results are only mentioned when the person is challenged, we'll naturally be more sceptical of the truth of them than when the results arise naturally in the conversation.

Results count.

[unauthorized]

He's talking about client numbers mainly, but also years in the industry, average client turnover (how long they stay with you), how many sessions you do a week and that kind of stuff. He's right that people will say how great being a good marketer is, but not answer to any of the statistics I mentioned.

Put another way, your marketing approach is like your favoured workout regime: results count. Nothing else.

Tell us the results of your approach, and I will then be interested to hear about your approach. The internet is full of "trainers" who train no-one but are making money selling what they claim is the ability to succeed commercially as a trainer.

Sure, people can make figures up, and who'd know. The thing is that when you are actually putting things into practice, the examples of actual clients just slips naturally into the conversation unless you're deliberately holding back because of confidentiality or whatever. Not because you're trying to prove your point as such, but just because when talking about the real world applications of our approaches, we will naturally use the results to illustrate what we're saying.

So if results are only mentioned when the person is challenged, we'll naturally be more sceptical of the truth of them than when the results arise naturally in the conversation.

Results count.

You should create a topic with specific questions?

[mymymyrc]

A lot of valid points were made here.

I personally don't like to come off as too salesy..I hate when people get that way with me. It's such a turn-off. Plus if you have to twist someone's arm, they usually wont be the best type of client (no-shows, cancelling, bad attitude, etc)

However, there is something to be said about building the value in why obtaining a CPT is soooo much better than trying to do it on their own, as well as getting this 'Potential' to get excited about envisioning the changes they want to make.

Usually when someone tells me they have to think about it, or check with the spouse, they're saying no in a nice way...I've seen the really experienced & successful Trainers overcome this usually with ease, but again everyone is different. Many times it truly IS about money. I understand...heck, I need a PT too, but I certainly cant afford it either.