Sales Process
Is it worth it or should you wing it?
In the world of personal training, technical expertise and client rapport often take center stage. While these are crucial, they alone won't ensure a thriving business. To consistently grow your client base and sustain your career, you need a structured sales process. This article dives into why a solid sales process is non-negotiable for personal trainers and how it can transform your business.
What Is a Sales Process?
A sales process is a systematic approach to turning prospects into paying clients. It typically includes steps like building rapport, information gathering, product presentation, handling objections, and getting the client started. Think of it as a roadmap that ensures no potential client slips through the cracks.
Why Personal Trainers Struggle Without a Sales Process
Many personal trainers shy away from sales, viewing it as pushy or inauthentic. Those without a sales process can seem like they lack professionalism. Instead, they rely on referrals or organic inquiries, which can lead to inconsistent income. Without a defined process, trainers often are found forgetting to follow up with interested prospects or failing to ask for the sale. They also struggle to articulate their value or overcome objections. Which ultimately leads to burn out because of the lack of growth within their business.
Join my MiniTraining Series for Personal Trainers
Key steps in a sales process
As stated above there are a few key steps that everyone should include in their sales process. Lets talk about them and break them down so that you can include them within your process.
Building Rapport: This is also known as the like and trust factor. Within this step you are building a relationship with the potential client. This is the step that you start to get to know the client OUTSIDE of fitness. You will spend time learning about who they are and what they do with their time. To me, this might be the most important step.
Information Gathering: Within this step you will learn about their fitness goals. You want to spend more time digging into these goals where you hit the emotional level. As we talk about emotional levels, we want to dig deep into what is the driving factor for their goals. But we want to make sure we aren’t settling for the surface level goals.
Product Presentation: Once you have found the emotional level and the why behind their goals. You want to be able to present the best program that you have to offer to this client. This is where you show them how you can best help them. In this step, you want to take your program and tie it to their why. Think how your program can solve their problem.
Handling Objectives: This is the part of the sales process that most trainers struggle the most with. They hear an objective, freeze and then settle with the objective. But if you are thorough with rapport building, information gathering and solving their problem. An objection should be no problem. In this step you will confirm their objection, get clarity of on any confusion that could be leading to the objection, then solve it. [More to come on this later]
Asking for the Sale: Once you’ve made it through steps 1-5 then ask for the sale. This is the point where you ask for money in exchange for the program you will give them. Do not be afraid of this step. If you were interested in a service, then they would ask you for money for that service. The same goes for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for money for your program. Your program is a service.
Sales isn’t just learning a script. It’s being able to make a connection with potential clients then connecting them with the proper programs that will get them results they want.
But I hope that learning these key 5 steps helps to make your process a little easier. It can seem extremely arduous and daunting but, I promise, mastering these 5 steps will help your business push to the next level.
If you want to learn about growing your business into something that you authentically love and care about. Join my email list to receive regular updates.
