When you’re talking to a prospective client, you first need to get background on the client and what they were doing prior to coming to see you.
Questions you could ask include:
● Who was their trainer?
● Did they have a program?
● How long were they training at their previous gym for?
● What kind of training were they doing?
● What kind of training did they enjoy?
The reason why we ask these questions is to qualify the client for our service and highlight how we can help them achieve their goals. The more you can show the prospective client the value of training with you, the more likely it is that they’ll train with you. As with anything, selling to them is only the first part of the equation. You must follow through with what you promised to offer them, and maintain a high level of service.
Following on from the beginning, ask how your prospective client felt when they achieved their goals, or when they were training regularly. This allows you to attach a positive emotion or feeling to what you have to offer. Everyone wants to be happy and have a high quality of life. This is your primary objective as a personal trainer, to change lives and make people feel better about themselves.
If the prospective client had a trainer and benefited from their services, attained results and tells you what they felt like they got from the sessions, you can highlight the importance of this and show them that you can offer the same or better. The way to do this is to talk about what your services include.
A simple way to do this can be:
Client: “Yes, I had a program and trained with my old trainer once a week when I was training for strength.”
Trainer: “How did you find the training and what in particular did you enjoy?”
Client: “I liked the fact they pushed me a lot in the gym and kept me accountable by checking in with me when I was training by myself as well. We did a lot of free weights and I enjoyed it, just wanted a bit more variety in my program.”
Trainer: “That’s great, so you obviously understand the benefits of having someone push you and keep you accountable, right? One thing we like to do is to vary your program every month even if it is different rep schemes or subtle changes to the exercises. Sounds like what you’re after, doesn’t it?”
By asking questions and getting them to agree with you (this is calling ‘tying them down’), you’re getting them to agree that you can provide them with what they are after.
