How to Receive Automatic Referrals from Your Personal Training Clients
By
Pat Rigsby
If you don’t have a referral system in place, you’re losing dozens of
potential new clients. Check out this system and learn the right way to ask for
referrals. (If you do this wrong, you will lose clients!)
If your referrals have been lagging lately, consider whether you’ve developed
a systematic approach to asking for them. Are you afraid that asking for
referrals will make you sound desperate? Or do you feel guilty about impinging
on clients because you believe you should be building your business “on your
own” through marketing efforts? If so, you’re not alone.
Many fitness professionals let these kinds of irrational feelings stand
between them and the referral business they deserve. But in reality, cultivating
referrals is a basic business building tool for all professionals—doctors,
lawyers, landscapers, and everyone else who’s running a client-based business.
In fact, referrals will become a natural extension of good client
relationships if you make it part of your daily business to consistently
cultivate them. In other words, all you have to do to get the referrals you want
is to get over yourself and start asking for them on a regular basis.
When to ask
Although you’ve always got to decide based on the relationship and situation,
these are a couple of the obvious moments when you should systematically
consider asking for a referral:
· When you’ve just demonstrated your value—a great time to ask is
right after a client just met a goal or was pleased with the results of an
assessment.
· When someone first becomes a client—if someone is contracting for
your services, they must believe in your ability to deliver results. This is a
great time to ask who else she thinks would benefit from the experience.
How to ask
Each fitness professional develops his or her own style for asking for
referrals or “introductions,” as some prefer to call them. Work the following
conversation starters into your routine interactions with clients, and you will
find that the subject of referrals naturally arises.
Ask for feedback: Asking your clients about your performance as well
as the qualities that they look for in a fitness professional is a great way to
segue into suggesting introductions to their friends and colleagues. You can ask
specific questions about your performance, such as those above, or more general
questions like, “What do you think is the most valuable thing a fitness
professional can offer?”
Ask for insights: If you have a client in a particular niche that
you’re cultivating, don’t hesitate to ask her for advice on targeting others in
the niche. Let clients know specifically who you are looking for, whether it’s
athletes, post-pregnancy women, busy executives, or another group. Mention what
services you provide, and ask what those particular people are looking for. This
lets your client know that you’re targeting folks specifically like her and
leads naturally to talking about friends and colleagues who could use your
expertise.
Position referrals as helping friends: Some fitness professionals
inform clients that they get paid in two ways—dollars and referrals. Offer
yourself as an alternative for friends and colleagues who are adrift without
fitness guidance or who have an unsatisfactory relationship with their current
fitness professional.
Act quickly
Whether you prefer phone calls, emails, or snail mail, it is important to
make contact with referrals right away so that you demonstrate respect for your
client’s willingness to share information with you. Inviting the referral to
participate in a session free of charge or in a semi-private session with their
friend is a low risk barrier to entry that will likely get you an opportunity to
build value in what you have to offer.
Take an attitude of gratitude
When clients give you referrals, they show you that they appreciate and
benefit from your services. The best thing you can do is show your appreciation
in return by thanking them with a gift. Choose an appropriate gift for your
clients that shows you know them and their interests.
Referrals should be the lifeblood of your business, but if you don’t have a
systematic approach to generating them, you’re likely missing out on most of
your referral opportunities.
Pat Rigsby has helped thousands of fitness pros build their businesses
through his products and coaching programs. You can instantly download his free
Fitness Profit Package by visiting
http://fitnessmarketingmachine.com.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
