I joined the fitness industry 12 months ago after a long stint in sales and service. I believe the skills I acquired in the people business have meant that I am currently achieving more in the fitness industry than I ever could have imagined. I will provide some starter tips on how to use people skills to really kick start your business.
Tip number one is remember the client is king! This sounds like quite an obvious point but how many times do you encounter bad service in shops, banks and other service based companies. People tend to respond better if we treat them with respect, wouldn’t you agree? If a person is willing to pay £50 per hour to train with you, then this becomes even more key to building a successful relationship. Service is about meeting expectations first and then exceeding afterward. Meeting expectations is everything from being punctual to smiling! Exceeding expectations is going the extra mile to help achieve incredible results.
Tip number two, listen! Listening skills are vital in any client facing business. It is amazing how often this is over looked and people feel that talking is the best way to get rewards. Make sure that you make eye contact and always actively acknowledge every comment either verbally or by a gesture. Make notes as well to help you refer back to key points to avoid repetition. Repeat back key points and show empathy if required.
Tip number three, ask plenty of questions. It is important to ask the right amount of questions to understand the situation that you are dealing with. If you ask closed questions then you risk destroying rapport and also missing out on vital information that can help to develop client relationships. It is also a good idea to clarify important points by asking follow up questions to gain as much information as possible. The more information you have, the better placed you are to build rapport and design effective programmes.
There are three very basic ideas to get started, it does get more complicated but if we do the basics brilliantly, we can’t go far wrong!
Hi I’m John Hill, personal trainer for Inspiring Fitness. I am also a key member of the support team and I specialize in marketing and client relationship building.
At Inspiring Fitness we are proud to support personal trainers to succeed in business. We offer;
• Guaranteed client enquiries for the life of your business
• Unlimited one to one personal support
• Continuous investment in your growth & development
Please visit our website and download an information pack for more details.
