Are you keeping track of people who you quote your personal training rates. Or who you give away your valuable time to with a free session? Or are they lost in the ether never to be heard from again? Simply put, following up will bring you more clients.
Many people call or write an email inquiry to you when they are contemplating a personal trainer. But if they tell you they're going to think about it, then it becomes time for you to take matters into your own hands, because other life priorities are now vying for their attention. Sometimes all people need is someone to jar their memory back into the consciousness
level they were in when they contacted you.
The follow up does this. If you don't have a system for following up on your leads and prospects, it's time to get one. Keep track of who contacted you and when, along with their email address, phone number and, if possible, their mailing address. Then, once a week or so, send these people a friendly note, saying something like:
here, just catching up once more with you on your enquiry…
It was great speaking with you on , just wondering if you've given any more
thought to our conversation…
Or if it's been more than 3 months, say:
How are you? I hope you remember me! Just wanted to see how you were doing and
to let you know I'm here for you when you're ready to move forward…
There are many ways the follow up can be used, including with prospective joint venture partners or website visitors who may have filled out a form and/or joined your mailing list. Getting yourself back into people's radar screens is crucial to sustained growth.
I took some sales coaching a few years ago and when I asked my coach how often I should follow up with a prospect, his reply was "until they say definitely yes or definitely no!" Something to think about…! A lost client is so costly that it is almost indescribable.
If your average client has a lifetime value of £X and you lose just one, it costs you yes £X in future revenue. But wait beyond that, you also lose future up-sell opportunities of services that you could have provided them and retail purchases they could have made from you.
But it doesn't end there. You also lose the potential Referrals they could have generated, each with similar potential lifetime values. If you're driving unsatisfied clients away you're also suffering from what I call the "Dissatisfied Client Syndrome". That is, where these dissatisfied clients each discourage 10-20 people from ever working with you. This of course, engages the whole profit loss cycle all over again. And finally, you now must now invest substantial money and time to replace this lost client–which costs 500% more than keeping your current clients.
What that means to you is that improving client retention even 10% can add 20, 30 even 40% to your bottom line. The solution to this problem: overdeliver and know the value of every client. Stay in touch with your clients through an e-mail newsletter or social networks like Facebook. Consider sending clients Thank You cards when they sign up, congratulatory notes for meeting goals and cards around the holidays. When you respect clients, they respect you! And you're running a business not a hobby!
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