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What is your Marketing Message?

by Marjorie Geiser, RD, NSCA-CPT

When starting a personal training business, there are three key components necessary to get yourself on the right foot and create the atmosphere that draws your ideal clients to you; the business plan, the marketing plan and the marketing calendar.

But this isn’t enough by itself…

You have all your plans and calendars together and you are confident and excited, and potential clients are calling and running into you around town! When they call or ask you questions in person, though, what do you say to them that leads them to set up an appointment with you? What you say can make the difference between a polite thank you and good-bye, or an appointment with a new client.

The focus of this article is on your marketing message. Among coaching circles, it’s known as the ‘elevator speech’. Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing (http://www.actionplan.com) calls this an ‘audio logo’. Regardless of what you call it, it will make the difference between an adequate practice just hanging on and a thriving one!

Marketing conversations
Marketing conversations are any communication that generates attention or interest in your services. These conversations include not only what you say during that call of inquiry or when you meet people at events, but can also include conversations with people at supermarkets, airports, during presentations, in a newsletter, your website, or any type of conversation or material you write. In a nutshell, YOU are your marketing message in everything you do and say.

The first contact
When a potential client calls you, or when you meet someone in a networking situation, what is your reply when they ask what you do? For most of you reading this, your answer is you are a personal trainer, etc… Well, this is the wrong answer! Instead of giving your label or the solution, speak to the problem your clients have. This is where you have to know who your ideal client is. Your reply might be something like this: “I help people who feel they are too busy to create the body of their dreams.” As you put your problem list together, you are then able to address further problems.

Once you have addressed the problems your clients have, then you move into the ultimate outcome you can provide. Generally, this is the mirror image of the problem. So, using the same example as above, your solution is to help your clients learn how to exercise and how to fit it into their lives.

Listing your benefits
By this time, the person is listening to what you have to say and may ask you how you’re able to deliver what you say. Now you know you have their interest!

Sit down and list all the benefits you offer your clients. Get to know what these are so when someone asks you, you can list several. Not everyone will relate to every benefit, so the more you can come up with, the better. What attracts one person may not even cause another to take notice.

Story time
The next step is to give proof through giving short case studies. What was the outcome of one particular client? Pick some of your favorite success stories; start with the situation before you started working with this person, progress to what you did (no details), then describe the results this client had from working with you. These are the things potential clients want to know. What can you do for them?

After sharing client stories, give them some background on your story. How you started your business, how you developed your services. If you overcame an obstacle, this creates more interest to your listener. Make this short and interesting; not much longer than a minute, in fact. They won’t care about where you went to school, what your certifications are or how long it took (unless you had to work 3 jobs to get through school). They will be interested if you went into fitness because you watched your father die of heart disease because he was so unfit, and you wanted to make sure others didn’t suffer the same consequences due to lack of knowledge.

Encourage action
In every single marketing conversation, your goal should be to encourage the listener to take some type of action. If it’s a caller about your services or an audience listening to your presentation, your goal is always to encourage the person to do something.

If you met someone at a networking event, and you are this far in the conversation, offer to send them an article around something you have both been talking about. Then ask them if you could call them to get their input into the article and set up a specific time to call them. When you have that follow-up conversation, you can then discuss what you have to offer. If you are speaking to an audience, you may offer a free handout or report if they contact you through your website or email you.

The last step is just the beginning
The above scenario could be just the beginning! From here, the person may be able to see how you can help them with their problem and ask you how they can start working with you. If they’re not ready yet, this is fine. You only want your ideal clients, and generally these are clients who want to work with you.

According to Chris Barrow from the Coaching Business School (http://www.coachingbusinessschool.com/), there are four criteria in gaining a new client: First, they must trust you; second, they must respect you; third, they must like you; and fourth, they will only hire you when they’re ready. This is when the pain is greater than the satisfaction of the way things are right now. If potential clients have not met all four of these criteria, this does not mean they will never be clients. It just means they need to get to know you better, what you have to offer, and who you really are.

I challenge each of you to put your marketing conversation together and start practicing it. Then, the next time someone asks you what you do and they appear to be your ideal client, you will stir their interest, compel them to ask questions for more details, and prompt them into action, creating a connection that you can cultivate into a potential client eventually. Your practice will then progress from one that just pays the bills into one that's thriving and fulfilling of all of your dreams.

Marjorie Geiser, RD, NSCA-CPT started MEG Fitness ten years ago, providing in-home personal training and nutrition counseling to previously unfit adults. Three years ago, Margie expanded her services to include coaching via email. Today she not only provides wellness coaching to clients around the country, but also coaches other health professionals who dream of growing or starting their own business. To learn more about her health services, go to http://www.megfit.com or to learn about her business coaching, go to http://www.meg-enterprises.com or email her at margie@megfit.com.