Relationships – The Key to Success
By Pat Rigsby
| In just the past two months, two of my fitness club competitors have gone out of business. However, other clubs are actually thriving.
How can this be? Several factors are at play, but I believe that the overriding one has to do with a focus by the owners on relationships. |
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To grow a business you need a solid foundation of committed members or clients. These people should be treated like gold. Unfortunately, in our industry most owners focus 80% of their efforts on generating new prospects and only about 20% on serving the people with whom they already have relationships.
Here are just three of the potential benefits of strengthening your relationships with your current members:
1. When you know people well you can better serve them by recommending appropriate products or services. Now you’re no longer a salesperson – you’re a problem solver.
2. You will generate more referrals since these members feel like part of a community instead of just another appointment or member number #2467.
3. Members aren’t just members. They own businesses, are members of local churches, belong to civic groups and have kids in sports leagues. These people can provide you with points of entry for speaking engagements, corporate programs, sports performance clinics and off-site programs that you’d never have access to otherwise.
Take advantage of every opportunity you can to let people you meet see you as both their friend and a fitness resource.
By turning the typical approach to networking (passing out business cards and talking about yourself) into the starting point for genuine relationships, you will position yourself very differently than your competitors and generate word of mouth marketing that few businesses ever experience.
Pat Rigsby is the co-owner of several businesses in the fitness industry, including the Fitness Consulting Group. He also serves as an industry consultant focusing on the development of profitable personal training departments. For a copy of his free Personal Training Rapid Success Kit, visit www.PatNickandJim.com.
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