the busi-ness of Christmas

This one sentence "Did I tell you I was diagnosed with cancer 3 months ago?" completely changed my perspective on a busy time of year. As I sat across from my colleague (who prefers to keep the matter to himself) and considered his world of a hundred plus team of personal trainers, a management team, Christmas business deadlines, kids, a wife and a serious health challenge, I found myself considering this busy time of year and the busi-ness of Christmas in a refreshing light.

It seems inevitable to be busy during the lead up to Christmas. Consider the changes that occur this time of year.
-The weather and the energy requirements needed to deal with this shift
-General increase in business combined by finishing up clients and starting new ones and a real need to be ON
-Increase in social events results and normal productive downtime being exchanged for interaction with people
-Overall energy demands required to deliver in all areas is increased with the need to be everywhere for everyone
-Mental stimulation of the demands of Christmas life and trying to juggle all the requirements of business and personal demands
-The big deadline! A lot of people behave like the world ends this week... with the deadline of Christmas the urgency for response(s) and a normal days business is put on steroids as clients and colleagues overcompensate in order to get your response

So with all these changes at this extraordinary time of year, a strategy on the busi-ness of Christmas can only help us to survive. Let's face it without a strategy you will end up like most people limping into the end of the year low on energy, 'over' dealing with people and overwhelmed with the overall busi-ness of this time of year. It certainly is not business as usual during this time, so consider perspective as the key ingredient to survival.

I have a mission to serve. To develop the health and fitness industry to have more profitable businesses and create leaders who positively effect a great population of healthy people. I find great advice and inspiration from someone right in the middle of a battle. Beating cancer requires a different strategy to daily life I imagine. So the extraordinary lesson passed on to me to help beat the unusualness that comes with this time of year is best summed up here.

Embrace the busi-ness of Christmas with all your might. Work hard and rest even harder so that you can get up again and give it another crack tomorrow. Enjoy the work that it brings, the people you meet and the rewards that come from working hard. For it will be short lived if you lose perspective.

a guideline for designing your best year ever

The start of a new year brings exciting expectations about what is possible and of course the dreaded unknowns and challenges that occur with any journey.

I noticed the interesting change in my neighbourhood, brought about by a new start. Cars and cleaned and polished on front lawns that are groomed and green. The local boat ramp is busy launching happy families and friends on a day on the water while people's bodies and brains seem fresh, relaxed and in a state of anticipations about the 2010 journey.

How does this relate to business? The best in the business stay on track during the easy early phase of a goal by committing to the following.

So the neighbourly events had me asking questions. How many of these cars will stay polished? How will the lawns and gardens look in four, five or six months? The intention of having a boat is to be in it, on the water. However how many people will have their boat in the water over the coming weeks or will the boat become another part of the garden? And what about those healthy bodies and minds that are full of anticipation, how will they be around the middle of the year? Unless they are under your healthy guidance, chances are they will end up somewhere else!

I found inspiration last year from so many leaders in the industry who have common behaviour patterns and habits. Here is a guide to having your best year ever:

- Get 'you' right. Manage the most important person in your life - you
- Stay mentally fresh by booking your next holiday
- Consider not only the physical aspects of being healthy and fit, set up some techniques to being in a prime mental space most of the time
- Stay committed to 2010 objectives by locking in supporting programs and events that help to achieve the outcome
- It is also OK to not achieve, to simply have another year is absolutely acceptable, just be aware of a demon named complacency
- Enjoy getting uncomfortable on your new mission
- Align your goals and ambitions with another cause like a charity, kids or a loved one. 'We do for others what we want to do for ourselves'.

During Business Bootcamp 2010 I will talk you through the 6 figure success and deal with the how, what and where, plus share with you some 7 figure secrets of those that have come through our 2009 programs, setting you up for the next decade. Live business case studies as well as setting up a business strategy tailored to your outcomes to improve your income and lifestyle.

the 90 day business challenge

In an industry that is dominated by '9 week weight loss challenges', '6 week bootcamps' and slim-down this and get big that, I thought it fair that you all get a bit of what you have been dishing out! Here is a 90 day business challenge.

Why a 90 day challenge?

1. It will set you up for a huge 2010
2. The work you do this month will determine your bank balance in January 2010
3. By allowing 90 days for your return on investment you are setting a great expectation towards your business plans and goals for 2010.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it" - Peter F. Drucker

If we go back and review these health challenge programs, they all have similar measures. Details like:
1. Recording what you eat
2. Train 3 times per week
3. Drink lots of water
4. Use a trainer
and as part of the challenge you get a free shirt, water bottle and backpack!

As health professionals, some of the things that we preach to our clients for these health challenges; transfer to our businesses. So in developing 90 day business challenges, like all the good health challenges mentioned earlier, you need measurable outcomes. So here they are:

1. 90 day timeframe - to get a results in business you need to start marketing. It needs to be as consistent as training 3 times per week for 9 weeks of fitness. Just like a great training plan it needs to be targeted, specific and relevant to your outcomes

2. Record your daily actions and direct them at a business strategy - so many people get caught up in the daily 'do-ing' and 'busy-ness', that they just do, do and do. It serves as the lifeline towards you and your goal.

3. Put in lots of good stuff - listening, reading and developing your self on a daily basis is the equivalent to drinking water. It serves as the lifeline towards you and your goals.

4. Use a coach - sometimes I have had the best 'this is it' intentions, only to be pulled away by other things. Checking in with someone regularly indicates commitment, positively reinforces your dedication to a goal and a good catch will provide support and guidance during the inevitable tough parts of the journey.

The great thing about a 90 day challenge is that it will set you up for a great start to 2010. While most people are putting things off to the New Year, you can start the year in your best form and conditioned, for whatever it is you want from 2010.

follow a business model

Making money via building a business has been around for tens of thousands of years. It is not a new concept. The principals for building a business have remained the same since our first medieval transactions of incense and silk rugs. Many lessons have been scribed into books 'seeking counsel' or 'meeting of the minds'. It is consistent throughout time.

So why try to reinvent the wheel?

So many 'fitnesspreneurs' try and go against what time has taught them and spend a lot of time coming up with their own business model. Use what works and become a master of working a proven business model for all it's worth.

I recently presented in Auckland, New Zealand in front of a crowd of 120 people on the topic of 'business building'. In the crowd sat a guy by the name of Norm Phillips. Norm is one of the pioneers of the industry. Starting back in the 1980's in Perth instructing groups of people wearing matching leg warmers and headbands, doing grapevines. Some 30 years later in a room of 120, Norm, who probably should have been conducting the whole event with his amount of industry knowledge and experience, put his hand into his wallet and was one of a handful of people to invest in the product offering. You need to know that this guy sits at the pinnacle of management roles running a Les Mills PT division of 80 trainers in Auckland. He is the master of working a proven business model and has done so most of his life. Norm is still very committed to sharpening the saw.

We teach a model of adding systems and direction to a great attitude. Delete time wasting activities, energy vampires and 'seek counsel' on roadblocks. The key ingredient to the model is to multiply your results via increasing sales, adding support and marketing. Finally divide your day into working in and 'on' the business, identify your target markets and have multiple income streams. For a more comprehensive overview click here to receive a complimentary e-book.

This model has been written by successful 'fitnesspreneurs' for 'fitnesspreneurs' who want to succeed. So enjoy the read of the e-book and avoid reinventing the wheel and follow a proven business model.

a selling system

Without a selling system it is a bit like turning the key in the ignition and waiting or the car to start, without an engine. Whilst you may have a key to a business, without a system for generating sales you are going to find it difficult to keep moving forward at any pace. For long jeopardy in business you need to have a system for generating leads to your business to convert to sales. The problem with most health and fitness businesses is the owner is the technician, administrator, cleaner, accountant, client liaison officer and sales person while still trying to practice what they preach and live a healthy, well balanced life.

If you can place a selling system in your business it will help the all-important part of sales and revenue. So when you turn the key each morning it will go from a concerning clunking sound, with fear of moving forward to something firing like a V8 that can get you to your destination in record time.

The selling system we teach has a six-step process. Use all six and you get a desired outcome. Each one requires the other to work at capacity. Without one or two of these you are only firing on four cylinders as the cliché goes.

So lets get started on the six-step process.

1. psychology
When I say the word sales what words come to mind? ‘Evil’, ‘hard’, ‘yuck’, ‘terrifying’ and ‘difficult’ all have negative connotations. However ‘conversations’, ‘money’, ‘new clients’, ‘freedom’ and ‘holidays’ have a positive spin to the word. Consider your relationship with the word sales and chances are a negative interpretation of sales will land you poor results. Alternatively you may just enjoy the whole process and your business is showing the positive outcomes of a great relationship with sales. Understanding the fate of your business is decided by revenue. Too much revenue rarely creates the intense painful headaches that not enough revenue creates, assuming you are managing your expenses. So awareness around the psychology of selling is the place to start to create change in your business.

But why don’t I like sales?

Any event in life is a neutral event. What determines if an event is good or bad is your previous experience to that event. So, if you have had a bad experience with boyfriends (males) in your life your self-protection mechanism tells you to stay away from ones that look like previous boyfriends. It is the same with sales. You may have been ripped off, bought something you regret, have a perception about sales people that give the whole psychology a negative spin. Sales are not good or bad but purely a neutral event in your business life. Consider the influencing factors in your experience with sales.

You will need to deal with the psychology part of the process if you want a V8 business system. Sales are not good or bad just a neutral and normal event in any business. Decide to make it ‘good’ and it will serve you better.


2. lead generation
How exciting is business when you have a whole heap of fresh leads. New prospects considering your products or services are a revelation. It is very energizing and refreshing meeting new people. So lead generation consists of three key areas.

Traditional
Our industry is strong in the traditional space of generating leads. So traditional marketing models follow brochures, free sessions, meetings, discounted memberships, radio, advertisements and many of the hard copy marketing techniques. These are ideal and the secret is to measure what works for you and your clientele.

Online
Online techniques include a blog, website, social networking and search engine optimization as significant ways to open up opportunities in the www world of business. As an industry we are terrible in this space and miss a lot of opportunity by being slow to catch on to the new age technology and techniques.

Brand
Brand is everything. If you want long jeopardy in your business you need to develop a trustworthy, proven, recognizable and consistent brand. This takes place over time, however start small in your local community, build to a region and then based on your business goals you can take it to bigger places. Brand is everything from answering the phone, to your website, how you dress, the kind of articles you write are all part of the brand and need to be considered.

3. booking a meeting
Having leads is a great thing for business. Converting those leads to a meeting helps to qualify the commitment of the enquiry. I am surprised at the amount of guys who really struggle to get people in front of their great brand and business at this stage of booking a meeting. There are three ways to book in a meeting.

They are email, phone or face-to-face.

You need to be strong in all three. If you follow the selling system in order to get more business and pursue the ideal outcome of conducting a meeting. Chances are if you get you in front of most people you will sell them something. I assume they are qualified and ready to invest in their health and you are passionate about health, fitness and your services. So get good at booking in a meeting so that you can then conduct a meeting and give yourself a chance of getting more people into your business.

4. conducting a meeting
When you get in a face-to-face situation, understanding that the prospect has turned up on time, likes what they have heard so far and have made the time and effort to sit down and talk about their health then you are 90% of the way there. Here is a proven format to help take the sell out of selling when conducting a meeting.

Build a rapport
Get to know the person rather than dive into health conversations. What are their interests, family life, job?

Ask questions
The guy who best sums up this lesson is Alan Pease in his great book ‘Questions are the answers’. Simply buy the book by becoming a member on our book and audio program.

Show value
If you can identify with the person during the build rapport stage and ask open-ended questions chances are you can then show value-based products on what the person has told you they need. Showing value is not just about your service but the bells and whistles, guarantees, terms and conditions and other inclusions that are involved in working with you and your service or product. Rather than discount and cut prices look to show value as a better way to make a sale.

Identify obstacles
So what will stop you? Are there any roadblocks?

These are the key questions to ask in identifying obstacles. So many fitness people never ask clients “is there anything that has stopped you in the past” is a great question when identifying potential barriers. This open conversation early will put you in the hot seat as a guru. If you don’t ask it in the meeting phase chances are the same obstacle that has been holding the person back will appear in week 2, 3 or 4 of your great program.


Confirm the sale
Once you have confirmed the best program, package and price for your client then confirm that verbally. If you have followed the earlier steps then they have told you all of this and all you need to do is repeat the process a second time and confirm the sale. A sale is a sale when you have them signing the dotted line.

Stay in touch
This fits in with point six of our selling system and should the meeting go pear shaped and terrible at least ask permission to stay in touch. Alternatively you may have an energy vampire or someone you don’t think you want to hang around for a few hours per week and then you can show them some other alternatives. It is impossible to get along with everyone so it is fine to come up with a plan B. Maybe send them off to your competitor!

5. sales tools
So many fitness dudes and dudettes rely on showing clients how many courses they have completed or the letters after their name, years in the industry, their gold medal from a body building competition etc. You have just disengaged the client. The sales process is not about you it’s about the prospect. Serve their needs. Here are some sales tools that will help you buy credibility rather than talk about yourself. Articles, blogs, a health model, questionnaires, diagnostics, website, chat rooms, downloads, DVD’s, CD’s.

6. follow up
Whilst a ‘no’ is never a ‘no’ until you get a ‘no’ there is a fine line between being a stalker and letting people walk away to make a decision. Consider the process of follow up with people especially if you have put your valuable time into the system outlined earlier. In having a good sales system you should convert 80-90% of people if you follow the suggested system we discuss here. However for the 10-20% who need more time or are not quite ready, then consider what you do to keep them in your ‘circle of trust’ as highlighted in the great movie ‘Meet the Fockers’. Some simple techniques are to:

a. put them on your database and send them your regular newsletter
b. give them a casual call every month and talk about everything other than selling them your services
c. send them one of our sales tools like an article, download or CD every once in a while with a
personalized hand written note to stay in touch

Finally learn that this should be fun. If you are chasing the good old dollar and want to rip people off than you are doomed. If you honestly believe you can help people and are passionate about what you do than you are on track. Like anything in life this is just a skill. Do your first five and really suck and fail at it. Do a thousand and it will become something that is natural and comfortable. Most importantly is having a system and reviewing your performance. Leave it with you!

setting up your own studio

The dream for many personal trainers is to one day have their own studio business. There are many options and considerations in going through the process of the set up stage. A studio can be a highly leveraged and income producing business or it can be a time-consuming, poorly paid job. Having been at both ends of the spectrum, the highly leveraged business is much more enjoyable. Here are some of the pitfalls when setting up your own studio:

1. You don’t have a proper business plan of bank approval status - The step up from a corporate job or personal training into running a studio is quite significant. The varied skills required to make the business successful require a team of people to make it happen. Sticking to a set of proven plans and tactics is fundamental to long jeopardy. “Flying by the seat of your pants” does not work in this environment.

2. You plan to do more than 10 hours of PT and basically be a PT under a very expensive rent - Don’t even consider doing more than 10 hours of PT a week otherwise you will set yourself up for failure. This ‘heads down’ approach is very limiting in building a business and likened to a job. Create leverage via a team.

3. You don’t have a line of credit, capital or available cash - “Without a good chunk of money behind you to manage the initial start up costs, you will end up chasing your tail from day 1” says Jeni from Sullivan Dewing Accountants. “ A lack of cash flow is what kills most start up businesses”

4. Failure to invest in staff or team - Should you plan to wear the hat of administration, sales, marketing, accountant, head trainer, customer care officer and cleaner then you are making the common mistake of the rookie studio owner. It is impossible to complete these tasks and have a life outside of your business. The unbalanced nature of living this way will take you down the path of burnout, stress and fatigue.

5. Proper well qualified advice and a support structure - Having a support structure to guide you, give you qualified advice as well as support during the critical first 12 months is key to studio success. On your team of professionals you need an accountant, solicitor, financial adviser and business coach. Your team needs a manager, head trainer, sales person and administration person and of course the best asset in the business is you.

6. You believe location and equipment are the critical things to owning a studio - I recently read a marketing brochure of a poorly run studio and it mentioned “brand new equipment, experienced trainers and great location”. Now if I want to lose weight do I really care about any of the above? My problem is that I am overweight, a brand new treadmill is not the solution, either is the location. So much profit is consumed by expensive rents and key locations which means you need to work harder and longer to make more money all because of the common misconception about location.


7. An agreed formal lease put together with all legal considerations - Understanding that 90% of your clients will be in a 6-12 minute radius of the location you want to ensure some stray clause or a poorly worded lease doesn’t come back to bite you following the building of the business. Ensure you tick the boxes on structuring a formal lease agreement with the landlord.

remove the sell from selling

Selling is a lot like being single. It is very rare to get lucky on the first night. Alcohol may increase the chances however then it can become a regrettable experience! In fact you are probably setting yourself up for disappointment and failure in trying to get lucky on the first night.

The ‘lucky’ situation tends to be a bit like this. We meet at an event, say a friend’s social engagement, like the look of each other, have a bit of a chat and some fun together and swap phone numbers. Then we text/SMS the next day confirming the fun night and agree to go and ‘do’ coffee. After coffee we swap email addresses and do a Google search on each other that night. When the search proves normal we organise to catch up again on Facebook and ‘do’ a movie. During the movie in the comfort of the darkness we test the boundaries and place a hand somewhere on our new partners body, typically a leg. If the response is good we sit out the movie and maybe have a hug before saying goodbye. From here comes dinner. Now following dinner, with consideration to the four or five previous events, some online searching and the fact the
potential partner keeps turning up, we now have a right to try and get lucky...

Selling is very similar. Why is it in the health and fitness industry we are taught to try and sell our services or membership to people during that first interaction? It is almost offensive. A majority of the time you are selling yourself short and setting yourself up for failure in trying to fast track the clients decision making process. Understanding we are in the ‘information age’ where consumers have more access to knowledge and price than ever before, you need to have a process of letting people get to know you and your business. So the solution lies in using a combination of more online tools and old school skills to help get to the point of asking for the sale.

So why do we go and sell to these people?

In an industry that is very 1980’s in its approach to marketing and selling, relying on expensive brochures, time consuming letter box drops, business cards or a brochure on a wall to grab clients we need to review these styles of marketing and advertising. The 1980’s is best known for the best era of music (completely the authors beliefs), however in the year 2009 we need to review these styles of marketing and advertising. Probably best summarised by asking, when was the last time you responded to a brochure, junk mail in the letterbox, giving someone your business card or a brochure hanging up on a wall? Compare to booking a holiday online, or a Google search for a place to eat or Facebook. Whilst these online places are a great resource for getting to know clients and breaking barriers, a combination of online strategy and old school
techniques insure that you attract sustainable and an ideal client base.

As an industry we are generally better at getting people fit and healthy than understanding how consumers think or marketing techniques. In fact most fitness people can name the best technical workshop they have attended or the name of their health guru but who is your business rock star? Someone you listen to, read their stuff and attend their programs and practise their advice.

It may be old but hey it still works!

Simple communication skills and people skills are completely necessary when taking the sell out of selling. You need to be multi disciplined. So as effective on the phone, face to face or via email. In fact having worked all over the world in developing sales models and teams, the key ingredient in a great sales person is in their ability to communicate. At the next level is their ability to ask leading questions and have a general interest in other people by being able to identify with their needs. Finally is passion for their product or service and a general interest in people. So the ideal combination in successfully selling is a mix of old school techniques of communicating with people and an online forum as a place for people to check you out and get to know your business.

We all want to buy, but we don’t want to be sold too.

Ever bought anything and had buyers remorse. At the time of purchase it seemed logical to buy a particular item and the deal is done. You hand over the credit card and agree to terms. You head home and receive a negative response form your partner; you mention the purchase during a phone call to a friend with more negative responses. That night you find yourself sitting bolt upright at 3am with deep regret, heavy perspiration and an ‘I can’t believe I bought that’ attitude about your latest purchase. This scenario is a ‘sold to’ experience. Typically you have been cleverly persuaded to buy something that you could have done without. This would be typical of most things out there in the market place for sale. The difference with our industry is that we sell health. This impacts the lives of the people we expose better health too, it increases long jeopardy, productivity, adds to happiness, in fact you are better off being in good health than out of bad health. Where we have obesity and ‘diabesity’ epidemics, increase in mental health issues, cancers and more lifestyle disease than ever before, as an industry we need to get better at communicating with the majority of people who need our services. More so than ever before people need us to help with they’re health, but are making it easier to buy into what you do?