It's time to start sharing some stories from my glittering career.
My glittering career:
I won a trophy once and PT of the month in the huge publication, Gym Owner Monthly
Our story begins, as many often do, in a wonderful gym space across from one of the biggest hospitals in Leeds.
I won't name the gym to protect the innocent.
I'd been at this gym a few months. It ran on hard times, because the management didn't know their arse from their elbow and the work environment was toxic as hell as an arsenic pond.
The gym needed an influx of cash, so the owner, in his infinite wisdom, brought in investors who DEFINITELY weren't going to turn on him a few months down the line.
The investors had another successful gym affair selling transformation packages and operating as a Personal Training studio.
Building a business is hard, so from that side of things, I can respect them.
They came in, took over staff meetings and decided they were going to teach us how to sell Personal Training.
I'd been selling Personal Training for 7 or 8 years at this point, and while lots of people do things badly for a long time, selling Personal Training is something that I am the opposite of bad at.
But there is a life lesson in every personal interaction. Maybe I'd learn something new?
The "they" in question was a bloke called Shane. Shane had sleeked back hair and this may or may not be true, but in my head had a strong north London accent. This put my northern senses on edge that this chap could indeed be a "baddie."
Shane regaled us with an anecdote from one of his recent sales to make a point of what a brilliant salesman he is and how we should suckle from the teat of his sales-craft.
If you did read the following with the most villainous accent you can think of, I think it will add to the desired effect.
I'll give Shane the floor:
"So this bird walks into the gym and she's on fucking benefits right!? She's got 2 kids at home as well so she doesn't have any money. But she leaves my gym paying me £2500 for a couple of sessions a week. That's how you do it."
I'm not sure if he expected applause.
I didn't want to clap.
I wanted to be sick.
And it wasn't because i'd eaten too much chicken again.
Yes, this person could've had savings and could've been legitimately investing in her long-term health, but this wasn't the case.
Shane actively took advantage of someone in a vulnerable position.
Shane took advantage of someone in a vulnerable position, clearly didn't care about her two children or her budget and wanted his PT's to be ruthless.
If you are a great PT there is zero need to be ruthless.
I find sharing sales amounts to be fairly gross, but with it being in 2018 and to illustrate a point, I am going to talk about a sale I made.
A client came in just before the meeting discussed above. She said she wouldn't train solo. She wanted a PT. She wanted to train 3-4 times a week. She wanted me to be her coach.
This is expensive and cost roughly £6000 for the year.
She said she was "immensely well-paid."
She wanted to pay upfront immediately.
Why was I alright with that?
Hell yes.
I did my homework.
I asked if it was in her budget and whether she would need to consult with anyone else before making this financial commitment.
She was good to go so we proceeded to smash training.
When you have to work with people, salesing them into spending money makes you one sale.
It is short-term thinking because you break trust immediately as soon as they sit down and think about what went down.
If my client had come in saying she was on benefits with 2 children and zero savings, I wouldn't entertain the idea of substantial upfront payments because I have lower cost services like group PT, online coaching and more infrequent PT sessions. This would've been the far more appropriate package to offer.
This would've of lowered the initial sales price but has far more likelihood of creating a client for life who doesn't go round talking about what a piece of shit I am. This package could end at any time, should the person run into financial difficulties and I won't feel like a scumbag. UP TO HERE
Ultimately, my approach to sales is to factor in the person in front of me which should be the name of the game if you want to spend years training someone.
Shane was a piece of shit. You don't need to be.
We train people, and while bills need paying, it is essential to think long-term, to see the humanity in people and to make sales in a way that is based on a solid moral grounding, rather than being a monster.
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