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ather than giving away that free session, create a small, no-commitment three session introductory package instead. The three session intro-pack is a way for you to get the client to make a small financial investment while taking the time toget to know you. What this system banks on is that your sessions are irresistible, and that once the client experiences them they won’t be able to stop. It also causes the client to invest; when people make a concession early on, they are much more likely to make a greater one later.
Your prospect doesn’t know all this however; what they think is they’re get- ting a way to try out your training before they commit. But once they do take the three sessions, they become so overwhelmed by the quality and satisfaction of training with you that it becomes simply impossible to stop; I can’t remember the last time I had a client not opt for more sessions after taking the intro-pack. After taking your high quality sessions and experiencing the excellent program design and unbelievable service, it should be impossible for them not to continue. I’ve heard many times my clients call my sessions “crack” – they become addicts.
But that’s not what you tell them when suggesting the three session intro- pack. When you’re selling the intro-pack, you should be selling only the three session without the commitment to any future training. That goal is just to get them to try it.
Another thing to do is discount the intro-pack to eliminate price resistance. When someone is about to purchase an untested commodity (at this point, they haven’t trained with you yet), there may be price resistance. After they try your sessions however, this price-resistance will most likely disappear. To prevent it initially, I lower the price to make the offer irresistible.
Offering a discount at this stage doesn’t hurt credibility. First off, if the cli- ent has any buying experience they’ll understand this discount is only for the first three sessions, and that your usual rates are probably higher.
I also make it implicit that during the three session period, I’m deciding myself if they’re the type of client I’ll be able to help. This adds an element of role-reversal, where I’m the one evaluating them over the three sessions. These types of situations go a long way toward increasing buying desire. Here’s how you can word it:
Just from talking to you I see a few things we could change and I think I’ll be able to help. I have a three session in- troductory package for only $___. I think that should be our first step. In that time you’ll see what my training is
like, and I’ll be able to get a good feel for your body and figure out whether you’re a good fit for my type of training. How does that sound?
With this statement you’ve given the prospect a low-risk way to begin training with you without appearing needy yourself. In half of all cases, after you’ve gone through the entire dialogue described in the last chapter, they’ll now agree to the three sessions. Just schedule the first one and take it from there.
The other half of the time they’ll try to milk the full price out of you. They’ll ask you:
How much does the training cost after that?
You’ll be shocked by how routine this is and will most likely get the question in those exact words. This question is your first major hurdle in the sale; how you react and handle it will be the primary determinant of whether you make the sale or not. When it comes to the question of price at any point of the sales conversa- tion, there’s only one rule:
Don’t tell them how much your training costs or you’ll most likely kill the sale!
If you answer this question – if you tell the future client how much your training costs before they’ve experienced your sessions and had a chance to interact with you personally, you’ll most likely kill the sale. They’ll get scared away by the high price of training with you, who at right now is a total stranger to them. They’ll then tell you they want to think about it, and as you know, you’ll never see them or hear from them again.
At that first meeting, the client knows nothing about you. They may have had a bad experience with a lazy Personal Trainer in the past, or they may think that all trainers are the same and just be price shopping for a good deal. That’s actually the two most common places most new client are coming from. If you jump in here and volunteer your full prices before they’ve understood why you’re special, the client in most cases will get sticker shock and you’ll kill the sale.
If you follow all of the tips in this book, you can market yourself as one of the, if not the highest priced trainer in your area. I charge between 50% more to double what the personal trainer right next to me is charging in almost every train- ing environment I enter. This will be the case with you too, but you don’t want your client to know this until after they’ve full experienced your training and un- derstood why you’re better. Before they understand why, they’ll just think you’re offering the same training as everyone else, but at a higher price.
However, after experiencing your training and personality, their attitude will change. Peoples perception of price changes once a relationship is formed. At this point, they’ll be more than willing to pay your full prices. They may actu- ally relish the fact that they’ve paying the most for the best, the same way people love to own expensive cars or handbags: for the prestige. Your clients will be willing to sacrifice in other areas of their lives in order to pay for your training, but not until after they’ve experienced it for themselves.