Are you running a gym like Cressey Sports Performance? You know, the kind of fitness facility that drives revenues by training youth athletes?
If you answered yes, I’ve got some good news for you. I’m about to point you in the direction of so many pre-qualified leads that you could theoretically double your business with a series of properly executed simple sales pitches. Wait, it gets better…you’re going to get the chance to give 100% of these pitches on your own turf. No worrying about cold-calls or concerning yourself with creation of the most perfect Facebook ad the fitness industry has ever seen.
Instead, I want you to get up from your desk, take a step out of your office, and start up a conversation with the parent sitting on the couch in your waiting area. Assuming you aren’t too cool to coach an adult from the general fitness population, the parents of your current clients are going to be the gold mine you’ve been seeking.
Here’s the thing about parents…
Parents don’t just want what’s best for their kids – they demand it. Seeing as how they’ve already come to the conclusion that your business is the ideal place for their kids to focus on increasing athleticism and injury prevention, you can take comfort in knowing that they trust you. In fact, you’ve already banged out all four steps in the KNOW–LIKE–TRUST–BUY process with this person, so why not double down?
The parent patiently sitting in your waiting area reading an old copy of Men’s Health for the 8th time this month has already demonstrated a willingness to invest his expendable income on your fitness services. He’ll also never complain that he can’t find a ride to the gym on a given day. And, most importantly, he’s already in the damn building! Give him the opportunity to make his time more productive by mixing in some exercise.
Positive outcomes will follow
I’m not so naïve as to think that suddenly every single dad in your CRM database is going to bite on your training offer, but I am certain that converting even just a small handful will make a measurable difference in your bottom line.
By capitalizing on parents’ inherent interest and integrating them into the process, you simultaneously increase the likelihood that your youth athletes will make good lifestyle decisions outside of the gym. A dad who wants to maximize his ROI from training is more likely to fill the refrigerator with quality foods and practice what he preaches about drinking more water and getting plenty of sleep. Teenagers are anything but forthcoming with details about their lives when it comes to parent interaction, but fitness could very well be the common ground that changes their silent ride to the gym in to a meaningful discussion.
What could possibly make you feel better as a fitness professional than knowing that you’ve improved a father-son bond simply by having them hit the weights in your facility?
You’re still running a performance-training center
I understand your hesitance to focus on serving general-pop clients when your primary objective is to cater to athletes, but hear me out…
Who pays for these kids to train at your gym? That’s right, their parents do.
We all know that parents love to talk about their kids, but can you imagine how much they’ll enjoy talking about their kid’s strength-training regimen when they have a foundation of their own experience to back it up?
I’ve written about the power of word-of-mouth advertising in the past, and one of the important takeaways was as follows: If you truly want your customers to be effective brand ambassadors while outside of the gym, you need to equip them with more than just an understanding of how to execute your training material. Why not turn a couple of the dad’s standing in the bleachers in to walking and talking billboards for your gym?
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