Be A Grown Up
By Kelli Calabrese
If building a professional fitness business is a sincere goal of yours, trust me when I tell you that you can do it without the best web designers, the top social media experts or a big budget. What you truly need is to be a trusted "grown up" who is experienced, passionate and enthusiastically strives to over deliver to their customers in every area. Sound like hard work? Consider it a devotion that pays off big time!
Build your business on the following key points and you’ll never worry about where your next dollar is coming from, you’ll be able to walk with your head high never looking over your shoulder and your lifestyle will be a refection of a revered fitness business pro.
Be true to your word Following through on a promise speaks volumes to your customers and especially to potential ones. Not keeping a promise is guaranteed to lose you a customer and people will share a negative experience 10 times more than each positive experience. With so many fitness options to choose from, trust is vital to success.
Give Ritz Carlton service if you want to attract and keep top clients who will stay with you longer, pay on time and rave about your services to their influential friends. If you offer mediocre service, a customer will feel indifferent as to weather they matter to you. Expect them to drop out and never return. You will get what you give when it comes to the kind of clients you attract.
Keep information Confidential – At times we hear more intimate stories than psychologists as clients freely share personal information. If a client found out you passed on what they disclosed to you, it will be hurtful and they will no longer see you as trust worthy. What seemed harmless to share can harm your bottom line in the long run.
Communicate Openly - Procrastination is an evil that breaks up friendships, marriages and business relationships. None of us are mind readers and without communication we are only guessing what a person may be thinking. Approach what may feel like the most dreaded conversation openly and honestly. Most times the outcome is not as bad as you imagined and not talking was worse. When possible, communicate face to face.
Admit when you are wrong. None of us are perfect and being in business is an ever learning process. We are constantly faced with new challenges and will learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Face up to your errors and take the necessary steps to correct them.
Listen Attentively and use people’s names. The favorite word to a person is their name. Use it often and when they are speaking, give them full attention. Not giving your paying customers undivided attention is rude and it diminishes the relationship. Actively listening is a perfect chance for you to learn something about your client and possibly yourself.
If you find yourself in a situation that requires a decision that could potentially affect your character and the professionalism of your business, pause and ask yourself, “If put before a judge about this situation which action is going to lead to an outcome that is going to be most in my favor?” Be devoted to building trust, take responsibility for your actions and your business can be an enjoyable source of prosperity that is career lasting, life changing and that positively influences the masses.
Kelli Calabrese is the Master Coach for Phil Kaplan’s Be Better Academy – an 8 month transformation to discovering the career possibilities inside you. This self-searching, mind shifting curriculum unlocks the potential in trainers who desire to have a career and life they can live to the fullest. www.KelliCalabrese.com www.BeBetterAcademy.com