Whether you’re a personal trainer or a gym owner trying to build a profitable fitness business, you need to focus your attention on your gym’s marketing & sales. The first thing you need to do is evaluate the systems and processes you have in place to generate gym leads and then convert those leads into clients to see if they’re working. You may notice that somewhere in your follow-up process, you’re losing your lead’s interest and attention. If you don’t have a system to follow-up with your gym leads immediately after first contact, you could potentially lose them forever. The best way to remedy this is through a lead follow-up system.
What is a Lead Follow-Up System?
If you’re only getting referrals or they type of leads that walk through your door asking how they can sign-up, then you don’t need a follow-up process to see success in your sales process. Those people are pre-qualified to buy what you’re offering.
However, as you get better at marketing your gym (especially if you use FB ads) then you’re going to reach a larger audience who may not be ready to buy from you right away. It’s going to take time to build trust with them and prove you’ve got something of value to offer. This means you need to meet them where they’re at and start following up with them.
The goal of each follow-up step is to be able to interact with the prospect, qualify them and get them to convert if they are a good fit.
It’s best to have a blend of personal contact and automation. Texts, phone calls, emails, and even direct mail letters can be used to follow up and get them into a success session. That’s really what you’re trying to do after a lead becomes a sales prospect.
This process can be anywhere from 7 days to over 90 days, depending upon where they are in their buyer’s journey. I suggest you start simple to get your process dialed in. Get a 7-day prospect follow-up sequence in place.
Your goal with each individual follow-up step is to be able to interact with the prospect, qualify them and get them to commit to the success session if they are a good fit. It’s a way to build trust, stand out, and increase your conversions.
A 7-Day Follow-Up System for Your Gym
Here’s a sample 7-day follow-up process you can use to get more gym leads to become clients.
**Note: Once the success session is scheduled you will stop this follow-up sequence and move on to your success session confirmation sequence.
Call Immediately After Getting Notified
This is a great way to stand out and increase your chances of getting the prospect into a success session. You may not be able to follow up immediately in all cases. But if you are able or if you have an administrative assistant to help you out, I recommend you reach out as soon as possible.
This call is designed to introduce yourself and qualify the prospect. If they qualify, you can set them up for their success session. If there is no answer, keep moving through your sequence. Leave a voicemail, and let them know you’ll be emailing them.
Email Immediately If No Answer
If you call and there is no answer you can send an email to the prospect requesting to schedule a discovery call with them. In this email, you’ll want to provide some value such as helpful articles you’ve written or even share a testimonial. The goal is to get them to reply or respond so you can open up the lines of communication.
Day 3: Text #1
If you’ve not heard back from your prospect try texting them a bit of info. Tell them who you are, your business, and why you’re reaching out. The goal of the text is to open the lines of communication but not to engage in in-depth communication.
Day 4: Call #2
If you’re still working on your prospect try calling once again.
Day 5: Email #2
Still no luck? Send them an email.
Try using “RE:” in the subject line as if you’re responding to something they sent you. It tends to get opened more frequently. You can also use short and vague subject lines like “hey” or “what’s wrong?” to entice an open. Be cautious though. These can backfire if you don’t quickly get to the point in your email content, or if you don’t tie the subject line into the content. Use their name in the subject line when appropriate and also in the body of the email. The more personalized you make it the better.
Day 6: Call #3
Shoot them another call at a time you think you might have the best chance to reach them. This could be in the morning before work or after work. Oftentimes during the day people will let calls go to their voicemail and not worry about returning them, especially if they’re at work. At this point, you need to turn it up a bit and create some urgency with them. You can do this by letting them know the offer they requested info on or the front end offer is expiring if they don’t take advantage soon.
Day 6: Text #2
If you don’t get an answer on the previous call, send a text immediately after. Make it short and to the point.
Day 7: Final Call
If you’re using a 7-day follow-up then this is your last attempt to call the prospect. There’s a good chance that if they aren’t replying by now they aren’t quite ready to buy. Call one last time, leave a voicemail if they don’t answer, and let them know you’ll be adding them to your email newsletter for tips to help them reach their goal.
Add the Lead to Your Email Newsletter
This is when you should add them to your email newsletter and send them the first email in your welcome sequence. It should welcome them to your email newsletter, tell them what to expect, and provide them some quick value.
If you have an e-book or opt-in offer this is a good time to send that along as well as a gift for them. It’s an act of goodwill and helps add value to the relationship. From here you can send them your weekly emails and make an offer at least once per month to join your front-end offer.
More Conversion Opportunities
Following this simple gym lead follow-up workflow will give you more opportunities to convert prospects to clients. You can extend this out a few days or even a couple of weeks if you’re really persistent or simply use it as it’s described here.
It’s easy to make this a 10-day follow-up by taking the weekends off, but I’ve found from past experience a few calls on a Saturday morning or early afternoon can be very productive for your sales. Sundays were usually taken off completely and respected for family time of the prospects.
A more purposeful follow-up will result in fewer leads slipping through the cracks.
Remember that you’re having to win the business of your leads and prospects. There’s a good chance they’re researching all the solutions in your area. A call or text from you may be the edge you need to get in touch with them first and win their business. Making or setting up calls also lets you qualify the prospects. You can also answer a lot of questions ahead of the success session that may hold the prospect back from scheduling if it’s only done online or via email.
It’s important to know that using a repeatable, reliable process to sell your services is the only way to predictably grow your business. Not only will it improve your conversion rates but it will allow you to train other members of your team to sell for you, giving you the freedom you need to focus on growing your business.
Gym Marketing & Sales: How to Close your New Lead
If your new lead responded and is interested in your front-end offer or your core offer then what happens next is your sales conversation. If you need help closing more sales conversations then download this complimentary guide. Sometimes leads need more nurturing so you can learn how to create a simple 5-step sales funnel here.
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR CLOSING RATE: 5 Steps to Turn ‘Hit-and-Miss Appointments’ Into ‘Closing Conversations’
This guide will take you through the steps to becoming more familiar with your prospect in their current state, and being comfortable having conversations that result in more closed sales.
Download the guide here
Need more sales tips? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Creating a Sales System for Your Gym Business.
