Possibly the most important aspect of building a strong and resilient business is creating connection with your clients. Knowing how to do so will provide you with a skill set that will help grow and retain a strong book of business as well as weather virtually any kind of storm (or pandemic) thrown your way. And I can tell you that there are plenty of storms to be endured! But that’s just part of running a business whether it be a brick and mortar that you own or your book of business that you manage within a business. Whatever your title is, being able to connect with clients is an invaluable skill to have in your tool box so I wanted to share 3 quick hits on how you can build better relationships and sleep better at night knowing you have a stable business.
Connecting with people is not easy so let’s start by setting ourselves up for success. When I first opened my facility I had zero direction with my marketing. I was trying to sell everyone and anyone on why Rebell was the spot for them to train. And it worked to a degree. In just a month we went from zero to enough clients to cover our costs. Yay!!! But retention was a bugger that plagued us for the first year. While we did keep some business for what ended up being the duration of our business, it was a small percentage in the first year. Why?
Not everyone that came through our doors were the “right” people for us. We spent so much time trying to be the right fit for everyone because of this scarcity mindset towards clients. The reality is that there are plenty of clients out there for everyone and you are best served by being somewhat selective with who you work with.
Bring the Right People In
Gaining and losing clients costs money so the better you can be at getting it right the more money you will be able to keep in your pocket at the end of the day. Sounds cool, right? So, while it seems intuitive to get anyone you can in the door, that can be a costly mistake that sends you into a constant cycle of gain and loss. Not fun.
To get yourself out of that cycle, put a solid marketing plan built around the following:
- Your skill set and what you have to offer people. If powerlifting is your thing and someone answers your ad looking for a solid rehab plan then you might not be the best fit. Hopefully you have the network to refer them out to someone you trust and know to be competent. That will be greatly appreciated and not forgotten. Trust me.
- Build an avatar (maybe two) of who you are going to market to based off of your skill set and business model.
These two steps will dial your marketing in and help attract the right people to your business which makes the sales process that much easier.
So, finding the right people and then putting the right messaging according to who they are and how you can help them is step number one to better connections with clients. Do that and do it now!
Once we are dialed in with attracting the right people to your business we need to make sure that we are making a great first impression. This will set the tone and set you apart from other businesses.
Dial Your Intake Process In
I went a long time getting people in the door and then throwing them into the fire. Just like our first point, it worked to a degree but left a lot on the table for improvement. The down side is it left a gap between introduction to myself and my business to a full understanding of the process and what we could accomplish. This leaves a huge gap for a bunch of different negative side effects.
People could give up on it before they understood it fully. It can take you awhile to figure out what people like and how they like to be interacted with which can cause a missed connection.
Here’s the gist of it in a nutshell. You wouldn’t commit to a social relationship before getting to know someone so why on earth would someone commit to a business relationship before getting to know you and what you’re about. I’ve found that being very open and honest about this process helps people relax and be themselves which ultimately will lead to a better bond in a shorter amount of time.
So get those questionnaires together and learn how to have productive interviews about goals, interests, and motivators. You can be THE best coach in the world but be blocked from a successful business because you don’t know how to talk to people. Over the years I have realized that there is a diminished return in pursuing technical proficiency as a coach. No, I’m not saying there is a summit to learning how to coach. What I am saying is that all you really need to know to be successful can be pretty basic…. as long as you know how to communicate with people clearly and set expectations. Be as good if not better of a people person as you are a coach and watch your business grow!
Great! Now we have the right people in the door and have started off with clear communication so we both know what to expect. Everyone is on board and ready to roll! Hooray! Now, how do we keep those people engaged year and year?
Step 3 in this process is about as simple as could be but not a lot of people are doing it. Tisk, tisk.
Don’t Ever Stop Communicating. Ever.
Relationships are tricky. They start tricky and for the most part grow in their trickyness as the years pass. Communication is a big help in shaving off a good chunk of that trickyness. (It’s a word no matter how much you won’t find it in the dictionary or anywhere else except this blog)
The more communication and check-ins you can have with people the more on top of “things” you’ll be. The more on-top of “things” you are the more quickly and efficiently you can address “things” before they become problems and the more trust you build with your people. Pretty cool right?
Here’s a couple of ideas on how to stay on top of check-ins:
- Session check-ins: a quick couple of questions such as “How much sleep did you get last night” or “How ready to rock and roll are you” go along way towards showing that you give a shit. Not only that but they will help you make better coaching choices during sessions.
- End of block check-ins: in between training blocks is a great time to have a little more in-depth check-in with clients before writing out their next block. What did they like and dislike? Is the frequency working or is it stressing them out? How do they feel day to day? Get this type of information and your programs will get better and better as time passes. Winning!
Staying connected with people can seem menial at times and be hard to structure. Hopefully what I shared with you in this blog will help remedy that and give you some actionable steps to getting this aspect of your business dialed in and standing in front of a more stable business. Enjoy!
By the way,
We’ll be teaching way more strategies like this for client engagement during this month’s mini course.
You’l discover tactics for:
-Understanding your clients better so that your initial connection is strong…even if you’re kind of introverted and not sure where to start
-Creating a system of client planning and progress so that clients always have something to look forward to…which means they’ll be more devoted to your training
-How to build a super-connected client community that feels like family that people don’t want to leave.
The course is going down on October 15th, and it’s only $1 to get started on our monthly mini courses. (You can’t even get a coffee for a $1, and this info could change your life and career.)
PLUS…you’ll get instant access to all of the mini courses we’ve already taught and archived.
All you have to do is click the link below to register.
