Today’s Marketing tip for you is short and sweet: Get more Testimonials.
All of us in the fitness club businesses can make better use of testimonials. Why are they so powerful? Because, no matter how strong your sales and marketing skills, no matter how well you communicate the benefits of your facilities and services, nothing communicates the quality of what you are offering better than the words of other people who have experienced doing business with you.
And as an added bonus – Testimonials are Free!
Here are some tips for maximising your testimonials:
The best testimonials give a detailed and specific description of how the person has benefited from what you have to offer.
“John is a great trainer. I highly recommend him” – This is not a particularly effective testimonial. The following would be much better because it specifically describes the benefits of hiring John:
“John is a great trainer. He takes all the hassle away from deciding on what i have to do to achieve my fitness goals and he is always available to answer my questions. Just one piece of advice that he gave me a few months ago resulted in me losing 12 pounds in 6 weeks ! Above all I trust him. He started as my trainer but has become a trusted adviser. If you need a superb personal trainer – I strongly recommend calling him today.”
One of the biggest obstacles to growing your business is convincing people that you can really deliver on your promises. A testimonial does it for you. So when customers tell you they’re pleased with you, don’t be shy. Ask if they would be willing to share their experience with others. Most will actually jump at the chance to write you a testimonial. You know what it’s like to experience a great product or service. It’s so unusual you want to let others know about it.
Include your customer’s name on the testimonial. Don’t use anonymous testimonials because people don’t believe them.
Once you get testimonials – use them! Put them everywhere – on your website, brochures, emails, videos. You can even get your best testimonials printed out on sheets and hand them to customers when they bring up an issue. In fact, testimonials are a great way to handle objections. If a customer tells you they think you’re too expensive, pull out five testimonials from customers explaining why you’re worth every penny. This is very powerful.
If you are starting a new personal training business, plan to make testimonials an integral part of your marketing from the outset. You could even give your first customers a price reduction if they’ll write you a great testimonial.
Another great strategy is to record your customers’ testimonials and put them on your website.
It’s also worth including testimonials in letters you send to customers and prospects.
Please don’t under estimate the power of testimonials. They can increase your conversion rates by 30% or more.
