Systems, systems, systems. That’s all he really seems to be talking about these days with pretty much every personal trainer I know.

I must admit that at this point I must be sounding like a broken record (CD to you younger readers) to many of them, as I am never more than a sentence or two away from saying “They should have a system for that!”

Although it’s true … they should. And you should too!

Look, I don’t know of a single person in the fitness industry who makes 6 figures or more who doesn’t run their business through a systems approach. Not even a single one.

On the other hand, virtually each and every struggling personal trainers I’ve ever met seemed to be stuck in an “ invent it on the fly ” mentality that had them reinvent the wheel with every task in their business with every client. Every day.

No wonder they do nothing and move on. They are caught in a kind of ‘groundhog day’ of business where the same thoughts, feelings and actions are repeated over and over again without end.

And the only thing that can rescue them from this incessant time warp … is the systems!

Now don’t get me wrong. I haven’t always been a systems guy. Like most personal trainers, I almost woke up and recovered the day as it progressed and, like most personal trainers, I only kept the appointments that were in my journal and very little else.

It was the classic case of working IN your business and not IN it.

Then I began to systematize parts of my business that were often repeated. Things like standardizing my program cards, creating new client induction documents, establishing a phone script, standardizing my nutritional approach, etc.

Even these small changes started to pay dividends and I soon found myself operating more professionally and with more time available to work on … more systems 🙂

Over time, my systems have grown to include online and offline advertising protocols, TV and press protocols, writing protocols, telephone protocols, consulting protocols, evaluation protocols, training protocols, training protocols, protocols. blogging, web design and optimization protocols and much more. .

Now all my team members are trained (through protocols and systems) to deliver MY systems to YOUR clients in exactly the same way that I set out in the company’s standard operating procedures manual.

This means that the customer experience is vastly improved, results come much, much faster, and customers are happier than ever with their results.

It also means that I don’t have to worry about whether a new coach can get a result with the clients I give her, she just follows the systems and voila! results appear 🙂 Wouldn’t you love that for YOUR business?

Wouldn’t you love to know that without a doubt, everything that contributes to the customer experience of working with you has been thought, written and adjusted to such a degree that, like me, you can comfortably deliver twice as much? Your money-back guarantees on fat loss? (or any service you provide)

You can only trade at this level with a system to back you up or, trust me, you would be out of business in no time.

But where do you start? What kinds of things could you (and SHOULD) systematize? Well the short answer is EVERYTHING, but here are some more specific ideas to get you started.

1. Your Voicemail – Leave a great message that’s warm, welcoming, and directs people to a page on your website where they can download your latest report while they wait for your call.

2. Your phone script: Don’t make your calls on the go. That way you will make mistakes and lose people. Instead, have a script that you follow that guides people through a ‘soft’ consultative approach designed to have them meet with you rather than sell.

3. Your inquiry script – Again, leaving your inquiry process to chance is like leaving money on the table.

Have a script that you use EVERY TIME to talk about the client, their wants, their needs, their schedule, their budget, your role as a coach, and how you can help. This will be WOW! them much more than you ever think possible.

4. Your evaluation system: Before the training, have an evaluation protocol that you take to the client. Always do it at the same time and give them a written report outlining your findings.

5. Your scheduling system – Do you have a standardized way of writing and presenting your clients’ programs? If not, you are missing it!

The real experience your client pays for is not ‘babysitting’ during their training hour, but the program itself. Standardize this protocol and make sure you have a wow factor by adding photos, adding links to video demos, and more.

6. Your Nutrition System – Do you have a systematic approach to teaching sound nutritional approaches to your clients? Do you find yourself repeating the same advice over and over?

I used to spend more time explaining my nutritional principles than almost anything else, so I created my Elimination Diet Nutritional Advice which is now provided to all customers AND has been downloaded by over 43,000 people on the web.

This single act has created a secondary source of income worth THOUSANDS for me each year.

7. Your blog and article writing – Do you have a system you use to create articles each week for your website, blog, and ezine directories?

I don’t mean just sitting around writing and waiting for inspiration, I mean a real system that you can follow step by step to create valuable content for profiling. If not, you need one and fast!

Writing is one of the most valuable things you can do for your business, and without a system, you are building your business on hope and guesswork. Not good.

Create a system that takes you step-by-step through writing, submitting, and promoting every piece of valuable content in your head.

8. Your time management system: Have you set hours of the day and days of the week reserved for the different tasks you must complete?

For example, I no longer work with clients on Tuesdays and Thursdays. These days, I spend the first 2 hours writing articles and posts (FYI, it’s 9:26 am on Tuesday morning as I write this so I’m on the show).

From 10 am to 12 noon I will be working on one of my ‘projects’ which will be an online product or an offline course of some description.

From 12 a.m. to 1 p.m. I will have lunch. From 1:00 p.m. Until 2:00 p.m. M., I will write or rewrite another module of my tutoring program and from 2:00 p. Until 4:00 p.m. M. I will tutor 2 different groups and then take some time off to train, read and spend some time with my family.

Knowing what my ADVANCE week is like means that I can judge how long my projects will take and what resources I may need to accelerate them.

9. Your advertising system: What announcements and promotions will you run in March 2010? Did you know? Do you know what you are running in December and where will you run it?

If not, then you don’t have a strategy for your ads and therefore you will probably end up taking every ‘opportunity’ that magazines and newspapers call you with and instead of ‘increasing your interest’ with ads running on sequence. , you will lose your impact by making things up at the last minute.

Just design your year ahead of time so you know where your ads are going, when they’ll run, what they say, what artwork or copy you need and when you need it, and your marketing will be ten times greater. shocking. (This also includes online and PPC ads!)

10. Your Training System: You know what you’re weak at and what’s stopping you from being the superstar you could really be, right? Establish a strategy for learning new skills throughout the year.

Plan courses, home study, and even book purchases to improve your performance in these areas and commit to studying them rather than reading or training whenever you want and your knowledge, skills, and abilities will soon stand out above your shoulders. your competition.

Strive to be the best coach you can be, not just the best marketer.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that these 10 areas are not related to fitness marketing. All are! In fact, marketing is about everything you do to attract, serve and keep your customers and there is no better way to do it than the one I have suggested here.

Most personal trainers and fitness professionals don’t want to hear that. They want an SEO ‘quick fix’ or deceptive pay-per-click tactic that they can use to double their traffic, but actually being on page 1 of Google and getting more traffic through their website means nothing. the customer actually buys, you and your services are not up to par.

Systematizing yourself and your business is truly one of the most powerful customer attraction strategies you can employ to grow a fantastic business that customers will love and that you will love being a part of.

So get down to business today. Commit to working on at least one new service every day until you have all of your business components systematized, then sit back and watch customers arrive 🙂

For your success!