The Six Sales Steps You're Skipping

“I know you hate Facebook ads, but we’ve been using them…”
 
“I know you say to stay off social media, but…”

 
Let’s clear the air here: I don’t hate Facebook ads. I don’t hate Social Media (actually, I like it too much.)
 
I don’t hate funnels, or cold leads. I don’t hate six-week challenges. I don’t hate nutrition challenges.
 
I do hate watching gym owners gamble with a dollar they earned at 4am. Especially when there are much easier ways to market and sell your service that don’t require massive ad spend. And they’re really just an extension of your coaching practice.
 
Here are the easy, natural and FREE things you’re probably not doing before you jump to Facebook funnels. We call these “Affinity Loops”, and you can listen to more in my last podcast on Affinity Marketing.
 
Axial Loop – your current BEST clients. We call these “Axial” clients because your whole business should revolve around them. Your best opportunity for making more sales is simply to serve these people more.
How do you start? Ask them: “What’s your biggest challenge outside the gym?” or “Is there any area where you’d like to speed up your progress?” Then create a new service to solve their problem.
 
Affection Loop – the people closest to your best clients. These are probably the people your clients live with (parents, spouse, kids) but could be besties or nearby family. TwoBrain gym owners often call this the “love loop”. These are the next “best clients”, because they can afford your service; they have a great reason to stick around for a long time; and you don’t have to market to them at all.
How do you start? Ask your Axial clients, “Who has been most helpful to you on this journey?” Then get a phone number or email address, and send a “thank up” message.
 
Activity Loop – the people who do the same things as your Axial clients. These could be coworkers, bosses, employees or other players in the midnight basketball league. You know what your clients like to do outside the gym. Who do they do those things with? How can your service help THOSE people?
How do you start? Go to your clients’ kids’ hockey games. Sit with your client. Meet their friends. Or go golfing with them. Meet their friends. Go to a Chamber of Commerce meeting, do a free “lunch and learn” at their workspace, or attend their wedding. Find out what they like to do and say, “Can I come too?”
 
Acquaintance Loop – who runs a business on your street? Have you met them? Taken them coffee? Who teaches at a school nearby? Who coaches your kids? Who are the people you don’t yet know, but should?
How do you start? Buy 4 coffee. Put them in a tray. Walk next door to the sewing store. Give them the coffee. Ask, “How’s business?”  My tried-and-true is inviting my kids’ teachers, coaches and guitar instructors to lunch. They always ask me about Catalyst, and I always tell them. Then I say, “Come with me.”
 
How do you start these conversations? During No-Sweat Intros or Goal Reviews. We teach a script to get you started, and do role-playing exercises with you and your coaches in our Incubator.
 
Attention Loop – who is paying attention to your business, but not yet paying you money? Well, they signal their attention by subscribing to your email list, and opening your daily love letters. That’s one clue. Maybe they turn up to your free info seminars, or ask you questions on your Facebook page. They’re more than just a “like”–they’re actively engaged in the conversation, but not yet taking action. Most gym owners have a huge email list, full of people waiting to hear the right thing. And most gym owners don’t use this list at all…or they pay a stranger to write love letters to their clients. That’s weird.
How do you convert? Write daily love letters. Or shoot daily video–the medium doesn’t matter, but the message does. Answer every question you can think of–one at a time. You’ll never run out. Every few days, remind people how to sign up.
 
Awareness Loop – FINALLY, you can turn on the Facebook! But not ads; not yet. First, create content that educates your audience or tells a fantastic story. Link to the content on Facebook–lead the reader back to your site. When a post has a high organic following, boost it for $7. If the boost converts more people–meaning they actually sign up for a real conversation–turn the boost into an ad. Target the ad at people who follow your page. And then we begin to seek out similar audiences for the proven message and repeat it with cold leads. But that’s an entire course, which we teach only after the Incubator.
How do you convert? Tell great stories. Use video or blog posts or podcasts. Publish every single day. Use familiar language, answer familiar questions. Forget the pictures or headers or logos.
 
Why do people avoid this stuff? Because it’s socially hard. It’s easier to funnel your money to a guru and hope for the best. It’s also easier to ride an elliptical trainer and hope for the best, but you make a living getting people to do the hard stuff that works. So do I.
 
We teach Affinity Marketing BEFORE funnel marketing because I want you to have real conversations with real people. I want you to get out from behind the screen and use your greatest asset–yourself–to grow your business. I want people to meet you, because I know they’ll like you. And I want you to help your clients more.
 
 
Then, when you have an amazing process for retention, conversion and care–go ahead and add cold leads. But if you’re not doing these things first and often, you’re not serving your clients or your business.

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One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.