How To Take Advantage Of The Wellness Boom
And Earn Some Serious Money.
There is a shift in our economic world from "sick care" to "well care." Look around you - - massage therapists, acupuncturists, personal trainers, training studios. The shift is towards health and wellness fields. Over the last decade, the growth in the wellness industry is not only measurable in numbers, but obvious to the eye. This is what Paul Pilzer refers to as the “The Wellness Revolution” (if you haven’t read his book, I encourage you to do so). Pilzer, being an economist, predicts that by 2010 an extra $1 trillion dollars of the U.S. economy will be devoted to health and wellness services and products. All things to make society look and feel better, slow down the aging process, and ultimately preventing disease. This shift from "sick care" to "well care" presents an abundance of opportunity to those of us in the health and fitness industry. If you are in any health/fitness/wellness field, you are in the perfect position to capitalize on the growth in the industry. To maximize your profit potential, you need to know the best way to tackle it.
The limitations of personal training and other fitness careers
If your business relies on you being there a lot of hours to make money, it is not a business...it's a job. Too many trainers I know in the industry have a "job." I know because I used to be one of them. Always looking for the next stage of growth, but ultimately never changing my leverage. Virtually always trading time for dollars.
Don’t misunderstand me. I love working with my clients. I love people. But the more successful I became doing what I love, the more it was killing me. The more clients I would train, the more hours I would have to work. It was not uncommon for me to be taking my first client at 6 am and finishing my last one at 8 pm. Working Monday through Friday, Saturday mornings, and some Sundays. I ran out of road. There were only so many hours that I could work. Any successful trainer knows how brutal and exhausting it can be. It was creating a huge imbalance in my personal life.
Even business ownership had it‘s limitations. Sure, it took me to leverage systems where I could have others working for me. But the downside to this was that I needed capitol and there were major liabilities. If something happened or a trainer called in sick, it was my butt on the line. Again, it ended up being a lot of work. The more I grew, the more it hindered my quality of life. Yeah I was making more money, but I was still working 60-70 hours a week. And we all know that clients can't stay for ever. Sometimes they only sign up for a couple of weeks. If you are good, they will stay for a few months or even years. Ultimately they move on, achieve their goals, no longer see the value of the service, move out of town...whatever the case may be, the relationship stops at some point. I wanted more lifetime value from my customers. I was looking for something more. I was still stuck in the business model of service and it’s limitations. There was just so much keeping me from having the time freedom and passive income I was working towards.
How You Can Get Lifetime Value From Your Clients
You are already certified. You already have a client base. You are already considered by many to be an expert in your field. People are already coming to you for help. People are already seeking you out to answer their questions. People are already looking to you for solutions. To maximize your profit potential and tap into the Wellness Revolution, you need to go beyond short-term fitness goals. You need to get yourself involved in people's long-term health and wellness goals through education and products. Key word? PRODUCTS!
When you have products as opposed to just service, you can take advantage of fulfillment time. I am talking about zero fulfillment time. I am talking about outsourcing or automating. Orders could be processed while you sleep. There is just so much more potential and opportunity because you don't run into that ceiling of "time." Products provide so much more leverage than just providing a service by itself.
What Product?
Many people in the fitness industry are interested or involved in creating info products - reports, books, e-books, manuals, DVDs, etc. These products are great. I have certainly capitalized on this aspect as have many other fitness professionals, and with tremendous financial success. But, again, info products by themselves are a one time sale. So while they do enhance your leverage, they do not provide that "lifetime value" we have discussed. When someone buys your book or DVD, they don't need to buy it again. What ends up happening then is you are stuck chasing the front end of people to buy your products.
Where is the best opportunity for product sales? The direct sale of consumable products. Products that the consumer will use again and again. Think about all the products you purchase over and over....gas, food, cable TV, internet service. How about supplements? A-HA! This is where the ultimate in lifetime value of a customer comes in.
When I started with supplements, I started with retail. But, again, I was limited by demographics. Just like the service element of my business, I was only capitalizing on about a 10 mile radius from my studio. Most individuals who were not close to my proximity were not a potential customer and those that lived close enough were only profitable as long as they came in. Short lifetime value. I was still not earning passive income.
Then I started to utilize the internet. What I got into was direct retail sales plus fulfillment from the manufacturer. This took it to a another level which allowed me to fully take advantage of a clients lifetime value. A system where my clients can get their product from the manufacturer whether they trained with me or not. Clients that I trained months ago or even years ago that have moved to other parts of the country were still ordering product from me. It no longer mattered who lived near my business. I was now able to gain business revenue from a world demographic.
There was also the viral element. When I got into the business of selling consumable products many of my clients ended up buying products for their family. One of my clients would buy products for themselves and then start purchasing products for their spouse. Since the line I utilize actually has some basic supplements for children, my client would then start buying for the whole family. So that one client who used to spend $50-$100 a month on supplements is now spending a possible $200-$300 a month purchasing for their whole family.
Remember that lifetime value? Those who may have only personally trained with me for a couple of weeks or a few months were purchasing these products well beyond that. Most of them have been utilizing them for years with no sign of stopping. After hearing that, how many of you can say that you are really maximizing the profitability of your business?
Today, I personally can go to sleep and wake up to see an order has gone out. Or I can go away for the weekend and come home to see that 5 orders have gone out. I am getting paid for work I did a long time ago while I am out doing something else. Sometimes it is new customers. And sometimes it is the same customers buying again... and again....and again.
For Those Fitness Professionals Who May Be Hesitant
When I originally got into personal training, I was hesitant to sell anything to my clients. I was very focused on the service element and the thought of selling products to my customers never really entered my mind. As most personal trainers do, I would sit a client down for an assessment. At the end of the consultation, I would make some general nutritional recommendations. Somewhere along the line I would find myself saying, "It is optimal to eat every 3-4 hours. So eating 5-6 meals is a must if you want to achieve the results you are looking for. Because of your time limitations, you would benefit from a meal replacement supplement. Additionally, I recommend everyone take a multi-vitamin/multimineral as well as a post-workout product that reduces soreness and promotes recovery." I would then send my clients off to the supplement store with those minor recommendations and when they came back to me for their next session, they would have a laundry list of products that the person behind the counter sold them. They would spend up to $300 on all kinds of bogus supplements. One of my clients actually came in ultra-jittery for one session. After some prodding on my part to get to the heart of the shaking and nervousness, my client revealed that he was coaxed into buying all sorts of stimulant-type products. It was becoming apparent that my clients were not being best served by sending them out to a store to purchase their supplements. There always seemed to be someone behind the counter that didn't know any more than what he or she read in a magazine or saw in an ad. And they definitely didn't have my clients best interest at heart. They were more interested on the commission they could make on the sale. I, from the standpoint of client safety, had to step up to the plate and ensure that my clients get good products. This supplement store scenario was never to happen again. I was still very uncomfortable selling, but now I was operating from the motivation of my client's health. I started carrying the products myself and started introducing the products as part of my nutrition program. I made it convenient, as well. My clients could purchase the products directly from my facility or could have them shipped directly to their homes. And my clients appreciated it. They recognized the fact that I took the time to research a product line that was safe and that they were getting what they needed to augment their training and nutrition program.
I believe it is a trainer's responsibility and moral obligation to do everything in their power to make sure the client succeeds in their efforts. There may be a lot of fitness professionals that feel nutrition and supplementation is a touchy area for them to tackle. Well, if you don't help them, guess who does? That person behind the counter at the supplement store. And in an industry where one-third to one-half of what is put on the shelves doesn't even contain what is stated on the label, if you don't step in and help the customer, they end up risking their health. They end up getting information from people with zero to little knowledge about nutrition or fitness and with products that can virtually be dangerous. Trainers are in a position to help people by making intelligent, knowledge-based recommendations. My clients look to me for that advice. That is why they came to me in the first place - they needed help and guidance. As the "expert," they expect me to have the answers for them. There should be no question about it. If you are a trainer, you should be providing your clients with the knowledge regarding proper fitness, nutrition, and supplementation and the means to get there. That is the only way a client will benefit from their training experience and gain better health. When you do, on top of making it safer and easier for your clients, you will open a door to a whole side of the business that you may never knew existed. It ends up being so much more than a financial opportunity. It becomes a life changing model.
Get The Point?
Where is the ultimate in leverages and client lifetime value? If you didn't say "in the direct selling of consumable products," then you are not paying attention. Now I am not saying just go out and invest in any consumable product. Your first priority is still to service your clients to better their health and training experience. I am talking about a superior product. When you have a superior product that is consumable, you have hit the jackpot. Pilzer writes, "Prosperity goes to those who learn new things the fastest." What are you waiting for?
Those serious fitness professionals who understand how important it is to address the critical nutritional element of their business should now realize how they can be the ultimate source for information and claim their part of the "Wellness Revolution." Any readers who want more information on my personal business model should click here.
Revealed!
James Cipriani
Cutting Edge Personal Training
