People have so many choices when it comes to exercise these days, and everyone wants to know the secret of getting their classes filled. But the BEST way to build SOLD OUT programs is to not focus on HOW to get clients into your class, but to focus on what you are delivering to your clients and EVERY class, and in between classes.
In this post, we are going to share with you exact steps to building fitness program that sell out again and again. Getting you more clients, and saving you more time, which in turn makes you more money!
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Step One: Know what you are truly offering
How well do you know yourself and your program offering?
Are you running an outdoor fitness bootcamp? An indoor beginner Zumba class? A running group?
Your goal in creating a program is to create an experience so you can maintain engagement, client accountability, and create elements of fun and uniqueness that aren’t available anywhere else!
Thing of popular programs people sign up for, like Crossfit, outdoor bootcamps, or Orangetheory. The popularity of these programs stems from the community and experience. Even if someone can take a similar class for a fraction of the price at a gym, these classes still fill up because they are unique programs that are engaging experiences for the clients.
For example, at FIT CHICKS we offer classes for women of all fitness levels. We have small class sizes where the instructor knows everyone’s name. Clients receive weekly emails and get to participate in fun monthly challenges. We have a member’s website with monthly workouts, exercise videos, and meal plans. We regularly celebrate clients successes with our Chick of the Month, and offer loyalty rates for long term members. Our clients are more than just a number to us, and it shows: we have had many clients with us for over 5 years!
By having an effective program rather than just running a fitness class you will be able to have a stronger retention rate, and this will get you out of the rut of constantly chasing down new clients. Look at what you are offering outside of the class setting that sets you apart from the others.
Step Two: Determine your niche to attract the right people to your tribe!
Figuring out your niche market is a major key to your success. Having a generic program and brand is not only boring, but it’s also been done. The market is saturated with generic classes – in order to stand out, you have to create something that is unique and highlights your expertise.
Having a more focused approach to your program development, like HIIT classes, a women’s only bootcamp, or even a class for new moms, will enable you to then create more focused marketing efforts and materials. This will ensure that the right people are the ones picking up what you are putting down. Filling your programs with the members your ideal clients, the ones you WANT to teach.
Which leads into knowing who your ideal client is and creating your avatar! This is where you determine who you want to work with versus the age old method of putting out marketing hoping that someone will like it enough to join. By creating an avatar you determine your dream client and then build the program and all support materials around what that exact client would be interested in. This is much more effective than just throwing out generic materials in an effort to get anyone to show up. Having an avatar this lets you focus in on the ideal clients for YOU.
Step Three: Build Inclusive and Effective workouts
So finally you now you have a program offering geared towards your ideal client, and you have the right clients wanting to sign up for your program (not just take your class). The next step is to create the most exciting, effective, and inclusive workouts you can.
We’re not gonna lie, creating a workout program is A LOT of work. But if you are doing it correctly, it will pay off in the end. If you create signature workouts designed for your audience that are following a flow, that are unique and new and different every class (yes, every class should be different) then you will be able to maintain engagement with your clients and help them avoid the dreaded plateau, and keep them from getting bored with their workouts.
If your clients are not engaged in their workouts they will not maximize their time with you, in turn will not get the results they are expecting and will not return. So you need to do your homework and develop your strategic program and exciting workouts each and every time so they get results and continue to come back for more!
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Step four: Engage with your tribe
In addition to fun and fabulous workouts, need to interact with your clients outside of the program and keep them excited about what they are a part of. This is, after all, one of the things that makes a program different from just another fitness class.
Everybody in life wants the same things, to be loved and accepted and feel a part of something bigger than themselves. This is so important on a day to day basis for human nature and you want to nurture this in your program as well by creating a kick a$$ community for them to be a part of.
One of the most effective ways to create engagement with your tribe is to have a monthly theme in your class and weekly challenges.
Having a focus for the month keeps the messaging consistent and clear and adding in a weekly challenge around that monthly focus will only further drive home your main points and provide support and value to your clients outside of class. For example, at FIT CHICKS we have done a Detox theme and run a 14 day Green Smoothie Challenge to support the monthly theme. In our weekly emails we sent our clients green smoothie recipes and information on detoxing, eating your greens, and the importance of green smoothies. We also encouraged our intructors and clients to post on social media using the hashtag #fitchicksgreensmoothiechallenge. This was fun and informative for the clients, they had fun creating smoothies and sharing with others, and it added value to the program. A win for everyone!
The key to this success is to drive home the messaging in person, through weekly emails, and on social media, in addition to following up with clients each week to give them the personal touch.
With the internet now it’s easier than ever to engage with your clients in your program. Other ideas are to create a private Facebook group for your clients where you engage with them on a daily basis, do Facebook or Instagram live chats on topics that are of interest, or simply share articles or recipes that you think would be valuable.
Step 5: Cultivate a community
Creating and nurturing a community and creating a safe and inclusive environment is a real key to success. Your members need to feel supported and connected. Often they don’t have other people in their live’s who support a healthy lifestyle change, so this can really help them succeed and get the help they need.
Think about how you can not only create a community, but how you can get your members supporting each other and working together! Having a Facebook group helps again here, so they can not only connect with you, but connect with eachother. Also having community goals and events outside of class to encourage members to grow deepen their relationships with each other.
Step 6: Create added value through add ons and bonuses
It’s important for the client to feel as if your program is worth the price tag you are charging. One way to do this (without lowering the price) is to at the program and see what other value you can add on, without feeling as though you are giving everything away.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- At home workouts
- Exercise tutorials
- Monthly workout plans
- Workout trackers
- Weekly Facebook live events for clients
- Recipes
- Shopping guides
- Fat loss tip sheets
- Audio workouts
Many of these can be items can be created once, and used over and over again with new clients, so the time you invest in the beginning pays off in the end.
Step 6: Follow up with clients to keep them coming back
If you want your clients to return over and over again,you need to give them a reason to do so. Aside from your killer personality, awesome new workouts of the day, and challenges outside of class, you need to follow up with them on a regular basis so they know you care about their results and them as a person.
There is nothing more effective than showing that you are genuinely invested in your client’s goals and health.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Do a weekly one on one check in – can be done in person or virtually through email or Skype.
- Set community based goals and celebrating when you reach them as a team
- Providing a measurable at the beginning and end of the program to track progress (for example, a push up test)
- Send encouraging messages via video or text to each member highlighting wins in class
- Develop a personalized tracking document for each member highlighting their major goals and milestones along the way (a google drive document is a great way of doing this!!)
You should also set your clients up for success even when they are not able to return to your program. If you are giving them all the tools necessary to keep the momentum going, even if they are then able to continue. This will enable them to be successful on their own and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have effectively helped them change their life and built yourself a walking, talking testimonial that is pure gold for your continued business development.
Creating sold out fitness programs takes time and effort, but they payoffs are well worth it in the end when you have clients coming back and bringing in new clients with them!
If you would like to learn more about how to effectively use the above award winning methods to create your own effective program Download our FREE “Build Your Bootcamp” Success Blueprint to get the step by step actions to get started creating your own sold out fitness programs today!
