In a recent email newsletter I answered a question about how to follow-up clients, it seems this is a key project for so many readers as you find the best (and the most comfortable) way to follow up with your clients.
Click here if you would like to read the newsletter.
I received some terrific emails from my regular readers. I just want to let you know about this one in particular from Amanda who is a PT and is a regular reader and sometimes client of mine. Here is her email:
Hello Ingrid, your message this week about follow-up was ever so timely. I want to let you know about one of the ways I’ve been doing follow-up with my clients.
Here is an example.
My client’s name is Katrina. This is a woman in her early 50s. She came to my studio for the first time about 2 years ago. Terrified. She admitted that this was the first time she had been to a gym in more than 35 years. The last time she was at a gym was as a teenager and she was yelled at by the instructor in front of the whole class. The instructor said to her – and these are the exact words: “Hey you at the back with the red hair, are YOU ALWAYS this un-coordinated?”
That first day, when she came into my studio, she told me that she was so humiliated back then as a teenager and so very self-conscious, embarrassed and never went back. She said she had hated gyms from that moment on. It’s interesting how she remembered those exact words …
I was really curious why she was here now? Sitting in front of me? in my studio?
She said:
“I’m almost 50. There’s menopause. I’ve gained weight and lost strength. Some times it’s hard to get up from floor when feeding the cats and cleaning their litter. I thought I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING and fast because if this is me at 50 – how am I going to be at 60, and 70 and 80?”
She said it felt like all downhill unless she did something – so here she was in my gym. I run a small local studio with a limited and personalised range of offerings.
Katrina came a few times and then stopped. Hhhhmmm I thought. She seemed keen and yet, hadn’t come back. I called her mobile and it went to voice mail so I left a message “Hi it’s Mandy here from the gym. How are things going with you. We’d love to see you back in the gym for your sessions.”
Nothing.
A couple of days later I sent her a text:
“Hi Katrina, how you been, we’d love to see you back. How about you come in for a half price PT session?’
And she called back, and came in for her half price session.
Here we are 2 years later and she has gone from attending 2-3 times per week for general classes and now is booked in for 2 private PT sessions a week with me and two general classes.
Katrina says for her, it is so much more than just the exercise, it is also the social element. We have a small and very friendly, bespoke studio. One day as we were doing weights she said to me:
“You know Mandy, if it hadn’t been for that text, I probably wouldn’t have come back.”
We recently reviewed Katrina’s goals and how things are going and she said: “It’s part of my routine. I don’t even think about it – I just get up in the morning, put on my PT gear and off I go! I feel good, toned, stronger, fit. I feel proud of myself. I participate in the challenges and while I might not win, its hard, but its all fun.”
Ingrid, I just want to let you know that it is your driving me to continue with the follow-up that has allowed me to help women like Katrina.
It would be so easy to just follow up once and leave it at that. It’s easy to feel like it’s something I’ve done or said. And as you remind me – it’s not about me. It’s about Katrina and women like her!!
Ingrid, you have encouraged me to keep on with the follow-up and I now have many women just like Katrina coming regularly to my studio.
Thank you and cheers, Amanda
Well, isn’t that a terrific example and a fabulous case study from Amanda?
Please take heart from this example. Of course not every client will be like Katrina.
There is really solid research that shows that most people give up after the first follow up. Some of the seasoned sales people keep going to follow up number 3 and sometimes even follow up number 4. The research shows that most sales happen after follow up number 5.
I encourage you to be clear about what the next steps are at each stage in your sales process. If you need help with this aspect of your business – the follow up – please just let me know and we can go through your Client Journey Map together or click here for the online version.