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Now, it doesn't matter what type of trainer you are, you need a great onboarding experience for new clients. And if you are employed in a gym and they do not have one…speak to them about setting one up, because trust me…it will help in so many ways which we are going to go over today.
So here are my top four reasons why you should have an epic onboarding experience for every new client that signs up with you!
So, number one is that having an epic onboarding experience helps to reduce what is called buyer's remorse.
Now, buyer’s remorse is a feeling of regret that some people have after making a large or expensive purchase. And personal training definitely falls into that category.
It is typically seen as a luxury for people to buy from the money they have left over at the end of the month. Most people do not typically like to invest lots of money on their health until things go wrong.
Now the problem for trainers with buyer’s remorse is that it can lead to a new client asking for a refund before they even get started. That is not ideal for obvious reasons.
The next potential problem is that they start the training process not very engaged. Not being committed or putting in the effort needed which is also not great for you, the trainer or them!
However, some clients can also go the other way. They might start to demand more and more from you that is out of your scope as a trainer as they feel that they have paid so much and they want to get their money's worth.
So, by having a new client immediately enter your onboarding experience after payment can help give them confidence that they made the right decision.
So with an epic onboarding process we can do our best to reduce the chances of any of these things happening due to buyer’s remorse.
They feel they made the right decision to buy and even more important, the right decision to buy from you.
SO next up is reason number 2 for why you should have an epic onboarding experience.
Let’s take a step back.
Before buying, some clients have been looking into what path to take to achieve whatever goal they want to hit.
Sometimes they may have been looking for a long time.
They may have looked at taking up a sport or group classes. Maybe hiring an online trainer or having one to come to their society.
But during all of this they are keen to get started and are excited about the path they are about to begin and the changes they can make towards reaching their goal.
Once making the payment, an onboarding experience is one way of staying in contact with your new client until that first session starts and even in between the first couple of sessions.
It helps keep that mindset, that excitement to start and to build momentum going.
We all know how important the start is to their longer term success. We need that momentum and consistency early on so we can start to build the right habits and behaviours that will allow them to make the changes needed and keep it going way beyond the point of finishing their training with us.
That’s the ideal situation anyway.
Also, that early communicationIt helps to keep them close and helps them know that there is some accountability for what they are doing even outside of the sessions they are taking with you or the check in that they might have weekly.
Which is reason number 3!
All of these things really help to build on the initial rapport and trust that you have built together making the entire experience become better and better and more enjoyable as you go through the days, weeks and months.
The onboarding process lets them know that from day 1 they are not alone in the process and have the support they need. After purchase care and service is so important and we see in the fitness industry so much that as soon as someone has paid, they are forgotten about.
It is a thing that many people hiring trainers or joining gyms worry about. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons they leave.
Because they didn’t get the support they needed or expected when they made the purchase,
That initial contact lets them know that this is not going to be the case with you.
Now the fourth and final reason why an epic onboarding session is so important is to help ‘wow’ your new client.
Like we mentioned before, they are hopefully on a high, excited to get going and want to be confident they made the right decision.
If we can ‘WOW’ them early on, that will hopefully start to create a superfan of ours. Now, this is important as superfans are your biggest supporters.
They will talk about you to friends and family. They will give you amazing testimonials and they will write awesome reviews on Google.
They will never ask for a discount, they will always renew on time and they will be close to you and your brand for a long, long time.
These clients will become a massive part of your business and your community or audience. And you really do want to try and create an audience and or community for a lot of other reasons that we will get into in another session.
But most importantly, these are the people that are committed to the process, get the best results and make the biggest changes to their life. Which is one of our aims with all of this personal training stuff, right?
It’s why we wanted to become trainers, to help people and make a positive impact in the world.
So there you have.
The top 4 reasons why you should have an epic onboarding experience for your new clients.
Reduce buyer’s remorse and the negative that can happen when that enters the mind of your new client
Keep the momentum going with their excitement and motivation for the process
Let them know that you are with them every step of the way and prove it with the onboarding process. Let them know they won’t be left by the side now they have paid
Create superfans that will be more committed, hit their goals, but also rave about you to others to help build your business, audience and community.