Who is the person most likely to be your client next month?
That's an easy one: the person who is your client THIS month.
Who is NEXT most likely? The person who has been your client in the past.
This person already knows, likes, and trusts you. But when they left, you thought they were gone forever. After 22 years as a coach, I promise you, very few cancellations are permanent, and a returning client usually stays for much longer on the second go-round.
RECENT: Your Checklist for a Perfect Personal Training Session
Here's how to talk to former clients, and how to get them back.
1. Start With a Very Simple Email to Former Clients
A small percentage of your former clients are simply waiting for an invitation. Of course, your door was never closed to them, but they need a tiny bit more. This email is exactly 10 words long, but it's been worth hundreds of dollars in recurring monthly revenue to many TwoBrain clients:
Subject line: Quick Question
Body: Do you still want to improve your fitness this year?
There’s no sales pitch and no call to action: you're simply restarting a conversation. Copy it verbatim. Avoid the temptation to make it longer, and make sure you leave the question mark on the end.
If you have 100 people on your email list, this should bring back one to three former clients.
2. Offer Something New
There are others on your email list who are still interested in your service but are looking for something slightly different.
Email them a special offer, like a Reboot program or a nutrition challenge.
Again, these people already know, like, and trust YOU — but they're not excited by your main program anymore. Changing one piece of the puzzle is pretty compelling: they get to do something new without making the social leap of entering a new gym.
3. Keep the Conversation Going
Still, others are paying attention, even if they're not paying you money.
Use a campaign of love letters to keep the conversation going. The experts in TwoBrain Marketing would call this "lead nurture."
Send an email to your entire list every day. Not spam but answers to the most common questions you get. Repeat this every month or so.
I wrote more on the Love Letter topic here.
Email marketing is powerful. These strategies will yield a far greater return than anything you do for free on social media. But the thing gym owners need to understand really comes down to two words: Come back.
"Come back" is more compelling than "come here."
Header image credit: Sergey Nivens © 123rf.com
