11 Steps For Penetrating The Corporate Market And Getting A Non-Stop Stream Of New Clients

By Eric Ruth

Would you like to be the "resident corporate wellness expert" for businesses close to you, and magnetically attract great personal training prospects (corporate executives and other professionals) from that rich pool of potential clients?

With the growing awareness of how dramatically health affects on-the-job performance, many smart companies are scrambling to find ways to offer support, information and programs to improve their employees’ health (and the company’s bottom line). This presents an excellent opportunity to the savvy fitness professional with a solid strategy for capitalizing on this demand.

I was recently asked by one of my customers to help devise just such a strategy for a corporate health fair he was attending. He had secured a booth at the fair to offer bio-impedance body fat analysis to the attendees and wanted to know how he could leverage that opportunity to market his services.

Here's what I advised him to do at the health fair, and how any fitness professional can leverage events like this to gain new clients and become a resident corporate wellness expert in their area.

First, keep in mind that your primary goal at the health fair is to generate qualified leads. I like the body fat analysis because many people are curious about such things - as they should be - and will therefore be open to being tested. However, there are some - possibly the ones who need it most - who will be too self conscious to have the analysis performed. So you want to present multiple offers to the health fair attendees in order to capture as many qualified leads as possible.
Consider beefing up the analysis by offering some form of report of findings and suggestions for improvement that you will mail/email to the person after the fact. This gives you a great "reason why" to capture their contact information and to follow-up.
For those who may not want the analysis, offer some form of valuable information, such as a report on "Five Steps To Fat Loss: How To Eliminate 1-2 Pounds of Body Fat Each Week". You can create the report beforehand and make it available to people at the fair in exchange for their contact information. I suggest you make a nice big banner or poster you can put at your booth advertising the report, with a sign-up sheet below it (or a jar for people to drop in their business card). Of course, one of the five steps will be working with a trained and certified professional who holds you accountable, provides expert guidance and instruction, and motivates you to succeed.
Have a raffle/drawing with a big, valuable grand prize, possibly something like one month of free personal training. Collect business cards (although it's best if you can get their home addresses, too) for the drawing. Obviously only one person will win the prize (but if properly advertised it should generate lots of great leads of people who WANT personal training). All the other people who entered the drawing should be notified that although they didn't win the grand prize, they did win. In this case, the second prize should be something like one or two free training sessions with you/your staff. In working with over 1,000 independent personal trainers, studio owners and club trainers, we have found that offering 1-2 free sessions is a great way to introduce people to your services in a non-threatening, low risk way, allow them to sample what you offer, and results in a very high conversion to paid clients. Keep in mind that we all "buy" our customers/clients. Offering a free sample of your services (and the grand prize) is a comparatively low cost to secure new clients. The secret to your success with this method will be determined by:
- Your ability to educate the prospect about the value of your services.
- Your ability to utilize an effective closing presentation to convert the prospect to client.
The BIA is non-invasive, you and I know that, but most people still think of body fat analysis as a procedure where they have to be pinched and prodded. And that perception will scare some people away. So make it very clear - in your advertising and through demonstration - just how simple, non-invasive and private the BIA is. By private, I mean that you can give them a report of findings, rather than verbally telling them what their body fat is (so as to avoid embarrassment). I suggest you bring a woman with you to the fair who can act as a demonstrator of the BIA (your "patient"), so people can see how it works - and overcome any intimidation they may feel. (Having a woman is best because it's the female targets that may be most self conscious about submitting to the analysis.)
Find some way to create a "buzz" around your booth. It may be that the BIA demonstration is all you need, but brainstorm other ideas. Without sounding sexist, it certainly can't hurt to have a female assistant there in workout gear that is bubbly and personable. This will attract the men and put the women at ease.
Use big, bold advertising at your booth for:
- The BIA
- Your free report on 1-2 pounds of body fat loss
- The drawing/raffle
Be sure you have marketing collateral available (brochures and other selling tools for your services) that people can get.
Lead generation is the goal (it will be difficult – and may be inappropriate – to actually “close” clients at the fair), but leads are worthless if you don't do anything with them. Create a follow-up system that can be implemented immediately after the fair. Here are some suggestions:
- A handwritten Thank You card should go out that evening to every lead you capture. Just saying "thanks" for stopping by the booth and whatever else you want to say. Do not underestimate the power of saying "thanks."
- An email the following day to those who requested the body fat report and/or those to whom you will be sending the BIA report of findings, to let them know when they can expect it.
- A personalized letter to all who entered the drawing to inform them that "You Are A Winner!" All will win, as discussed earlier. One will win the full month (or whatever you choose as a grand prize) and the rest will win the second prize of 1-2 free sessions. Consider including the 5-Steps report as an additional free gift along with this letter (even if you already sent it some of these people - that report, when written correctly, is actually a selling tool for your services).
- Brainstorm other steps in your follow-up sequence. The leads should be contacted (and made offers) for at least the next 6 months.
Take a picture of your booth, preferably with lots of people around it. Take a picture of the BIA being performed by you (preferably on a woman - if the woman is not your assistant, be sure to ask for her permission to use the picture in your marketing). These tools can be used to get more opportunities and for publicity.
Get an endorsement letter from the HR person (or whomever is responsible for the fair) saying nice things about you/your booth. This can be used to get more gigs (at fairs, or just as a corporate wellness service you provide to surrounding businesses - i.e. you'll come in for a day to provide BIA's and health/fitness consulting).
Systemize this program. Make a list of other businesses in the area to which you can offer the BIA service. Create a compelling letter offering this service (either free or paid), and get it in the mail to land more of these gigs.

This type of program can be an excellent source of leads for you on an ongoing basis. Remember, you don't have to do this just at health fairs. You could (as mentioned) create a one-day program for companies where you come in, provide the BIA and your fitness/weight loss consulting services either for a fee or free of charge. You win by collecting great leads, they win by getting a professional to provide a valuable service to their employees - and motivate them to get in better shape, which inevitably leads to greater on-the-job productivity.

Using measurement tools like the BIA or the metabolism machine (among others) allows you to show and prove to people that they need help.

But more importantly, these tools give you a risk-free, non-intimidating way to attract prospects because many people are interested in knowing their body fat and metabolism. And they also give you a nifty way to get publicity.

This type of corporate wellness program is a dramatically under-utilized avenue for generating hot leads for fitness services. If you were able to get in the door with just one corporation a quarter, it could literally put an end to your client-acquisition worries.

You know that most of the people working at these corporations fit perfectly into your ideal client demographic profile (i.e. they can afford your services, and work - maybe even live – in your area).

Your marketing expenses are almost negligible for this type of corporate wellness service, since you have basically a captive audience and the corporation will likely subsidize much, if not all, of your marketing because they have a vested interest in increasing the productivity of their work force.

Additionally, it opens up the floodgates for a variety of services you can provide either on-site, in your studio/gym or in-home:

One-on-one training
Phone coaching
Online coaching
Group training
Fitness/weight mgmt consulting

This is an untapped goldmine of opportunity for all fitness professionals.

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