If The Rx Fits, They Will Commit

“Will CrossFit help me lose weight?”
 
That’s the question you’re trying to answer.
 
Every potential client works their way through a series of questions to find you. They sound like this:
“I need to lose weight. But do I need to do it now?”
If the answer is YES, they move on to the next question.
“What’s the easiest way to do it?”
If they select “exercise” over “diet”–a big IF–they move on to the next question:
“What’s the best exercise plan?”
Now, “best” can mean many things: fastest, easiest, least boring, or something else.
If they decide to join a gym over walking/jogging/buying an exercise bike, they start with a Google search.
What are they searching for?
It’s not “gym with best community in Fort Knox.”
It’s not “the happiest gym in Sault Ste. Marie.” (to my chagrin.)
It’s not “highest-certified coaches in Annapolis.” It’s probably “best gym for weight loss” or “cheapest gym in Boston” or “gym near me.”
They probably won’t find your gym in those searches, will they?
Now let’s say they somehow find your site. They’re greeted by a long list of options: CrossFit, personal training, nutrition programming, Sweat Class, Crossfit Lite, Barbell Club…
…which one will help them lose weight? If they don’t try to figure it out themselves, they’ll probably leave.
If they DO try to figure it out themselves, they might take your offer to try a free class.
But if no one talks to them after class about their goals, they’re left to guess: “this hard thing that I just did–will it help me lose weight?”
 
Every time you make people guess, you filter them out. Because they don’t know what you know.
 
Here’s how to talk to the people you want to coach:
 

1. Start with media. Don’t explain why you’re the best gym. Tell them how to lose weight. Tell them how to cure low back pain. Tell them how to start jogging safely.
2. Let your media lead them to your website. Your website should contain the solution to their problem and an easy way to take the next step. Here’s a great example.
3. Let your website lead them to a No-Sweat Intro (call your consultation whatever you want.) But you need to start with a conversation so you can frame your service. Listen to Coty’s process on our podcast here.
4. Let your conversation lead to a prescription. “Here’s how we can get you to your goal.”
5. Let that prescription lead to the next prescription. Never stop meeting 1:1 with your clients, measuring their progress, and asking if they’re happy with their results.

 
People don’t buy CrossFit or bootcamp. People buy outcomes.
 
Your future clients aren’t impressed by your equipment list. They don’t care about your coaches’ bios, or how many square feet you have, or even your “community”. They care about finding an answer to their problem, and that’s it. If your media portrays the answer to their problem instead of a toes-to-bar video, they can skip a lot of their questions and come talk to you about it.
 
Many gym owners struggle to get new clients because they’re telling the wrong story. Others aren’t telling any story at all, so the client is left to guess: “Will this help me solve MY problem?” And no one is going to tell that story for us anymore. New clients will have to work down that decision tree, making bad guesses until they finally make the right one. Unless you tell them the truth.