Chris (00:00):
Hey guys, it’s Chris Cooper. And today I’m going to tell you how to retain clients through the holidays. Thank you to my buddy Di for asking this question. The holidays, especially in the US are a big drop-off point for a lot of gym clients. And what happens is they go into Thanksgiving, you know, so in Canada, that’s early October, but in the states it’s late November and all the way to Christmas, they’ve got kind of like this black hole of hedonism, right? They’re just eating whatever they want. And they see that in advance and they think, ah, I’m not going to be able to work out during that time. I’m going to gain weight anyway, why don’t I just put things on hold? And then of course, as coaches, we know what’s going to happen, right? They get out of the habit. It’s really tough for them to get back in the habit.
Chris (00:46):
Maybe they never do. Maybe they never come back. But it’s that premonition or that foresight that we as coaches have that’s actually our greatest weapon. So here’s what you’re going to do. With each client in your gym individually, starting with your personal training clients or your one-on-one nutrition clients, you are going to say the toughest time of the year for fitness and nutrition is coming up. And maybe you say everybody takes a small step backward during this period, or maybe you don’t, that’s up to you. But the next part is the most important. You say, I have a plan for us to get through this challenge. And here it is. Our job as coaches is not just to teach movement, it’s to use our experience to know what the next challenge will be for the client, and then to solve that problem for them in advance. Not to remove the problem, but to be ready to coach them through it, to give them the resilience or the tools that will help them get through it.
Chris (01:48):
And then almost more importantly, to tell them we have a plan and here it is. So if you have a client and before they even bring it up about quitting or putting their membership on pause for the next couple of months, you should grab them one-on-one and say, Hey, Jordan, we’re entering the holiday season. As you know, this is a time when everybody’s fitness or nutrition takes a small step back. I’ve got a plan for us. What we’re going to do is try and take three small steps forward, knowing that you’re not going to have a perfect diet over Christmas. And I don’t want you to feel bad about that. Here’s the plan. We are going to get together as we currently do three times a week for your one-on-one sessions, but I’m also going to add this habits tracker sheet for you. And you can find this on the Two-Brain Coaching side, or if you’re a Two-Brain Business client, you can download this in online coaching one or two. Give them a healthy habits tracker.
Chris (02:48):
It’s just a sheet that you print off and you say, OK, our plan is to track this. I’m going to be checking in with you every few days, just to see how it’s going. And we’re going to build up a little bit of momentum to help us avoid totally falling off during the holidays. OK. Now what you say is not as important as the fact that you’re pulling them aside and saying, I have a plan. Now this is best delivered one-on-one. OK. Acutely person to person, coach to client. But for your group clients, you might not be able to get through the whole list. So what you want to do is start creating a lot of content around tips to survive the holiday season or a quick video. Hey guys, coach Chris here. This is the time of year when it gets a little bit more challenging to stick to your habits.
Chris (03:31):
Here is my three-step plan for staying on track and meeting your goals through the holidays. Or here are my top five tips for avoiding binge-eating at holiday parties. Or here are three things that I do before I go to a party where I know everybody’s going to be like over-drinking and overeating, OK. Stuff like that. Like you need to know what your client’s next big hurdle is going to be, and then prepare the help, the guidance and the tools that we’ll see them pass that in advance and then tell them exactly here’s what we’re going to do. So we go back to CALM, the CALM model, clarity, assurance, leadership, movement,.clarity. I know exactly what’s about to happen to you. Assurance. We have a plan for that. Leadership. This is the plan. Movement. Let’s take step one right now. I hope this saves you a client or two. If doing this with every client stops one client from canceling, then the activity’s worth $200. Well worth your time. Keep them around over Christmas and help them from sliding back five steps.
