Differentiate or DIE!

Now more then ever it’s time to be bold and break away from the rest of your competitors in order to capture and keep more business. The honey moon is over. As fitness professionals we have to work harder to attract new business and bedazzle the clients we already have. Most fitness businesses haven’t taken the time to discover what sets them apart from the rest and are suffering because of it. Thus they end up looking, sounding and feeling like everyone else. In the midst of all this sameness, the customer has no choice but to evaluate service on price alone. This is a dangerous road to travel because the consumer will likely choose based on lower cost.

So do your customers a favour and make it easy for them to get a clear understanding of how you differ from everyone else out there. To start, think about what is special and unique about you. Now before you answer, really take the time to think about it. What is different about what you do or provide that would make a customer notice and spend their hard earned money with you? What could you shout out from the roof tops to let customers know you are unique? Your first step is to do some soul searching and find out. To assist you in this task finish the statement below.  It’s not an easy activity and it may take some time to figure it out but when you do you will know what sets you apart from the rest.

I am the only one that…

Here’s an example to help you along.

At On The Edge Fitness we are the only fitness education provider that can take students from earning their personal training certification right into business start-up.  The educational experience is tailored to match your schedule, preferred style of learning, business and career objectives. Your needs are carefully reviewed and met by our diverse team of fitness and business professionals who provide their unique combination of experiences in order to help you learn, grow and thrive in the fitness industry.

If you position yourself uniquely in the marketplace you will be able to carve out a special place in the customer’s mind so that loyalty is not only created but also has a long life. As one of only a handful of fitness business coaches in Canada I can attest to the value of being different. When you clearly know where you are positioned in the market, and what unique talents you have to offer, it makes it easy for customers to make the decision to do business with you.

If you are a personal trainer one way to differentiate yourself is to be clear about what target market you serve. Being a generalist doesn’t have the differentiation factor needed to stand-out. Decide what market you want to go after and then become the expert in serving that market.

Discover as much as you can about the people within that market by becoming a market detective. Get to know every intimate detail of the wants, needs and desires of the customer. Then and only then can you start to create some strategies around serving these customers.  How do you find out their needs? It’s simple. Talk to your customers.  Take every opportunity to learn as much as you can about them and what they value. Here’s an example of how a trainer talked to me about a client named Bob.

Bob is a 35 year old account executive. He is married with two children, a dog, a cat and a bird. Bob spends ninety minutes a day commuting to work everyday. He travels a few times a month for business and on weekends and plays hockey with the boys.  He enjoys the camaraderie of the boys as they drink beer and eat fried foods. He often talks to this trainer about his games during the session. He complains of being tired from his multitude of responsibilities. The trainer has been with Bob for six months.

Based on the case study above, does it sound like this trainer knows a lot about the client? If you answered yes, then you are incorrect. There is so much more the trainer should know about Bob after six months of training. What is his wife’s name, how about the names of the children and pets? What does he do while he drives to work? What kind of beer does he drink? Why is he so tired? What else is on his plate? What type of house does Bob live in? What kind of car does he drive?

Now you might be thinking, “Do I really need to know all this to trainer him?” No, but if you want to differentiate yourself you may want to use customer service as a way of standing out from the crowd. How can you use the information you learn about Bob to do that? Well since his commute is so long maybe you can make him a mixed CD of his favourite music or suggest he listen to podcasts while he drives. You could offer a package of pet grooming services with training so he can get his workout while the pets get cleaned up. There are many mobile pet spaws available. This would save him time. You could create a workout for the family where everyone gets to play together. I’m sure he doesn’t have a lot of time to spend with his family so this would be a bonus to him and his wife.

In order to be different you have to think differently. If you go down the same road where everyone else travels you have less chance of getting noticed. The secret to differentiate or die is to grab people’s attention, be different and take a risk. Otherwise you are just the same.

In the movie Madagascar 2, Escape from Africa the eclectic group of run-a-way animals find themselves in Africa.  On the plains of Africa they stumble upon herds of animals just like them. Marty, the zebra thinking he was unique finds out that he was just like everyone else in the herd. Once he was amongst the crowd he was no different and even his best friend Alex the Lion couldn’t pick him out. Obviously Marty was very upset by this because he thought he was special and not like everyone else. He was devastated to discover there was nothing special about him at all. However, as the movie progresses we learn that Marty really is unique because he was willing to do something the others in the herd wouldn’t willing to do which was take a risk and break away from the herd. The others were content to remain as they were.

Which zebra do you want to be, the one that steps out and, takes a risk and dares to be different or just another member of the herd?