The Truth About Client Results
7 Sept 2021 · 24 min
Beverley Simpson discusses how fitness trainers can improve client results through accountability, process, and pricing. She covers managing expectations and building a sustainable business that actually delivers outcomes.
You're listening to the PT Profit podcast, episode number 96. Today you and I are going to be hanging out and talking about the truth about client results. Are you ready? Let's get started.
Hi, I'm Beverly Simpson, former fitness manager turned online personal training business owner. And this podcast is where smart fitness professionals, including trainers and clinicians, discover how to increase client performance in movement, package and position their products and services, and get out of their own way so that they can increase their revenue to live a life that they love without sleazy sales. Welcome to the PT Profit Podcast.
What's up coach? Thanks so much for pushing play on another episode of the PT Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Simpson, and if this is your first time hanging out with me, I'm super grateful to have you. Thank you so much. I'm really excited to dive in today. So it's just going to be you and me hanging out. So right now it's Friday, September 3rd and I am already just going to thank you in advance because my kids are home so you might hear them in the background, but school hasn't started yet, so we are recording this podcast here with them around. So thanks so much for your patience on that. Also, if you hadn't heard, we are super excited for September here at BE Simpson Fitness. We are moving into our launch season. We're super excited. We're about to. We're going to open up enrollment at the end of the month for PT Profit Formula and this will be the last time that we are opening it up in 2021. So I'm really excited about that. So if you're not already on the list or if you're not already registered for the free training that's happening the week of September 16th through the 26th. Right. It's about a 10 day intensive training all about simple selling. So there are going to be three live trainings inside of there and we're going to be talking about how to create automatic money in your business. We're going to be talking about crafting ethical, persuasive content and a four step blueprint to consistent 10k months. So I'm really excited about this free training. It's something I have been running now for. Oh my gosh. I think this will be the fourth or fifth time that we've been running it and I'm really excited to dive in because it's going to be such a fun time. It is a very dense, comprehensive training and it's one of my favorite things to do. So definitely, if you haven't yet registered, click the link in the show notes because you can grab your free spot. It's completely free. And so when we get into the season, we start, I really start diving deep into the plan right here. Pt, Profit formula and the profit podcast. I talk about plan, product and position. And we spend so much time talking about the product and the position. And while those are really important, the plan is what really gives you the structure and the safety to give you the freedom. So we're outlining the plan for the rest of the year and really go and really leaning and going into the ease of this launch. And most people don't really associate that with ease because it can be high stressful or high tense. But not your abs Simpson Fitness. This is where we get to just really connect, have fun and dive in. And so inevitably what comes up and what has been coming up is this whole idea of client results, which is what led me to create this podcast. Because going to go in two directions here and chances are you probably haven't heard it in this way before because most people are like, oh, I need client results. Client results. So there are two things that we're really going to be thinking about when we're talking about client results. Because what I say is often challenges other other thoughts. It often is contrary to what most people teach. And I know that, I get it, I lean into it. Because the truth, number one, and this is going to sound harsh, but I don't mean it to sound harsh. Right, but your clients results and client results period has nothing to do with you. Oh, people do not like it when I say that. Right. And so what do I mean specifically by that?
Right.
So let's just dive into that. Is that a lot of people will get into imposter syndrome where they start to think, oh, I don't have the client results, my clients aren't getting results. My client, I can't do it.
Right.
Or, or they fall into the camp of, oh, well, if my clients can do it, you can do it and you can do it in that way. And so it's easy to get sucked into the marketing messaging out there that says, oh, 100k in one month. Oh, I signed up with Sally and in 30 days I made 100k. Or you'll see things like, oh, I launched a hundred times and I didn't and I didn't make and I didn't get it. Or I launched 100 times and I still made no money.
Right.
Well, what if you that that you know your greatest launch Is the next launch 101 when Sally's could be three or four. The challenge with client results is threefold. Number one. Oftentimes there are a lot of missing components in that story. You don't know what their skill acquisition is. You don't know how, how many times they've launched or practiced their messaging or crafted their offer or how big their audience is and how active their audience is. We don't know what their marketing budget is. And while it's easy to into those amazing stories of 100k in 30 days, the truth is that business is bad. So when I see that I'm like oh, in 30 days they had either 10 clients sign up for a 5k product or they had 20 clients sign up for a 5k Product or they sold a hundred thousand $1 ebooks. The volume is going to be dictated by the price. And so is it possible to sell 100,000 $1 ebooks? Yeah, for sure. But how many of you have tried to get people on a discovery call?
Right.
Just because it's free doesn't mean they're going to do it. In fact, low ticket doesn't always mean a low value. But sometimes it doesn't. There's not enough of an energetic exchange where someone has on the line to show up for themselves. So the problem with high ticket, low ticket is that and that type of model or when people teach that or when they say or when they put out those client results, it's not to negate it. I'm not saying that those results are bad or shouldn't be talked about. No, it's just, it's easy for us to get sucked in because we want that. But then we sign up for that program and then people, our mentor forces us to create a 5K products and we're like no, that's not what I want to do. Because they'll argue and they're not wrong in the sense of, of knowing that it takes just as much work to sell a dollar product, a free discovery call or kickoff or workout as well as a 3k high level coaching program. The effort, the messaging and the work tends to be the same. So when you're first starting out and you want the cash flow, it's not necessarily a bad thing to start with. Getting the high touch coaching clients and the high ticket products and services. It's not necessarily that it's bad or wrong or you know, a bad place to start. It just doesn't take into consideration people's preferences and people's dreams. I like to Work with the end in mind. So if you want to build out a membership, then let's build out a membership. Is it going to take more time? Is it going to take more volume? Yes. Is it possible that you'll have more of a learning curve to dealing with your churn and dealing with, with, you know, having more investment up front before you start seeing a compounded ROI return on investment? Maybe. But who's to say it's not for me and it's not for your coach to decide what's the best way for you and for your business. I've made that mistake in the past, but it only led to misalignment. And I've also made that mistake in the investment of a coach. I hired a coach for one thing and then we ended up teaching another thing and it wasn't what I wanted. And that's fine. I do not blame her. I'm not mad at her. And she and I learned a lot in that process. But it's not, I didn't want, I don't want to deliver high ticket coaching one on one packages. This was back when I was solely training and not doing any business marketing. But I've fallen into that trap of like, listen, it needs to be this and only this. And it's just not true. There's so much evidence of so many low ticket or, you know, low barrier of entry products and services out there that are crushing. Peloton, Netflix, Disney plus, Beachbody, Cooking Masterclass. I mean it just, it goes on and on. So low ticket doesn't necessarily mean low value, but it does mean high volume. So if you're wanting to grow and to scale it. But the thing with client results, oftentimes we get swept in because we just, we don't like the magic of marketing. And I love it. I'm. It's not to, I'm not criticizing it, but it's, it's. We get influenced and we forget our preferences. So client results can be great as long as we are still true to who you are to what you want. And doubling down on that, the second component of what I mean when I say clients results have nothing to do with you. Meaning there's two things to look at when we're looking at that. If you are in a place and you are feeling like your clients are not getting results, what does that mean and how specifically do you know that? Because the truth is that they are getting results. They're just not getting the outcomes necessarily that they want or that they signed up for. So now you get to ask yourself and be really honest with yourself, is it the process? So is the process that you've put them on, a proven process that you have, that you're committed to, that you know works. Either you've put it on yourself or you have other clients that are crushing it. So is it the process, number one? Number two, is it that are they doing the work? You cannot eat for your clients, you cannot do their push ups for them. So really ask yourself in terms of the level of respect, responsibility, are they showing up for themselves in the work? So number one, is it the process? Number two, are they showing up for themselves? Are they doing the work? And then number three, the last thing to look at when client results, and this is something for me too, like this was something I had to learn. So if you have to learn this, you are not alone. Okay, but are you perhaps taking for granted the results that they are getting? Like what's the expectations and the threshold of results that you are defining to be a success? Meaning do you need them? Like what's the figure? How do you know they're not getting results? Do you need them to hit a certain amount of weight? Do you need them to hit a certain amount of, you know, revenue? For me, like what was it like? When are you going to know and how are you going to know that you have the confidence in your work? And then, and that also goes with this concept and idea of what your client wants. What your client needs is not for you to decide. Meaning you can't want your client's health more than they want their health. I can want my client to have a million dollar business until the cows come home, but if they don't want that, and if you're anything like me, you might be thinking like who doesn't want that? But lots of people don't want a million dollar business. Lots of people would be really happy with 100k or 300k dollar business or you know, 300, you know, 500k business and 100k salary living, you know, in the middle of the country and living ease and being with their kids. I know someone like that. So we have to just really be honest with what our clients goals are and are they getting the. It's for them to decide whether or not the results are there and if they're not there and all that means is friends results are there, if the outcomes aren't what they, what they want, then we need to look at the process, we need to look at their commitment and if that matches because by the way it's matched for me. And if that matches, then okay, great, then there might be some underlying things that we can't see. See, that's when we get to reach out to our network. Okay, but just know that you are, even if you are reaching out to your network, you are delivering on what you are responsible for, which is the accountability, the support and providing the tools and the process, the proven process. Now honestly, I've done a lot of work on this for myself, like in full transparency, you know, I would look at my clients, businesses look at my clients, how they're showing up for them and hold it as if it were me going through it. I care that much, I really do. And it's not that that's a bad thing, but not at the cost of valuing your own self worth and valuing the value you bring to the world because then you're going to continue to never feel good enough because you'll probably just keep moving the marker, moving the dial. So it's really important when you are looking at testimonials and this is coming up for me too because I'm collecting them right now and it's important to know that your case studies, they do, they are important and they're only important so far as to do two things, overcome. Objection. Some people, you know, I talk about the ladder of believability. In order for your person to come become a customer, they need to believe in you, they need to believe in your offer, they need to believe in themselves. And people miss that component. And so how do you help them believe in themselves? Will you present a story of someone who has gone through it? Maybe a similar person that has gone through a similar experience? Okay, but just so it's not that case studies aren't important, but even as you're listening and even as you are, are, are collecting these case studies, it's really just important to remember that everybody is starting in a different place and there's a whole bunch of invisible markers that aren't talked about when you're looking at client case studies. But they are important because I also want you to know that they are proof of what's possible for you. So even if the circumstances aren't the same, even if the accessibility to, you know, whatever it is, the information, the coaching, the accessibility levels aren't the same, it does not mean that it's not possible for you. So the client case studies are a good thing in that regard. It's not to say that they are bad or not, it's just a Very nuanced conversation. And I want to just pull back, pull back the curtain so that you can really have a comprehensive look about client results, either if they. Either if you're looking at them to make a decision, or if you are evaluating the success of your work based on client results. And the third thing that I will tell you that it's important. And the reason why we want to have these client results is because we want the process to be proven. Your story is going to be important and your client stories are going to be important. Now, if you're sitting here, and also just by the way, check in, check in with yourself about, you know, the definition of results, because all your clients are getting results, all of them. It's just the results are going to tell you where to look. Okay. And one place to look that not a lot of people talk about is that energetic exchange has to match. So what that means is that your clients need to have revenue on the line, and it's not for us to decide what's expensive and what's not. High ticket, low ticket. It is subjective. But $27 might be affordable to me, but it might not be affordable to somebody else. There are people in Africa that probably aren't going to use $27 for a membership or for a content plan. Not everyone. I'm just saying price is subjective. So you might have people that invest in a $27 product because it's accessible and that's a lot of money to them. So it's not for us to decide what's affordable and what's not. But what's important is if your client is not showing up for themselves, it's because there isn't enough on the line, either at risk or invested. And it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with themselves. If they are not showing up for themselves, there's not enough on the line. And so everybody starts somewhere, okay? So it is worth it to me to talk about, you know, everybody starts somewhere. And so people have to test their process. They have to test, is it a viable process? Let me test it. And so, by the way, that doesn't mean that you need to do that for free, because people need to show up for themselves. And sometimes people don't show up for free. Look at your behavior. How many PDF downloads are in your. In your inbox right now or in your I'll get to it later box and you still haven't downloaded, even though you. Or you haven't opened it, even though you have the best of intentions to Open it. I know I me, I do. I've got a million. I even have courses and books that I've bought with the best of intentions. I just haven't gotten to it. But you better believe If I invested $3,000 in a book, I'm going to read that book. So price is marketing and we're going to be talking a lot about that inside of simple selling. So be sure you are registered. But price is marketing and the perceived value is going to be for is going to be up to us to communicate. So if you are in that square one and you're like, okay, but Beverly, I'm not confident in my proven process, then let's go get those case studies and tell the truth. Invite them to be a founding member. Invite them to be, you know, your first, the first client. But you they still need to have skin in the game, otherwise they won't show up. And you need your client to show up for themselves to do the work in order to get an outcome. And results are an outcome. So the big takeaways from this episode is that client results, they're important in the sense that they need to demonstrate proof of concept and proof of process. But client results are also not your responsibility and they have nothing to do with you. It's your job to be responsible for what you to provide the process and the accountability and to deliver on the promise that is your responsibility when it comes to client results. It is your responsibility to deliver on the promise that you have said. And to that point, just because it works, just because it works one way for someone, it's going to be a little bit different for every person. Every person has a different metabolic life. Every, every person has a different level of expertise in how, you know, how they can lift or if they've lifted, they've been in the gym. Gym people's point A's are not always in the same place and this is true for business too. So look at also those client results as proof of concepts for what's possible for you.
Because what they can do, you can.
Do is just look at it more from a comprehensive lens. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. Really looking forward to the training. I'll see you inside of the simple selling and catch you on the next episode.
Thank you for listening to the PT Profit Podcast.
If you like this episode, chances are.
Your friends will too. So it would be a huge service to us if you would please leave us a review and share with your friends on your social media channels. When you leave us a review be sure to take a screenshot of it and email that screenshot to my team at info info simpson fitness.com and we'll send you a very special Instagram podcast that will show you how to create compelling content so that your ideal clients come to you and you go from wanting clients to a wait list of.
Clients ready for your services.
Thank you so much for listening and.
We'Ll see you on the next episode.
More from Beverley
The Truth About Grief, Healing, and Who You Become After Loss with Rachel Tenpenny McGonigle
The Truth About Grief, Healing, and Who You Become After Loss with Rachel Tenpenny McGonigle
The Untapped Goldmine: Why Serving Clients Over 50 Is the Smartest Move in Fitness with Jay Croft