Fitness Pros for Haiti

Hey Fitness Pros:

Have you organized some form of workout, exercise-a-thon etc to help the people in Haiti. It's a wonderful way to give back, get your clients together doing something amazing for themselves and those in need and just make a difference.

Some ideas:

Exercise-a-thon - 15 minute samples of various types of fitness (ie 15 minutes of kickboxing, 15 minutes of cycling, 15 minutes of Zumba, 15 minutes of Yoga etc)
A 5km Run/Walk from your club
A Hike for Haiti
Muscle-up for Haiti - a Strength training workout, challenge or contest
Dance for Haiti - a few hours of various dance formats
Yoga & Meditation for Haiti - various forms of Yoga and Meditation

We're doing a Bike n' Row event. We'll raise a minimum of $2000 in 5 hours. We're offering 5 times slots with a minimum donation of $20 per person.

Hope this gives you some good ideas.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

The first sign of a dying business...

Hey Fitness Pros:

Stay current or die!

That's an important message.

So what are you doing differently? Are you launching a new class? Have you purchased some new equipment? Are you offering a seminar on a Hot Topic? Are you hosting a really fun adventure for your clients? Are you initiating a new Corporate Wellness program or maybe a Kids Fitness program? Are you planning a Girls Night Out or a Client Get-together?

Mediocrity, coasting, same-old, same-old - are the first signs of a dying business!

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. If you are part of our Personal Training MasterMind Group, I will never let that happen to your business. I will always challenge you to think outside of the box and make it easy because I provide you the resources and tools to make it all happen. Contact our Fitness Education Director at Kari@nwpersonaltraining.com

What do you have planned for February for your PT business?

Hey Fitness Pros.

I hope you're enjoying the January rush! Although you're probably swamped with everything right now, as a leader, you need to always be looking ahead!

So my question to you is 'What do you have planned for February'?

To give you some ideas from our business...

*We're hosting a SuperBowl Flag Football game - NWPT Trainers vs Clients. It will be a fun customer service, bonding event.

*We're hosting a Couple's Bootcamp and Couple's Yoga on Valentine's Day weekend

*We're offering an Educational seminar for our clients - Education + Action = Results!

*We're hosting a Girls Night Out party

*We've offering various Valentine's Day specials and promoting Gift Certificates for the holiday

Hope that gives you some ideas.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. FYI - if you are part of our PT MasterMind group you would already have all of these templates ready to go and use. Your first month is FREE so you can see what it's all about and how we generate $1,000,000 per year in our 5000 square foot facility. Contact kari@nwpersonaltraining.com if you're ready to take your PT business to levels of success you've only dreamed of!

Thank You!

Dear Fitness Pros,

Thank you for doing what you do - our society needs you so badly! I know it can be sometimes tough to be inspirational, positive, energetic, upbeat and uplifting all the time and sometimes it can burn you out. But you've been given this purpose in life so embrace it and remember you are changing people's lives!

And thank you for allowing me to be one of your mentors. It has been my honor and pleasure to provide you with the tools, resources and inspiration to help you reach incredible levels of success in your fitness career in 2009 and I look forward to continuing this journey with you in 2010.

One of our instructors sent me the following list and I thought it would be wonderful to share with all of you as we get one last weekend to relax and rejuvenate before the January rush. Enjoy! Here's to an incredibly prosperous 2010!

SUCCESS HANDBOOK 2010

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray and/or meditate.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing! (It's the hard thing)
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. God/the Universe heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God/the Universe for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about!

I wish you lots of love, laughter, peace, happiness, success and optimal health in the New Year!

xo
Sherri McMillan

You're not going to believe this - Check out how good it worked!

Hey Fitness Pros.

Yesterday I emailed you about the importance of making a proposal to media in your area. To show you that I'm not all talk...Yesterday, I took about 10-15 minutes and sent out a Press Release to all my Media contacts. By the end of the day, I received offers to be the guest on 5 TV segments and 1 Radio segment. I could never buy this kind of advertising and it's not costing me anything! Well, just a little bit of time and making the effort to position myself as the local expert on health and fitness...

Here were some of the emails I received as proof that this kind of stuff works!

Sherri, I’m a producer for the local lifestyle show “Better Portland” – I produce the local cut-ins that air during “Better” on KPTV Fox 12.

I was thinking it would be nice to do an “exercising on a budget” segment – perhaps showing some simple props that you can use at home to achieve a great work out.

Depending on your interest, we have time next Monday, Jan. 4th (at around 10 a.m. ) in our studios to tape a segment. Our segments run about three minutes long, and are pre-taped -- airing within the next week or two.

Let me know if you’re interested and I’d be happy to set something up.

Thanks!

-Amy


Sherri - I’m very interested in some of these segment ideas…

How would you feel about joining us in studio every Monday in January to discuss these topics? We could do live demonstrations, too, if needed.

I’d love to start this next Monday, January 4th.

Can we do:

--Exercising on a Budget
--How to reach your Personal Best
--Exercising with a Buddy for Motivation
--How to choose a good gym/trainer (maybe this one should be first, coupled with *WHY* we should exercise—YOU are your Best Investment).
Please let me know if you’re interested in this kind of exposure.

Thanks!
Autumn

Did she actually ask if I'd be interested in this kind of exposure?! YES, YES, YES!!

Yours in health, fitness and business

Sherri McMillan

ps. Remember, if you were part of our PT MasterMind group, you'd receive all of our ready to use Press Releases and all other templates and marketing initiatives that will substantially increase your exposure, revenues and profits. Contact Kari at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com for your 1st Month Free ($199 Value).

Be the Health and Fitness Expert in your Community!

Hey Fitness Pros.

Have you noticed on TV, newspaper and radio...everyone is talking about fitness and healthy eating and New Years Resolutions?!

Now is the time to position yourself as the local Fitness Expert. Contact local producers and editors and let them know you're available and pitch some good ideas for them.

· Exercising on a Budget (A great topic considering the current state of our economy)
· YOU are your Best Investment (Exercise should be a priority because it gives you the strength to overcome any challenges and helps to manage ongoing stress)
· How to reach your Personal Best – New You in the New Year
· Exercises you can do with a buddy to keep you both motivated
· New exercise classes – Zumba, “Melted”, Indo-Row, Belly Dance, Nia, Yoga for Runners
· Tips to help you achieve your New Year’s Resolutions
· How to choose a good gym
· How to choose a good trainer

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. We're offering your 1st month into our Personal Training Master Mind group FREE. It's a $199 value and will provide you ideas, templates, samples, marketing materials, press releases, and more to take your Personal Training revenues to levels you never thought possible. Contact Kari Schunk, our Fitness Education director at 360.574.7292 or kari@nwPersonalTraining.com

Want to know how to get to a million dollar PT business? Here's our plan for 2010!

Hey Fitness Pros.

How's your planning going for 2010? We're almost done scheduling out the whole year! It's feel great to have everything organized. Then all you have to do all year is execute!

Here's our schedule of adventures to give you some ideas for your own PT Business. In addition to this list, we also schedule monthly seminars and various challenges throughout the year. I also plan out all of our internal and external advertising and marketing initiatives. Finally we always plan out Fitness Education opportunities for our trainers as well as get-togethers to develop team spirit.


http://www.nwpersonaltraining.com/subs/events/events.php?event_type=upcoming

As a side note, remember we sell the license to utilize all of our business systems. It's like purchasing a franchise without the high franchise fees and ongoing monthly payments! It's the best way to get to a million dollar PT business! Contact our Fitness Education Director Kari Schunk at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com for more details. I promise you won't regret it!

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Check out the Marketing Plan that generates over $1,000,000 per year!

Hey Fitness Pros.

I just finished our 2010 Marketing Plan. It includes all the adventures we'll be organizing throughout the year, our internal marketing campaigns, our external marketing initiatives, any special programs we'll be hosting, all seminars we'll be offering, promotions we'll be running, team training we'll be using to advance our trainers' skills and various other critical business initiatives throughout the whole year.

It feels so good to have it all done. Now, I take all the items and add them to my Time Management system - I use Outlook. Then the system triggers me to do everything I need to do throughout the year to guarantee a successful and prosperous year.

This is the kind of organizational system that needs to be in place to do over $1,000,000 per year in a 5000 square foot facility.

"Fail to plan and Plan to Fail" so take some time to plan out your whole year and then all you have to do is execute! If you wait too long to plan, by the time you start to plan, it will be too late to execute in a fashion that will guarantee success.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. If you are part of our Personal Training MasterMind group, you get a copy of our entire yearly plan and all supporting documents, fliers, forms etc throughout the year to help you execute. All for only $149/month! It's like having me as your boss directing you on what you need to do...the only difference is you get to decide whether you actually listen to me or not! :) FYI - those that do, are enjoying significant increases in PT revenues! Contact Kari@nwpersonaltraining.com to get started. We're offering $100 off your first month - so only $49 this month to get real-time access to everything we're doing at NWPT!

What all fitness pros should be doing this December!

Hey Fitness Pros.

At Northwest Personal Training, it's Year-End evaluation time. Every December, I meet with our team members and we review their past year's performance. Did they hit their revenue goals? How was their client feedback and retention? We rate their dependability, initiative, team spirit, communication etc. Then we set goals for next year.

It's a great time to assess and set our focus for the new year. Kinda like what we do with clients!

If you are a solo trainer, do this for yourself! It's a great practice! And it's a good time to do it since you probably have some down-time since more clients are away during this time of year.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. If you are a part of our Personal Training MasterMind Group, you get access to all of these evaluation forms and systems. No need to reinvent! Contact Kari Schunk, our Fitness Education Director, for more details at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com

Celebrate your Clients!

Hey Fitness Pros.

What are you doing this holiday season to show your clients how much you appreciate them?

Will you host a party or get-together? It can be a big affair or as simple as inviting everyone out for a night of Karaoke. We always like to show an Inspirational Slide Show with photos of all the fun adventures, events and activities we did with clients over the last year. It's a wonderful trip down memory lane and gets them excited for next year! Do something so that your clients really know how much you love and care about them outside of your actual training sessions.

Will you send out Holiday cards? Maybe you order a customized fun holiday card for your clients? Maybe you get crafty and make your own? Or maybe you visit a website like www.jibjab.com and create a FREE fun holiday greeting that you can email your clients. Do something so they know you are thinking about them.

Will you offer your clients a gift? The best kinds of gifts that I like to give clients are ones that remind them of their commitment to their health and fitness. Last year, we gave out water bottles with our logo on it. This year, we're giving them a gift card from our business. You could try a gym bag, a t-shirt, a journal...you don't have to give a gift, but it is a really nice gesture if you can.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I feel very thankful that we all work in such an incredible industry changing people's lives. And I feel very honored to work side by side with all of you on this mission!

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

There is a sense of Urgency!

Hey Fitness Pros.

The year is starting to wind down and I’m hoping and praying that you are using this time to plan for an incredible 2010.

You see for the Fitness Industry, January is 'make or break' time. It's like the bottom of the 9th inning and the bases are loaded. Or it's the NBA Finals, tie score and there's a minute left on the buzzer. Or it's the SuperBowl and it's the 4th down with 5 yards to go to TD.

Okay, enough metaphors - bottom line, January is when people are thinking about getting back in shape. It's just human nature that come the New Year people are motivated to start working out and taking better care of themselves. And successful marketing for any business is being in the 'Client's Mind when the Client is Ready to Buy." And come January, the client is definitely ready to buy!

A good analogy is this - You don't go to a fruit tree and try to pick fruit when the tree is bare. No matter how hard you look, you aren't going to find any fruit. You go to the tree when it is overflowing with fruit and that's when you shake that baby and you harvest an abundance of fruit. In the fitness industry, January is when the tree is full of fruit and it's harvest time. Now of course, our clients aren't fruits and we want to be ready and willing to help them throughout the entire year. But this is the time of year when most people WANT our help!

So what does that mean to all of us?

Here's some tips to consider. Think of this as a Fitness Pep Rally (a 'Win one for the Gipper' speech!)

Start Planning Now! If you are the owner or manager of a fitness facility, January is when you should spend the greatest amount of your yearly marketing dollars. But you’ve got to start planning right now so you can launch big and strong in January. If you wait until January to ask yourself what you’re going to do, it will be too late! Start now to increase your chances of a successful year! You might take out some ads in local newspapers, send out some mailers to clients or past guests, hand out a ton of trial gift certificates, ramp up your social marketing efforts, plan a fitness trade show at your studio, host an educational seminar for the community... Bottom line - you want to ensure that your name and services are in the forefront of people's minds as they’re thinking about taking better care of themselves.

Be at your Best: Well, as a fitness professional, we expect that year-round, right?! But it's even more important in the New Year. You can't afford to be away or sick - your clients and classes need you! So get lots of good sleep, eat well, drink lots of water and take your Airborne or Echinacea if you're feeling run-down. Put your game-face on no matter what is going on - you need to be positive, energetic and customer-service oriented. It's show time! And that goes for your working environment too! Use the holiday down-time to clean up, tidy up, get organized and get your fitness studios looking amazing and ready for the January rush.

Be present: If you can help it, try not to be away over the first few months of the year. One of our friends is a manager at Safeway Grocery store. And for the grocery store industry, one of their make or break times is Thanksgiving through the holidays. She knows to not ask for any extended vacations during that time. In the fitness industry, it's important to be present and at your best in January-March and September-November. The best time to schedule holidays in the fitness industry is June, July & August and December (keep that in mind as you plan your 2010 vacations.)

Be mentally & physically prepared to work hard: In January, you might need to stay late, come in early, work on a weekend. You might be juggling multiple tasks. You might be doing things that aren't part of your normal job responsibilities. You should be prepared to take phone calls, do tours and be really good at this. Be ready to find out what a clients' needs are and to show them how you can help them. Be genuine and honest and highlight how much you will take care of them.

Hone your skills now: When you spend a lot of time and money to get people to check you out, you need to be masters of the phone and tours. What a waste it would be if an individual is motivated to call you or come in to check you out and their first impression is a poor one. Also take this quieter holiday time to learn some new exercises with a cool new tool. Read some educational books. Get certified in a new program that you can launch in January.

Get in people's minds: Now is the perfect time to call or email those clients who haven't been in for a while. It’s an excellent time to ask for referrals and distribute guest passes. As people are thinking about fitness, you want them to think about you!

We hope the coming of the New Year excites you as much as it does us. We love coming into our studios when classes are energized, the private area is full and the studio is just humming. It always makes us feel like we're really doing a good job and are positively impacting our clients' lives. So embrace the busyness and celebrate it.

Now go inspire the world to a fitter life!

With love and thanks,


Sherri McMillan

ps. One guaranteed way to have an incredible 2010 Business Year is to sign up for out Personal Training MasterMind Group. The cost is peanuts compared to the revenues that you will generate following along with our systems. We do $1,000,000 a year in our 5000 square foot facility and so can you! Let us show you how! Email our Fitness Education Director, Kari Schunk, at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com and she'll provide you all the details. Here's to your business success!

And the Winner is...

Hey Fitness Pros.

When I was awarded an industry award like IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year or CanFitPro presenter of the year, it was a highlight to my career. It was like the Oscars of the fitness industry. To be recognized for your contributions provides such a strong sense of accomplishment.

Unfortunately, only one person wins these types of awards every year amongst the hundreds of thousands of trainers out there.

So in our business, at our annual Holiday party, we recognize our team with our own in-house award system that the whole team votes on. In addition, I consider client feedback too. So the votes are now in for our business...

And the winner is....

Sorry, if I told you, I'd have to kill you! ;)

We order a nice looking trophy and we have a plaque that we post at the studio.

There is most definitely a sense of pride with winning our NWPT awards and the trophies get displayed proudly.

At our business, we award the following:

*Personal Trainer of the Year
*Most Improved Personal Trainer of the Year
*Group Trainer of the Year
*Customer Service Rep of the Year

I hope this gives you some ideas. If you're a solo trainer, maybe give yourself an award! Hey, you deserve it! ;)

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. If you're a strong personal trainer on the floor with world-class practical skills, but lack in the business, marketing, organizational, systematic approach to running your million-dollar training business, you should consider signing up for our Personal Training MasterMind group. Both of our studios do $1,000,000 per year and we can teach you how we do it. Email Kari Schunk our Fitness Director at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com for more details

Fitness Pros - this is super easy to organize, tons of fun and great marketing!

Hey Fitness Pros.

We just hosted our annual 3 hour Exercise-a-thon yesterday. It was such a blast. Check out the YouTube clip below. You can do something like this in your community too. It is super easy and a great way to give your clients a fabulous workout and help out an important cause.



If you can't see the clip above, go directly to the YouTube Video clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTtbhano3Yw

You can click on our event page below to get ideas on the logistics and more details. When you get to this page, just click on Event Details and use our event as a template to create you own.

http://www.nwpersonaltraining.com/subs/events/event_past_recap.php?event_id=72

Yours in heath, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

ps. If you were involved in our Personal Training MasterMind group, you would always have access to everything we do and all the templates to make it super easy for you to duplicate. Contact Kari Schunk, our Fitness Education Director at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com if you're interested.

Highlight the Holiday Season and everyone Wins!

Hey Fitness Pros.

The holidays are just around the corner. My question to you is 'Do you have a plan to encourage clients to focus on the "Gift of Health, Fitness & Vitality"?!

Here's the thing - people are spending money and buying gifts in late November and all through December. So would you rather have clients purchase a gift that will literally change someone's life or let them buy someone a sweater that probably won't fit and their loved one will never wear?!

Here's some ideas for you:

1. Offer a Holiday sale or promotion. All smart businesses do this during the holiday season. You've got to entice your clients and prospects to want to invest in YOUR services. Plus it will get them to prioritize their commitment to their health and fitness NOW and set them up for a healthy and fit 2010 - BEFORE they have spent all their funds.

2. Give clients $25-$50 Gift Cards as a Client Appreciation Gift for the holidays. Again, this will encourage them to use it and therefore, increase the chances that they will continue with you into 2010. Consider giving them two gift cards - one for them to use and one for them to give to a loved one as a Holiday gift.

3. Give all your clients FREE or offer low-price Trial Pass Gift Certificates that they can give to their friends, co-workers, family members or acquaintances like Hair Stylist, Kids' Teachers, Neighbors etc. They make for great stocking stuffers and if they are free and super inexpensive, it's a win:win for everyone. Our Gift Certificates include an Initial Complimentary Training session and 1-2 weeks of Free Group Training sessions. Let your clients spread the word and help you launch into a fabulous January!

4. Display lots of great gift ideas throughout your studio/gyms. Hot items include Heart Rate Monitors, Foam Rollers, Tubing with Protective Coating, Stability Balls etc. You can usually sell quite a bit of product over the holidays and clients like the convenience!

I hope this gives you some ideas and gets the creative juices flowing.

Remember, if you are part of our Personal Training Mastermind Group, you would get access to all of our promotional and marketing templates year-round that you could use for your business. If interested, email our Fitness Education Director at kari@nwpersonaltraining.com and she can give you more details.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Is it a Crappy day or a Miracle day?

Hey Fitness Pros.

We've all experienced business and life challenges. Maybe revenues are down, maybe you lost your star trainer, maybe your landlord raised the rent, maybe an event you organized wasn't as successful as you hoped, maybe your best client just discontinued training with you...We've all had to deal with some type of struggle.

The question is how do you deal with it? When you are presented with an obstacle - do you let it deflate your enthusiasm, do you lose your momentum or do you decide to go through, around, underneath or over the obstacle?!

I just got finished speaking at the fabulous Vancouver CanFitPro conference. I was able to listen to the keynote presentation with Rod MacDonald and it was great. The message was basically this. You can't control your life. Sometimes things happen that are absolutely outside of your control. But you can control how you react to what happens. You can control the meaning you attach to what has happened. For example, let's say I'm having a really crappy day and I'm really bummed, upset or angry about it. Well what is my crappy day, for someone else, say living in a 3rd world country, my crappy day, may be their Miracle Day. They might look and say 'Wow, how fortunate to have a house over her head and 2 beautiful kids and a career that she loves." So anyways, it's always a really nice reminder. When you're going through stuff, ask yourself is there a different perspective? Can you attach a different meaning to the event? Can you find a gift in any of it?

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Get Insight before Action!

Hey Fitness Pros.

It's hard to believe but 2009 is quickly coming to an end and 2010 is fast approaching. As a business owner, I take this time of year to start planning and preparing to ensure the upcoming year is very successful. But before I start finalizing any plans, it's absolutely critical that I get input from my team. Remember 3 heads are better than 1 and 10 heads are better than 3 and 15 heads are better than 10!

So all this week, I have been meeting with each member of my team to get insight in a variety of different areas. See the notes below. Each meeting is one hour in length.

Remember that if you manage a team, they are probably spending a lot more time with clients than you do, so they often have a much better understanding of what truly works and what doesn't. If you are a solo trainer, answer the following questions yourself and perhaps run your answers by a consultant or mentor.

Individual Meetings – Please come prepared with thoughts/ideas etc
*How can we stay strong as a company?
*What should we keep doing, stop doing, start doing…?
*Where should our focus as a company be?
*Pricing structure – what needs to be added/changed? Should we increase prices? What’s the best way to present prices/options?
*Paid Time Off – do you like the proposed system?
*CSR in the evenings – yes or no?
*2010 Ideas for Seminars/Challenges/Events
*How can we increase numbers in group training classes?
How can you add to Community Outreach/Relationships? Is there a business you have a close relationship with that you could commit to going to weekly? Is there an association that you would like to become a part of (Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce etc)How can you increase promotion/asking for referrals/giving out gift certificates?
*Which supplementary products should we be offering/selling to clients?
*Any other thoughts/ideas/questions/concerns…

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Help your clients not stumble through the holidays!

Hey Fitness Pros.

T'is the season when clients often fall off the fitness wagon. So if we know the holiday season starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, into Christmas and New Years is a major obstacle for clients, help them plan and prepare now.

Start sending out articles, tips on how to overcome the temptations, motivational emails/texts and inspirational quotes to help them stay focused on the big picture and their goals. They will thank you for your extra efforts! And it may even help get you a bigger Christmas gift. Hee Hee - just kidding!

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Role Play your way to Success!

Hey Fitness Pros.

We currently have an intern trainer, Robert. He is fabulous and we are hiring him to start with our team.

Today, I gave him my number, name and he had to call me to schedule me for an initial appointment. We role played the scenario and I evaluated him using a variety of criteria. There are certain expectations that we have at NWPT - what he should say, shouldn't say, what the flow of the conversation should look like etc to ensure this contact is successful. At the end, we went over what he did well and where he could hone his skills.

Next step, we're actually scheduled for that initial session and he will take me through it and I will evaluate him again based on a set of criteria.

Bottom line - all of this role playing and practice functions to ensure he offers the best experience which will increase his ability to influence the client to invest in his services and therefore, ultimately experience incredible results.

I can't stress enough how important these types of leadership initiatives are. Now if you don't manage or work with a team of trainers, have someone else evaluate your skills. Perfect practice makes perfect!

Sherri

ps. If you would like to access all the forms and systems we use for our evaluation process, contact kari@nwpersonaltraining.com There's no use reinventing the wheel!

Send out the troops...

Hey Fitness Pros,

There is strength in numbers. One person can never sell as much as a whole sales team.

So if you manage a group of fitness professionals, every week/month give each person on your team a few gift certificates for Trial Passes. Encourage them to hand them out to people in their community - their chiropractor, their hair stylist, their kid's teacher, their neighbor etc. Also encourage them to hand out these gift certificates to their clients or participants so they can give them out to their loved ones.

If you're a solo trainer, provide everyone you know these gift certificates to give to their friends, family members and co-workers.

Consider giving a gift for all the gift certificates that come back in. For example, in our business, anyone who refers a new client to us, we give them a free training session or massage.

Let others sell for you. Then reward them when they do.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan

Keep it in the family...

Hey Fitness Pros

If you manage a group of trainers and fitness professionals, create that family feel. Foster a community of fitness pros supporting each other. Here's some simple ideas:

*Do any of your trainers have their own blog that they write? If so, post a link to their blog on your websites and on your blog. Have them be a guest writer on your blog.

*Do any of your fitness pros have their own facebook page? Be sure they are fans of yours and you are a fan of theirs. Give them access to post on your Fan page so they can invite clients to their classes and programs.

*Are any of your trainers geniuses at creating programs and inventing products. If so, align with them and help them promote it for a fair % of the return. It's a win:win. It creates a new income stream for both of you.

*Get your team together for brainstorming sessions. The ideas that will surface will always so much more than you could ever come up with by yourself.

*Have fun. Schedule regular outings with your team outside of the studio. Friendships will develop and that will positively impact all aspects of the working environment.

Yours in health, fitness and business,

Sherri McMillan