One of the biggest mistakes personal trainers make is paying little if any attention to their closing percentage for sales.They work hard on getting their website up and running.They send out postcards and hold seminars - all in the hopes of generating leads.But the real name of the game is turning those leads into high paying clients.Do you know what percentage of prospects you convert into personal training clients?Don't guess.Do you know the exact number?If you don't - start tracking that TODAY!Only then can you test other approaches in your quest to close more prospects and know if the changes you made are paying off.Once you start tracking your numbers, here are 5 tips you can use to increase your closing percentage sales..1.Define Your Uniqueness.You have to let prospects know EXACTLY why they should do business with you instead of the personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness, join Curves, enroll in Weight Watchers or buy the Ab Lounger.Saying you get results isn't enough.Do you think your personal training competitors say they don't'?2.Have Social Proof.If you have a studio, put up a 'Wall of Fame.' If you work in a club or in homes, create a personal training testimonial book.Use testimonials in your marketing so prospects are pre-sold.Help people feel confident that you are the solution to their problem(s) by showing them you were already the solution to other people problems that might have been similar.3.Use a script.Once you find the best way to sell your service, why change it? You don't necessarily have to say the same thing word for word - prospects are all different.But have a scripted format that you follow with a logical sequence of questions that get the prospect talking.4.Shut Up.Let the prospect do 75% of the talking.Ask lots of open ended questions and let the prospect reveal their 'pain' to you.5.Sell on Value.Not price.People want a good deal and to be treated fairly - but they don't mind paying for results (you do get great results, right?) If you're the cheapest personal training alternative - raise your prices or look in the mirror and ask why you aren't worth more.Once you recognize the value you deliver - then raise your prices.

As children many of us were told the story of Santa Claus.We were told by our parents and other adults and various company's marketing efforts that if we behaved all year long and were "good" kids that we would be put on the good list and receive all the gifts we asked Santa Claus for Christmas.As we got older we realized that Santa Claus isn't real and that it was all a hoax to get us to behave throughout the year so that we could get all those presents come the end of the year.Santa Claus was a lie to get us to behave a certain way and buy into this mythical character.Spot reducing of the body is much like Santa Claus.An elaborate myth created by the fitness products industry for you to believe by purchasing and using their tummy-tuck ab ball-roller-lounger-butt-blaster (you name it) that you are going to end up with these beautifully chiseled abs, and gorgeous non-cellulite booty.Now let's get real.As much as we would like to believe that only 15 minutes a day on this piece of equipment is going to deliver these results we have to think deep down that there is something suspicious about this claim.Let's face it, if it were true, then there would be a lot more Americans out there with six packs from the hundreds of daily crunches they do.SPOT REDUCING DOES NOT WORK! You're body is much like a balloon.When you start to manage your diet and essentially burn more calories than you consume your body will start to pull from fat stores from various parts of the body.Much like how a balloon deflates.Most often the areas that were the first to gain weight will most often be the first to loose weight.So it doesn't matter how many leg lifts you do, or ab crunches, unless you are eating a sound diet and exercising regularly you aren't going to be able to get the abs or thighs you are looking for.You will however, be building muscle there so that when you do start to lose weight from cardio exercise, proper strength training, and a clean diet your body will look rocking.Just remember your body determines where it pulls it's energy from, you don't.Sorry to have to break it to you kid, but Santa Claus isn't real.Visit my San Diego weight loss blog to get more weight loss tips.