DIRECT MARKETING 101

Marketing that is fit enough for the recession

Recession marketing is not the same as marketing in regular times. Is your marketing fit enough for the recession? Are your messages working? Are you attracting the attention of possible clients? Are they becoming clients?

Being aware of the challenges and opportunities of your business and industry will open the door for great possibilities. In a recession, clients are reluctant to enter into long term commitments. The fitness industry faces the challenge of getting clients to commut to memberships. Knowing this, a few fitness centres have adopted ‘pay as you go programs’ and are being successful at it. They have adjusted how they sell their service reacting to an opportunity that the industry created.

Your business is based on meeting the needs of your target market. What if your current target market no longer needs or wants your services. Do you close the business? If you always delivered long term personal training to people who needed your assistance to loose weight and get back into shape; you may need to adjust and do personal training for weekend athletes who think they can do it themselves.

Consider changing your target market – is there an opportunity to deliver services to people who think they know what they are doing? Change to weekend athletes

Consider selling new packages - instead of forcing your clients to sign up for six (6) months, sell them a single session.
Repackage what you are selling – in a fitness centre just outside of Boston, I was having a tough time selling personal training. We ran some advertisements and promotions selling golf pre-season workouts, tennis pre-season workouts and ski pre-season workouts. These athletes would never have signed up for personal training (and we had the low sales numbers to prove it) but they quickly signed up for the pre-season sessions. These sessions were personal training which was mostly basic fitness and a little bit of customization to the particular sport.
Take what you can get – if a client always had a weekly session but they are concerned about their finances then accept meeting with them every second week. Give them a written workout for the week in between so they can continue to make progress.

Help the client stay a client – whether it is a new client that is having a hard time justifying the membership or a current client who is having a tough time paying for the sessions help them come up with some options to pay for their fitness. Maybe they can bring their lunch twice a week to work and that savings will pay for their membership. What if you partnered them up for a semi-private session? You would earn more money per hour and have an extra time slot to find another client and you keep your client.

Have a sale – due to the scare of the recession and tough economic times everyone is now programmed to watch for sales. Have a sales and keep your perceived value at a high standard by adding value to your current prices. Can you team up with a nutritionist who is looking for new clients and offer “all packages of 12 sessions or more will get one complimentary nutrition session (value $75). Your clients feel like they are saving $75 but it costs you nothing. You have not even lowered your prices.

Offer Specialization – Now is the perfect time to focus your expertise on specific segments. Instead of being a personal trainer for everyone – be a personal trainer for golfers. Specializing in this particular area does not limit who your client can be but it focuses your marketing and boosts your level of expertise.

Recession marketing requires you to change and take advantage of new opportunities. Everyday marketing will not carry you through the recession, get out there and change for the better.

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To sign up for a free Business Fit Tip newsletter, sign up at www.fitforbusiness.ca . Cheryl Rankin, Fit For Business can be reached at 647-287-0320 or visiting her website at www.fitforbusiness.ca