3 Secrets to Effective Consults

Did you know your consult process actually starts before you and your lead sit down to talk?

When you’re closing a sale, what you do before and during your consult session are very important. 

Here are 3 secrets to add to your arsenal that help you stand out, and establish a relationship / better chance with your prospects before they’ve even walked in the doors.

Secret #1: Your hero content

Your follow up message (post phone call or DM) should include two things:

• Your pre-screening questionnaire 

• Your hero content 

As you book the consult, you can say something like this: 

“Ok great, I’ve just booked you in. You’ll receive an e-mail from [booking service]. 

I’ll shoot through my pre-screening questionnaire, this will help prepare for our consult and save us some time. 

I’ll also attach a video that will give you an idea of who I am, what I do and how we can work on the obstacles you’re facing at the moment.”

This level of professionalism is incredibly uncommon in the fitness industry, as we enter a place in time where most people have a previous personal training experience. You are already painting yourself as different.  

Your pre-screening questionnaire should include the basics such as their details, habits, as well as the usual health checks - signed off by them.

These, as well as some questions you may include that will be specific to your service, will be the talking points during the actual consultation.

Jotform and Google forms are some of the best resources for creating your online pre-exercise questionnaire. 

We recommend using or referencing the ESSCA pre-exercise screening form.

Your hero content, likely a podcast episode, article or YouTube video, establishes authority and professionalism with the prospect. Giving them an idea of who you are, what you and your service are about, and how you can help them specifically with their pain points, is hugely significant.

Secret #2: The path of least resistance

The path of least resistance (PLR) refers to our tendency, as humans, to always look for the easiest path out of a situation. 

We introduced this in the pre-sales call by simply offering 2 time slots for the consult session, instead of asking “When would suit you?”.

The path of least resistance would be “I’ll see and let you know” (Hint: they won’t), or even just a flat out “I’m too busy this week”.

In sales, PLR looks like: 

“Would you like to sign up for PT?”

> “I’ll think about it…” 

VS 

“Would you like to do 2 or 3 sessions per week?”

> “Oh 2 sessions sounds good.” 

Trainers often forget to consider the PLR in their consults. It reduces their ability to create enough rapport or trust in the relationship prior to the sale. 

More examples: 

“With your fat loss goal, are you planning on fast, aggressive approach or a moderate/sustainable rate?”

VS

“How much weight do you want to lose?”

”Do you think it would be easier for you to start by improving your sleep, or adding in a daily meditation?” 

VS

“What could you do to reduce stress?”

“Some of my clients use portion sizing based nutrition guides, others prefer to enter all their food into MyFitnessPal. Which do you think would suit you better?”

VS

“Would you track your macros?” 

Asking PLR questions will: 

• Build the prospect’s confidence that their goals are achievable 

• Help the prospect see that they need help moving forward 

• Create a long term vision of outcomes

• Build trust that you understand them and their problems, and that you will work WITH them for solutions 

• Allow you to add tips and informative information to build value along the way 

Secret #3: Test closes

A test close is a question that allows for the prospect to agree to working with you, either directly or indirectly. 

The benefits of a good test close are: 

• Creates long term vision  

• Helps to build trust  

• Creates buy-in to the process (creating better outcomes) 

• Shows you are both invested in the outcomes together 

Test closes also are the most effective way of overcoming objections before they even come up. 

Below is a list of test closes that we’ve used, to good effect:

• Can you see yourself getting results doing something like this long term?

• What were your results like using your previous methods? Ok, maybe a more deliberate approach to training/nutrition would be better?

• So you’ve been thinking about losing weight for a while now, we really need to get the ball rolling then, right? 

• What would you rate your health and fitness out of 10 right now… and what number would you be happy with in 3 months’ time?

• Ok so to achieve that you’ll need a good program and nutrition plan, don’t you think?

• So 0.5 - 1cm per week off your waist is great progress - it’d take us around X weeks to achieve your goal, would you be happy with that? 

• How many times per week can you train? Ok great, how many of those would you like to train with me?

• Ok it looks like you’re low in protein and overall calories. We’d want to build those up over the first couple of months. Would you be capable of that?

• We use a check-in process each week, where you enter how you went for the week and I provide you with feedback. Do you think the accountability would help with your results?

• Even if you’re not confident with squats now, we can use a progression model that will start at the level you’re at right now, and build you up over a few months. Would you like to be able to back squat confidently, eventually? 

See how these questions make it easier to say yes, without firing off questions or saying “but”?

For more on creating content such as your hero content, listen to episodes 138 and 139 of the STCfit Learning Podcast.