I just spent about 40 hours over the last three days at a high-end conference on developing your brand and spreading your message. The reason I chose to go to this conference and spend the high price tag is because the presenter truly cares about his message and is unbelievably passionate about helping others. His enthusiasm is contagious and it inspires others (like myself) to be the best version of themselves. I couldn't help when I was there to think about how the values he spoke about transcended all service businesses. So, I want to share with you five main triggers that will skyrocket your fitness business success and career longevity if you choose to adopt them as your own.

Trigger #1: Bold Enthusiasm
As I said, this presenter was over the top in displaying his energy and excitement for what he was teaching us. What he was portraying with his enthusiasm was essentially translating as, "I have discovered the path and I want to show you the road map to success!" Do you share the same bold enthusiasm for health & fitness with your clients?

Trigger #2: Passion
People buy and believe in you based on emotions. They DO NOT buy based on analytical thinking. Therefore, just saying we can beat the gym down the street's price by $10 is not going to get them pumped up to join your team. Being passionate about what you do and creating an emotional resonance or connection to your client and their goals is what sells. Are you passionately role modeling and talking with clients about the health and fitness lifestyle?

Trigger #3: Your Why
Why is it that you do what you do? What is the BIG why that gets you out of bed every morning and energizes you to work hard every day for your clients? Do your clients know what your why is? Have you shared your why with your community and the world? If not, you should ...

Trigger #4: Your Mission
I used to hate everything corporate: the atmosphere, the jargon, and writing mission statements. And although I still hold disdain for the corporate sterility and jibber jabber, I do whole-heartedly now embrace business mission statements. When you finally grasp your why, fully embrace your enthusiasm, and begin living passionately, it is time to make it more formal by writing out your mission statement.

Your mission statement should be what marketers call your "elevator pitch," which means you're able to explain what your business or service is all about in 2-3 sentences max. This may take weeks or months to tweak to get just right, but in the end it is huge. Have you shared your mission with your clients and prospective clients? What sets you apart?

Trigger #5: Commitment
At this high-end conference I was interviewed about why I thought my fitness business did 1,000 sessions a month on just 500 sq/ft of fitness floor. My answer was commitment. It was 100% commitment from every member on my team to our clients. Not to me, not to my studio, but to our clients. We let our clients know that if they email, call, or text us at anytime we are there for them. Their goals are now our goals.

It may take more work, but when over 90% of your clients resign because they are getting the results they desire coupled with the feeling that we are truly committed to their success it is all worth it. After all, we are in this industry to serve right? Are you 100% committed to your clients?


Stephen Cabral has consulted for MTV, Maxim, Men's Health, NutritionData, SELF, Women's Day, as well as dozens of others. He was named the PFP 2011 Trainer of the Year. He is also a fitness writer, author, studio owner, and the founder of Personal Training Business School. His free fitness business video series, proven strategies and tips can be found at http://PersonalTrainingBusinessSchool.com