Quantum Leap Club Winner:
March 2008
NAME: Tony MaslanBUSINESS: Custom Fit Personal Training
WHERE: Evansville, Indiana
What a difference a few years and proper guidance makes! Let me start with a little background on my life in the fitness industry.
I started out working as a graduate assistant strength coach at the University of Utah and then as an assistant strength coach at the University of Evansville. I soon realized there were more opportunities (and more income potential) training the general population. I worked for 3 years training for a local club, and then in 2001 I had the opportunity to live a dream as a part-owner of a small gym.
The ownership was the good news. The bad news was I had no idea how to run a business. We worked long hours and made enough to pay the bills, and that was about it. In late 2003 I found out about Eric Ruth and his marketing programs. I purchased the Ultimate Marketing Kit and started to learn the right way to market our services.
Then my life took a sudden change. My Marine Corps Reserve unit was activated and in early 2004 I left for Iraq. We were unable to keep the gym. While in Iraq, I read a LOT during my down time and started to figure out some of the things that I would need to do differently if I wanted to own a business again when I returned.
After returning home, I started Custom Fit Personal Training and contracted out of a few facilities including the one I used to own and trained a few clients in their homes. I slowly started implementing a few of the things I learned in Eric’s program.
Fast-forward to 2007. I joined NPE as a Gold Plus member with their first group and things started to take off immediately! We had a very successful Gold Rush event in 2007 and my business started to grow.
In May of 2007 we were ready and opened up our own personal training studio. We were growing steadily, but I new we could do more. I went through the Auto-Closer class and started using the system in late August. The change was immediate. We started closing over 90% of our consultations. In fact, in September I was 31 for 31!
I joined the Platinum Program in October and things continued to take off. Normally it seems like September through December are a little slower in our industry, but thanks to good, consistent marketing and Auto-Closer, we started almost 100 new clients in those 4 months!
We finished 2007 with over 100K growth in gross training sales compared to 2006. That was my first year with NPE. I couldn’t wait to see what 2008 would bring.
We are off to a great start so far. January and February have been our biggest months yet. In fact, we will gross more in January and February this year than I did all of 2005!
What do I attribute this Quantum Leap to?
1) Massive Action. YCDBSOYA (You Can’t Do Business Sitting On Your Ass) was one of the points made in one of the monthly NPE newsletters. We are constantly doing something to bring in new business.
2) Keeping several marketing “poles” in the water. Too many trainers “try” a direct mail piece, and then the next month “try” a newspaper ad. You can’t rely on just one source to keep new clients coming through the doors. I remember a lesson from a DVD Eric did with Forrest Walden talking about how the more marketing pillars you have the more stable your business will be. Every time we find something that works, we keep that going and ad something new to it. We currently advertise in 3 different local magazines, I write for a fourth, have an ad in a Val-Pak style magazine, use newspaper ads, have booths at local expos, and have created “raving fans” within our facility who consistently refer (and are rewarded for) new clients to us.
3) Auto-Closer. Having a consistent, properly structured sales presentation that we do in front of pre-qualified people makes a tremendous difference.
4) The accountability of the NPE program. Just like being accountable to a trainer makes a big difference for our clients, being accountable to Sean, Eric, Dick and my fellow Platinum members has helped keep me focused on doing the things I need to do to improve my business.
We have several more exciting things going on in our business right now, but you are going to have to wait for the CD, because I am running out of space. I still have a lot to learn, and we will continue to get better and better, but the difference NPE has made in my business and my life has been priceless!
Eric’s comments: Tony gets it. He is under no delusion whatsoever about what it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard, is always moving forward and takes responsibility. And he’s a damn nice guy. Thanks, Tony!
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