How To Market Your Services
With Direct Mail
By Eric Ruth
Recently, a particular email pulled me over to the http://www.fit-pro.com web site (the website of Personal Fitness Professional Magazine).
I hadn’t surfed that site in months, so I took a quick look at the message board (a very good resource for you).
There was a question posted from Jeff Rutstein of http://www.customfitness.com regarding how to market a new studio.
There had already been a bunch of responses to his question by the time I got to it (a couple of the best ones came from my Members Bill Hartman and Scott Colby, I’m proud to say).
Jeff’s question got my attention, so I decided to chime in. Plus, it had been a long time since I put my name in front of the people on the board.
Because I think it’s instructive to you, I’m reprinting Jeff’s questions from the message board and Bill’s, Scott’s and my responses.
Here’s Jeff’s first question:
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Hi everyone,
Before I post I wanted to thank everyone for some great input on previous postings.
Since I am opening a bigger studio and potentially hiring or contracting space to trainers, I am starting to ask my current clients for marketing advice and referrals which i never had to do before.
One client suggested that I do a direct mailing. She said that she would get me a mailing list from her children’s private school (which is very exclusive and expensive and in the neighborhood of my gym). What do you all think of direct mailings to attract higher income clients? What should I include in the mailing?
Thanks again,
Jeff
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Here’s Bill Hartman’s response:
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Include:
A benefit-rich headline. Clients don't really care much about who you are, but rather what you can do for them.
Testimonials showing your success with current clientele.
Offer something FREE (feel free to contact me for ideas).
An unconditional guarantee on your services.
Your contact information.
Do it in a sequenced mailing. 3 post-card mailings about 7-10 days apart to each address should do it. It takes most folks several times seeing your info to act.
Hope that helps.
Bill’s site: www.prperformance.com
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Here’s Scott Colby’s response:
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Of course the most important thing is to figure out how to make the highest percentage of people open your mail or whatever you put inside will be a waste. A lot of people will toss it in the garbage without even opening it.
Scott
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Here’s my response:
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Lots of ideas from some good marketers. I'd like to add my two cents.
Direct mail, when done correctly, is the single most powerful marketing tool you have in your arsenal.
Jeff, if your *client* is offering you this list, you have a unique opportunity to take advantage of one of the most productive forms of marketing: the affinity endorsement.
As she is your client, and presumably happy with your services, ask her if she is willing to endorse you to the list of her fellow parents (affinity).
If so, you are now armed with a knock-out marketing tool.
What could have a greater impact on the other parents than a letter coming from a fellow parent endorsing your services and including a special offer exclusively for them?
NOTE: Read that last paragraph again, because it’s the most powerful and most effective marketing strategy there is – bar none! This type of affinity marketing is the Viagra of direct mail – nothing is more potent!
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Here’s Jeff’s follow-up question:
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Hi Eric,
Just signed up for your newsletter, cant wait to read it. My client will give me her list, but I couldn’t let anyone know where I got it from. As it is an exclusive private school and she is giving my the mailing list on the qt. I just have to come up with the proper material to send.
Since my fees are high, my clientele has to be able to afford my services. This list will include very affluent people, but I am not sure how many are into fitness. I have to send a message that I have private personal training studios (much different from a health club)
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Here’s my response:
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Okay, Jeff, so you've got to use a little stealth marketing. Here's a couple tips:
1. talk to your client -- interview her -- discover what motivated her to start a fitness program. don't accept trite responses. dig deep. get the *emotional* reasons. there's a very good possibility that the emotional reasons she chose to start a program, and to work with you specifically, will resonate with the other parents.
2. ask her for a ringing endorsement (testimonial) of your services. you'll need to mix her testimonial into a group of other testimonials so that the readers cannot make an obvious connection between them receiving this letter from you -- and her (be stealthy). however, it will certainly benefit you if the readers recognize her name.
3. as Bill mentioned earlier, use a 3-step sequence of letters with each subsequent letter referring back to the last.
4. make your offer exclusive in some way. since you can't make reference to the fact that these people are parents of the private school kids, you'll need another approach. a geographic reason is the first to come to mind, but there may be some other, more tightly focused "reason why" you can use for your contact.
5. set a specific deadline for your offer, with each letter increasing the urgency (limited time AND limited availability -- you only have so many training slots). scarcity is a very powerful emotional trigger.
6. create an irresistible offer. make your offer so compelling that the reader has to be a fool to say no.
7. be EMOTIONAL in your copy. use what you learned in step #1 to lay it on thick in your letter.
8. use multiple reasons for response. some of the readers (admittedly, a small percentage) will be ready to avail themselves of your services immediately. but most will not be ready right now, but may want additional information from you. give them a non-threatening way to get it.
9. as you mentioned, you don't know how many of them are interested in a fitness solution. so don't set an unrealistic goal. if the list has 200 names, you may only get one or two new clients. but if the mailing costs you $300 (for a 3-step sequence) and a new client is worth $1000 (on the front-end), your ROI is 3:1 in marketing dollars with one client, and 6:1 with two. that would be fantastic.
10. finally, the fact that you have a private (exclusive) studio is a definite plus. work that angle in your letter by comparing what you offer to that of the meat market gyms.
I've given you a basic outline of things to do, but there's lots more you should know. not the least of which is what Scott mentioned: getting your letters opened. there's a real science to that.
Glad to hear you subscribed to my newsletter. you're joining over 1000 other fitness professionals who understand that effective marketing makes all the difference in building their business.
keep in mind that you now have a real asset in that mailing list. the secret to milking it for all it's worth is to TEST.
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