Lots of fitness professionals wonder why they don’t get more fitness referrals – wonder what they can DO to lubricate the referral process. This quiz will help by shining a bright light on your referability…or lack thereof.

(Big referability hint here: PERCEPTION is REALITY. Don’t miss question #12 below, it’s the single most important question of all.)

And now, with this messy economy, it’s more important than ever that you be referable. Because nothing beats referrals. Nothing.

So, are you referable? Are you referral WORTHY? Take this quiz to find out…

PART I: EARN THE REFERRAL

1. Do you promise results to your clients?

2. Do you get results for them? (The results they were promised.)

3. Do you document those results and reinforce them with the client? (Remember, results occur over a period of time – they are incremental. From day to day, the client may not notice the changes, or properly value what’s happening because of the rate at which it occurs. It’s your job to show them the progress at each re-assessment.)

4. Do you reinforce the VALUE of what you do for the client? (Do they really understand just how life-changing this is? See question #3)

5. Do you educate the client, or just train the client? (Some folks may not appear interested in being “educated”. It’s your job to deliver their education in a way that is palatable and consumable by them. Want to foster word-of-mouth? Don’t just get results, teach them HOW to get results…so they can share their expertise with others…you will inevitably come up in THAT conversation…and people are much more passionate and influential when speaking about something they truly understand.)

6. Do you create a WOW! experience for the client…while they’re with you and even while they’re not? (Or do they just show up and go through the motions, forgetting about you and your fitness business the moment they leave?)

7. Do your clients feel like they are part of something special – a community? (Like the TV show Cheers: “where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came”)

8. Do you communicate consistently, via multiple media, with your clients? (Particularly in the form of motivational, inspirational and educational info – like sharing success stories, as one example.)

9. Do you share pieces of yourself – do they they really know, like and trust you?

10. Do you over-deliver? Really, truly OVER-DELIVER (go the extra mile)?

11. Do you have what Bill Cates calls “a referral mindset”?

He describes it this way…

“Your attitudes and assumptions toward referrals constitute the starting point towards building a successful referral-based business. You must adopt a referral mindset. Having this mindset means that you embrace referrals as the best way to build your business. When you have a referral mindset, referrals are not just something nice that happens every now and then. They are your primary method for acquiring new clients, or at least a major part of your overall marketing plan. When you truly adopt a referral mindset, everything you do in your business will promote your goal of getting more high-quality referrals.”

Think about that!

12. And finally…are you FEARLESS ABOUT FEEDBACK? Do you go to great lengths to not only find out what your clients want, and give it to them (hint: surveys), but also to solicit honest, uncensored feedback about how you are doing…how they PERCEIVE the value of your services?

Perception is reality, my friend. Perception is reality.

Maybe YOU can answer these questions in the affirmative…

…but the $64,000 question is…

…will your CLIENTS answer them in the affirmative?

Because what you think is of little consequence if your clients think otherwise.

All that REALLY matters is how your clients PERCEIVE you and your services.

Okay, that’s the end of PART I of your referability quiz. Part II is coming tomorrow. Keep your eye out, cause that’s when we get into the “ASK” portion of this quiz.

Here’s your mission, should you choose to accept it…

Brainstorm out every way you can think of to EARN the referral from your clients. We’ve touched on some of the major strategies in this quiz, but there are multiple tactics within each strategy. How many are you using?

NOW is the time to get very, very serious about referrals. Because it looks like this economy ain’t goin’ nowhere fast, and therefore it becomes ever so much more important that you WOW-em’ and WORK-em’ for referrals, squeezing every possible new client out of your existing clients (and sphere of influence).

Now is the time to get really good at maximizing client lifetime value – and there is nothing more valuable than a client who refers.

Part II coming tomorrow,
Eric Ruth

P.S. I think – no, scratch that – I KNOW this is going to blow you away. On Thursday, Sean and I are releasing an automatic referral ENGINE for your fitness business. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. And it’s so darn simple to use, so refreshingly easy, yet so monstrously powerful…it WILL BLOW YOU AWAY. And here’s more good news…it costs ZERO to implement, and almost zero to own (I’m talking dirt cheap).

Here’s another health club marketing post you may enjoy.