Positioning.
Positioning is basically the place we occupy in the mind of the consumer or user. The Personal Trainer carries out an economic activity that generates income and expenses, this economic activity revolves around the development of a sports or health service aimed at different types of clients, some with needs closer to health than to sports: weight loss, medical advice etc.
Other clients, however, require a purely sporting care linked to their appearance and physical shape. For all of them there is a different positioning, since their perception of the service and their needs are also different. The very nature of the Personal Trainer's activity, as it is generally a one-man company, does not allow the development of large-scale advertising actions, but it is not necessary either since the Personal Trainer always works from micro market segments, that is, groups of reduced people and it is not difficult to interact in small groups of users, for this reason how well positioned we are in the minds of our clients and our own image will be decisive to retain them and to get new subscribers to the service.
The image projected by the Personal Trainer, the specific sector to which it is directed and its range of services is what will determine its final positioning, the "share of mind" or portion of the consumer's mind that will be reserved to identify a specific professional and visualizing it in a way more or less linked to quality, sport, efficiency, health or personalized attention. Positioning therefore determines how efficient we are in making ourselves known and in defining how specialized we are in a specific area.
Certain professionals have known how to develop a certain “name” in the field of Personalized Training, they have managed to create an image and therefore a brand that links their name with certain results that translate into better physical appearance, a substantial improvement in the treatment of support for certain pathologies often related to various osteopathies etc. They have managed to create a brand image and have achieved a position in the market. I will never tire of underlining the importance of training in this regard, the important thing is not only to differentiate yourself from the competition, what is truly interesting is to offer concrete responses to specific needs, that is the best positioning strategy, what I call the four " R ”: Responses to customer requirements, Tangible results in reasonable times,Reality, to show that we know how to do what we are promising, Relationship, because the Personal Trainer is above all a manager of interpersonal relationships, a person capable of interacting and energizing his client. Not without any of the “Rs”, it is the best formula to create a strong image.
It is not enough to define ourselves as Personal Trainers, if we are not able to serve a client with osteopososis or a client with a chronic shoulder injury, for example, we are losing market, that is why it is so important to train, because a Personal Health Trainer is not It should only be a specialist in physical preparation, without a doubt a good physiotherapist will be able to position themselves faster than a physical trainer, and in Marketing it is very important to arrive earlier because if he meets the four "Rs" he will undoubtedly build customer loyalty and create a barrier to competition difficult to overcome.
However, there will be those who may think that a Personal Trainer can occupy their own space in the market serving clients according to their knowledge, for example training only people in a Fitness room at a sports level: False, little by little the market knows each and for this reason it demands more answers and better results, the tendency is therefore to be trained in a more exhaustive way and that Personal Trainer will be obsolete in a short time and will be replaced by another with a better image, with more knowledge and therefore with better Positioning. Your brand image will be better.
If the market was previously satisfied with a four, make sure that it will soon demand a five, if you stayed at three you are already out of the market. Not only must you sell that you are capable of offering a five, but you must really have enough capacity to do so and to make it known that you can do it. Do not forget to also train to one day offer an eight.
Let's give a clear example: Coca-Cola and Pepsi openly compete for the same position, it is a war without quarter in which anything goes and where any failure can be fatal, just at the other extreme there is Seven-Up, a soft drink without cola aimed at a similar segment but different in terms of preferences, the positioning is different. This example clearly shows us that within the same environment we can address different types of customers seeking a different position from the competition.
Why position yourself?
Because it is the best formula to achieve efficient brand management in a consumer or customer segment, your name is your brand. The statement: "you have a problem or a need and I am very good at solving these types of problems and dealing with these types of needs" clearly defines what position represents. If we specialize and position ourselves what we are doing is defining our place in the market, if we do not do it, the consumers themselves will do it, the competition will do it and they will end up taking us out of the market since our image will not have strength.
In the first place we should determine which market segment we want to attack or in which we want to specialize: a segment with high purchasing power, special populations or athletes for example, then we must create our brand based above all on our differentiating value: what we distinguishes itself from the rest of the competition, then we must project that value so that little by little it becomes our image, that is to say, what from then on we are going to represent for our current and potential clients.
For all this, it is essential to know exhaustively what the competition does: what systems it uses, which sector is more or less covered, what utensils it uses, what price policy it uses and what added values it offers.
Positioning is basically defining oneself, that is: Creating an image and an offer of services that are attractive enough to get them to occupy a preferential place in the mind of our target market.
The positioning formula
To occupy a place in the mind of the consumer or customer, it is not enough to offer a service, we must first of all be:
Leaders and role models, that is: if what you sell is health and fitness, you must be an example of health and good looks, that creates a brand image.
Different, because all coaches can surround themselves with technological "gadgets" but the real difference is in what cannot be copied, for this you have to train and specialize that is positioning.
Specific, because many positioning creates confusion for the client. You cannot be a specialist in everything and if you try it tends to create mistrust, mistrust creates doubts and doubts weaken the image. Less is almost always more.
Receptive. To anticipate the needs of customers. The important thing is not only what we can offer but what the client needs.
To scale
Marketing adapts to any need, this means that many of the actions that large companies take is perfectly applicable to our activity as Personal Trainers. An example: CRM (Costumer Relationship Management) tries among other things to establish contacts with customers, know their needs, probe their requirements and offer answers to their questions. This tool is perfectly usable by the Personal Trainer and should be used by all sports clubs since it not only gives us information (after the client himself, the information is the most important thing we can have) but also gives us the opportunity to show him that we care about him and his opinion is very important. It's all about the magnification of personalization.This creates loyalty and strengthens the brand image.
Three tips: Focus, don't be scattered, define your work. As I have commented previously, you cannot be the best at everything (besides that it is not necessary), the best way to create a solid image in the world of Personalized Training is to make it very clear what you offer and to whom you can offer solutions.. This will give you a good positioning in the mind of the client, then a good follow-up, tangible results, good personal empathy and some advertising support will give you the final success.
Do not forget that Personalized Training is a new environment, approaching the traditional environment is a good tool for joint promotion: health centers, private clinics, sports performance centers, recovery centers, attention to specific sports, preventive environment, outdoor activities etc.
Be very clear about what image you want to give, who you are addressing, what means you have, what you know and what you don't know how to do and above all that what you get you should not only keep it but also keep it happy: it is more expensive to get a client than to keep an existing one, also a dissatisfied client is the worst thing that can happen to a Personal Trainer and dissatisfaction can be poorly attended, it can be poorly cared for or it can be without results. Your image can be strengthened a lot, but it can only weaken a little before being totally out of the market.
Inform your clients
Information and communication are two of the mainstays on which the Personal Trainer must rely to build customer loyalty and create an effective image strategy, because a happy customer is like a mobile billboard.
It is important to develop informative material for the client: specific material about your activity and your specialization in the field of personalized attention, news, information mailings and follow-up, e-mails, etc. The formulas can be varied but the function is the same: stay present in the customer's mind with a predefined image, what you are ultimately looking for is to obtain a valuable position because if you obtain a valuable position -in Marketing terms- your service is worth more and you are worth more.
Keep your promises
To position yourself it is important that what you communicate does not exceed the reality of the offer, otherwise you would gradually lose image and credibility. If you specialize in weight loss support systems, for example, do not risk spreading difficult deadlines to meet, deadlines are dangerous and also give the service a “temporary” category that does not interest you.
Position yourself to win, but above all position yourself to stay.
