Every business should have a unique selling proposition
Ask anyone who has a successful business and they will tell you having a great product is only the start. You have to be able to market the product and draw customers to your product. This is done with a Unique Selling Proposition. For the online personal trainer, this should be on your home page or your About page on your website.
And what is a USP? You can find many boring definitions on the internet. But what it comes down to is showing customers the reason that your personal training product is better than the other personal trainers products. Simple, right? Yes, IF you know a few basic guidelines, you can have your own USP in just a an hour or so.
Starting your online personal training business blog series
- How To Start Your Online Personal Training Business #1
- Personal Training Business Setup – First Steps #2
- Online Personal Trainer Management Tools – #3
- How To Make Your Personal Trainer Website #4
- How To Find Your Personals Trainer Niche #5
- Making Your Unique Selling Proposition for Fitness #6 – Current blog
- Online Personal Training Prices: How to Set Them #7
- How to Make Your Online Personal training package prices #8
- Making Personal Training Templates #9
- The Personal Training Business Opening #10 – End of Series
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Basic concepts of the Unique Selling Proposition
First, the USP is NOT your life story, or how many certifications you have. It is not about how many years you have been a personal trainer or that you have won fitness contests.
Consider this: When you want to buy a car, you don’t care how many sales awards the sales person has won. You don’t care that the have been selling cars for 20 years. But you do want that person to be able to show you why a certain car is best for your needs.
Second, it IS about why you are the best person to provide what your client wants. And it IS about having services the client needs. You have to be able to show why your business can provide these things better than other trainers.
This doesn’t mean you can’t talk about your skills. But your story and skills must relate directly to how that helps the client.
Example – A Deli
Suppose you own a Deli and sell sandwiches. You are not the only Deli in town. What makes people come to your Deli over another? Is it your friendly service, the way you make the bread, the way you season the meat, comfortable seating, special sauces and so on? It is most likely not all of these things.
Remember, it is not required to do everything great, just a few things. Consider Schlotzsky’s. They have unique bread that many people like. Are they the cheapest sandwich? No. But if people want a particular item and it meets their needs, they will find a way to afford it. You do not have to be good and cheap!
Step 1 - Relate your USP to the customer
What does your customer need and want?
Think in terms of personal training and put yourself in the place of one of the clients you created in the previous blog. Make a list of what you would want from your trainer? Sure you want a good personal trainer. But what other needs do you have?
- Maybe a trainer who can provide you a quick and easy program that fits with your busy family life?
- Perhaps a trainer that excels in making programs using elastic bands to make training easy at home and on business trips?
- Or a personal trainer that offers 30 minute training plans that are geared for efficiency and toning?
Here are some other areas and services that may help provide an attractive USP.
- Motivation sessions using video chat or phone calls.
- Nutrition consults.
- Questionnaires tailored to custom fit a program to the client.
- Variety of training package deals (8, 12, 16 weeks)
HOT TIP: Do not include price in your unique selling proposition. Emphasize your ability to solve the problems the client wants solved.
Step 2 - Create a USP for each client
Next, create a USP for each of the three clients you have made. Come up with a list of at least 3 or 4 things that fulfills each of those clients needs. Some may overlap or even be the same, which is fine. After all, since they are all in the same niche, they should be similar.
Step 3 - Merge Your Unique Selling Proposition into one or two sentences.
Most successful business are remembered by their USP. If the USP can be put into a slogan even better. For example. FedEx used to have the slogan: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. They don’t offer a special discount. They offer one clear service. Check out these other great USP slogans.
However, don’t get too obsessed with a slogan. The main thing is to get your USP into a couple sentences. You can always update them and revise them. If we go back to some of the examples above, here are some ideas:
Get Healthy, Get Toned, in just 30 minutes a day, in the privacy of your own home.
Get Fit in 8 weeks – no equipment required. On the road or at home!
See? It is really quite simple.
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Step 4 - Post your USP on your website page
Other things you will see mentioned with unique selling propositions are: product, price, placement and promotion. Again, don’t get to sidetracked with every detail. It just means once you have your USP, get it on your website and use it in advertising.
Typically, you will have your USP sentence (or two) on your home page (above the fold). Place your company name at the top, with a nice photo of you working with a real client. And below that your USP statement.
Following that, as people scroll down the page, you can provide a bit more detail on what types of clients you work with, what you offer, the problems you solve and so on. But keep it BIG PICTURE. Have a separate page for pricing, plans, specials and that type thing. Of course make sure you have a clear link to it. This link has some great home page examples.
Remember, it is acceptable to highlight a few of your skills and your expertise, but everything you mention must relate to how it solves the client problem or fulfills their needs. If you really need a page to brag about your awards and life story, do it on another page called About Me, My Biography or similar.
A solid Unique Selling Proposition is worth its weight in gold
Creating a good USP can be done in several hours. Maybe even less. Remember the basics. Solve your clients problems. Show them how your expertise can handle their needs. Keep your USP simple and clear. If you can come up with a great slogan, great, but don’t get bogged down on it. A few simple sentences works just fine. Then use your USP on your website and in your advertising.
Our next blog in this series is How to Price Your Personal Training Services
Total PT Fitness Online – The Perfect Software for Handling Client Fitness Programs