Now more then ever it's time to be bold and break away from the rest of your competitors in order to capture and keep more business. The honey moon is over. As personal trainers and fitness professionals we have to work much harder to attract new business and bedazzle the clients we already have. Most fitness businesses haven't taken the time to discover what sets them apart from the rest and suffer because of it. They end up looking, sounding and feeling like everyone else. In the midst of all this sameness, the customer has no choice but to evaluate service on price alone. This is a dangerous road to travel because the consumer will likely choose based on lower cost.

So do your customers a favour and make it easy for them to get a clear understanding of how you differ from everyone else. To start, think about what is special and unique about you. Now before you answer, really take the time to think about it. What is different about what you do or the service you provide that would make a customer notice and want to spend their hard earned money with you? What could you shout from the roof tops to let customers know you are unique? Your first step is to uncover what this is. To assist you in this task finish the statement below. It's not an easy activity and it may take some time to figure it out but when you do you will know what sets you apart from the rest.

I am the only one that…

Here's an example to help you along.

At On The Edge Fitness we are the only fitness education provider that can take students from earning their personal training certification right into business start-up.

If you position yourself uniquely in the marketplace you will be able to carve out a special place in the customer's mind so that loyalty is not only created but also has a long life. As one of only a handful of fitness businesses coaches in Canada I can attest to the value of being different and how it's helped me grow my own business. When you clearly know where you are positioned in the market, and what unique talents you have to offer, it makes it easy for customers to make the decision to do business with you. That's the power of differentiation.

As a personal trainer one way to differentiate yourself is to be clear about what target market you serve. Being a generalist doesn't have the D-factor needed to stand-out. Decide what market you want to go after and then become the expert in serving that market.

Discover as much as you can about the people within that market by becoming a market detective. Get to know every intimate detail of the wants, needs and desires of the customer. Then and only then can you start to create some strategies around serving these customers. How do you find out their needs? It's simple. Talk to your customers. Take every opportunity to learn as much as you can about them and what they value.

Here's an example of how a trainer talked to me about a client named Bob.

Bob is a 35 year old account executive. He is married with two children, a dog, a cat and a bird. Bob spends ninety minutes a day commuting to work everyday. He travels a few times a month for business and on weekends and plays hockey with the boys. He enjoys the camaraderie of the boys as they drink beer and eat fried foods. He often talks to this trainer about his games during the session. He complains of being tired from his multitude of responsibilities. The trainer has been with Bob for six months.

Based on the case study above, does it sound like this trainer knows a lot about the client? If you answered yes, then you are incorrect. There is so much more the trainer could know about Bob after six months of training. What is his wife's name, how about the names of the children and pets? What does he do while he drives to work? What kind of beer does he drink? What does he like to eat? Why is he so tired? What type of house does Bob live in? What kind of car does he drive?

Now you might be thinking, “Do I really need to know all this to train him?” No, but if you want to differentiate yourself you may want to use customer service as a way of standing out from the crowd. How can you use the information you learn about Bob to do that? Since his commute is so long maybe you can make him a mixed CD of his favourite music or suggest he listen to podcasts while he drives. You could offer a package of pet grooming services with training so he can get his workout done while the pets get cleaned up saving him time in his day. There are many mobile pet spaws available. You could create a workout for the family where everyone gets to play together. I'm sure he doesn't have a lot of time to spend with his family so this would be a bonus to him and his wife. Be creative and step outside of what is traditionally done into the unconventional.

In order to be different you have to think differently. If you go down the same road where everyone else travels you have less chance of getting noticed. The secret to differentiate or die is to grab people's attention, be different and take a risk. Otherwise you are just the same.

In the movie Madagascar 2, Escape from Africa the eclectic group of New York zoo animals find themselves crash landed in Africa. They roam the plains of Africa and soon stumble upon herds of other animals just like them. Marty, the zebra sees hundreds of other zebras. He discovers that once he was among the crowd he was no different from everyone else. Even his best friend Alex the Lion couldn't pick him out from the other zebras. Obviously, Marty was extremely distraught by this because he thought he was special and unlike everyone else. However, as the movie progresses we learn that Marty really is special because he was willing to do something the others in the herd wouldn't do which was take a risk, break away from the herd in order to be brave and help others. The other zebras were content to remain where they were.

Which zebra do you want to be, the one that steps out, takes a risk and dares to be different or just another member of the herd?