Hey Steve here with a very special guest post from my Aussie bud Adam Toohey Oye! Oye! Oye!
Adam owns a Fit Body Boot Camp in Toronto and is a NLP voodoo master.
And in case you’re wondering what NLP is, it’s a system for using language patterns to “control” people’s minds.
Pretty cool stuff.
But don’t worry, I personally know that Adam only uses his “powers” for the good of mankind.
So, being a total giver, Adam decided to do a fitness marketing guess post on NLP and fitness marketing.
So without further ado…
Heeeeeeere’s Adam!
Adam here, and I have a REALLY Important Question for you…
The Power of Questions is a topic that is frequently discussed in the areas of NLP, NAC and many other areas of discipline/therapy. As a Bootcamp instructor you are always asking your clients questions before they dive into your program…
These might include…
- What is your past Bootcamp/gym experience?
- Do you have any prior injuries or medical conditions?
- What specific goals do you have?
- What else do you want to achieve with Fit Body Bootcamp?
- Who referred you to this Bootcamp?
You get the idea…
We ask them these questions in order to get a little more of an understanding of their world and what we might expect from them within the confines of our camp.
But I have a question for you… (And it’s not the REALLY Important one… yet)
Are your questions REALLY helping you to totally understand your clients’ world?
Let’s be honest… the PARQs and Consultation Forms that most BIG GYMS give to their clients SUCK!
AND THEY ARE BOOOOOORRRRRING!
Most of them provide nothing more than a brief background of your potential/new client and really never get to the core of who they are and what they value.
Now hear this… The quality of your questioning IS the quality of your communication. The quality of your questions will determine how soon you form an inseparable bond between yourself and your client.
And when you understand what’s REALLY going on with your client they will stay with you FOREVER and you will be drowning in referrals. (A good problem to have)
We are questioning all the time. We question what to wear, what to eat, what to do/focus on in any given situation, what actions we will take today to drive our boot camps forward, who we are going to spend time with, which blogs we will follow, is Steve a total nut job? …
And it is our questions that determine what we focus on and then how we feel about it
You want to improve the quality of your life? Ask a better quality of question…
Example – “Why can’t I get more Bootcamp clients”? (Answer – because you’re a lazy ass)
You’re brain will provide you with the answer you have asked it for… it just does its job. It is up to you to provide it with a question of higher quality in order to get a better answer.
Example – “How can I get more Bootcamp clients Now?”
And say it with conviction and know that as soon as you come up with the answer you are going to take action and follow through with what your brain has provided you.
You will be AMAZED at what you are able to find out about the person sitting in front of you if you ask them the right questions. Like I said before, if you do this right and you will create a bond so strong that they will LOVE you and unless you totally stuff it up, they will devote themselves to you for life.
So how do you get good at this? You practice and you start asking better questions about yourself and in your own life.
What questions could you ask?
Here are some examples…
- What is life about?
- What is a relationship about?
- What has to happen for you to feel healthy?
- How much is a long time for you?
- What has to happen for you to get the results you desire?
- How can I serve you better?
- What has to happen in order for you to feel successful?
- How will you know when you are successful?
- How will you know when you are healthy?
I guarantee you if you ask these types of questions, it will open the flood gates to yours and your clients’ model of the world (an NLP term) and will help you to understand what influences them. In order to lead and influence them you need to understand what already influences THEM… and not attempt to influence them with how you are influenced.
We help clients set goals and as Fitness Pros and Boot camp owners we also set goals for ourselves. More often than not though we never truly define what has to happen for us to meet that goal, or how will we know when we have met that goal. How will it make us feel?
So now it’s your turn…
I’d like you to answer these four questions
What has to happen for your Bootcamp Business to be successful?
How will you know when your Bootcamp Biz is successful?
What will your Bootcamp Business look like when it is successful?
How will you feel when you have achieved this?
AND… If you already have a Bootcamp Biz that is successful and don’t feel the need to answer these questions… answer this one
What can you do NOW to make your Bootcamp Business even more successful than it already is and how will it benefit you and your clients?
Adam Toohey is a Certified NLP Practitioner and is owner/operator of Toronto Fit Body Bootcamp. (Plus he’s one hell-of-a nice guy)
The power of the MIND! Great probing questions!!
Comment by Steve Auxier — November 19, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Thanks Steve and Thanks Adam!
Great Post Man! I’ve recently been doing a lot of reading on this stuff and it’s AMAZING! Once you start seeing it in action it blows your mind how oblivious we can be to it.
Love the quality questions approach and will definitely be adding a few more questions to my questionaire.
Here are my answers to the 4 Questions Above:
1) My Boot Camp will be ultimately successful when we consistently deliver a truly life altering, happiness creating service to 1000 people within our community each and every week! We will have the best instructors and programs that provides 100 times the value of what the program costs.
2) People throughout the community know without a doubt that our boot camps and programs will provide them with the best results possible and we are consistently helping every person who comes in to work with us. Each and every one of our clients is a RAVING FAN and truly Loves Our People, Programs and Company so much that they demand their loved ones come in and work with us because they have such an appreciation for the way we have helped them that they feel obligated to share the experience with the people that they care about most.
3) It will be known as the program that is more than just fitness, that truly provides people with a higher quality of life. Things are run entirely by systems that are efficient and do not need me to function. I trust each and every person that I work with and know that they love our company and love helping people as much as I do.
4) I will feel proud of the fact that I help thousands of people in my community live a healthier, happier life! I will know that what I do truly makes the world a better place and I will do more programs for charity to help the community even more. I will be extremely happy that I know, because I help so many people, I will never have to worry about money and I will be able to provide my family with an Oustanding quality of life. Ultimately, I will feel very grateful for the success of my business and my life. I’ll also be thankful to you guys because you take out all of the guesswork! All we have to do is take action and do what you have already proved works and we can all have massive success! SO THANKS IN ADVANCE!
Again, Great Post Guys! I’m STOKED NOW! We always achieve more if we focus on the Outcomes that we are after! These questions put our focus directly on those outcomes and make it clear how Awesome they are!
Make it An Outstanding Day!
Comment by Brandon Campbell — November 19, 2009 @ 2:05 pm
Great Post!! I will definitely use these questions on my clients. Answering those questions about my own bootcamp biz gave me clarity as well!!
Thanks Adam and Steve!!
Keep up the Great Posts!!
Comment by Chelsa Cooper — November 19, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
OMG – What a fantastic post!! – I can’t wait to change my questionnaire that I had been using with clients and add new questions and rephrase some of the old ones.
It really is about understanding their past experience and their terms of “health and success” because mine may be different. I want them to achieve their goals determined by their definitions of accomplishment.
Thanks so much Steve!! You Rock!
Smiles,
Mak
Comment by Laura Mak — November 19, 2009 @ 4:14 pm
Brandon… AWESOME answers mate.. feels great to get them down doesn’t it? Just something about putting pen to paper or in this case keyb oard to screen. Helps to greatly re enforce your purpose and mission. As you mentioned you are STOKEd so take that feeling and continue using it to better yourself, clients and everybody. Thanks for the good words dude and I’m lovin your enthusiasm. Rock on!
AT
Comment by Adam Toohey — November 19, 2009 @ 6:09 pm
G’day Chelsea and thanks for the good words. Let us know how the questions go. Also ensure you answer them for yourself, that way you have the chance to guide your clients on some of them bcuz you are an example.. sometimes ppl may get stuck on them and if you have done them then you can help lead them to the answers that lie within.
Cheers
AT
Comment by Adam Toohey — November 19, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
Laura,
great to see you’re keen to take some action with the aim of greater helping your clients. We can get so much more out of an answer if we ask better quality questions. All the best and thanks for takin time to chekc out the post.
Steve… let us know if the questions work for you too mate.. not Hochman but the other Steve above
Comment by Adam Toohey — November 19, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
“The map is not the territory” I have had some limiting believes that I have struggled with! The biggest is talking to strangers about my boot camp program. I have had to throw myself in the deep end of the pool and it has been a great experience thus far!
Steve, your blog has had an incredible effect on the quality of my life, big time and I owe you a debt of gratitude your a very inspiring person to “model”
Anywho lets hope richard bandler is right in that if you really ask better questions and think meta you can have some pretty cool life experiences.
Comment by Jeffrey Scot ( J Bomb) — November 20, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
Hey Jeffrey
Kudos to you mate for throwin yourself in the deep end. I totally understand that for sure. Steve and this blog have also given me the kicks in the back side when needed and as we know his energy is infectious.
As for the questions it is truly amazing what we can learn from each of our clients just by asking great questions and really listening to the answers.
All the best Jeffrey
Cheers
Adam
Comment by Adam Toohey — November 21, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
BTW Hochas….
It’s OI! OI! OI!
Not Oye! Oye! Oye!\
Dopey bastard.. LOL
I’ll have to get yhat CD to you ASAP…
Comment by Adam Toohey — November 21, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Hey Adam,
Thanks for asking us these questions – it allows me to be introspective because for the past 2 months I’ve been making excuses and blaming everything under the sun for why things aren’t going well instead of taking charge, taking action, and creating the success of my dreams. And why haven’t I been doing these things? Out of fear – failing, making mistakes, losing money.
Y’know, I’ve had this dream board sitting in a box for a month now. It’s time to take it out of the box and start putting together what my dreams and successes are.
On a side note, I have taken a couple sessions on NLP and I’m also going to be taking my NLP certification in January. I would love to get some additional information from you on how much NLP has improved your fitness business/programs and how you market yourself as a trainer with these credentials?
Thanks Adam and Steve.
-Sara Hutniak
Comment by Sara Hutniak — November 21, 2009 @ 3:40 pm