A Phone Call I Didn’t Expect

The other day, I was leaving the gym and noticed I had a voicemail from a number I didn’t recognize. Usually when these pop up, it’s some sort of sales call from some supplement company promising me the opportunity to make thousands of dollars if I participate in their pyramid scheme. Other than that, no one really calls me. Do people even talk on the phone these days?

Why, when you can text and Instagram?? Haha, kidding.

 

Anyway, I listened to the voicemail and it was a girl who asked me to give her a call…she had a few questions about my “page”. I wasn’t really sure what that meant, but I figured she had a question about an article of mine or about my business.

 

I was slightly off with that assumption.

 

She did call regarding an article I wrote, but this wasn’t a standard, “So what tempo should I use on squats in Week 3?” kind of a question. In fact, she had read an article I wrote for The Personal Trainer Development Center on picking up personal training clients on the commercial gym floor.

She sounded distressed, and told me she did not know how to approach people at the gym she had never spoken to before, especially while they were working out. She didn’t think people were taking her seriously, as there were already several, well-established trainers at her facility. Her managers were putting some serious heat on her to get clients and it sounded like there was a quota that needed to be met fast.

 

“Do you have any advice for me?”, she asked.

 

At first, I was taken aback.

“Wow, I can’t believe that someone is calling me about how to build their business.”, I thought.

It was only 2 short years ago that I was in a position similar to hers, needing to quickly develop a client base or look for plane tickets to go back to Ohio. And it was only 4 years before that when I arrived at the University of Evansville, ready to reinvent myself from the shy, unassuming person I was in high school.

Suffice to say, I was very humbled.

While we spoke for quite some time, I essentially told her 3 things;

 

#1: Attitude is everything. From what I have seen in my relatively short time in the industry, carrying a “woe is me” mindset and seeking to blame the system doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s kind of cliché, but every day is a new day and another opportunity to DOMINATE. Forget the past, swallow your fear, and do work.

 

#2: Smile and smile some more. It’s not easy going up to someone who is going about their workout and busy with their own thoughts, but charm disarms just about anyone. Smiling can help feign nervousness and put the other person at ease.

 

#3: Focus on the big picture. Nothing great happens overnight and you will make a ton of mistakes. You have to be willing to push, day after day, week after week, and month after month. Those who aren’t willing to do that will fall off. I think I read somewhere that a pretty high percentage of personal trainers leave the industry after 3 years. It’s an incredible field, but I think people are shocked with how much work it takes to be successful.

I told her she was going to absolutely crush it, she just had to believe it. I mean, she called a complete stranger for advice! I think that has to count for something. I know I was impressed by that. She could have taken the easier route and sent an email, but she went for it.

 

We hung up and I told her to let me know how things went. She called back 2 days later and said that the day before, she booked 5 assessments and had a new client that she signed up say, “I don’t care what the price is, just sign me up.”

 

WOW.

I was driving, and I could not help myself from being giddy. She was incredibly thankful. It felt amazing to be able to help someone in that kind of a way.

Toward the end of our talk, she mentioned I should write more articles focused on business and personal development. This is a route I have always wanted to go with the blog, but I got away from it this past year.

After we hung up, I realized something…

THIS IS WHY I WRITE.

I haven’t blogged much in the past year (relative to the amount I was writing before that), simply because I wanted to focus on my continuing education and delivering as much as I could to my clients.

And I don’t talk about religion on here, but I am a Christian and do believe in God. I don’t mean to get all spiritual, but when I had that realization, I felt like God was saying, “You need to make writing a priority again!”

It was a powerful moment. I guess you never know who you could help by just sitting down and sharing your experiences. What if there was no one she found to call? I’m sure she probably would have been just fine, but maybe she leaves personal training after getting frustrated with being unable to build a successful client base? Who knows how many people that leaves out there who could have benefitted from her personal training to accomplish things they never thought possible?

 

That experience definitely made my week. I feel a renewed sense of purpose with my writing and I look forward to helping anyone in any way I can. Speaking of that, I know it’s not common for someone to post their cell phone number plain and clear on their website, but I guess it has served its purpose. Sure, I will get 5 pointless calls a week, but I’ll take 500 to have a call like I did last week. If you have any questions about training, business, and/or personal development, let’s connect and I will do whatever I can.

 

Dominate All Life,

Kasey, CSCS

 

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