Brendan did zero dollars in sales the month before he joined us. Not a slow month. Zero.
His first month in, he booked about 20 calls and closed 15 of them, he believes, selling a $1,500 program to people he messaged on Instagram. He walked through it with one of the guys on my team, and the funniest part is he admits he used to think my client testimonials were paid actors lol.
A personal trainer trying to get online
So Brendan’s a personal trainer up in Minnesota. 22 years old. He described himself as a typical struggling trainer trying to move online, and it just wasn’t working. He was struggling to get leads and struggling with sales. His words were basically a broke online kid trying to make some money.
I know that spot pretty well. From 22 to 25 I made about $2,000 total from my business. Lived with my parents, waited tables, almost quit about six times. So when a 22 year old trainer says he’s stuck, I get it.
The difference is he didn’t stay stuck for three years.
He started 10 days before the month ended
This is the part I like. He didn’t wait for the first of the month or for some perfect plan. A lot of trainers would’ve said eh, I’ll start fresh next month and lost those 10 days for nothing. He said he started the organic outreach strategy as soon as he could, about 10 days before the month was over, and had somewhere around 20 to 30 calls booked by the end of the month.
20 to 30 calls in 10 days, from someone who had zero leads before. No ads. Just reaching out to people on Instagram.
He said he never thought in a million years you could just message someone organically on Instagram, book a call, and sell them a $1,500 program. Never crossed his mind. And I mean, that’s most trainers. They think you need a huge following or a big ad budget before anyone will pay that much. You don’t. You need to talk to people. It shocks me how many grown adults will not send 100 messages a day.
He thought he was good at sales
Brendan said he always thought he was a good salesman. Then he read the script and it completely changed his mind.
This happens a lot. Being likable and being good at closing are different skills. Trainers are usually great with people, they’re friendly, clients love them. But a sales call isn’t a hangout. You need to know what to ask, when to bring up the price, how to get a yes or no decision. The goal is not to force people to do things they don’t want to do. The goal is just to get a decision.
His first month he closed around 15 out of 20 calls. He said people told him close rates are usually way lower than that, but if you have a good script and you do what you’re supposed to do, he thinks your close rate can be phenomenal. His sales took off.
Obviously a close rate like that probably won’t hold forever as volume grows. But that’s a great problem to have. If you’re closing most of your calls, you need more calls. That’s it.
He called me at 19 and said no
Brendan told a funny story here. He said he talked to me on the phone about two years before, right when I started this program. I told him the price and he said, no, I’m 19, I can’t afford something like that.
Then for two years he watched my posts every day. $40,000 months. $10,000 months. Someone selling a $4,000 program.
Two years later he finally joined. And he said the only regret he has is not joining sooner. To this day, it makes me sick to my stomach how much money I’ve lost by not taking action, so I get that one.
I won’t chase you around. It either makes sense for you or it doesn’t. But if you’ve been watching the same results show up for two years and you’re still at zero, that’s a long time to keep watching.
Why he’s staying for the next level
He said he doesn’t want to be stuck where he is. Before, he tried to do everything himself and that clearly didn’t get him far. Having something to follow got him where he wanted to be.
Now he’s on to stuff he never thought he’d touch. Hiring a team for a personal training business. YouTube ads, which he called a whole new ball game. It’s funny because three months earlier he couldn’t get a single sale, and now he’s thinking about hiring.
What I’d take from Brendan
If you’re a trainer at zero, you probably don’t need a funnel or a big following yet. You need to message people, get them on calls, and use a script that actually closes. Brendan started with 10 days left in a month and still booked 20 to 30 calls.
Start today, even if it’s the 20th of the month. Talk to people. Learn to close. Then worry about hiring and ads once the money’s coming in. Simple as that.
Want to know what’s capping your business right now? Take my free 90 Day Ceiling Plan. Answer 18 questions and get a written plan, built on your own numbers, that names the one thing holding you back and what to fix first.
