Here’s a brief look at the IYCA Young Athlete system –
1) Young Athlete Training SYSTEM, not Training Session
School is a ‘system’ that takes years to go through.
Parents understand that and are more than willing to pay
and commit their kids into a program that develops them
over time and through progressive phases.
This is your selling point for a young athlete.
2) Per MONTH Fee, Not Per Session Payments
Lock the young athlete<,u> in for longer durations by having them
commit to between 4 – 12 month training packages in which
the monthly fee will be significantly less than a per session
rate.
Parents love the ‘price break’ and are more than willing to
keep their kids enrolled in your program.
3) GROUP Training, Not Personal
As I’ve already mentioned, your revenue per session per
young athlete will go down using this model.
But that’s why you must institute a group training system
via a block weekly schedule.
In doing so, your revenue per HOUR increases a great
deal and more than off-sets your per session rate
decrease.
Interested in learning more about this ‘can’t miss’ system?
Be sure to register to attend our International Summit at the
end of this month.
Find all the details here –
http://www.iyca.org/2009summit
What’s your secret to client retention?
Leave your comments below…
This is fantastic advice, for young athletes or for others, such as the cyclists I train. We always learn from you, Brian!
Bob
http://totalcyclingperformance.com/blog/
Brian, how do I explain the monthly rate to my clients? Just yesterday I had a mom saying that her rate was the same for Feb (with 12 group sessions) as for Jan (with 13).
Any advice?
I’m not completely following the price structure; the monthly fee is less than the cost of a single training session? So, if a single session is $75, parents pay, for example, $60/month? If I’m seeing an athlete once a week @ $75, that’s $300/mo. If I switch to $60/mo, I need 5 athletes to make the same amount per month… this seems like it could be a good concept for a program that already has alot of kids involved, but for someone who only has one or two athletes, it may me a tough sell.
Policies and program structure can definitely contribute to keeping clients, but the true key to have young athletes and their parents coming back again and again is the coach (IMO). Show interest in the athlete’s life outside of the training center, foster a mentoring atmosphere, regularly communicate with the parents, and get invited to birthday parties. I think Brian would agree that there are folks out there running solid pricing policies and sound programming, but because they have the personality of a rock OR aren’t well suited to interact with young athletes, their doors are about to close. On the other hand, there are coaches that have no business sense and chaotic customer service, but their businesses are booming because of their charisma and genuine interest in the athletes.