You are passionate about what you do.

After taking the ‘risk’ to pursue your dreams as a coach, with the selfless intent to change lives and share the gift of wellness with others that you’ve found for yourself, you know you are doing what you are meant to do.

And, of course, who could turn such a great gym or personal coaching away?

Everyone wants something like this in their life right?

However, the floodgates just aren’t opening.

You have business cards, flyers in local coffee shops and hangouts, special joining deals, an awesome action that demands ‘calls to action’, and a stack of marketing and business books lining your book shelves—and one always in your hand.

What gives?

Why aren’t people coming? Or why don’t they realize the tremendous value you have to offer? The life change they could be experiencing?

Sighhhhh…

While networking, marketing and building a business is technically NOT defined as ‘rocket science’—sometimes, quite frankly, it seems like it IS.

Stop scratching your head, log off your Instagram for a second, and put the books and TED Talks down. Grab a pen and piece of paper. And reflect on these 4 Basic Ways for Getting More Referrals.

• NUMBER ONE: Be BETTER. It’s no more complicated than that. People refer what they like and what gets results.

• CONNECT. Reach out to your clients and actually nurture them. Do you ask them specifically how they are doing? Do you speak to them or send them mail/email outside of the gym floor that pertains to them, shows them that you care? Do you know what their goals are or what their ‘why’ is behind why they train with you?

• INCLUSIVE. Include your current clients on social media and in digital email send outs. It makes them feel like they are really a part of something great

• LISTEN. The top mistake coaches make: Not listening to your clients Listening can mean listening or listening can mean paying attention to. are you watching them progress (or lack thereof)? Are you paying attention to results, are you assessing, testing, training, and then re-checking the data?

When your client has a concern are you listening to it all of the way through and honestly taking it seriously? You don’t have to take action if their concern is really just their own head trash, but they will build trust in you if you listen, think about it, and then follow back up with them.

Are you listening to yourself as a coach when they are trying to lie to themselves? Are they hurt and trying to deny it? Get them out of the gym for a bit and then help them come back stronger vs. allowing them to keep training hard. Are they emotionally wrecked? Don’t blow their brains up with training when you could pull them back a bit and get them back in a good spot.

All points considered, now it’s YOUR turn to put a plan into action. Start with ONE point—one thing you can focus on this week—to begin honing in on and implementing into your current business marketing and referral strategy.

That may mean taking a good, long hard look at your current process of coaching, intake and running your business. Where can you improve that as a whole?

Don’t have a newsletter or send out regular emails to your contacts? Maybe that means scheduling and writing those one day per week?

It may mean you intentionally seek to connect with your clients—even offering a 30-minute check-in for all members to talk training, goals, lifestyle, etc. Show ‘em you care.

Whatever you decide is going to be your first marketing and referral strategy, write it down on that piece of paper and put that paper in a place you will see it (on your desk at work, your dashboard, etc.).

Commit and focus, implement, refine, add another strategy, implement, refine, and on and on… then stand back and watch the referrals begin to unfold.

Have a tip that’s worked well for you in generating more referrals, more clients, for your business?

Share below for our community of coaches and entrepreneurs to hear about your experience.