Latest / Callum Walker | Figuring It Out / #88 - How to Handle Clients Who Suck the Life Out of You

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#88 - How to Handle Clients Who Suck the Life Out of You · Callum Walker | Figuring It Out

0:03
Callum: If fear is the only thing stopping us from achieving our dreams and we only fear what we don't understand, then the antidote to fear is knowledge. All we have to do is find out who has the knowledge that we need to conquer our fears and achieve our entrepreneurial dreams. My name is Callum Walker, and welcome to the podcast that will help you figure it out and conquer this lonely entrepreneurial journey. Hey, everyone, and welcome to the podcast. Today we are going to be running through why the customer is always right is one of quite possibly the most stupid statements that I've ever heard in my life.
0:42
If you have got clients right now who are kind of sucking the life out of you, who are really kind of taking the joy, the passion, the excitement and the enthusiasm that you once felt around coaching and running a business, then today is effectively permission for you to give a middle finger to your clients. What do I mean by this? Well I think first of all one thing I want to kind of stress on is something kind of weird happens when we sign up a client. And it doesn't happen with all your clients but I'm sure that you definitely have a couple of clients in mind who this does definitely apply to. I know that because it definitely used to apply to me and it creeps in.
1:26
And effectively a really kind of weird thing happens is that you will have some clients and some customers who as soon as they pay for your service, they almost kind of, not necessarily feel like they now own you, but it's almost like they can begin to dictate the process by which something should actually happen. And a really strange thing can actually start to happen, and I know this for myself because I used to do this, Where I'd almost then start to become almost like the beck and call of my clients. Where I would do absolutely everything that I possibly could to ensure that they were happy. To the point that I would actually have some clients who would come to me solely from a place that they wanted to level up their health and fitness, they wanted to get into better shape, they were overweight, they were unhappy and they were coming to me to receive a plan of action and to receive coaching on how to go and do that. It was really interesting because I would have some clients who would basically start to question my methodology.
2:23
They would start to question my way of doing things. And what would happen would be that because I didn't really have the same level of self confidence that I do now as a coach, and also maybe just from an evidence point of view that I didn't have that full evidence that I can really deliver fantastic results to my clients, that I would start to almost kind of pussyfoot around them, I would start to pander to them and allow them to dictate how the coaching process is actually going to go. The thing is that that does two things that doesn't serve anyone. First of all in terms of your client. If you start to bend your coaching process to fit in with what they actually want, what's gonna happen is that they're not actually going to get the result.
3:04
Because if they just keep doing the things that they've been doing, then they're going to keep getting the results that they've been getting. The thing we have to remember is that they have come to us for a result. And this brings me to the most important point which is the second part which is remember you are the expert. You're the person who knows how to get into shape and if you're not currently in shape, get in shape. As a personal trainer, as a coach, fundamentally you have to be in shape.
3:29
I know it can be a little bit of an argument and a debate but you do. I'm a nutritionist. If I was overweight you would not be listening to me. End of story. You wouldn't go to a business mentor for advice who was broke.
3:40
You wouldn't go to a golfer who's a 28 handicapper and worse at golf than you for golf advice. We do need to be a walking advert for the result that we can get someone and for the person that they can become. And that is essential and it is necessary. By making sure that you yourself are a walking advert that I can do what I say I can do, that puts you in that place where you're the expert. We can have clients who immediately pay and they immediately believe that for some reason they're in charge.
4:07
They're paying for a service and they want to be happy and they want to be content. And the key thing is that the way that we're going to actually make them happy, the way that we're going to actually make them content is by delivering a result. And the way that we deliver a result is by going I'm the expert, follow my rules. Do you need to work in collaboration with clients? Absolutely!
4:26
You don't have to specifically say those words I'm in shape, you need to follow my words. But we need to operate with that energy. I had a client, a personal trainer actually who came on my nutrition course and this very very very rarely happened to me. And she basically came onto the course and within two weeks was basically saying the nutritional knowledge that I've got, it doesn't make sense, I don't agree with it and it's not correct. Previously I would have crumbled and previously I'd have been like oh my god, got a client who's not happy, I'm gonna lose a client and I'd really kind of panic and turn into a puddle.
4:58
But I actually went okay that's not a problem, please leave the course. Because I have to be okay with I don't have a nutrition problem. You have a nutrition problem. Not me. Now you've tried your way, that doesn't work.
5:11
Let's try mine. And I learned that through an man called Bob Proctor and he specifically said, he said well you've been trying your way and that hasn't been working and I've been doing my way for quite a long time and that has been working and it's been working with not only myself but with many other people. You can continue trying your way and you'll continue getting what you have got. Or go and try my way and you will get the same results that other people have got and I have got. That energy is so necessary.
5:40
We have to be okay with getting rid of clients like we do. I always say this to all of the coaches who come into my programme that no client's direct debit is worth the price of your mental health. When we're actually bringing someone into your coaching programme, you're not just bringing them into a programme, you're bringing them into the most sacred space that you will ever have available to you which is your head. Because you do have to start thinking about these individuals. We have to get clear on who do we really actually want to work with.
6:10
We do. There's a real kind of argument around you shouldn't really be selective over the people you work with, know they're paying you etc. But for me, I don't want to be paid by people who are going to make my life difficult. Like I have no interest. I value my peace of mind.
6:24
I value the lack of unnecessary difficulty. I value lack of hassle over cash. The people and clients who effectively are like energy vampires and suck the soul out of you, they're not just sucking the soul out of you, they're also stopping you from doing all of the things that can actually go and grow this thing. They take the energy, the vitality, the enjoyment, the passion, the excitement that can come with running a business and take it out of you. And if they're paying you 150, pounds 200 a month, it is not worth that price.
6:55
We need to get clear on that like, right, I actually need to make sure that I say what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Everyone would love to just eat pizza. Everyone would love to just eat ice cream every single time. But we all know that that is not conducive with health and fitness. And again a weird thing can happen where we can actually feel guilty for telling our clients please don't eat the pizza, please don't go out on the lash at the weekend.
7:18
And we can feel guilty for that. And that can come down to a fear of an unhappy customer. And that's where we need to get clear on what is a happy customer. A happy customer is a customer with the results. So we need to make sure that we can actually provide our clients with the coaching and the conversations which can be difficult and are difficult to ensure that they get that result.
7:38
And if you have someone who isn't interested in listening, if you have someone who is constantly moaning at you, if you have someone who really is starting to make you question whether you really do enjoy this coaching process, then get rid of them. They are not worth the energy. They are not. Remember that there are an abundance of people out there who will always need your service. As personal trainers, as online coaches, we should never ever ever ever ever go out of business ever.
8:04
Why? Because as long as there are people who are overweight, unhappy, financially qualified and willing to change, you have a job. So the next time that that scarcity mindset comes in, when you're starting to panic about OMG where am I gonna get my clients from? Go into the middle of a city, go into the middle of a town centre and see all of the people who are spending their money who are overweight and unhappy. That showcases to you that there are people out there who need your service.
8:28
What can drive us pussyfooting around our clients, what can drive us bowing to the demands of these people is a scarcity mindset. If they leave me I don't know where my next customer is coming from. I remember I went to Universal Studios, one of my favourite places in the whole wide world and yes they had a Spider Man shop and I spent a lot of money in that Spider Man shop. I was sat on Pluto and Popeyes barge. So if you ever remember Popeye, Popeye the Sailor Man who for some reason ate a can of spinach and his arms went massive.
8:55
Unfortunately that doesn't happen. Basically it was like a white water rapids thing. And you're on this kind of barge and there's eight people on there. So me and seven other people. I'm in The US.
9:03
It was $300 for a ticket to Universal Studios that day. And on there there were seven other people who were over eighteen stone. And I've been in the health and fitness industry long enough to see when someone is wearing clothing to hide their figure. I could see that there were people there like that. And they paid $300 for a ticket for a day of fun.
9:21
So there are people out there who are overweight, who are unhappy, who do need your help and also have the financial capacity to pay for it. The scarcity mindset of there isn't enough to go around will drive you to bow down to these people who will suck the life out of you and it is not worth it. In terms of the customer is always right, I personally think it's dreadful advice. If the customer was right that we were dealing with, they wouldn't need to be customers of ours in the first place because they would be in shape. So whatever they have been doing has not been working.
9:52
And remember you are the expert. You're the expert. Which is why if you don't feel like you are the expert, then make sure that you become the expert. Make sure that if you feel that your level of nutritional knowledge, that your level of coaching right now is not good enough, go and do something about it. Which brings me to my final part, which is if you do want to level up your nutritional game completely for free, if you do want to actually receive the nutrition education that you should have got from the start, then I've actually got a free nutrition master class which is just for personal trainers.
10:25
One word of warning, it is two and a half hours long. Why is it two and a half hours long? Two reasons. One, you have it for a long period of time to keep going back to. It literally contains every single piece of nutritional knowledge that you will ever really kind of need to know as a personal trainer.
10:39
I lay out a very very clear five step framework which as a personal trainer, if you could only actually learn one core strategy nutritionally for the rest of your coaching career, go all in on that. Why do I know that? How do I know that? Because that is what I have done and it allowed me to be a nutritionist for two elite sports clubs. Also this framework will allow you to get your clients to a place where they can burn 10 to 14 pounds of body fat every twenty eight days while building muscle at the same time without the necessity for MyFitnessPal, without them needing to track calories, count macros, etcetera.
11:12
Think about what would happen if you were able to actually provide that result. How many other coaches can do that same thing? They can't. You will also learn specifically if you have any clients who are stuck, they've been stuck for weeks, maybe even months, and these clients are a little bit different. They're clients who you legitimately believe have been following the plan, on paper they're in a calorie deficit and nothing has been moving, and maybe you're just a little bit worried and you're panicking that maybe they could actually drop off if nothing changes and you're starting to feel that impostor syndrome, that self doubt and that worry that you don't know why they're not making progress, then this training will also reveal to you how you can get any stuck client, any client that you have that is stuck and hasn't been able to make progress for a while, how to break through that plateau and lose between two and four pounds in the next seven days and then go on to continue losing 10 to 14 pounds every twenty eight days.
12:02
And more importantly in terms of breaking through that plateau, they'll be able to break through that plateau without tracking calories, without lowering their calories, without upping their expenditure. Because when it comes to losing weight it is not about getting your clients into a calorie deficit. That is not what this training will show you. And thirdly, it will also give you a three step process to ensure that your clients can actually adhere to the plan. Just click the link below and get access to the Elite Nutrition Secrets Masterclass.
12:26
Now the reason why it's two and a half hours long is because it is not one of those free trainings that the mentors go and put together. The mentors will put together these free trainings which basically is a thirty minute slideshow of me going through here's my client who made $10, here's my client who made $10 and book a call. You've learnt nothing. Whereas this is actually a legitimate educational piece. So if you want access to it, on the link below to get access to that training.
12:48
Never forget, if every one of your clients gave you just one new client, you've doubled your business. Have you got a client who isn't losing weight right now and you have absolutely no idea why? And maybe you're worrying that if nothing changes, they could drop off at any moment? Well, I've got a free nutrition masterclass for you where I reveal the secret nutrition strategy that guarantees that that stuck client loses two to four pounds in the next seven days without lowering their calories, upping their cardio, or even tracking macros. Click the link in the description to get access to the free elite nutrition secrets masterclass and get your client moving in the right direction, stopping them dropping off today.