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“The #1 Way to Attract World-Class Clients” ft. Strength Sensei

Coaches, thought leaders, and expert consultants…

How do you find clients and continue to attract new clients year after year?

I had a chance to speak with Charles Poliquin, aka Strength Sensei, aka the number one strength coach in the world.

He’s been at the very top of the game now for 38 years, coaching some of the most elite athletes on the planet in over 17 different sports.

His clients include Olympic gold medalists, Stanley Cup Champions and NFL superstars, to name a few.

 

 

Recently, Charles’s client Helen Maroulis made history by becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal in wrestling.

With such an impressive roster of clients and equally impressive results, I think the number one question all of us have for Charles is:

“How do you continue to attract world-class clients?”

 

Charles: The best way is to actually get results.

You may start small – you may have somebody win their local championships, provincial championships, state championships, etc.

But the key is to focus on the results. Most people focus too much on marketing but your best marketing is your results. People love to work with people who have a consistent reputation for producing results.

 

Stu: How do you go about helping your clients?

 

Charles: Well, the first thing you have to do is an evaluation. 

I’ve got a battery of tests I do and then I say, “Okay you’re good at this, terrible at this, pathetic at this” – I mean, I don’t mince words (laughs).

And what I do is I establish a plan.

For example, Helen is starting her training for the 2020 Olympic games. What she’s going to do the first year is not what she’s going to do the last year of Olympic preparations.

 

 

What I do is I lay a foundation, and the height of the pyramid is a function of the width of the base.

So the first two years are about building a big base. She’s going up a weight class so she’s got to put on 5 kilos of lean body mass, so that’s what we’ll focus on for the first two years.

 

Stu: So the key lesson here is that you need an easy way to assess the client.

And you were sharing with me earlier that sometimes clients come in with a perception of what they want, that isn’t what they should actually be working towards.

 

Charles: It’s very true. For example, Gary Roberts is a hockey player I rehabbed; he stayed in the league an extra 14 years beyond what he was supposed to.

When he came to see me his perception of what he needed was completely skewed. He thought that my plan for him would make him slower when in reality it made him faster and it went on to extend his career for many years.

A lot of it too, is, people don’t really know where they can go, and my job is telling them “you can do this.”

If you go on my website www.strengthsensei.com there’s an endorsement from Helen and she explains that I’m very strict about certain things.

I tell athletes, “you can fish for somebody every day, or you can teach them how to fish.”

My approach is to teach the athletes ‘how to fish’ so they are independent and they can rely on themselves.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So we’re very structured in what we do.

 

Stu: So there you have it. The number one way to attract clients is to get results. Have an assessement and a clear plan for your clients, and get at it.

Any last words Charles?

 

Charles: Thank you for listening, and I hope to see you on my website www.strengthsensei.com.

 

Your turn:

How do you attract new clients to your business? Let me know in the comments below.