Landing new year’s resolution clients is a great way to kick off the new year. But what do you do once they come in the door? How can you turn that client into a long-term relationship or even one for a lifetime?

The new year presents a unique opportunity for us to step outside of those patterns that have held us back and set new intentions, goals, and habits. Think about how much your business could grow by keeping your clients past their new year’s resolution.

Here’s how you can convert those temporary New Year’s resolution clients into long-term revenue streams for your business.

What is a New Year’s resolution client?

There’s no question that the new year’s resolution has lots of staying power. They’re easy to remember, they’re pretty concrete (you don’t have to guess if you met your goal), and they’re not a huge time commitment. Yet, the majority of people who set a new year’s resolution give up by February.

This is what we call a “New Year’s resolution client”. They’re the ones who talk big but fall right through the cracks as soon as Feb 1 comes around.

Why do clients’ New Year’s resolutions fail?

New Year’s resolutions are typically centered around a desire to improve oneself. Most people make resolutions to be healthier, wealthier, or wiser, and will do so within the first few weeks of the year. By February, however, most of these resolutions have fallen by the wayside and are replaced with a new set for the coming year.

Resolutions fail due to lack of commitment and support. Only 8% of people actually achieve their goals every single year. The trick to transforming your client’s resolutions into something permanent. If you can help your clients achieve even one of their resolutions, they will be loyal to you for life.

How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution Clients for Life

Here are some of our tips and tricks to keeping those clients to their word, capitalizing on their resolution, and converting them into a life-long revenue stream.

Determine Their Biggest Issue

Sometimes clients come in saying they want one thing but needing another. Progress is a step-by-step process and identifying what their biggest issue is as well as the steps to eliminate it is your first goal. Ask questions and listen carefully.

That will give you a starting point for helping them make the changes they want. Then tell them why change is good for them in a way that’s relevant to their lives and goal setting. If they’re worried about getting in shape, talk about their health and how it will improve if they lose weight or exercise more. If they’re concerned about losing weight, don’t just focus on the number on the scale; talk about how good they’ll feel when taking hikes with the family and how you can help them change their routine to incorporate weight loss supplements easily.

Make It Personal

Not only does this provide value for your business but making your client’s resolution guide personal makes them feel it more. It’s easy to throw a generic step-by-step guide out the window. There’s nothing that speaks to the client with that. Instead, add a personal touch to how you’ll help your clients achieve their New Year’s goals.

Yes, you will have to offer some valuable advice. A lot of business owners don’t like the idea of giving away free content. Don’t let the ball drop on this one. That initial freebie is what draws them in and makes them want to pay for your service. You’ve proven your expertise and now they want more.

Set the Right Expectations

We’re all guilty of making grandiose claims about what we’re going to accomplish in the next year, but if your clients are new to setting goals, you have to take it slow. If you’re working with someone who has never set a goal before, advise them to start small. Set a goal they can easily achieve that will lead them toward something bigger. Make sure they understand that there will be some setbacks along the way; just because they haven’t done something in the past doesn’t mean they won’t succeed this time around.

Track Progress

Giving clients a way to track their progress will help them maintain their goal. When they’re aware of how far they’ve come, they’re more likely to continue with their new year’s resolution for 2022. In fact, making progress tracking a regular part of their journey and filling it with micro-achievements will help them feel accomplished. Measure their progress and provide relevant, motivating metrics to keep new client’s past their new year’s eve promises.

If you’re promoting a gym, weight loss diet plan, or even upping a client’s social engagement, a progress tracker is one of the best investments you can make towards maintaining a consistent stream of revenue from each client.

Transform a Short-Term Goal into a Long-Term Habit

Again, start out small. If a customer comes in with fitness goals saying they want to gain 50 pounds of muscle or lose 150lb, you need to make sure they know that’s a long-term goal. Instead, start of slow and transform that short-term goal into a long-term habit.

Maybe your client can readily lose 10lb in the next month. That’s a great short-term goal. Then expand on it. This strategy can work for every New Year’s client, no matter the industry.

Stay in Constant Contact

Take advantage of your customers’ ability to spread their concerns across multiple platforms such as social media, email, and phone calls. Maintain communication throughout the process and remind them of their progress along the way. Once they feel as though they’ve accomplished something, walk them through how they can achieve their next goal.

Consistency is key when you are building a relationship with someone. Build a routine where you follow up with your new year’s resolution clients every week, every month, or every quarter. Unless you have a very high-value service like plastic surgery, you will not be able to charge much for these follow-ups because they are so frequent, but the value of these relationships will be priceless when you need them in the future.

You don’t want to lose momentum when it comes to keeping these people engaged, so use the gaps between appointments as a time to ask questions that give you insight into their lives and their goals. Ask them about their progress with their resolutions or if they are still interested in pursuing them at all. This will give you the opportunity to adjust your offering accordingly and stay on top of their needs as they evolve over time.

Provide Multiple Membership Options

If you’re looking to retain your new year’s resolution clients, you have to provide them with multiple options.

What are your pricing options? You can offer a Basic Membership that grants unlimited access to the gym, monthly supply of supplements, or two training sessions per month if you’re a wellness coach/personal trainer/mental health advisor. Then there’s the mid-tier package that includes everything in Basic put with a few perks, like discounts on your other products or more coaching sessions per month or bringing a friend to the gym with you. And then there’s the top-tier membership, where you include everything possible for your client. Or maybe your customers enjoy a simpler pay-as-you-go payment method.

Treat each member individually and determine what type of membership will suit them best. Create perks for each plan that will make them feel special about their decision to commit to your product. The more personalization you can add, the more likely your client is going to stick with you.

Your Customers’ Goals Are for the Long-Term. Get Your Business Prepped to Convert Those New Year’s Resolution Clients into Steady Revenue.

Clients set expectations on an ideal world, not a real world. That can be a punch in the gut if revealed too abruptly. Instead, follow our tips above to keep your new year’s resolution client retention high for the entire year of 2022 and beyond.

With multiple membership options and subscriptions, you’ll need a high-risk merchant account to stay on top of demand from both customers and payment processors. DirectPayNet will connect you with the right processor and acquiring bank to give you all the tools you need to make a big difference in 2022–your year of growth.

Contact us today to get started.