Training Consultations

GETTING TO KNOW YOU...

Now that we have explored our purpose with clients, how to get them, and how to set prices that will hopefully play a big role in keeping them, we can finally begin to discuss the actual process of training clients.

Before you do any training, you have to get to know your client, what they want, what their limitations are, etc...

Joe describes this as the evaluation/consultation and below are the areas he feels you need to cover in order to do your best:

Evaluation/Consultation

• Goals
• Motivation
• Current nutrition/exercise profile
• Injury, physical/medical limitations
• Marital/Family status
• Financial/Employment status
• Availability

Disclaimer

Be honest from the very beginning with your clients about the work they need to on their own as it pertains to their goals (you will avoid being a scapegoat when clients are not progressing).

Pricing

THE COST OF BEING THE BOSS

We spent this week discussing pricing. Pricing is a very important part of a successful business. Joe explained how you can lose customers right from the start if you don't understand how to set prices correctly.

Here are a few key things to think about when it comes to pricing your service or product:

• Price is determined by market (high income=high prices / moderate income=moderate prices)
• Market is the income, habits, wants and needs of consumers in a specific area
• Offsite training is more expensive than onsite training
• Independent trainers generally make 70-80% of training price after expenses
• Commercial trainers generally make 20-30% of training price set by gym and doesn’t account for taxes being deducted

Client Acquisition & Marketing

HOW TO BUILD YOUR CLIENT BASE

This week the focus was on how to acquire clients through different types of marketing. Below are the main ways that Joe uses and recommends:

Immediate circle (family, friends, members)

• Need to be personable, professional, pro-active
• In a commercial gym floor hours, cold calling, management referrals

Social Media

• Set up a professional branded page for your personal training persona
• Post consistently
• Utilized paid advertising
• Engage with and respond to your friends/followers

Print Media

• Business cards
• Flyers/Handbills
• Posters

Merchandise

• T-Shirts, hats, hoodies etc…

Complimentary Session/Services and Promotions

• 1-3 free sessions depending on circumstances (you have to give to receive)
• Annual, bi-annual, or quarterly promotions are necessary to grow a successful business

Word of Mouth

• Once you have established a good reputation, the recommendations/referrals from your existing clients will always be the primary way you acquire new business

Purpose of Training

PURPOSE

This week I learned what the purpose of personal training really is. In Joe's professional opinion, it means to help people achieve their personal physical goals.

Joe believes this is the most important thing to learn because many trainers focus on what they want or think is best for the clients. However, it has been his experience and observation that trainers who do the best in the business in terms of retaining clients and achieving goals and financial success, are the ones who understand what the client truly wants and help them to achieve it.

It doesn't mean that a trainer shouldn't utilize their expertise to help guide clients in the right direction or help them gain a better perspective of health and physical fitness, but ultimately it is not our place to decide for someone what they want for themselves.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU

As we head into the new year, Joe wanted to discuss the increase in business due to New Years Day resolutions. With the new year comes a natural increase in return and new clients, but it is important to understand that many of these clients will not remain consistent in their training beyond a few months. Therefore, it is important to make sure you maximize earnings from your clients.

Another reality is that people will make resolutions but become frustrated when they do not happen fast enough, which plays a big part in the reason they stop training. However, goals are a good thing to have and if you can help your clients change their resolutions to something more realistic, it can increase the amount of clients who remain consistent.

The SMART goals model is a good way to help clients set more achievable goals.

SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achiveable
• Realistic
• Timely

Using this as a guideline to set goals is a good way to ensure you create goals that you can actually reach.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! Every week I will be posting info, tips, and tricks that I learn from Joe during my internship.

This week as we head into Christmas, Joe shared with me information about training during the holidays. First, overall business slows down during this time period and it's important to save money in preparation. Next, it is a very good time of year to offer promotions and discounts to stir up more business as the new year approaches. Finally, Joe shared with me a list of holiday health tips that he shares with his adult clients.

• Train before holiday parties or dinners.
• Reduce meals or fast until the big event of the day (save your calories).
• Drink plenty of water and eat protein and vegetables before starches and desserts. 

This is just a sample of what this blog has to offer so stick around for more!