7 Tips on How to Be a Successful Personal Trainer
So I’ve been a trainer for a couple years now, I’ve had the opportunity to meet and help a lot of people. I’ve learned a lot about the profession and I want to share SEVEN tips with new trainers out there as well as any prospective trainers. I hope that the readers will get something out of this and use the information to propel themselves upward in their fitness careers. Alright with that out of the way, here we go.
Putting someone through a workout and programming for them is what separates a “meh” trainer from a good one: Whether your job title is personal trainer or fitness coach or whatever other variant your job is to deliver more than JUST a workout for your clients. If any of my readers are athletes, then they know that there is a MASSIVE difference between working out and training! For those that don’t know the difference, working out is just moving your body and training is moving your body for a specific purpose. And most clients are with you for a specific purpose. Every time your clients walk into the gym they should know exactly what they got going on for the day. Personal Training is expensive, make it worth their money.
Most of your clients have no clue about how nutrition works: This sort of ties in with the above. Just workouts is not going to be enough to get your clients where they need to be, so it’s important to understand the part of the equation that is actually the hard part. That’s right…nutrition. Now I’m not saying dole out meal plans…especially in states where you legally can’t; meal plans rarely work anyway…after the client is done with the “diet” they go back to doing what they used to and rebound. Instead coach them on their nutrition. See how they’re eating by having them log their meals and make adjustments from there. What this does is gives them agency and empowers them to be able to make sound nutritional decisions without the need for ultra restrictive dieting.
The price is the price: According to International Sports Science Association, a single person session for a certified personal trainer in their first year of business should be around $50, yet I see or hear of trainers who only charge $30 or even $20 per session. Guys, I can’t stress this enough, the only thing you’re going to accomplish by doing this is digging yourself in a massive hole and burning yourself out getting out of it. The worst thing you can do is have a race to the bottom. Don’t undervalue yourself and your service, know your worth. As you gain experience and additional credentials, you can start to charge add on fees. And NO you shouldn’t feel bad about it. You are an entrepreneur that sells a valuable service. If you were selling real diamonds, you wouldn’t settle for less than it’s worth right? Keep that same energy!
Sales is a big part of the job:…if you don’t have clients, you don’t get paid. I know a lot of trainers who look at the word sales and they feel gross about it…The thing is, the world is run through sales. You have to make money and feed yourselves and your families, and at the same time you want to be able to help as many people as you can. I imagine that’s why you got into training in the first place, am I right? Well if you never take that first step and put yourself out there, no one can take advantage of what you have to offer, if that happens, you don’t get paid, if you don’t get paid, you can’t feed yourself and your families. If you can’t do that, you can’t help anyone! See how that goes? You have to change your mindset about sales from being sleezy to having the ability to change lives with your goods and services.
Ask for reviews and referrals: Social proof is a powerful tool to be used to get new clients. If someone thinks you’re worth it, then others will too. Later on down the line, you’ll have a full book of clients who are all vying for time on your schedule, this creates demand and since you are only one person with only so much time, that creates a short supply, so what does that mean? It means your time becomes more valuable and you can start charging more for your services. This is what it is to SCALE your business. More on that another time.
Always be prospecting: Whether you’re in the gym or in the grocery store, you should always be on the lookout for potential clients. Remember, PT is a service that anyone can benefit from, so the world is your oyster. Always have your information on hand. You can do this with business cards, social media or however else you can think of to help people get a hold of you. Your clients wont always be your clients so it’s generally a good idea to build a pipeline of potential clients so that when some clients fall off, you have a supply of people to pull from.
Give out FREE sessions or advice: This demonstrates value in the service you provide. It also helps you to build relationships with prospective clients so that if they ever think of wanting to do PT they’ll think immediately of you! Of course the goal isn’t to give them a month’s worth of training or programming but if it takes one or two sessions and a few interactions where you’re coaching their form, then so be it. At the very least, other people are going to see that you are a trainer that actually trains and you will generate some business with that.
Alright readers, I hope you got something out of that. Personal Training is a GRIND but it’s a grind that’s well worth it when it starts to pick up! I’m interested in hearing how you all feel about all of that though. Let me know what you think about all of this and if you have questions, I want to read those too!
