Personal Trainer Business - Attracting New Clients and Keeping Old

Personal trainers always have challenges in front of them. They must   maintain a viable business and continually attracting new clients.  Also once a personal trainer attains good clients then the challenge is to keep the client motivated to continually use the trainer’s services.

The best way to attract new clients is to maintain a good relationship with the clients that now employ you.  The fact that they are pleased with how you are helping them lose weight and tone up tends to rub off in different directions.  They are going to mention your name when other acquaintances and family members begin to take notice.

One essential in keeping your customer happy is to learn to read between the lines.  Some people are very frank and tell you directly why they require your services.  Other individuals may try to cloud the issue.  This doesn’t mean once you realize the real reason they require your service, you need disclose it.  Your reason for getting to the bottom of the matter is so you can do a better job for them. 

Maybe they feel insecure about their physique or they truly don’t understand why every time they follow a weight management plan, it doesn’t work.  Certain people may not be too happy to make such admissions. If you notice their shyness as far as their physical appearance, you may wish to place a great deal of emphasis on the way they affect their stance when performing floor exercises.  If they can stand up tall posture-wise when exercising, this may allow them to stand taller and feel more confident when they aren’t engaged in an exercise routine.

A person who has continued to fail at weight management while still appearing to have done their level best may be quitting programs much too early.   Some individuals do not realize after starting a weight program there is a period of time where their weight basically flat lines. Even though they aren’t eating as much, no pounds or inches will drop off.  However, given time the pounds and inches will start disappearing.  A lot will depend on a person’s metabolism. What they most need is encouragement to continue.

You needn’t disclose the period of dormancy to your client however when they intimate they’ve been doing everything you say and still have had no success as far as weight-loss, take the approach of a health practitioner and review how long they’ve been on the program you’ve provided.  Advise them that this is normal for now.  This is all the more reason to continue to chart the client’s progress with respect to the weight loss. 

People who are successful in business know that the key to prosperity lies in how they communicate with their clients.  In fact, the fitness client will forgo looking at the credentials behind your name and testimonial accolades if they believe first and foremost you are listening to them.

This does not mean that you should not attain the proper certification, or become well-schooled in your profession; simply that good communication is vital for success. If you do not allow your clients to communicate what it is they are hoping to accomplish, you might as well wave good-bye to any future of higher earnings. 

If we were going to look at this idea from a sales standpoint, we'd address the needs of your customer through what is known as consultative selling.  This is a highly effective sales technique. The strategy is to find out what the client is trying to achieve by purchasing your products or services.  Once you have established what it is your client is wishing to accomplish, you go to work designing a program that addresses those needs.

Consultative sales is the perfect strategy for a personal trainer in that they have been trained to customize a nutritional and exercise plan to customer requirements.  In order to make the most out of consultative sales, you'll need to devise a questionnaire or put together a set of questions so you can get to the bottom of what the customer truly wants to achieve.  Once you have established the reason behind the personal training then you can go to work perfecting the customer's idea of what he or she wishes to achieve – as opposed to what your perceptions of their needs are.

For instance you may see an obese client and think they need a plan to drop ten dress sizes. But they may only wish to drop two dress sizes in time for a wedding.

Some questions you may wish to ask your client include: a) What prompted you to require the services of a personal trainer? b) Have you worked with a personal trainer in the past?  If so, how was your experience?  c) What is it you'd like to achieve as far as your fitness objective(s)?  For example:  Are you expecting to acquire muscle tone? Lose weight?  Are you needing training in order to be more effective when participating in another sport? Also, you may ask the following questions: a) Do you have any underlying health concerns? b) When was your last physical? c) How do you rate your current level of fitness on a scale from one to ten with ten being exceptional?  d) Are you currently on a restricted diet? e)  Are there any medications that you are taking that may interfere with intense workouts?

Naturally, you aren't trying to act as the client's physician or give them medicinal advice or even pry into their personals.  Your objective is to find out what you're dealing so that you won't subject your client to a workout that may compromise his or her current state of health. 

If your client does have a present health issue, it may be advisable to proceed with caution and provide him or her with less intense cardiovascular workouts:  again this is dependent on client objectives.  The cautionary advice here though is:  When in doubt—don't.  Your client will recognize your concern.  And a caring communicative trainer makes all the difference in the world.

In order to become efficient in your approach to marketing your services as a personal trainer it is important you recognize how it is your potential niche client may search you out. Naturally, you may be referred by other clients, however, in order to attain referrals, you must first make it known to your niche client you are available. One way to market your services is by way of a website.

You’ll need to include keywords within the content of your site associative with a) Where you conduct personal trainer services; and b) Your area of specialty. Without becoming too involved with the intricacies of Internet marketing, it may be reasoned your client is going to be searching you out by typing in keywords within the search engines relative to where it is they live and what he or she is trying to accomplish. For example, if you are located in Los Angeles, your client may perform a search using the keywords: Los Angeles Personal Trainers. Further, it is even more likely the client may also search by a certain neighborhood as well. Therefore, keep this in mind when composing keyword content for your site.

Also, since the industry, currently, is not regulated there are a good many “so-called” personal trainers “hanging out their shingles” who are not qualified at all to do a good job. Take advantage of the fact that a fair amount of the competition does not have anything to back up their claims of being knowledgeable personal trainers by showing your certifications on your website and also on your off-line print media. Training certifications that have received acclaim within the industry include: ACE, ISSA, and NASM to name a few.

It is good to have a sub-specialty under your belt, especially if there is great demand for it in your area or you believe you can get into certain doors using it. One sub-specialty is assisting women get into shape after pregnancy. Post natal, in this regard, would be your sub-specialty. There are other personal trainers who work with body builders. Therefore, if this were the case, you’d list personal training for body builders as your sub-specialty. In this way, your niche audience knows immediately you are available to help them with their fitness requirements.

Think about the way you are going to conduct business. Many personal trainers bring the fitness equipment to the client’s home. If you do this, you can charge your client a higher rate for the convenience and your client, once he or she has looked around for services, may realize it. By meeting your client at a gym, you can provide a discount: Some people who are one a budget will choose this option.

Provide your prospects with one complimentary workout so they can evaluate the session. Many personal trainers get their foot in the door by using this technique. If your potential client believes he or she can use your services after the workout, you can set up a payment schedule at that time. You can also allow your client to pay for the first session, and if they decide to go with you, you can as a bonus deduct the initial workout fee from the workout bundle purchased.

Lastly, your potential client knows he or she is going to be seeing you two or three times a week for several weeks, so make sure you build a good initial rapport with him or her. You’ll want to make certain the prospect feels you are trustworthy, dependable and likable. Listen attentively to the needs of your client and then address those needs by providing the utmost in services.