Attention Personal Trainers!

As personal trainers we are spending most of our week trying to help people get fit, build up strength and lead a healthier lifestyle.

Most likely we’ll be completing anything between 20-40hrs per week on the gym floor or in our own personal training studio.

We spend more time with our clients than we do our friends and family!

It’s therefore super important that we take on clients who are compliant and make our job as enjoyable as possible.

Over the past 5 years, after completing over 7,000 personal training sessions with LEP Fitness i’ve come to realise a few things (which I wish I knew before starting my business!) and that’s why I wrote this post, to prevent you from making the same mistakes…

4 Things Every Personal Trainer Needs To Consider Before Taking On New Clients…

#1 Avoid Energy Drainers…

I remember when I started out as a personal trainer and I would take on anyone and everyone! I was so enthusiastic and I believed that I could transform every single person on the planet!

The harsh reality was that I couldn’t help everyone or save the world from obesity! Some people cannot be changed and all they do is moan! You need to avoid these people or they will sap every ounce of energy from your body. You’ll go home at night feeling like you’ve watched the Titanic (depressed!)

#2 Stick To Your Expertise

What do you specialise in? Is it fat loss, muscle building, endurance training or sports performance? I know it’s difficult when you’re starting out but when you are established and have a solid client base make-sure that you only take on people you can help based on your expertise. Don’t be one of those coaches who is the jack of all trades but master of none!

#3 Don’t Take On Too Many Clients 

I firmly hold my hand up to this. When I started out as personal trainer I would constantly keep looking to take on more and more people. It got to the point where I was doing 60 personal training sessions per week!

I ran myself into the ground and my level of service declined. I decided to cut back my hours and go for quality over quantity. In my opinion 30hrs a week is the absolutely maximum number of sessions a personal trainer can deliver without the level of service declining.

#4 Get Your Clients To Commit 100%

In order to get results and to grow your personal training business you need your clients to fully commit. You want and need your clients to get results, after all results will keep customers coming back for more. You’ll also receive a ton of referrals along the way.

I’m not only talking about commitment to sessions i.e. turning up on time and encouraging your clients to give their best every session, but i’m also referring to get clients to commit to investing in blocks of sessions.

I would never recommend that any personal trainer offer single sessions, unless it’s a 1 off trial session. You need your clients to commit to blocks, whether that’s a monthly payment upfront for 8-12 sessions or whether that’s encouraging them to buy larger blocks of sessions e.g 12-50 sessions. You need to make sure they are fully committed for a set period of time.

From a business perspective it’s also a much more sustainable business model, because you know how many sessions you are doing each month and how long you are booked up for. The way I run my business – it’s a minimum 3 month commitment to training (typically 24-36 sessions).

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you have any questions please leave your comment below and I will get back to you.

Nick