6 Great Ways to Supercharge Your New Personal Training Career

Transcription

1 6 Great Ways to Supercharge Your New Personal Training Career Here at the Academy of Fitness Professionals we know exactly how it feels to be starting out on the journey of becoming a Personal Trainer. We ve all been where you are today, about to embark on a new career charged with excitement, anticipation and yes, just a bit daunted by the unknown! If you re reading this, chances are you re thinking about becoming a Personal Trainer and would like to discover the secrets our top trainers adopt day in day out. This free guide created for you by our founder Peter Lemon has been tailored to the areas he believes you need to consider the most to truly stand out. Peter continues to be a leading Personal Trainer and has over fifteen years of expertise in his field with his own personal training, nutrition and lifestyle clinic in London. A little about Peter He started out as a part time Fitness Instructor juggling a full time accountancy career. From there he went on to be the highest grossing trainer within a nationwide gym chain before setting up his own private clinic. Today he trains, coaches and consults with a diverse range of clients with varying needs who range in age from 9 to 94 residing across the globe. He also leads our Personal Training courses and regularly teaches and mentors our students. Page 1 of 12

2 Read on to discover: 1. How to set the ball rolling 2. Top tips to build your client base from scratch 3. The benefits of choosing a specialty 4. The wisdom behind client delight 5. Common mistakes and how to avoid them 6. Why it s vital to walk the talk 1. How to Set the Ball Rolling You ll only get out of life what you put in. Do you have a passion for fitness and sport? Are you a good listener? Do you like working with people? Are you a natural coach who can inspire others? Do you enjoy leading a healthy active lifestyle? Are you confident and self-motivated? Page 2 of 12

3 If you answered yes to the above questions you re already on the right track and would make an ideal personal training candidate. Your next step is to choose your personal training course which can be at the certificate or diploma level. Both our personal training courses are recognised by REPs as required for all nationally qualified personal trainers. The diploma consists of nine mandatory units and is the more in depth of the two courses. It contains modules that equip you with enhanced skills necessary for growing your personal training career. Whilst studying we suggest that you start to gain practical experience, for example, shadowing a Personal Trainer, or gaining some work experience in a local gym. If you re willing to volunteer your time and are prepared to put a little leg work in contact local Personal Trainers and gyms and arrange a meeting to discuss possibilities. For the price of a few coffees you ll gain an invaluable insight. Once qualified the most common routes into the profession are to work for a gym or for yourself. Other avenues include working in corporate fitness, on cruises, resorts, spas and even with royal families! From here there are many opportunities to build a successful and profitable business. Common routes to expansion include growing your client base, consulting, writing fitness related articles, employing other trainers and opening your own gym. Page 3 of 12

4 2. Top Tips to Build Your Client Base from Scratch From small acorns to mighty oaks Get selling the business side of personal training is not rocket science. Great sellers are great listeners. They are able to hone in on their clients exact requirements and offer personal training solutions that fulfil their needs. Invest in a few useful texts to educate yourself on proven strategies. My favourites include To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink and Get Clients Now by C.J Haydn. Get marketing - learn effective ways to promote yourself and your service. Remember clients buy personal trainers in the same way people buy people! Trust me, a tried and tested approach is to organise and host presentations to your target audience. This is an excellent strategy for lead generation! Expect rejection and churn a difficult one I know but the reality is for a whole host of reasons you will not be everyone s Personal Trainer of choice. To build a strong client base you need to always have an eye on where your next client is coming from and appreciate that some clients will come and go. Cost your own time properly your personal training business s scarcest resource is YOUR time! Only spend it on areas where you add the most value. Page 4 of 12

5 Be tenacious immerse yourself with people who will support you and always maintain a positive outlook. Set goals to grow your business early on. These might include selling your service at a discounted rate if your client buys a block of 5 sessions, taking bookings for clients who require 2-4 sessions a week and offering a customer loyalty or recommend a friend scheme. Get a mentor seek the advice of someone who has been there before. Personally I had a leading London Personal Trainer as a mentor when I first started out which was fantastic, especially when it came to dealing with exercise selections for certain clients! 3. The Benefits of Choosing a Specialty Stand out in you field of expertise Figure out early on what marketers would call your Unique Selling Point (USP). What is it about YOU that stands out from the crowd as the go to Personal Trainer? Base your decision on a genuine area of interest and need within your marketplace. Great examples include weight loss, post natal, body sculpting and senior fitness. With the ever increasing demand for trainers and the expanse of the internet more and more clients are seeking out specialist trainers and are willing to pay a Page 5 of 12

6 premium for their expertise! Whilst a generic Personal Trainer may charge per hour, a specialist trainer can charge at least double this rate. Choosing to work within a specialty market like client cardiac rehabilitation, for example, positions you as an expert and opens up many avenues and possibilities. The solution you provide is to help the client lead as normal a life as possible post cardiac event and/or post operation. Your role would be to assist clientele who fit the bill with effective exercise program design and coaching generating yourself recurring, financially profitable appointments. 4. The Wisdom behind Client Delight Know your client Even with only one client you need to offer client delight. But what do I mean by client delight? Page 6 of 12

7 Let s take the example of my clinic in London. One of the complimentary items we provide during training sessions is a 250ml bottle of Evian water. Notice I am very particular in brand and volume of the product here! This is because I know that a number of our clients already purchase this particular brand of water and 250ml is usually just enough for most sessions. Some waters are kept at room temperature, others are refrigerated so clients have a choice. The water is one less thing they need to remember for the session, gives a little something extra, and it goes without saying that we all know its merits to our health! If you have one client find out where they shop for clothes. Should that particular client then refer you a new client what better way to delight your existing client than to present them with a small gift card bearing that shops name! Get to know your clients hobbies and interests Client delight is often intangible and comes from the conversations you have. What better way than for these to be tailored to their areas of interest. Take the time to follow the progress of their favourite football team, cricket team etc. These simple gestures go a long way, show you are keen, know your client and value their business. I am sure you can now think of some other excellent ways to delight your future clients. Page 7 of 12

8 5. Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Expect the unexpected Advertising remember what I told you earlier. people buy people? Placing an advertisement in a magazine or paper is a waste of money. It s expensive, faceless and trust me, doesn t work. Cutting Corners building a successful personal training business is about valuing and respecting every client and focusing on their needs, not yours. Take a vested interest in every client and invest time developing a tailored programme that delivers the incremental attainment of goals. Remember clients hire you for your expertise your success is their success, don t forget that. Cash is King you have not sold a single personal training session until the cash is in your business bank account. A lack of cash in your bank can bust even the brightest business. Set aside a regular time each month to audit payments, forecast the month ahead and investigate who your most profitable clients are. Page 8 of 12

9 6. Why it s VITAL to Walk the Talk People buy from like-minded people You are the walking, talking shining example of what your clients are aspiring to be. To become a successful Personal Trainer you need to be eating, living, breathing and exercising this dream. To coin an American term you need to be vital. Being vital basically means that to deliver a truly effective service to your clients you make looking after self a top priority. In short, you re a role model to any prospective and existing client. Setting out your stall in this manner will be one of the reasons why you will see like-minded clients and clients with serious intent start to hire your professional services and stay with you for the long-term. They will tell others about working with you and this will provide a catalyst for growth. Read on and take a look at the case-study below where you ll explore Peter s very own personal story. Page 9 of 12

10 Case-Study Peter Lemon The year was 1998 when my interest in becoming a Personal Trainer began. Once I d chosen my course I decided to contact a local gym chain and request whether the club would grant me access to shadow their Gym Instructors and Personal Trainers. As luck would have it the Fitness Manager gave the green light and I was granted a total of three evening visits to see firsthand what it was like to be a Personal Trainer. Needless to say this opportunity made me realise I was on the right track and more determined to study and qualify in this exciting profession! Soon after I gained my initial qualifications I applied to work in the very same gym as a Fitness Instructor. I got the job and went from there onwards and upwards progressing towards my new career as a Personal Trainer. Building My Client Base I worked hard at building my client base even when I was employed as a Fitness Instructor. By greeting people on the gym floor, assisting members with exercise technique and their exercise programmes I could position members as lead generation for personal training. Once I had a few clients under my belt and made great progress with them other gym members recognised that I had the expertise to make a massive positive difference to the way they could look. My client base snowballed especially after delivering two big presentations to gym members. Setting Up My Own Practice I knew that ultimately I wanted to work for myself and so I decided to set up NutriFit Clinic in London and haven t looked back. There is a real buzz in running your own Personal Training business and no two days are ever the same. There Page 10 of 12

11 are always different clients with new training needs and objectives and I always challenge myself to deliver the very best training solutions to them. I ran NutriFit for a number of years and have a strong loyal client base. Today, I m often sought out by clients with specialist needs such as cardiac and spinal rehabilitation. Training the Personal Trainers of Tomorrow From there I set up the Academy of Fitness Professionals. As I became more and more specialised as a Personal Trainer so people became more aware and sought out my services. I started to be approached by people asking if I could teach them Personal Training and this led me to expanding further to where I am today. To Sum Up I hope you ve enjoyed this free guide, found it useful and are able to go forth and put these strategies into action to supercharge your very own personal training career. My experiences have taught me that there are personal trainers and there are personal trainers. The Academy of Fitness Professionals was created to equip tomorrow s personal trainers with the rights skills, knowledge and advice to set them on the right track to flourish in their chosen career. Should you choose to complete your Personal Trainer course with us we look forward to exploring the topics outlined in this free guide together with new concepts in more depth in our FREE ½ day Business Skills Training. You ll be able to attend this highly informative workshop after the successful completion of one of our personal training courses. Page 11 of 12

12 If you d like to get in touch either with a question or to feedback on this guide, my is info@aofp.co.uk To your successful future personal training career. Peter Lemon Academy of Fitness Professionals T E - info@aofp.co.uk W TheAcademyofFitnessProfessionals.com Page 12 of 12