There seems to be a common misconception that they key method for gym based personal trainers to sign up new clients is to walk the floor and basically hard sell free taster sessions.  The hope being that these can be converted into paying clients.  Although walking the floor is very important, gym users are becoming increasingly savvy as to what is behind the extremely kind-hearted offer from a new personal trainer to give them a free taster.  This is making it increasingly hard to gain new clients this way, this leads to personal trainers having to think of increasingly innovative ways of picking up new clients.

Now don’t get me wrong, being on the gym floor is a vital part in your marketing but your focus should not initially be the sale, it should be the client and building your reputation and brand.  If you walk the floor with the intention of having as many positive interactions as possible, this could be helping a member by offering some advice, to spot them or just a bit of general conversation.  This should be with the intention of building image initially not sales, and if you have a strong image within the gym the sales will follow.

There is an old saying, not sure who originally said it but ‘people buy off those they know, like and trust’.  By having as many positive iterations as possible you are starting to become one of the trainers in they gym that the members know, like and trust.

So how do you go about this, remembering that many gym chains insisting on you maintaining their brand standards and working within very tight marketing rules.

So what ways can you help to build reputation and image within the gym?  Below I have listed and discussed some of what I feel are the key elements of gym floor reputation building.

• Attendance at gym events - many gyms are using a wide variety of events to make the venue more of a social hub.  Common events are based around sports such as tennis, football, etc… Also many gyms hold regular social’s such as curry nights, comedy nights, attendance at these kind of events will help you to build your profile amongst the membership.
• Competitions – are a great way to meet the membership, either by taking part yourself or by organising a competition.
• Walking the gym floor – this old school approach is still very valid, and does help to increase your number of gym floor interactions.  However a massive word of warning, clients are getting very savvy to the whole gym floor sales process so going up to clients offering free personal training taster sessions may make some clients run for the hills.  You should come across as least sales orientated as possible and show a genuine desire to help the client.  This is often remembered and if and when a client is ready to look at personal training they will come to you.
• Inductions - being on hand to induct new members into the gym can again pay off in terms of making that initial connection with a client.  If you have inducted them you are the person that they may actively seek out if they decide to go down the route of personal training.  The induction should be used as a period of time that will allow you to get to know the individual better and in a low-key manner show your skills as a personal trainer.
• PT open evening/day - this kind of event is an amazing chance for prospective clients to meet and sample what personal training is all about.  I have found that if these are run in an informal drop in style they tend to have the greatest effect.
• Class tuition - there is no better way to build reputation within a gym than to have a slot on the studio timetable, this allows you to meet clients who may not generally brave it onto the gym floor, and also allows an opportunity for interested clients to try before they buy and see you in action teaching a class.
• Gym floor classes - by being in front of a group on a regular basis you have the opportunity to get known and prospective clients have the chance to try before they buy.  This also offers you the opportunity to regularly make class attendee offers, such as discounted inital sessions for those who attend your class.
• Charity events - if there is a charity event, such as a 10k in aid of Oxfam, why not offer your time for free to train the group?  This will allow you to get some great visibility within the gym and possibly in the local press.
• Newsletter/blog contributions - many gyms have venue newsletters that are generally written by the manager, if you have a good writing style you will normally have your hand bitten off if you offer to take some of the strain and write a regular column.

There is one major problem with gym floor marketing for the average personal trainer.  As more and more trainers move over to rental style agreements there is a strong incentive to be profitable from an early stage within a gym, this leads to a common personal training phenomenon where trainers start to panic sell.  This is the worst thing ever as clients can normally see straight through your desperation and it can be a major turn off for them.

The key is visibility and reputation, if you become the best known and respected personal trainer within the gym the sales will follow!

ACTION POINTS

• Make  a list of the above approaches that you feel will work for you.
• Write a plan of how you can implement these, with a calendar of events.
• Take action and start to improve your gym floor visibility

Let me know how you go with these!

Tom

I have just finished another amazing book by the great Kesh Patel, Kesh is an awesome guy and really is a master of corrective exercise.  He has studied and worked over the last few years to help individuals at all levels of their fitness, exercise and sport career to improve the level of functionality within their body.  I had a look over his book and I must say i learnt a great deal from it, things that I cam practically put into my own training and also in my personal training of others.

The Complete Guide to Postural Training,  is part of the long-standing A&C Black series that is aimed at both fitness professionals and also interested individuals. The book is aimed at a non technical market, so if you do not know the first thing about sports science or if you do but want a simple guide to get you started in the world of postural training this is the book for you. The book like all The Complete Guide to… Series is extremely well thought out and is laid out in an easy to read format.

The book starts off by giving you the important benchmark of what is good posture and why is it so important. It really explains how posture is the basis of all movement and if you have good strong posture then you have good strong movement which in turn leads to an increased strength, increased level of performance and ultimately reduction in injury risk. This concept is the foundation really, we are all aiming for better posture to allow better movement!

The book then moves onto detail a number of training plans and training ideas to target various postural faults. The book is engaging and is an easy read not getting too technical while still getting across the major points that need to be considered when someone wants to improve their posture and alignment. Most importantly it offers the solutions to the postural problems that we have.

This book is a must for anyone with poor posture or those who are seeking to improve the posture of others!

TOM

Don't be shellfish...

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I have just finished re-reading Kesh Patel’s Corrective Exercise: A Practical Approach, and I must say that it is awesome. For any of you who are unsure of who Kesh Patel is, have a look at our interview with Kesh Patel. To briefly describe Kesh he is one of the industry leaders in the UK for Corrective Exercise and Movement Training, he has had a long history of study, teaching and practical experience in these fields. It is this academic knowledge and his practical experience that makes this book so useful.

The book itself is not a hard read, Kesh has a very good way of taking what at times can be complex topics and making them easy to understand and actionable. The book is built up in stages where he first of all lays the foundations of what correct alignment and posture is, this is vital as this is the base off which all corrections are built off. He takes a great deal of time considering movement, working off the principle that correct movement patterns and alignment will lead to improved strength, performance and reduced injury risk.

The book then moves onto detail how you can assess alignment and then design and implement an effective exercise program to help to correct any deviations. This book is probably one for the exercise professionals out there, but having said that one of my clients who suffers with low back pain borrowed the book and found it hugely interesting and gave him a much better understanding of his condition and the cause of his pain.

In my opinion this book is a must read for anyone working in the fields of corrective exercise and should be one of the foundation texts in this area.

Well worth a read!

TOM

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Last week we looked at how you establish your product range based on your client profile, now for possibly the scariest bit…setting the prices.  It is important that you get this bit right, set your prices too high and it might put off potential clients, set the too low and you are greatly reducing the amount of money you can make (this may effect how well you can pay your bills).

What is my minimum hourly rate?

The first step in considering your pricing strategy is to look at how much you need to earn in order to live a lifestyle you would be happy with.  To do this I advise that you keep a record of all your personal outgoing’s this will give you the minimum amount you need to live.   This allows you to set a minimum earning target, then if you add in the luxuries you would like to it will give you a desired earnings target.  This is the figure you will be aiming for each month.

If you do this as a post tax figure as we are going to consider your expenses and additional later in this article.

If we then do the following as a rough guide:

Decide how much you would like to earn a year. e.g £35,000

Decide how many hours your willing to work a week for the desired earnings target. e.g. 20 per week or 960 per year (48 weeks, so you get 4 weeks off).

If we then work out our minimum hourly rate to achieve this £35,000 / 960 = £36.45 per hour.

You then need to have a rough idea of what your costs will be, this is most easily done

What am I and my brand worth?

By this point in the process you will have started to have some ideas of what you envision your brand to be.  Are you aiming at the normal client base or are you looking to be more of a premium product, aimed at a more exclusive client base.  It is very important to do some research into what your competitors both locally and nationally are charging for services of a similar quality standard to your own.  This initial research should give you a rough idea of what your price range should be.

Setting your prices (scary)!

So now is the time to make that scary decision to set a price range for your products, to do this effectively you need to take into account, these include:-

• Your minimum hourly rate
• Your costs
• Your competitors pricing (based on like for like level of service)

Remember that it is always easier to lower prices than increase them, but ideally you will set your price point at a level that will allow you to make a decent profit and also gain and maintain a decent market share.

ACTION POINTS

• Identify your minimum earnings target and your desired earnings target.
• Set your prices for you services, products and packages.

The next step will be to look at how to market yourself, this will be split into two part initial aimed at those personal trainers who work on a gym floor and the next for those who are mobile trainers.

TOM

Don't be shellfish...

As many of you know I am involved in the training and assessment of personal trainers and fitness professionals, and have been for a number of years. As many of you know I am a massive advocate of how people can find happiness and financial freedom within the fitness industry, by becoming a personal trainer. They have just launched an amazing scheme that might interest some of you fit pros out there!

Fitness Industry Education is a market leading training company offering a wide range of REPs accredited fitness, nutrition and group exercise courses. Courses can be studied distance learning, attendance or via a number of other formats.

They have recently launched a referral scheme where you can recommend people that you feel would benefit from the training Fitness Industry Education offer (with their permission obviously). It is dead easy, and best of all could make you some money!

The scheme allows you to receive a 10% commission (upto £100) on any purchases that a person you recommend makes, all you need to do is initially register then as you meet people who may be interested fill their details into the on-line referral system. The guys at Fitness Industry Education will do the rest!

For more information follow the link to the Personal Trainer Referral Scheme, or feel free to contact me for more information!

TOM

Don't be shellfish...

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