What am I doing wrong??? I just started working at a new golds gym, as a part time fitness instructor/personal trainer. In order to be allowed to do personal training at this gym,you must work 12 hours a week, as a fitness instructor, at a pay rate of $12 an hour. Now at first this seemed like a good idea as it would give you plenty of exposure to gym members who could potentially become personal training clients. The gym offers a one hour free introductory training session to all gym members who want it. That is my job as fitness instructor. However most people want a total program devloped in that hour. In some cases some members have never touched a weight in there life and the lighest weight on some of the equipment is too heavy. So this means I have my work cut out for me in that hour. I do not want any one to get hurt on my account. So I am quite thorough, in fact it has become a mini lecture on exercise science for each hour session. The problem is no one is signing up for personal training. I cannot surive on $12 hour, 12 hours aweek. What am I doing wrong?
Now I know how you guys feel about personal trainers, and in some ways I agree with that sentiment. I have a BS/MS in exercise science, I was certified as a Exercise Test technologist, A CSCS by the NSCA, and I am still certified as a Diagnostic cardiac sonographer and as a Personal fitness trainer by the ifpa. Do I know as much as Dr Mel Siff or Dave Tate, or Ian King, No of course not, but I have been around the block a few times and I am giving the members my best effort. Still no clients however. Any suggestions???
I think all of the lecturing is scaring them away. Are you telling them things they don’t want to hear? Most people don’t read T-mag, aren’t serious, and don’t want to take the trouble to hear the truth.
In a nutshell, here’s my take. If they were your friend, then what you’re doing is the best thing - trying to teach them about exercise, and trying to make a tailor made program based on their individual needs. But they’re not your friends. They’re business. I know that sounds pretty impersonal, but most will sign up for a year membership to the gym and stop coming after a couple of months. While they’re there, there is a window of opportunity for them to be your client. So what does this mean to you the personal trainer? Sell yourself. Have a sales pitch going. Use that required hour for YOUR advantage, not for the GYM’s. That’s your one hour. Continue to tell them the truth, but only the easy stuff. Again, sounds pretty crappy, but once you have them signed up you can teach them so much more than any of the other personal trainers, so you’re really doing them a favor.
Make them think they need a trainer (and they’ll most likely sign up with you since they don’t know any of the other trainers): “if we had more time I could show you a whole lot more”… “You’ll come to realize that weight lifting and diet are closely related, have you consulted with anyone about diet?”, things like that. Be sure to ask though provoking questions, ask them what their goals are. They make come to realize that they have none and therefore need orientation.
The other trainers are problably in the same situation as you are. Make an agreement with another personal trainer that when you’re showing someone around, when you walk by you’ll introduce them to that trainer, and he’ll do the same for you.
If I was a newbie, and someone started spewing out facts, I’d think he was just trying to teach me to write programs by myself, and I’d probably get cocky and all of a sudden think I was an Ian King after listening to you for an hour. Most newbies want someone to think for them though.
I dunno if any of thats of use to you. Hopefully so. Good luck to ya. As long as you’re not like the other lamer trainers, then you’re all right in my book.
Bill, it sounds like you’re doing okay as far as educating yourself about exercise, etc. goes. In order to improve your business, I suggest you change your focus a bit: study marketing, then market yourself.
Bill,
Simple answer - THE SESSIONS ARE FREE! Those who sign up for these introductory training sessions do so because it doesn’t cost them anything and, no matter how much information you give them, they are not likely to hire you as a trainer. They like free.
It all comes down to Perceived Value. Ever have any no-shows? I did. Since there is no fee, what you offer (in their eyes) has ZERO value! Hell, if you were any good, what are you doing on the fitness staff (their thoughts, not mine).
As long as you share both titles, you will never be successful as a personal trainer. Period. I know because I was in the same situation several years ago. It was not until I read some of Phil Kaplan’s (www.philkaplan.com) stuff that I came to realize what was going on.
Make no mistake, this is a business. The same rules apply. It was scary at first but I dropped my role as a “fitness instructor” and even priced myself ten dollars above what the other trainers were charging. Whammo! I was booked solid in two months and have never looked back.
In the clients’ eyes, if my rates are higher I must be better. My perceived value went from ZERO to $60 an hour. Now, granted, you have to be able to justify you rate (i.e. bring results) but it sounds to me that you love this stuff as much as I do and I am sure that you would be worth it.
Unfortunately, you are hampered by the imposed structure of your facility. So, the way I see it, you have three options.
1)You can stay and “hone your craft”. This is not necessarily a bad idea if you are just starting out and not desperate for money.
2)You could force a change. If you are new you probably don’t have much clout, though. Make a suggestion to separate the fitness staff from the personal trainers. It would help everyone in the long run.
3)Move on. Perhaps you could find a studio where you could work strictly as a trainer.
I hope this helps. I would love to add more but I gotta run. My wife is watching t.v. by herself as I type this. Not good. I already spend to much time on “that damn computer” as it is.
Yeah it’s all sales. You’re probably giving them too much information…Entice them a little bit…Don’t train the entire body the first session just pick a few exercises and get after it. Afterwards sit down with them and tell them after making this investment in their body don’t they think it’s worth a little more money to learn the “CORRECT” way to do things??
Bill… Maybe I can offer you comments from a Newbie perspective, I hope they will help. Last year I joined a gym and got the one-hour orientation from a personal trainer and I didn’t want any personal training. First thing that turned me off: He told me I couldn’t use free weights because that’s for advanced BBers. I was to start with the machines. I had been working out by myself at home with free weights for a year (not experienced by any means) but I can’t use the free weights? I thought he was joking. What he should have said, but didn’t, could have been something like “So many beginners use wrong form if they are not properly trained. Especially self-taught beginners like yourself. It could do more harm than good. I see it all the time. I suggest a couple of training sessions to ensure you’re on the right track” Then, maybe I would have doubted myself and thought that I NEEDED to make sure I was properly trained (instead of thinking the guy was a jackass). 2—He seemed lukewarm in encouragement. If he had GUARANTEED results, I might have taken the bait. I think any kind of guarantee would go a long way. “Do as I say and you WILL see the fastest results. I know all the shortcuts. I see how so many people waste their time in the gym”. Then, I might have thought that I NEEDED to learn how to not NOT waste my time in the gym. Try and create yourself as a NECESSITY for the beginners (in their mind). I walked away thinking “I don’t need this guy”. Also, be sensitive to the fact that some Newbies may be experiencing a bit of sticker shock at first joining a gym and committing to a long membership. Some, are not in the mood to shell out even more money for a trainer. This may seem to go against you but you could play up the VALUE factor of learning the most effective workouts and HOW TO MOTIVATE THEMSELVES to continue so they get more out of their membership (and not give up a few months into it like 90% of the people who join). You could tell them you’ll show them how to be unlike all the gym drones that aren’t getting anywhere, or worse…don’t show up after a few months. People like to be better than the rest. And people are AFRAID of wasting their money. They NEED you to learn how to protect their investment and get the most out of it.
One of my best friends was a personal trainer at the gym I used to work out at. He made a ton of money as a trainer. How? 1) Look the part. He was 6’2 230 w/ single digit bf, 19" arms, long blonde hair, and a year round tan. It didn’t matter that he won the genetic lottery when it came to size, all the guys wanted to look like him and all the women (and i’m sure some of the men) wanted to sleep with him. You’re not just selling what you know, you’re selling what you look like. 2) Have different sales plans for different people. One of his favorite marks was the young guy just starting out with visions of Arnold in his head. For this he used his “potential” sale pitch. He’d run them through all the cardio and machines then with about 10 minute left he’d pull them aside for a little heart to heart. This is obvioulsy paraphrasing, but it goes something like this. “Look, normally i don’t do this, but i feel like we’re both wasting our time. I look at you and i see a lot of potential, and i think all that potential is going to be wasted. You’re new, so the gym wants you on the machines, because they don’t want you getting hurt. But we both know that while machines will get you in shape, they won’t get you big. You want to get big, you have the potential to get big, and i can get you big. I can put you on the right diet, i can tell you what supplements to take, and, most importantly, I’ll get you on the free weights and i’ll get you moving serious amounts of iron. But, its all up to you. You can come in and use the machines and after a while move to the free weights, and in a year maybe you’ll be 5 pounds heavier, that is if you don’t quit before then, like so many others have out of frustration with not making any gains. or, i can train you and I’ll make you work up to that potential and I’ll gaurantee that at this time next year, you’ll have gained 15 lbs of muscle. Its up to you. How much do you want it? etc…” There are basicly 4 catagories of people who will hire a personal trainer i)college aged women, ii) middle aged women, iii) middle aged men and iv) teenagers/men who have never lifted in their life (once a male has read 2 copies of Flex and has benched 135 lbs he feels he knows enough to never need a trainer). have a different sales plan for each one.
3) Always act like you’re fully booked, even if you don’t have a single client. “I wasn’t planning on taking any new clients, because i have the perfect balance. But, its clear that one of my clients doesn’t have the heart or the desire to train properly, so i’m going to drop him . . .” The reason for this is obvious. if you’re in demand, you must be great. 4) get your friends to help out. This may be the most dishonest trick but its damn effective. if i was in the gym and he was showing someone around, i’d walk up and ask when we were going to train together again because i haven’t been growing. i’d then get introduced as a former client and i’d talk about how i used to train with him and about all the success i had. This wasn’t completely a lie, because we used to train together, but i wasn’t a client either.
Thanks for some excellent insights on this problem. I think the comment that the sessions are free is where the key problem lies. The gym members must feel the value of my services are worth zero. This is a real wake up to me and I will present this to the gym manager. I did start with free weights but I could take an hour just to show a person how to squat correctly. So I have drifted to the machine option. I will return to free weights for the clients on Monday. Again thanks for the insight. Bill
reminds me about an earlier thread where the kid gives his out of shape mom advice on nutrition and she didn’t really believe him. So someone said charge her… i guess it really is all about money. good luck.
The genetic lottery, christ I was never in the game. I started at 97 pounds of skin and flab. Yes I was the poster boy for zero genetics. Playing football with my folks in the stands watching, my mom says to my dad, “Whats wrong with his legs” she ment my calves. I have smallish forearms amd calves despite 29 years of training. According to poloquin the polish goverment decided to screen children to see if a particular physical characteristic would determine future success in power sports. Well you guessed it muscular natural forarms and calves were great predictors of strength and size potential. I do weigh about 193 at 5’7". So I have gained over a 100lbs during my training career. Pretend to be booked all the time, another great tip. Keep them coming folks I may be able to make a living out of this after all.
Do you really think PT is a good career? Especially for you? No one buys based on how far you have come, that shit is for the movies. You gotta close membership deals, and sex sells. Attractive (especially female) trainers will do better then most, even if they don’t even workout. If you really want a sales job, do cars or finance. If you can close at the gym (given the picture you have painted for me heer) you can make big $$ on the lot/bank/whatever.