How long does it really take? - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Fitness_Geek]

Hello everyone,
I'm new to this forum, so first I would like to say it's good to see fellow trainers helping each other out.
I wanted to post a question about just how long it takes you to get started as a personal trainer? I've been told that it takes anywhere from 3 months to a year to get a comfortable clientele base at any gym. Most full time trainers I've met have been with most of their clients a number of years.

I'm ACSM certified with an Exercise Science degree, and started last summer at a local YMCA. I worked there and trained a handful of people, most of them with success, until I finally was able to move on and find a gym that offered the opportunity for me to be a *full time* trainer that came with benefits (the YMCA doesn't allow full time or benefits with their employees unless they are supervisors). I've also been doing private training in a small local studio on the side with limited clientele. I've started a new job and I'm beginning to wonder if I'll have any success here.

Is it typical I'm having a hard time getting started? Is it just the recession? Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Dinah]

Hi Fitness Geek and welcome to the ThinkTank!!!

I'm fairly new to the industry myself but I think you are going to find that it will vary based on a number of factors: gym (policies, location, type of clientele, culture, competition with other trainers), the economic climate, your selling skills, motivation, creativity, innovation, confidence and experience etc. There are some that will say that being on your own has been the most fruitful option while some have achieved success in the gym environment.

It sounds like you've already started to make some headway, which is great. I would wait a few weeks / months to assess your success at this new job. Now that you have some experience and success, you should know what you are up against after some time. And since you're getting the exposure to both private and in-gym training, you'll know which world (maybe both) works better for you.

Personally, I am leaving myself open. Currently doing in-home training, but also looking at an opportunity that came my way for a gym. I think as newbies we owe it to ourselves to be open and most importantly, gain as much experience as we can. This is what I keep hearing over and over again will bring you success.


Dinah

[Fitness_Geek]

Thanks for the tips Dinah, I'll keep them in mind. I've recently learned that while I'm a good trainer and can deliver results, I'm not too good of a salesman. I'm still learning that balance of just how much advice I can give people. If they know you're willing to tell them what they need to do, they'll find ways to get it without paying for the service. I had an incident like that where people I was meeting were trying to just buy one session to get what they needed to know and claimed they would call me every so often to schedule a new session and keep getting updated, which is fine, but the "I'll call you when I'm ready" thing never turns out that way.

[Dinah]

Same here -- I need to work on my selling skills, which I forgot to mention as part of our "arsenal" of tools.

Absolutely, people will definitely take what they can get for free. They'll push the envelope until you push back. That's why you have to set the precedent up front. I would even map out what you're willing to give away for free and for the rest it's "well, you'll just have sign up with me and find out!" (or something to that effect.)

Personally, I am leaning toward making it a rule to not sell just one session. I am looking to build relationships with my clients and really get to know them. I think this is the only way it's going to be effective and fruitful for both parties.

Well, I am glad I was able to help and maybe someone else will ring with a bit more experience and pearls of wisdom to share.

[ptjustinbowers]

I would love to push only bulk session packages, but that's not a reality for me. I think we all would agree-- getting a client who is willing to pay for several sessions up front is every trainer's favorite type of client! However, I don't live in a market where personal training is in super demand.

Even these days, people still consider personal training a luxury service. I am trying to break that mold with below industry standard prices and my "pay by the week" price scale, which seems to be working very well. As much as I'd love to only take on clients that pay several hundred or several thousand dollars up front, it's just not realistic if I'm looking to book my schedule full. Yes, pay by the week has its downfalls. i.e. a client can call off and I never get paid for it, but it's a chance I have to take in my market. I do, however, give a discount to those who do purchase bulk sessions.

I've found that as long as I had the appropriate waivers and policies and explain those policies to each client so that they understand, I usually don't have any problems.

Being in the "pay as you go" personal training industry, I have had my share of clients that try to take advantage of the system, so I just implemented new policies and procedures. Is my business practice perfect? Far from it. But it's way better than it was when I first began.

A few things that I do is implement a 24 hour cancellation notice. Most trainers do this, but if the client has paid up-front for their sessions, it's really simple to just subtract that session from their total. I go one step further. I must have voice confirmation with you on the phone every single day before I come to your home. I also must have an updated e-mail address, phone number, and home address. I've never ever ever had to follow through with it, but if someone calls out or no-shows a session, I can then bill them for the missed session, take them off my schedule, and put someone else in that time-slot. PayPal has a great tool called "request money", which sends a person an invoice every few days until the client pays their back-due amount. Don't get me wrong-- I would be just fine without the payment from one session from a past client that I'm never going to hear from again, but every business needs to have its policies and it needs to stick to them.

I used to let my clients get away with murder. Ten dollars short for your session? Ah, don't worry about it! 30 minutes late? Well, let me make some phone calls and push my other clients back so we can still get your entire session duration in. If you do this, people will take advantage of you. It's tough work but I had to wake up and realize that I was running a business. Yes, my business is to help people achieve a better quality of life. But it's still a business, and a business has to make money.

I went from giving away free sessions to just having free 30 minute consultations. If there is time within that 30 minute time-frame to show you a taste of my training style, I will.

I also used to have huge time gaps in between clients. When I first started out, it wasn't that big a deal, but now when I'm trying to leverage my time more toward being paid, I squeeze clients' session times closer together. Since I drive to each of them, this does sometimes backfire as I try to cut it as close as possible for drive time. I will run into weather problems, traffic, etc. But a client will understand if something beyond my control slows me down. I was able to add 2-3 more clients per day to my work day just by tightening up my schedule. 5 minutes here, 15 minutes there, it all adds up! Next thing you know, you have extra time to fit in another client willing to pay you top dollar for personal training!

I have no idea where I was going with this. I hope someone reads this and can take something from it. I apologize if it seems "all over the place"! I need work on staying on topic! Thanks for reading!

-Justin Bowers