NEW GUY. PLEASE HELP!!! - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[davidarcher67]

HI. I am still new here and was wondering what I should charge my clients. I live in rural oklahoma town of ardmore. I want to help people live a healthier lifestyle first and foremost and I dont want to scare people off with high prices yet I dont want to charge to little and have people think I dont know what I am doing. I am certified through US career institute and plan on obtaining other certification soon.
I have been mulling over the my pricing delemma for sometime now. I am confident in my abilities as a trainer, I am 41 years old and have been a fitness nerd all my life. no offense to anyone. I just finally decided to take my knowledge and help others.
Anyway i am just blabbing on, back to the question. Does anyone here have any suggestions about how much to charge per session, or 5 or 10 session package in a small town in oklahoma. Please feel free to give me any and all advice. I can use all the help I can get,
Oh i will be training clients in their homes and outside. if u need more info to help me with this just ask. Thanks guys.
I also want to say that i am glad to be a part of this thinktank, I have been reading alot of posts and they all have been very helpful. especially dave'e in-home equipment check list. thanx dave you let me know that i am on the right track cause i have most of what you had when u started.
Thanx again everyone for all your comments and please someone help out this new guy out.

[megfit]

David,

It sounds like you need to do some local research. We can all tell you what we charge, or charged, but it won't help with YOUR clientele!

I will tell you that when I started, which was offering in-home training (back in 1996), this is how I came up with my pricing strategy (because I didn't know any better): I had read to charge three times the going pay rate for employees for what I was offering. So, I charged $60/hour! And people were perfectly happy to pay that...

But as time went on, I realized I needed to increase. Again, I had no problems getting new clients at the new rate, which first was $75/hour, then $85/hour. For my location, when I started charging $100/hour, the people who called had to think harder and longer and thus I realized I had hit the max for this area at $85/hour. HOWEVER, it literally took trial and error!

And, one last thing I'll mention related to details of the pricing issue: The hardest thing for me was to raise the rates of current clients. However, when I raised it from that initial $60/hour to $75, every single client made the choice to STAY with me, and valued my services even more! I worked hard to make them happy with their decision.

You have to figure out what people are doing right now in your area. Are they going to the clubs? What PERCENTAGE of the population of your town goes to the club(s)? If it's very few, how will you make this idea grow? How many club members hire a trainer there? What are they paying there? How long do they stay with the programs at the clubs? Do they pay for packages?

If you offer in-home training, naturally it will cost them more, so you have to be sure to capitalize on that unique aspect of service. WHY is that of greater value to them?? This is what you have to really tap into. You have to look at all of your services from your CLIENT'S eyes; what's in it for them? What would the CLIENT want? Packages are popular, so if money is tight in your area, you can not only use packages as a selling point, but you can also use packages as a way of offering something of value IF they sign up for this package or that. When I started my training business, I offered the initial assessment/evaluation for free. This was a 2-hour service, which I valued at $200! People LOVED getting a $200 service for free!

So, what would YOU like to offer, in terms of your services? Just because you come up with something at first does NOT mean you can't change it, later. You'll learn what people want. If money is an issue, groups are popular. Neighborhood groups, family groups, etc; what else can you think of?? Contracting with community groups might be something to consider, opening up more possibilities to draw more people.. You really are only limited by your own creativity, David!

Once you have a sense of what people are already paying in the clubs, are there any other trainers in the area going to homes? You need to know who they are, where they go, who their target market is, and what they charge. Literally, you have to know as much as possible about them in order to set yourself apart from them. (Why should people come to YOU instead of them? AND, why should you refer someone to THEM instead of take them yourself?? Whole different topic..) This then brings up competitive research. Yea, it has to be done if you want to start this business and be SUCCESSFUL! (part of the business plan work...)

Where else do your ideal clients spend money? What is the average income you are targeting? What can they afford; where do they spend their disposable income?? These are the things you have to undig in order to answer your question.

Grin; the EASIEST thing to do, if you're not willing to go deeper, is to pick a rate that feels comfortable to YOU! If people call when you start spreading your marketing message, at least you'll know there's an interest. If they hire you, you know your rate wasn't too high. What would feel to low to YOU? Don't go that low, is all! If people call and do NOT hire you (and you keep hearing, oh, I'm not sure I can afford that), then perhaps it's too high.

I mentioned this earlier, today, but I would strongly suggest you check out my book. I think it would help you out a great deal. And, until January 30, the companion ebook is free with the purchase of the book from http://www.californiabasedpublishing.com.

Good luck to you!

Margie

[Christina]

I did not read through all of Margie's post but look on Craig's List and see what other trainers are charging in your general area. Also, since you are in a small town push small group training. You make more, they pay less.

Christina

[davidarcher67]

Thanx guys for the advice. I am beginning to get a good grasp on this.
I am confident I will get clients in my area especially since I haven't seen that there is any others around my town that offer in-home gym. So, I don't have competition here to compare rates.