Test-Drive/Trouble-Shooting Packages: As any experienced trainer will tell you, clients stay on with their trainers as much or more for the camaraderie as the results. This is a great time to uncover that “satisfaction gap” (see previous post) and how you’re the person to help them fill it (get your mind out of the gutter). When doing your assessments, question your prospects about their routines, goals, and the effectiveness of their programs. Put signs up around the gym starting a few days out, and when the day comes, go ahead and man that table for a few hours.
The good news is that if you have good ideas to get new clients, management may be willing to help you (they should be – after all, they’re stealing nearly all of your money!!!) Here are a few things that have worked extremely well for me in the health-club environment:įree Body-Fat Promotions: Every one or two weeks, set up a help desk where you’re holding free body-fat assessments for members. So you need to be aggressive in getting clients and filling up your training schedule. Training skills are very important, but the main thing you’re looking to learn here are the people skills that it takes to be a successful trainer. Everyone here is convinced that you can’t make it on your own, and for good reason – that’s why they keep working there! So keep your plans of going solo to yourself, and in the meantime be the leader. Do not believe or buy into anybody else’s negative b.s.
Keep that in mind when you go in – that you’re looking for experience, not a social circle. Yes I have met some high quality people in these gyms, but they are few and far between. Let’s face the facts – major health-clubs are unscrupulous sales factories, and the people that choose to work here aren’t really in a good place in their lives. If you’re slaving in a gym right now or just getting started in training, this post will help you make the most out of the health-club experience so you can exit with the skills necessary to conquer your area once you’re out (and for all of you solo trainers that love to read my blog, feel free to share your own survival tips at the end). This post is here to help – it’s your health-club survival guide. So here’s how I feel about the subject – if you’re gonna to do the time, you might as well do it right! If you’re into that “success leaves clues” stuff, then there might be something to this. Sure, you could get this experience “in the field” by getting and training your own private clients … but if you want more of a structured environment to practice, the gym is ok for a short time.Īnd add to that the fact that practically every successful trainer did start out in a big gym, at least for a little while. They’ll help you gain some quick experience before you make the jump to doing things privately, outside of one of these “fitness factories”. But on the forum, we came to a pretty ironic conclusion – that working at one of these gyms may serve a purpose after all. As you know, this blog is all about getting out of the toxic work environment of the big box-gyms. It’s about whether you should work in a gym to gain experience when you first become a trainer, or if you can just skip this step and go straight to being independent. In particular, all of us trainers on the forum have come to a consensus on one important subject … There’s some good stuff happening over there so check it out. Hey, have you been on the SUPER-TRAINER forum lately? Mar, 2009 by 7Figure Sam in Personal Trainer Marketing, Personal Trainer Sales Systems