Learning from other people’s mistakes is one of the smartest things you can do in business.

So in this post I’m going to ex-pose another very common business mistake that personal trainers and gym owners make when they first start out.

A mistake so common, it has almost become standard indus-try practice.

Now there are two strains of this particular howler – and either one will leave you seriously out of pocket.

Or even put you right out of business.

www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com

ARE YOU MAKING THIS HUGE PERSONAL

TRAINING BLUNDER?

By Garry Robinson www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com

The mistake is assuming your clients only want to train with you for a short time.

That might sound ridiculous, but it manifests in the way some PTs choose to charge their clients. If you are using either of these two common billing methods, then you are making a false assumption that is costing you thousands of dollars every month and throttling your ability to grow:

Billing Method #1 – The session 10-pack Selling 10 packs means that you have already decided subconsciously that you can only offer a short term fix. You are also arming your client with plenty of excuses not to train. Even with an expiration date, chances are that some people will not even use all 10 sessions – or if they do, it will be over several weeks of showing up only once or twice a week at most. What sort of results will that get them? And as their trainer, how will that make you look? Think about it… Do you want to make it easy for your clients to continue to train with you or more difficult? Selling 10-packs makes it incredibly difficult because of the implied assumption that all you have to offer are those 10 training sessions.

Billing Method #2 – The 30-day, 6-week or 3-month ‘Bootcamp Package Deal’ This is a mistake because it creates a situation where at the end of the camp or course you actually have NO CLIENTS – unless you can sell them another package. Again, you are assuming that your clients do not want to join your next camp! When actually the reverse is true! Almost everybody DOES (or should) want to continue. The time you spend signing up the same people all over again would be better spent going out and recruiting new members. No wonder your business isn’t growing as fast as you would like!

What can you do instead? If you are running group PT sessions, consider charging a recurring monthly fee for your services. This doesn’t mean that your clients are tied in to a contract. Or that they cannot cancel whenever they like. It just assumes that they would prefer to continue to train every month – and that is far more likely to be the truth. Automatically charge them an agreed fee each and every month until they tell you not to.

www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com

How much do you charge? I recommend a flat rate of at least $200/month to participate in a bootcamp or group outdoor PT program. It should be higher if you have overheads such as rent or franchise fees. The recurring fee creates an incentive for clients to train with you at least three times a week and will filter out those uncommitted clients who can’t or won’t train frequently enough to get results. It’s tough to turn these people away, especially in the beginning, but we are in a results business – and your reputation is a re-flection of the progress your clients make.

What should you offer? Offer a timetable that has at least 4 morning sessions and 4 evening sessions each week. Tell each client that you expect them to make at least 3 of those sessions. That gives your clients plenty of opportunities to train each week and you can always hire another trainer to run some of the sessions if you are unable (or don’t want) to run them yourself. Of course, you must have already prepared a progressive, structured and varied group PT program such as this one from the Bootcamp Workout Ideas e-manual:

www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com

Note: I can help you with this. The Kaizen Outdoor Fitness Members Website is loaded with over 150 fun and unique group workouts organized into 17 different GPP programs. All done for you.

www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com

Click here to learn more about implementing a monthly member-ship program in your personal training business

http://www.kaizenoutdoorfitness.com/are-you-making-this-huge-personal-training-blunder/

SUMMARY

It is a mistake to assume that clients only want to train with you for a few sessions when in fact the opposite is more likely to be true.

Stop offering 10-packs and one-off bootcamp packages

Put your clients on a recurring, monthly contract that they can cancel at any time

Provide them with an awesome group training experience