TESTIMONIALS
Sure you know the art and science of tness. But, do you know the business of tness
training?I've seen it a thousand times; Great trainer—Bad business person!Running a
business is not unlike designing a program...You have to understand fundamental business
strategies and you have to be able to implement them together into a comprehensive plan
for success. Except your certication course never taught you that part!
Put simply, Jon Goodman's book "Ignite the Fire" tells you everything you need
to know (and nothing you don't) about how to become successful at the business of
Fitness Training. He's provided you with the simple to understand and immediately
applicable strategies proven to help you nd your niche, how to become the trainer
who everyone wants to train with, and how to build a waiting list of clients beating
down your door!
— ,
A look at personal training that goes beyond the textbooks.
—
Goodman shares the secrets of how to land your dream job in tness, build a client
list, and make money in the tness game.
— , - , ,
is book comprehensively covers everything you need to know to be successful in
the eld. All you need to do is apply the information and you'll be well on your way
to a prosperous career.
— , ,
IGNITE THE
FIRE
e Secrets to Building a Successful
Personal Training Career
Jonathan Goodman
INTRODUCTION
It’s now years since I decided to write Ignite the Fire. ere was
no shortage of books on thriving as a trainer back then and there
certainly isn’t now.
So why did the book resonate with so many? I believe that there
are two reasons. e rst is that it was written in an easy-to-un-
derstand manner. e second was the focus on the “so sides” of
training. A program is only as good as your ability to get a client
to do it. I believe that understanding psychology and being able to
build strong relationships with clients – so that you can encourage
a client to want to adhere to a program is your rst priority as a
trainer. Learning how to build a program is your second.
In the three years that have passed since Ignite was originally
published, a lot has changed.
I no longer train clients. Since I published the original version,
my focus has been on learning everything that there is to know
about building ecient business systems and the intersection
between tness, business, and behavioral economics – which you
will learn about in this updated version. (Even if I don’t specically
mention it, almost every system and technique I discuss herein is
deeply rooted in psychology.)
In the three years since Ignite’s original inception, much has
changed in the tness industry as well. One-on-one training has
taken a back seat to high-quality small group training programs,
trends like CrossFit have become a staple, and options for where
and how to train have increased exponentially.
Perhaps the most notable change is that simply providing infor-
mation is no longer good enough to succeed today. If you want to
have an amazing, successful, and fullling career, you must learn
how to position your material and communicate eectively not just
in what you say, but what you write and how you present yourself
as well.
As a result, this revised, expanded, and updated version is a
completely dierent book. e ow is the same in that I’m writing it
for you, my reader, not to impress other tness writers with numb-
ingly-obscure jargon. My only goal is that you enjoy, understand,
and are able to apply everything that I say.
I still talk about nding the right job for you, identifying your
place in this crazy tness world, selling techniques, and developing
beginner programs. In addition, you’ll nd either overhauled or
brand- new sections on everything from creating multiple revenue
streams to using social media to grow your business to living a
fullling life as a trainer. I’m here to help you nd the right balance
for you.
Here’s the unfortunate reality: obesity rates continue to rise
around the world. Fitness is preventive medicine but without count-
less strong providers who operate with passion and integrity on
the front lines, rising health care costs could cripple society in the
not-so-distant future.
Personal training is the most satisfying, exciting, gratifying,
and fullling career in the world. I aim to make it one of the most
protable as well. I’m here for you, bros and “bro-ettes.” Let this
be your guide.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
SECTION : PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
1 So, You’re a Personal Trainer—What’s Next?
2 e Right Fit: Finding Work as a Trainer
3 Set Yourself Apart: Creating your Training Niche
SECTION : WORKING AS A PERSONAL TRAINER
4 You’re in Sales Now: e Art of Selling
5 One on One: Developing Client Relationships
6 Light the Fire: e Excitation System
7 Keep it Simple: e Focus System and Why it Works
8 Fuel for the Fire: Keeping Clients Inspired
9 e Ten Types: Common Client Personalities and How to Work with em
SECTION : GROWING YOUR PERSONAL TRAINING BUSINESS
10 In-house Relations: Working as Part of a Team
11 Get More Green: Making More Money as a Trainer
12 Invest in Yourself: Succeeding as a Trainer
Aerword
Testimonials
SO, YOU’RE A PERSONAL
TRAINER – WHAT’S NEXT?
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
—
It starts with passion.
Passion is what makes the dierence between a successful (and
wealthy) personal trainer and one who fails in this business. I mean
not only passion for training, but the ability to instill that passion
in your clients as well.
Let me explain. New personal trainers sometimes think that
their primary goal will be helping clients reach challenging ath-
letic performance goals, or to get lean, or shredded. And it’s true
that some of your clients will fall into this group. But the majority
of trainers (myself included) work with a much broader range of
clients. ey’re not amateur or competitive athletes and they’re not
striving for perfect, enviable bodies. ey are striving not for per-
fection, but for tness. ey work out to be healthier: to manage
their stress, to lose weight, and to add muscle. ey work out to be
vital and counteract the eects of aging or chronic health conditions.
1
, ·
And ideally, they want to have fun.
ese clients oen lack clearly-dened goals. And that means
they’re not as motivated to train with you as you’d like them to be.
ey’re oen teetering on the fence of deciding whether to continue
working out with you – or to quit. Advanced loading schemes, peri-
odization, and/or complicated programming are unlikely to help
you keep these clients, irrelevant of how good that programming
might be. Let me tell you something. For the majority or your clients,
the quality of the program that you design pales in comparison
to your ability to make your client want to do that program.
Surprised? e fact is that the best and most successful trainers
have a good understanding of physiology, anatomy, and biome-
chanics and they apply their knowledge to workouts. But more
importantly, they instill passion in their clients every single day.
at passion is what sets them apart.
In the best-selling book, e Talent Code, author Daniel Coyle
describes what constitutes a great coach for children. e coaches
that produce the best athletes from the grass roots level are not the
best at teaching skills – they are the best at instilling passion in kids.
Walter Gretzky, Wayne Gretzky’s father, didn’t have the knowledge
to address the biomechanics of Wayne’s slap shot from a young
age. He made Wayne love the game, and that was more important.
Beginning exercisers may not be children, but the same lesson
applies. As a trainer, your primary job is not to teach your client
to activate their glutes. It’s not to have you client perform sets
of reps. And it’s denitely not to “block-periodize” a training
regime. at is the job of physiotherapists, strength and condition-
ing coaches, and athletic therapists. Your primary job is to make
your client excited to work out and to have him or her love every
single workout. at means doing everything you can to help them
identify the real reasons behind why they’re exercising, a concept
we’ll be discussing in detail later on. What might surprise you is
that these reasons oen have nothing to do with the goals they oen
·
name at rst, like losing pounds or running a k race.
With these kinds of clients, you’re not only in the tness business.
You’re in the customer service business. e best training regime is
the one that will work for each client – and the one that will make
clients feel great so they keep coming back.
To help your clients nd their own passion, stay tuned into your
own. Ask yourself questions like:
△ What was your initial motivation for working out?
△
How did you start working out? Did you go to a gym? If so,
describe the rst gym you ever joined in detail.
△ What kept you going?
△ What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them?
△ At what point did you start to feel successful in the gym? How
did that impact your vision of yourself?
△ When was the rst time somebody noticed the changes in your
body? What kinds of comments did you receive? How did that
make you feel?
△
When was the rst time you gave workout advice to some-
body else?
△
Did your motivation for working out change over time? If so,
how?
△ What made you decide to make personal training your career?
△
What kinds of obstacles did you face to become a personal
trainer? How did you overcome them?
△ How do you maintain your passion for tness today?
·
YOU’RE IN SALES NOW
The Art of Selling //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“I nd it useful to remember everyone lives by selling something.”
—
Ask any new personal trainer about his or her biggest challenge, and
it’s likely to be selling. Few trainers start out knowing how to sell, let
alone sell eectively. But once you understand what selling really is,
and how to go about it, I promise you’ll feel more condent – and
more importantly, make more sales.
At its heart, selling consists of two things: understanding your
potential clients and making your skill set meaningful to them. If
you can do that, they will want to work with you, and nobody else.
As a new trainer, you have to be able to market the skills you
have. As you gain experience, you also market the results that you’ve
helped your clients achieve. So, the rst step is to identify what sets
you apart from other trainers, which you learned about last chapter.
You need to know why you’re a better choice than the competition,
and to highlight that for potential clients.
4
·
Complete this sentence: I dier from other trainers in that: _____.
List at least three attributes that make you special. Have you received
training to work with specic groups of clients? Have you lost y
pounds and kept it o through lifestyle changes? Are you knowl-
edgeable about a particular medical condition?
en think about the benets you can provide clients. Be as
detailed and thorough as possible, and don’t worry about whether
those benets are unique to you as a trainer. For example, you can
help clients lose weight, become more toned, add muscle, and
perform better at sports. e more benets you can explain to a
potential client, the more likely a client will respond to one or more
of those benets.
When I was working fulltime as a trainer, I kept a poster on the
wall at my oce that read:
• Optimize your workout time
• Ensure proper form
• Accurate assessment
• Exercise safety through proper
form and adequate rest
• Accountability
• Everybody benefits from a
trainer. The top athletes in
the world still use trainers, so
“knowing enough” to work out
on your own is not an excuse.
• A trainer will push you beyond
your comfort zone while
staying within your limits. You
won’t push yourself beyond
your comfort zone.
• Personalization
• Motivation
• Niche specialties
Cardiac rehab
Older adults
Post-rehab for an injury
Body fat loss
Muscle gain
Improve athletic
performance
Chronic illness (training
with Parkinson’s etc.)
Pre/post natal training
Post-menopausal training
(staving off osteoporosis)
• Improve flexibility with
assisted stretching
• Easy access to a community
and support system
·
I gave potential clients a copy of this list so they can see the
benets of training and what I can help them with. I suggest you
create your own handout with your own specialties to share with
potential clients. e more reasons you can give people to hire you,
the more likely they are to do so.
I started working at Body + Soul wanting nothing to do with the
business end of training. Like many trainers, all I wanted to do was
train clients. I gured that an appointed salesperson would handle
the business aspect and I would stick to what I did best. Fortunately I
quickly realized that sales are integral to being a successful personal
trainer, and that selling doesn’t mean tricking someone into buying
an overpriced product. Selling meant getting a client to want to work
with me – in other words I was the product.
I was selling myself, and I wasn’t overpriced. I knew I oered
value. Selling consisted of educating the client on that value. at
didn’t mean I was eective at the beginning. As a new trainer, I
bombarded a potential client with everything that I knew about
the body and training. Take a client I’ll call Je. My manager had
booked a meeting for me with Je because he had inquired about
training but wasn’t quite sold. He told me that he wanted to lose
some weight, specically around his stomach.
In response, I described my credentials and also noted that his
posture could use some work – a point that I harped on, adding
that I was well-trained in xing posture as well. Je didn’t hire me
and I don’t blame him. Instead of listening to what he needed and
responding to that, I was too eager to talk about myself – why I was
awesome, in my own eyes. In retrospect I did this because I lacked
condence.
Fortunately, one of my mentors explained that I was working too
hard to try and impress clients, and suggested instead that I focus
on educating clients about what specically I could help them with.
·
So let’s talk about a client I’ll call Veronica, who was referred to
me by another client, Suzanne. When Suzanne rst told me about
Veronica, I probed her for more information. Particularly I wanted
to know any reservations that Veronica might have before meeting
with me and any potential limitations.
When Suzanne came into the gym I met her at the door with a
smile and oered her a bottle of water. We went into my oce to
talk even though I already knew what she was going to say. Veronica
had shoulder pain and loved to play tennis. She wanted to lose a bit
of weight. She lived minutes from the gym and didn’t want to
make the drive aer work multiple times a week. She had a trainer
before who didn’t follow up so she had fallen o the training wagon.
Before we met, I’d pulled two articles on shoulder pain for her
from my le. Veronica and I talked about Suzanne and another
client I’d trained who also loved to play tennis. I also educated her
about how I have weekend checkups with program design clients,
which is convenient for clients who live a bit far away, and we talked
about the importance of a weekly email check in on Sunday night to
make sure that she had all materials that she needs for a strong week.
With a bit of proactive thinking, I was able to communicate my
value to Veronica in a way that was specically meaningful to her.
In less than minutes all of her reservations were addressed, and
she hired me.
But in order to communicate value to a potential client, you need
more information about that person. In order to know how to con-
vince them that you can help them, you need to rst know precisely
what they’re struggling with. Knowing that and then showing them
how you can help them is the secret.
So to convince a client of your value, you must gather as much
information as possible about him or her. Find out about past strug-
gles, injuries, goals, and issues, and tailor your services specically
toward that client.
If the client has an issue or injury that you’ve dealt with before,
·
tell him about your experience with his issue and how you’ve helped
somebody with a similar problem. If the client has an issue that you
don’t know a lot about, I recommend you research the condition
and send him information about it to show that you’ll go the “extra
percent”. (Don’t tell him you’ll send reading material – surprise
him. It’s more memorable.)
Clients increasingly want to train with somebody who knows
about their specic issues, and by highlighting your unique quali-
cations (e.g., experience helping slow the decrease in bone density
in post-menopausal women), you may attract clients who otherwise
would be reluctant to walk through your door.
Keep in mind that aer you’ve established your reputation as a
trainer, communicating your value becomes less important. Once
you’ve successfully worked with a number of clients, they’ll go out
of their way to tell friends about you. At that point, new clients
will already be aware of your value and closing the sale becomes
much easier.
Understand your clients and the role you play in their
lives. Educate them about your value using specific
examples and describe how you can help them.
·
DEAN SOMERSET
Dean Somerset is an international
public speaker whose main area of
expertise is injury and medical dysfunc-
tion management through optimally
designed exercise programs. He is also
the medical and rehabilitation coordi-
nator for World Health Clubs.
Growing up in Western Canada, Dean
worked as a sous chef, delivered pizzas,
and had the biggest paper route in town
(his words, not mine). Dean studied kine-
siology with the intention of becoming a
physiotherapist. Aer 3 years of kinesiol-
ogy, he realized he wanted to work with
the full gamut of clients and decided to
become a personal trainer.
After completing his degree, Dean
worked as an independent trainer out of
community centers and people’s houses
for 2 years. For the last 7, he’s worked in a
commercial facility primarily with injury
rehabilitation and medical management
clients.
Dean markets through third party
endorsements, mostly referrals from
medical professionals, and previous cli-
ents. He also maintains a popular blog.
:
Take care of yourself.You’re no good to anyone if you run around like a
chicken with its head cut off and wind up burning yourself out. Your quality
will decrease as the quantity of your sessions increases. Take time to make
sure you work out, rest, eat, and de-load your stresses regularly.
“Sales” shouldn’t be a scary word.Every professional service available has a
fee associated with its delivery, and personal training should be no different.
Build the value far beyond the cost and you will never have to worry about
people objecting to spending money on you and what you can do for them.
Always learn and implement.The ability to transfer knowledge to your
clients is the essence of training. It will help to empower them to take owner-
ship of their fitness program and make you incredibly invaluable to them as
a part of their health care team. If you know more about something than any
other trainer and you put it into action, you will get beer results for your
clients, which will translate into more referrals and a bigger bank account.
ͦ :
“If you care about this profession, show it. You have to treat it like a
business, which means staying organized with scheduling, marketing,
programs, invoicing, and taking care of yourself along the way. Take
regular vacations, get hobbies, and make sure you live a balanced life.”
You can learn more about Dean Somerset
at www.deansomerset.com
·
Aer some requisite small talk, almost every meeting for selling
personal training starts with a variation of one of the follow-
ing questions:
△“How much does it cost?”
△“How oen do I need to see you?”
△“What do I need to do to lose ‘X’ pounds?”
△“I just want a program to do on my own. Can you do that?
Don’t answer the question. Doing so will decrease your chances of
making the sale or disable you from selling a bigger package than
the client initially thinks he wants. Instead, use the -step Selling
Process, described below.
Step 1: Ask, “What is it you want to achieve?”
e client has taken time to come see you. You are in the posi-
tion of power and should be controlling the conversation, not him.
Immediately aer small talk ask him or her, “what is it you want
to achieve?” and shut up. It shis control and focus to put you in
the driver’s seat.
Listen to what the person tells you and take careful notes. (Have
a pad of paper and pen ready. Active note-taking is important in
making the client feel that you care.)
When the client stops talking wait for a count of , in silence.
Usually he will start back up but if he keeps quiet, ask if there is
a specic reason why he is coming to you. Listen carefully for his
emotional reasons for sitting in the chair across from you. Why does
he want to lose pounds? Always remember that emotion is what
drives action and logic justies it.
Once you know what the client wants to achieve, you can sketch
out a path for him.
It’s important during these initial meetings to be quiet and let the
GATHERING AND USING TESTIMONIALS
Want to get more clients? Then you need testimoni-
als. Every trainer should have a binder of testimonials
from past and current client that you continually add
to ready to showcase at any point in time.
In an industry rife with dishonesty and associated
distrust, it’s important for you to have as many “proof
elements” as possible before making a sales propo-
sition. Getting testimonials for personal training is
the best way to do it.
Imagine the power of having a full binder sit-
ting in the waiting room for potential clients to flip
through as they wait for a tour, complimentary ses-
sion, or sales meeting.
One of the factors of self-eicacy (or the belief
that you can achieve a particular goal) is what’s
called social modeling. This is a large contributing
factor to whether a client will make the decision to
purchase your services. You can enhance this belief
by being able to show a testimonial specific to your
potential client.
Ideally you’ll first identify your target client types
(or “avatars”) as detailed as possible. For example:
A 26-year old African-American woman who is 30
pounds overweight. She’s never used a trainer and
is finally looking for some direction aer numerous
failed attempts at the gym. She’s a nurse, so shi work
makes regular sleep and food habits hard to come by.
The above is just an example, but I urge you
to create 3 – 4 of your ideal client avatars. Include
details about their gender, age, fitness goals, occupa-
tion, and challenges. Then you’ll know which aspects
of the testimonial that you want to highlight with
your potential clients who have similar goals and
limitations.
Here’s an example of a great testimonial that I
would show to the client above:
When I started to train with Jon I wasn’t obese, but
definitely had some weight to lose. It’s funny, you
know, I’d been in the gym on and o for a few years
without much to show for it. I didn’t believe that a
trainer would really be able to help me until I had
“worked my way up to it”. I also work shis – sometimes
nights – and don’t sleep well.
What I particularly liked about Jon was that he looked
at me as a whole as opposed to giving me some exer-
cises and counting the sets and reps. It took a bit of
time but he first helped me establish better sleep
habits. Not one to diet, Jon took a look at what I ate
and helped me identify what foods I really loved, and
which ones that I could live without. The result was
an almost immediate weight loss that I’ve kept o. I’d
recommend Jon to anybody.
The above example client and testimonial are
made up but meant to showcase how important it
is to have testimonials specific to your avatar. Notice
how my testimonial shows how all-major reserva-
tions have been solved with my training.
Collecting Testimonials
You can simply ask for testimonials. But there
are strategies that will result in you getting more
eective ones. First, always get permission to use
the testimonial for promotional purposes either in
writing or via email, and keep that on file. Better to
be safe than sorry. If you give the client a form to fill
out, a simple “check box” and place for a signature
with a line allowing permission of use should suice.
The more specific the questions you ask, the
better the chance that you’ll get higher-quality
answers in your testimonial. I recommend creating
a simple document with questions and spaces to fill
out the answers that you simply print and hand to
clients. Be detailed not just in the question, but also
in the length of response that you want. I also rec-
ommend including 3 questions for improving your
business taken directly from Scott Stratten’s book
UnMarketing (the first 3 questions below):
Here’s an example form that you might hand out:
△ What’s one thing that you’d
like me to start doing?
△ What’s one thing that you’d
like me to stop doing?
△ What’s one thing that you’d
like me to keep doing?
△ In 3 sentences or less, can you describe
any reservations that you had before
we started working together?
△ In 3 sentences or less, can you explain how I
was able to help you with your reservations?
△ Can you describe your 1 – 2 top
goals when you started?
△ In point form, can you list your achieve-
ments with training thus far?
△ Is there anything else at all
that you’d like to add?
You can ask for testimonials at any time, but ide-
ally it should be aer at least 2 months of training
with you. Aer a client registers for training, why not
set a reminder in your phone for 2 – 3 months away
to ask for a testimonial? This way you don t have to
think about it. Once your phone beeps, you hand
them the form that I just described. [I prepared a
template of this form for you to use. Download a free
copy at www.theptdc.com/ignite-worksheets/]
·
client speak. Oen, all that I’ll do is ask questions and paraphrase
their answers. Make sure you ask every potential client the following
before moving on:
△ Any injuries?
△ What are your goals?
△ Have you been a member of a gym before?
△ Have you had a trainer before?
△ Why did you quit (or not achieve success) previously?
△ What are your expectations of me?
Pause for several seconds when you think the person is nished
before you begin talking. e air in the room will be more awkward
than when Luke Skywalker found out that Leia was his sister. When
people feel awkward they speak about the rst thing that comes to
mind. Usually the result is for them to give you their deeper purpose
for wanting to exercise.
Step 2: Sell results, not packages.
Once you know what the client hopes to achieve, give them an idea
of a plan. You’re doing it on the spot, so it doesn’t need to be perfect
and you can ll in the blanks later. Physically chart out the plan on
a piece of paper in front of the client explaining – of the biggest
steps. Explain why your plan is specically suited to get them their
results. e plan acts as the logic that will help a potential client
justify his decision to train with you.
Be brief. Start to paint the picture but the details don’t matter
yet. Let the client lead you in terms of how much detail you provide.
I found that some clients were more interested in the physiology
behind adaptation than others. It was impossible for me to gauge
upon rst meeting. So I would ask something like, “Do you want
to know a little about how soreness works and why it is not a great
indicator of how hard you worked?”
·
If the client says “yes,” I’ll explain a bit about Delayed Onset
Muscle Soreness (“”) and how it works. If she isn’t interested,
I’ll leave it and move on. Remember that you’re an expert when
sitting in a sales meeting. If you say that soreness isn’t a great indi-
cator of a good workout and she doesn’t question you, then there’s
no need to explain. Move on.
By the end of stage two make sure the client has a good idea of
what your program for her entails. She should already be imagining
working with you in the gym.
Step 3: Address objections.
e next step is to address any objections the client may have. Say
something like, “What do you think about the plan?” and then
listen to what he says.
It’s rare to make a sale without dealing with objections. Try your
best to tackle them aer the client is already picturing working with
you. When you bring it up now, the client may mention an objection
but, aer already having been sold on your program, will start to
gure out solutions on his or her own. Shut up and let your client
talk through it.
Money (or lack of it) is the biggest objection. Sell value before
you bring up the dollars. e cheapest trainer in the world is too
expensive if the client isn’t yet sold on your value.
If a potential client asks what you charge before you talk about
your value, I suggest gently changing the subject. If the person still
demands to know the cost, tell him or her, but your chances of
making the sale go way down at that point. ere are some cases
where you can’t do anything. Some clients will end up at the cheap-
est facility; shrug it o and rack it up to experience.
Here are some common objections or issues clients have and
how to address them:
△
Lack of time. If a potential client lacks time to train, discuss
·
dierent types of workout routines suited to her goals that will
work within her timeline. For example, if you have a client who
wants to lose fat, discuss metabolic workouts and how much
more “bang for your buck” these workouts will get your client
as opposed to steady-state cardio.
△
A previous injury. Make sure you understand the injury. I keep a
database on the most common injuries I come across. (When I
come across a new injury, I make sure to add it to the database.)
Contained within that database are papers varying in complexity
describing the injury and rehabilitation protocols. If I’m familiar
with the injury, I proceed to pummel the client with knowledge,
so to speak. If I’m not familiar with the injury, I use the line “I
can help you with that.” Either way, I print out some information
for the client on the spot and hand it to her. at shows again
that I’m willing to go the extra percent.
△
A previous bad experience with a trainer. Don’t bad-mouth
anybody. Always give a former trainer the benet of the doubt,
but educate the client as to how you would treat the situation
dierently. Say the client didn’t feel the previous trainer listened
to her; I would tell her I was sorry about that but that as a client,
she can call me during the day or email me any time. I also
remind her that during our sessions (or anytime she sees me
in the gym – as long as I’m not with a client.), she’s welcome to
speak about anything. Whatever the bad experience was, show
that you’re going to deal with it dierently.
△
A know-it-all attitude. A fair number of clients believe they don’t
need a trainer because they “know what they’re doing.” When
I hear something like this, I get a thorough understanding of
a client’s previous and current workouts and goals. I will then
highlight several points where she can improve, and if I can, I
provide the person with research on whatever her goals are (like
hypertrophy, fat loss, or toning). While this person may not hire
·
you immediately, I suggest you stay in contact with this person.
She may wind up approaching you and asking you to train her.
△
Cost. Cost is a dierent type of obstacle. If you have demon-
strated your value to a potential client, cost should not even
be an obstacle. Yes, some people can’t aord a trainer, but the
fact that you’re a little cheaper or more expensive than another
trainer shouldn’t matter. If /hour is too expensive, so is .
But if a client understands your value, she won’t balk at /
hour versus /hour. Other than setting up payment plans
when necessary, I’m against negotiating the price of training.
It’s important to stick to your value, but you can be creative in
making a plan that will work for a client who can’t train with
you as oen. (I’ll give you some examples later in this chapter.)
Step 4: Get the buy-in.
Before bringing up price you should book the person into your
schedule according to the plan you’ve sketched out.Having clients
commit to training times and dates makes it harder for them to balk
at the sale. Author Sheena Iyengar calls this the “foot-in-the-door”
technique in her book, e Art of Choosing. Getting somebody to
commit to you on a small decision increases the chances they will
commit to whatever you propose next.
Now it’s nally time to discuss money.
I suggest you have a professional sales sheet with options:
A cheap option, a middle “good-value” option, and an expensive
option with all the bells and whistles. Basic pricing theory suggests
that options works better than if your goal is to sell people on
your middle price. For example, let’s say your options are:
△ sessions –
△ sessions and assessments – ,
△
sessions, assessments, and massages from the therapist
down the street – ,
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Compared with the rst two options only:
△ sessions –
△ sessions and assessment – ,,
, now seems like a lot of money. e addition of the third
option in my rst example makes the middle price-point seem a
lot more reasonable.
ere isn’t a set precedent for personal training prices. You (or
the gym you work for) set your fees. In this example, the third
package acts predominantly as a reference point. You will nd more
people will now buy the middle package. ere are also people who
want to buy the most expensive thing. So you may as well have a
high-cost option, just in case.
When presenting the packages you can reference back to the
workout you suggested in my second selling personal training step.
I usually give options to the client but show them the sheet with
the rd so they can see the reference point. e conversation would
sound something like:
Sally, you mentioned that you really want to give this your
all and we’ve set some pretty loy but attainable goals of X,
Y, and Z.
In order to hit these goals by the date you mentioned, I’m going
to need you training with me 3 times/week and twice on your
own, where I’ll give you a full plan of what to do. e most
cost-eective option is the 50-pack of sessions and it will take
our training over 3 months to nish. is is more than enough
time to get measurable results.
If that’s too big of a commitment for you o the bat, we also
oer a 20-session package. Please also remember that our
·
sessions are fully refundable so you don’t need to be worried
about getting stuck with a larger package if something happens.
I like to give two options because it makes for a soer sell, and
gives the client a choice. I also remind the client that she can get a
refund if she decides not to pursue training with me.
Step 5: Get creative if necessary.
You won’t always need to use step , but you will have clients that
can’t train with you as oen as your plan requires. at’s when you
get creative to help your clients reach their goals.
For example, instead of giving a client a workout each time she
comes in, you might give her an hour-long lesson in the weight
room so that she is comfortable working out once or twice a week
on her own. Or you might not even be in the weight room. I’ve
taken clients into our conference room to go over their workout
plans. e idea is to provide your clients with the tools they need
to train on their own, if necessary. If your client travels frequently
or has a hard time getting into the gym, consider making online
training a part of your client’s training package.
If your client can’t work out with you as oen as you’d like, tell
her what she’ll be responsible for on her own, and get her to buy into
it. Remember how to manipulate price. is may involve creativity
on your part to make the sale but be careful not to prejudge a client
and always start high. If the client’s goals require her to work out
ve times a week, be honest and educate her about why this is so. I
was always surprised at how oen a client would oer to train with
me more frequently when I had properly communicated what she
needed to do to achieve her goals.
For example, Vlad was a member of the gym who would oen
ask me questions but he never asked to train with me. I always
answered his questions, and was surprised when he nally asked
me to be his personal trainer.
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Vlad was recovering from rotator cu surgery and didn’t have
much money. Having completed physiotherapy, he wanted an exer-
cise routine that he could do three times/week with a focus on
continual strengthening of the shoulder and functional strength. He
couldn’t aord to work with me this oen, but wanted a program
that constantly changed to keep him interested but still focused on
his problem shoulder.
Aer educating Vlad on the necessity of progression, we agreed
to meet once a week for seven weeks. Vlad’s form was already pretty
good, and I was condent that I could show Vlad a movement and
he would be able to emulate it the following week. He also knew
that he could contact me with any questions. I devised a workout
plan for him that included categories:
△ Pull
△ Push
△ Mid-back/shoulder stability
△ Core stability/anti-rotation
△ Core rotation/exion
△ Legs (hip dominant)
△ Legs (quad dominant)
△ Arms
I included four or ve exercises in each group and instructed Vlad
to choose one to two exercises from each category per workout,
focusing on shoulder stability and core strength. Our sessions con-
sisted of making Vlad comfortable with the given exercises, and to
make sure that he knew when the weight was appropriate and when
it needed to be increased.
When we were done, Vlad had the freedom to choose from a
large assortment of workouts. e exercises I included were spe-
cic to his needs and he knew how to progress. I gave Vlad the
freedom and knowledge to make his own workouts within certain
·
parameters, and he got much more value from this plan – yet he was
still able to aord it. He was so happy with his results he wound
up referring his wife and daughter to me for an additional +
sessions.
Be creative. If a client has financial constraints, find a
solution that will work for him and help him reach his goals.
With another client, Lisa, I had to overcome the negative expe-
riences she’d had with other trainers. When I asked her about her
history, I learned that she’d always trained using low weights in a
circuit. She’d been told that it was the best way to fat-burn since
her heart rate would be up the whole workout. Second, none of
her previous trainers had given her detailed instruction, so Lisa
was clueless about how to work out on her own. She’d meet with
her trainer once or twice a week, and then tried to work out on her
own, but she hadn’t achieved the results she wanted.
I developed a plan for Lisa that would enable her to meet her
goals. Her initial goal was to lose pounds, but I wanted her to
put on muscle and get stronger. I educated Lisa on the dierence
between absolute weight and body composition, and told her that
if she was going to train with me, she was going to train like a
power lier. I explained that the added muscle would increase her
(“Basal Metabolic Rate”) and that the workouts would have
a greater (“ermic Eect of Exercise”). e stubborn weight
would come o as a byproduct.
In addition, I told Lisa that I didn’t want to see her every week.
I was going to force her to be self-sucient. I therefore proposed
an arrangement to Lisa where we would meet three times in one
week. is would enable me to teach her enough to feel comfortable
for the next month. I wanted to make sure she never le another
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gym feeling disoriented again. I was always available for questions,
so she knew from the minute she walked into the gym she knew
what she had to accomplish and had already acquired the requisite
self-ecacy to complete the task.
I gave Lisa a power workout that contained fewer exercises for
her to master. In short, I wanted Lisa to feel great doing exercises
in a workout as opposed to feeling confused trying to master +
exercises. So what happened?
In her rst year, she got unbelievable results. She reached her
goal of losing the pounds while eating more than ever (I did get
her to keep a diary and worked with her on making proper food
choices). She’s also incredibly strong, and most of all, Lisa is a much
more condent person in and out of the gym.
All it took with Lisa was a minor push in the right direction. I
listened carefully to what didn’t work and made sure not to repeat
the mistakes. I then devised a program that was completely dierent,
that she could aord, and that I knew she could master. By helping
Lisa become condent and knowledgeable in the gym, I gained a
lifetime client until I le the hands-on training eld.
I shared these stories to remind you that no two clients are the
same. Oen it takes a little creativity to sell clients on training and
retain them. While it would be great if every client wanted to train
with you three times a week for life, that’s not realistic.
Educate and empower your clients. You can create a client
army that will go out of their way to spread the word about
how amazing you are. That’s the key to being a career trainer.
·
:
Trust me. Go through my ve steps for every client and present
whatever option you think is best irrelevant of the appearance, age,
or anything else you know about the potential client.
I’ve trained high school students times/week because they
begged their parents aer speaking with me. I’ve also made the
mistake of prejudging an older client and sheepishly presenting a
cheap option. I found out later he was well o, but had set a prece-
dent of training him once every two weeks. It was impossible to get
them back to training multiple times a week aer that.
You are the product. Believe in its value and learn to communicate
it to a client. Selling personal training is about condence; never miss
an opportunity again.
Not every sale takes place on the gym oor. I’d like to share an
example of how you can nd clients anywhere – if you know how
to sell to them.
Several years ago at a party, I met Je, who suered from chronic
pain. It appeared that he’d been injured working with a personal
trainer months before. Je hadn’t gone back to the gym aer that,
but because he worked in construction, he’d been forced to con-
stantly medicate himself. I asked Je about what had happened
since then, and he told me that he’d quit working with the trainer
and had tried acupuncture and massage therapy on a weekly basis
but that the pain always returned. In addition, Je wasn’t able to go
mountain biking and was afraid to drive his motorcycle. His quality
of life was severely compromised.
Normally I would take notes while talking with a potential client,
but since I was at a party I didn’t have that luxury. I already had
valuable information that I could use to make a sale, though, as he
revealed the following emotional triggers:
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△ He couldn’t do activities that he loved such as mountain biking
and riding his motorcycle.
△ He’d had a motorcycle accident in the past, which le him with
permanent shoulder and knee damage in addition to his lower
back pain.
△ He was well-educated, and appreciated well-researched health
and tness information.
△ His view of trainers had been tarnished as he viewed his previ-
ous trainer as being responsible for his injury. In addition, that
trainer didn’t follow proper programming and Je never saw
any results.
△
Je didn’t want to pay any more money for acupuncture or
massage therapy because it only helped the symptoms, not the
underlying problem. He wanted to address the problem and get
back into shape.
Keeping these factors in mind, I spoke to Je about his previous
experience. I made sure to avoid criticizing the trainer but high-
lighted the importance of proper exercise choice and progression.
We talked about the importance of a building from the bottom up
and having a full dynamic warm-up and mobility work to prepare
for exercises like the deadli. We also talked about the benets
and limitations of disciplines such as acupuncture and massage.
In combination with a proper exercise program, they can be eec-
tive treatments, but they won’t create proper movement patterns or
develop muscle. Finally, we talked about how he would feel when
he would be pain-free and could get back to activities that he loved.
I wanted to make our conversation emotional for him.
We didn’t talk about goal-setting – and because his goal was to
get back to mountain biking, not to bench-press a certain amount,
conventional goal-setting may not have been eective at the time.
I couldn’t give him a timeline because he had not completed an
assessment, and I needed more information about his shoulder
·
and knee issues before I created a plan for him. At the end of the
conversation, I gave him my card and told him to contact me if he
wanted any more information, and asked him for his email address.
At no point did I ask him to train with me or even mention the
gym I worked at. When I got home that night, I forwarded him a
review article on lower back rehabilitation and told him to call if he
had any questions about the article. (Note that I never mentioned
during our conversation that I would send him any info. I made
a note in my phone to send the study to him when I got home.) It
was the extra eort that refreshed his mind about our conversation
the following day and showed him that I was a dierent breed of
trainer willing to go the extra percent.
ree days later, Je called to make an appointment to train with
me. Without selling, I had a committed client. e cost of the train-
ing sessions didn’t matter because he understood the value. When
clients understand your value, they’ll be happy to pay whatever you
charge. On the other hand, if clients aren’t sold on your value, you
could be the cheapest trainer in the world and still be too expensive.
I wouldn’t have said that I could have helped him with his back
pain if I wasn’t qualied to do so. Aer a complete assessment (and
getting medical clearance), we started a plan that included showing
him how to stand, sit, and carry objects properly to reduce pain
while at work and followed that with a focus on getting him strong
in the gym. Within ve months, he was pain-free and stronger than
he’d ever been – and I had another committed client who spread the
word about me.
Without one word concerning sales, I was able to take a client
whose view of trainers had been seriously tarnished and I converted
him into a great client and an inspiring story. Aer we trained
together, he wrote a testimonial that I used to sell myself to other
clients with lower back pain.
Jonathan Goodman loves exercise, hates bad socks, and considers
himself a key lime pie connoisseur.
He is the creator of the Personal Trainer Development Center
(thePTDC) a site that reaches over 2.45 million trainers a year, sold tens
of thousands of copies of his books, training programs, and courses, and
has been featured in Men’s Health, Schwarzenegger.com, Muscle &
Fitness, and Forbes amongst others. Originally from Toronto, Jon
spends his winters exploring the World.
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