One thing personal trainers struggle with, it getting themselves off the ground by getting personal training clients.
Yesterday we were talking to one of our personal trainers Marcin, who works at our gym.
He was telling us, why he believes he’s doing well in the industry and what he thinks other PT’s could do, to generate more business.
His main points were:
- Be open minded
- Be willing to get your hands dirty
- Not getting roped into social media games
- Never stop learning
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help
- Help as many people as you can
- Be willing to take risks
Being open minded
A lot of PT’s have a certain niche they believe they will work with, once qualified. That may be athletes or young guys looking to add muscle.
However, if you’re not willing to train a diverse range of people, how will ever find your target audience?
When starting out, be willing to train anyone and everyone you think could benefit with your help. You never know, your clientele may be completely different to who you were expecting to work with.
Be willing to get your hands dirty
Many new PT’s don’t like the thought of working in a commercial gym. Yet in our conversation yesterday, Marcin was telling us this was how he built his main client base.
He spent a good 2/3 years helping everyone and anyone that he could. A lot of PT’s are known for sitting around in the office during their shifts. Yet Marcin was out on the gym floor talking to members, building relationships and helping anyone he could.
This won’t make you a lot of money from the start, that’s why he said it was important that he had another job, to keep him afloat, whilst building his business.
Though he said this wasn’t always fun, he said this hard work was crucial in getting his name out their and getting clients through the door.
Not getting roped into the social media games
Social media can be great, but it can also be a hinderance. Marcin has a very low Instagram following, yet the quality of his following is strong.
He uses his social media as a way to keep his clients entertained and for them to refer him out to others.
Everyone that follows him, is either a client or someone who will be a client very soon.
On the other hand most PT’s are playing games to increase their followers.
This could be for example, arguing with others about whether Diet Coke is toxic or not, talking negatively about the industry and other PT’s, making their account about themselves and not their clients, copying the latest fitness influencer post, or following and unfollowing people, to get their follower numbers high.
Though these tactics may boost your following, you will have a low engagement, as most your followers and likes will be from others who are very unlikely to take you on as a trainer, which defeats the purpose.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
He said there’s a trend.
That trend is; that those who aren’t afraid to ask for help, tend to do better.
There’s plenty of help available.
Whether that’s from other PT’s who are doing well, or if you came to speak to us, people are always willing to point you in the right direction.
From there it’s down to you to choose whether to implement that help or not.
Never stop learning
Marcin loves to learn.
Whether that’s going to seminars, doing further CPD courses or having a book on hand.
He’s humble enough to know, he will never be the ‘finished article’ and he’s always able to learn from someone.
He made it very clear though, once he’s learnt something that’s not enough.
He then needs to go action that into his business and get feedback from his clients, then refine as he goes along.
A couple books Marcin recommended were:
- The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Getting Clients and Referrals
- How To Be An Awesome Personal Trainer
- The Daily Stoic
Help out as many people as you can
We understand that once you’re qualified, you want to get paid for your work and you deserve to.
But unless you have made a name for yourself, people aren’t going to be willing to spend their hard earned money on you, when there are other PT’s about.
This is why it’s good to get yourself out there and help whoever you can.
Whether that is someone with a little nutrition advice (within your scope).
Or if you see someone squatting and you think you could add value to what they are doing.
Though this may not generate business today, down the line, who is the first person they will think of, when they are ready to invest in getting a personal trainer?
Also he said if you got nothing to post about on social media or your website.
Use people you know, they don’t all need to be personal training clients. Do a bit of training with them for free, take plenty of pictures and videos. This helps them out and also helps you out with a little social proof.
Be willing to take risks
Most commercial gyms will have you working hours. This is where you clean and do classes. This brings down the amount you pay in rent.
It’s easy to get comfortable working hours and paying low rent. But there needs to be a time where you’re willing to stop doing the hours, pay a higher rent and train more clients.
Though this may sound scary, if you have all your previous systems set in place, this should be the next step and will earn you a greater income. This is because you’ll have enough personal training clients, to compensate for the hours. What’s more once you’re in this potion, they’ll be more than happy to refer you out.
Summary
So after our conversation with Marcin, these are what we compiled as the top tips to get personal training clients.
We hope the summary of our conversation was helpful.
If you need any help you know where we are.
Written by Joshua Forster
