I got hired as a Personal Trainer in the summer of 2011 and I thought I knew a lot, but I didn’t.
I had self-confidence but not the right confidence or knowledge to work with other people. After my two-week training period, which lacked managerial direction and support, I was demoted to front desk. However embarrassing it was for me to do that, I paid my dues and sucked it up for three months, until I was reevaluated back onto the personal training team. Read the full story here.
The journey didn’t end there. I was great with the clients that I had, but I wasn’t great at being the sales person that my corporate gym wanted me to be. After almost two years of being there, I was at risk of getting fired, and I also hated it there. I was making no money and it just wasn’t fun anymore.
I took a huge risk and decided to venture on my own and I started my own business. The first three to six months were scary. I had rent to pay, (2K a month) but I was able to do it because I started fresh and established my business a certain way. With my newfound freedom I could set my own rules and it was great.
Related: My Top Three Tips to Succeed in Personal Training
Building the right kind of rapport with your clients is key. Not everyone is a businessperson, so maintaining and acquiring clients in an appointment-based industry can be difficult. Especially if your product is pricey, you absolutely need to make sure that the product is well worth the price tag. How do you do that? (Download my business tips E-book HERE )
1. Roll out the red carpet for your clients.
Your clients equal your coins, but don’t treat your clients as dollars signs. This will harm your business and your clients will see right through it. Take interest in their life because you SHOULD care. No one is going to keep an appointment with you if they don’t want to spend time with you. So what I’m saying is you need to be cool 😉
2. Realize that every client is not for you.
Whatever you do, Please learn to say no. Taking on a client that you know from the beginning is difficult, or someone that you’re not really feelin’, will come back to haunt you, and can ultimately hurt your business. That word of mouth is no joke. The last thing you want is someone you KNEW was difficult to then bad mouth you on Yelp later, despite knowing you did your job professionally.
3. Look the part.
Invest in your wardrobe. As a personal trainer, I found that because our “uniform” is pretty casual, people would take that to the extent of just rolling out of bed and throwing some stuff on. Meanwhile, I would come in color coordinated, with myLorna Jane fit on and fresh Nikes. Invest in your wardrobe! No matter what industry you are in.
4. Keep learning
When I first started training I thought I knew so much about working out. I didn’t. Lol. So I hung out with other trainers, I hired a trainer, I read books, magazines, went to classes. You will not get better at your craft if you do not learn from other people that are doing better than you.I invested in my business by hiring multiple personal trainers to help me refine my personal workouts and my craft.
It’s easy to get insecure and intimidated by people who are doing better than you, but you will have to suck it up and just show out. Hiring personal trainers and paying for tons of group classes and courses cost me tons of money. In the thousands, but it helped build my confidence, made me more knowledgeable and well rounded.
Related: My Fitness Transformation
5. Network
Go meet other people in your industry. Just because they are competition doesn’t mean they need to be your competition.
It’s easy to get caught up in how much of a boss lady you are. Don’t ever let your head get too big where you think you already know what there is to learn. You don’t want to get to where you want, be too cocky and have your world come crumbling down because you refuse to adopt. Trust me I’ve worked with these types of people that refused to network, branch out, adapt etc and it did more harm than good to their business.
This article was originally featured on You Need Tribe. Read the original here
I’m a California girl living in London
Fitness, Lifestyle,Traveling and Living Abroad.
I’m sprinkling sincerity on it.
