Selling Personal Training

The personal training game is different then it was back in the mid 90′s. Yet 95% of all fitness trainers still do business the “old fashion way”.

See back in the day trainers sold single sessions or small blocks of 4, 8, or 12 sessions at a time. And most trainers only did one on one 60-minute sessions. No one had heard of boot camps, group training or the 30-minute session back then.

But if you want to know how to sell personal training in today’s competitive market, well I can tell you that it’s a whole new animal these days. Today the most successful fitness trainers sell long term, results oriented personal training programs. In fact these same super successful trainers most do 30 minutes sessions or group training.

If you’re ready to stop selling personal training the old fashion way then check out the four rules to remember.

Don’t sell packages. Sell results. Other trainers are in the fitness business, YOU should be in the outcome business. If you’re selling single session or small blocks of sessions then STOP selling right now because you’re doing yourself and your clients a disservice.  Each time your client has to repurchase a personal training package from you is an opportunity to lose the sale. If you know that your clients needs to workout at least 3 days a week for the next 12 months to see the results they want then sell them what they NEED. After all you know best, right?

This video does a really good job at teaching you how to sell personal training without feeling like you’re being pushy.

Selling one on one sessions that are 60 minutes long is a thing of the past. All you have is your time to trade. So the more clients you can deliver results for the better, right? If you’re hell bent on doing one-on-one training still then at least switch to 30-minute sessions. But you really want to t get the most from your business then consider selling personal training programs for group training.

Stop being a bill collector. If you’re not doing EFT (electronic fund transfer) from a credit card each month then you’re selling the wrong way. Stop collecting checks each month. Set your clients on a monthly recurring EFT program and let the billing happen automatically… and you focus on the things you’re good at which is getting your clients in the best shape possible.

Most trainers who start selling personal training gravitate to single sessions or smaller packages because they feel its easier to sell. But the truth is it’s just as easy to sell long term (6 and 12 month) programs as it is to sell a handful of sessions. So rather than having to break a bad habit of selling personal training sessions by the handful, you’re better off jump right into the bigger, more results oriented programs that will give your clients the body they want and give you the financial security you want.

Now, if you want to be competitive in today’s market and at the same time reach more clients then you really should consider offering boot camp based training programs. The BIG benefit to boot camps is that you can change less per client, per month, but make more dollars per hour by training one on many instead of one on one. By doing that you automatically open up the opportunity to market to more people in your community. The other big, make that huge benefit about offering boot camps is that you can control costs and overhead more becuase you don’t need a big staff to training ll of your clients. And when you control payroll, you increase profits.

I hope this article helped you realize that there are two ways to selling fitness. One way makes you a lot more money AND gives your clients better results and the other way keeps you broke.

Bedros Keuilian is a fitness marketing expert and enjoys teaching fitness professionals on how to sell personal training for profits. If you want more clients, better marketing systems, and more freedom then check out these business tools for Starting a Personal Training Business.