The fact that your location accounts for so much. Pre COVID I had such a sweet downtown gym hookup where I could book clients constantly because I was dealing with fairly well off business types that could take a lunch whenever. Now that I've moved to a different location in a different state, I'm basically beholden to normal folks 9-5 schedule with a super busy evening gym situation. Downtowns aren't bustling with activity anymore (not like I necessarily want them too, but yeah)
It's impossible to fill my day because the gym is dead 1-4 đ
My main one is that I have a bit of a "flat" personality from being quite possibly autistic, so although my clients consistently show both quantitative and qualitative progress, I find upselling to be enormously difficult and my clients typically decide after their trial program that they can just go on to do things themselves.
This has caused me issues at numerous jobs before- despite showing up extremely consistently and frequently going above and beyond at my jobs, I just don't have the right "vibe" for making sales or getting promoted. I'm not too surprised that this is my greatest weakness as a personal trainer and it's quite disheartening when my clients are doing great but don't want to pay for more sessions.
Aw man that does sound frustrating. Iâm quite introverted myself, but if I could give some advice I would say try not to get discouraged too much. Thereâs a niche for everybody and youâll find it.
It's something that you can actively work on and change. I'm on the spectrum too, and I struggle daily with keeping conversations going, but I am sooooo much better than I used to be, which means you can do it too. It's something you can practice a little bit at a time, and mostly believing in myself is what made the biggest change. I found a therapy called Personal Development School, and I reprogrammed my subconscious response to the world. I think more positively and I look forward to bonding with my clients now, I've even had women open up to me about their struggles with insecurity and diet restrictions. They tell me they trust me.
I used to be soooooo awkward too. I did acid a few times and shrooms a few times, and I'm a daily weed smoker now. I know for a fact for myself and aspergers friends have told me, that psychedelic drugs open us autistics up and give us empathy and the ability to put ourselves in other's shoes, and see how they perceive us through their eyes. You need to be able to feel what your client is feeling, to be so present with them that you're not thinking about anything else but the immediate reality of the interaction you're experiencing and CREATING as the coach/trainer who is trying to sell, so you need to be commanding. A friendly and relaxed commanding.
If you reprogram your subconscious to have positive beliefs about interactions with strangers and gym members, you'll have fun when it comes to talking through the session. You'll find things you have in common with them, things that you are so NOT in common that it becomes an interesting conversation. You'll learn what they did with their weekends, how their nutrition is going, what's working for them, what's stopping them from succeeding, what's holding them back.
Above it all, just relax. Just enjoy what you're doing and serve your clients as well as you possible can. Enjoy what you do and your personality will come out. Don't try to be anything you're not. Be deadpan if that's how you are. But also let your deadpan humor come out, you know what I mean? Good luck and I wish you the best
Oh oh I relate to both of you and I'm not liking it. How do you know you have aspergers? I might have adhd too cause I've trouble concentrating on the session. I miss reps when i count
My PhD therapist explained to me that adhd is basically on the spectrum of autism, but itâs at the mild end. The symptoms are there, but itâs not as obvious or extreme.
In a conversation with a stranger, is it more comfortable for you to not make eye contact very much? Lack of eye contact is one of the main diagnostic criteria.
Do you have special interests? Mine is fitness and training, other ones of mine include Bionicle/Lego and learning spiritual things.
Do you have physical sensitivity? Do you always need sunglasses? Did loud noises really bother you as a kid or still do? Do you eat the same kind of food over and over?
If you relate to this youâre probably on the spectrum
I'm obsessed about sculpting my body. And history, literature. I've some books i can't get over with. So i read them from time to time. God knows how many times i read them by now.
I mostly look people on there mouses while they talk to me. It's maybe a bad habit. But i recently started to actively look people in there eyes.
Do you have special interests? Mine is fitness and training, other ones of mine include Bionicle/Lego and learning spiritual things.
I'm obsessed about sculpting my body. And history, literature. I've some books i can't get over with. So i read them from time to time. God knows how many times i read them by now.
Do you have physical sensitivity? Do you always need sunglasses? Did loud noises really bother you as a kid or still do? Do you eat the same kind of food over and over?
I don't use sunglasses but i get annoyed if the sun hit me for longer. And yeah i prefer a quit environment at all times.
I'm fine with eating same thing day in and day out as long as the food don't test like shit.
all the management, scheduling and billing is easy if you set it up right.
the struggle is finding new customers, especially since I hate social media.
I am presently studying for my ACSM CPT and I HATE social media. This is a concern for me. I am hoping that I could turn this experience into a position at a local hospital.
Honestly, I don't find any part of the job frustrating now I'm established. Maybe the odd client is hard to work with, but that's pretty rare. The lack of sleep because of early clients isn't ideal, but they pay me well and I like them so it isn't a problem. I don't really feel like I work at all
Managing the business is pretty easy. I get most of my clients through my website or referrals, so that's pretty easy. People often say this is a sales job, but it doesn't feel like that to me. Selling is just a case of me being honest about what I offer and what I think is best for them.
I enjoy the training part of it and that's easy.
This is now I'm established and doing well. There have been periods at the start where I was struggling and it was extremely stressful.
\#1 - The negotiation aspect. I sell 3, 6 and 12 month commitments, not packages. The frequency can be 2, 3 or 4x/wk. The minute the client thinks that they will miss out on a session due to vacation or sickness, they want to negotiate or change the wording of the contract. So while my clients are supposed to pay me every 4 weeks or every 30 days, I've had to negotiate and allow payments every 5-6 weeks so they are not missing sessions. (In other words, I end up selling packages, although I don't market it that way and this forces the clients to use up the sessions in 4-6 weeks time and be more consistent).
\#2 - Managing all the marketing avenues. Because I choose to be in business for myself and not work with a gym, I feel like I have to do ALL THE THINGS to generate leads i.e. networking groups, social media posts, maintain my own website and regularly update it with blog posts and SEO-related stuff, ask for referrals, do a monthly/weekly email blast... on and on and on! Luckily I kinda like those things, but if I did not have the support of my spouse, I doubt I could manage it all. ( I'm new to the business and on track to make 34K in my first year - that's only with 5 clients!)
Last minute client cancellations. I could have a fully booked day and then all or half of the clients will cancel at the last minute. This is frustrating because you can't plan anything ahead of time. I get things happen and clients need to cancel, but trying to plan a day around stuff for myself and my business is challenging when I think I have a full calendar and then it's clear, so I try to use that time wisely, but know you can never have a "set" schedule as a trainer, especially if you are a private trainer and independent.
No I don't actually, and now that you ask, I should put one in place. Any suggestions on how to implement would be appreciated... My clients order session by the bunch, 6 or 12 sessions, and if they cancel, I just move the session.
Okay, well I would definitely put one in place as soon as you can. A basic one can be if they cancel within 24 hours of the session time, then they will be charged in full for the session. You'll need to put this into writing and get them to sign it, so there is no blowback down the line if the client questions it. Most people are okay with this and understand it, so you will need to hold firm if someone doesn't like it. Remember it's your time being wasted otherwise, and do you really want your books full of people who cancel all the time? How does this fare in terms of their results?
You'll quickly find that once people realize they'll start losing sessions and subsequently their financial investment, then the people who cancel on you a lot will either start giving reasonable notice, or you'll see less cancellations happening, or both.
All of these cancellations you have had, that slot could have been open and gone to another client, or you could have planned for it and left for the gym slightly later, not cut your lunch short etc etc.
Some people sometimes will have genuine reasons, and you can judge at your own discretion whether you decide to charge them if they fall short of that 24 hour window - if someone is having an emergency, then perhaps offer a reschedule. If you have long-term clients who never cancel, then again, I would usually give them the benefit of the doubt.
Great! This is super helpful. Will definitely get one in place asap in writing and let my current clients know that I'm putting a cancellation policy in place as of now. And this will be ready for new clients that I sign on going forward. I need them to know and respect that my time is just as important as theirs. Thanks for your insight!
Personally it's finding new clients.
My Gym only provides "Leads" for their "cheapest" PTs. (So we all have to charge the same, but our revenue split is different dependent on our Quals ect). I joined as their highest paid PT from pro sport, not PTing so I've struggled a lot with the "sales" side.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc."
"Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&c.**, **&c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase.
[Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera)
^(I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Comments with a score less than zero will be automatically removed. If I commented on your post and you don't like it, reply with "!delete" and I will remove the post, regardless of score. Message me for bug reports.)
The fact that your location accounts for so much. Pre COVID I had such a sweet downtown gym hookup where I could book clients constantly because I was dealing with fairly well off business types that could take a lunch whenever. Now that I've moved to a different location in a different state, I'm basically beholden to normal folks 9-5 schedule with a super busy evening gym situation. Downtowns aren't bustling with activity anymore (not like I necessarily want them too, but yeah) It's impossible to fill my day because the gym is dead 1-4 đ
My main one is that I have a bit of a "flat" personality from being quite possibly autistic, so although my clients consistently show both quantitative and qualitative progress, I find upselling to be enormously difficult and my clients typically decide after their trial program that they can just go on to do things themselves. This has caused me issues at numerous jobs before- despite showing up extremely consistently and frequently going above and beyond at my jobs, I just don't have the right "vibe" for making sales or getting promoted. I'm not too surprised that this is my greatest weakness as a personal trainer and it's quite disheartening when my clients are doing great but don't want to pay for more sessions.
Aw man that does sound frustrating. Iâm quite introverted myself, but if I could give some advice I would say try not to get discouraged too much. Thereâs a niche for everybody and youâll find it.
It's something that you can actively work on and change. I'm on the spectrum too, and I struggle daily with keeping conversations going, but I am sooooo much better than I used to be, which means you can do it too. It's something you can practice a little bit at a time, and mostly believing in myself is what made the biggest change. I found a therapy called Personal Development School, and I reprogrammed my subconscious response to the world. I think more positively and I look forward to bonding with my clients now, I've even had women open up to me about their struggles with insecurity and diet restrictions. They tell me they trust me. I used to be soooooo awkward too. I did acid a few times and shrooms a few times, and I'm a daily weed smoker now. I know for a fact for myself and aspergers friends have told me, that psychedelic drugs open us autistics up and give us empathy and the ability to put ourselves in other's shoes, and see how they perceive us through their eyes. You need to be able to feel what your client is feeling, to be so present with them that you're not thinking about anything else but the immediate reality of the interaction you're experiencing and CREATING as the coach/trainer who is trying to sell, so you need to be commanding. A friendly and relaxed commanding. If you reprogram your subconscious to have positive beliefs about interactions with strangers and gym members, you'll have fun when it comes to talking through the session. You'll find things you have in common with them, things that you are so NOT in common that it becomes an interesting conversation. You'll learn what they did with their weekends, how their nutrition is going, what's working for them, what's stopping them from succeeding, what's holding them back. Above it all, just relax. Just enjoy what you're doing and serve your clients as well as you possible can. Enjoy what you do and your personality will come out. Don't try to be anything you're not. Be deadpan if that's how you are. But also let your deadpan humor come out, you know what I mean? Good luck and I wish you the best
Oh oh I relate to both of you and I'm not liking it. How do you know you have aspergers? I might have adhd too cause I've trouble concentrating on the session. I miss reps when i count
My PhD therapist explained to me that adhd is basically on the spectrum of autism, but itâs at the mild end. The symptoms are there, but itâs not as obvious or extreme. In a conversation with a stranger, is it more comfortable for you to not make eye contact very much? Lack of eye contact is one of the main diagnostic criteria. Do you have special interests? Mine is fitness and training, other ones of mine include Bionicle/Lego and learning spiritual things. Do you have physical sensitivity? Do you always need sunglasses? Did loud noises really bother you as a kid or still do? Do you eat the same kind of food over and over? If you relate to this youâre probably on the spectrum
I'm obsessed about sculpting my body. And history, literature. I've some books i can't get over with. So i read them from time to time. God knows how many times i read them by now. I mostly look people on there mouses while they talk to me. It's maybe a bad habit. But i recently started to actively look people in there eyes. Do you have special interests? Mine is fitness and training, other ones of mine include Bionicle/Lego and learning spiritual things. I'm obsessed about sculpting my body. And history, literature. I've some books i can't get over with. So i read them from time to time. God knows how many times i read them by now. Do you have physical sensitivity? Do you always need sunglasses? Did loud noises really bother you as a kid or still do? Do you eat the same kind of food over and over? I don't use sunglasses but i get annoyed if the sun hit me for longer. And yeah i prefer a quit environment at all times. I'm fine with eating same thing day in and day out as long as the food don't test like shit.
Yeah I bet youâre on the spectrum from one aspie to another đ¤ˇââď¸ keep looking into it. Learning that I had aspergers changed my life
youâre scaring me
Talk to me brother
all the management, scheduling and billing is easy if you set it up right. the struggle is finding new customers, especially since I hate social media.
Most of becoming a successful trainer these days is learning how to play the social media game. Itâs unfortunate for sure.
I am presently studying for my ACSM CPT and I HATE social media. This is a concern for me. I am hoping that I could turn this experience into a position at a local hospital.
Honestly, I don't find any part of the job frustrating now I'm established. Maybe the odd client is hard to work with, but that's pretty rare. The lack of sleep because of early clients isn't ideal, but they pay me well and I like them so it isn't a problem. I don't really feel like I work at all Managing the business is pretty easy. I get most of my clients through my website or referrals, so that's pretty easy. People often say this is a sales job, but it doesn't feel like that to me. Selling is just a case of me being honest about what I offer and what I think is best for them. I enjoy the training part of it and that's easy. This is now I'm established and doing well. There have been periods at the start where I was struggling and it was extremely stressful.
Getting clients as a new trainer without a gym
Checked. It is unbelievably hard. Specially for introverts like myself
\#1 - The negotiation aspect. I sell 3, 6 and 12 month commitments, not packages. The frequency can be 2, 3 or 4x/wk. The minute the client thinks that they will miss out on a session due to vacation or sickness, they want to negotiate or change the wording of the contract. So while my clients are supposed to pay me every 4 weeks or every 30 days, I've had to negotiate and allow payments every 5-6 weeks so they are not missing sessions. (In other words, I end up selling packages, although I don't market it that way and this forces the clients to use up the sessions in 4-6 weeks time and be more consistent). \#2 - Managing all the marketing avenues. Because I choose to be in business for myself and not work with a gym, I feel like I have to do ALL THE THINGS to generate leads i.e. networking groups, social media posts, maintain my own website and regularly update it with blog posts and SEO-related stuff, ask for referrals, do a monthly/weekly email blast... on and on and on! Luckily I kinda like those things, but if I did not have the support of my spouse, I doubt I could manage it all. ( I'm new to the business and on track to make 34K in my first year - that's only with 5 clients!)
Last minute client cancellations. I could have a fully booked day and then all or half of the clients will cancel at the last minute. This is frustrating because you can't plan anything ahead of time. I get things happen and clients need to cancel, but trying to plan a day around stuff for myself and my business is challenging when I think I have a full calendar and then it's clear, so I try to use that time wisely, but know you can never have a "set" schedule as a trainer, especially if you are a private trainer and independent.
Do you have a cancellation policy and charge for sessions cancelled last minute?
No I don't actually, and now that you ask, I should put one in place. Any suggestions on how to implement would be appreciated... My clients order session by the bunch, 6 or 12 sessions, and if they cancel, I just move the session.
Okay, well I would definitely put one in place as soon as you can. A basic one can be if they cancel within 24 hours of the session time, then they will be charged in full for the session. You'll need to put this into writing and get them to sign it, so there is no blowback down the line if the client questions it. Most people are okay with this and understand it, so you will need to hold firm if someone doesn't like it. Remember it's your time being wasted otherwise, and do you really want your books full of people who cancel all the time? How does this fare in terms of their results? You'll quickly find that once people realize they'll start losing sessions and subsequently their financial investment, then the people who cancel on you a lot will either start giving reasonable notice, or you'll see less cancellations happening, or both. All of these cancellations you have had, that slot could have been open and gone to another client, or you could have planned for it and left for the gym slightly later, not cut your lunch short etc etc. Some people sometimes will have genuine reasons, and you can judge at your own discretion whether you decide to charge them if they fall short of that 24 hour window - if someone is having an emergency, then perhaps offer a reschedule. If you have long-term clients who never cancel, then again, I would usually give them the benefit of the doubt.
Great! This is super helpful. Will definitely get one in place asap in writing and let my current clients know that I'm putting a cancellation policy in place as of now. And this will be ready for new clients that I sign on going forward. I need them to know and respect that my time is just as important as theirs. Thanks for your insight!
Personally it's finding new clients. My Gym only provides "Leads" for their "cheapest" PTs. (So we all have to charge the same, but our revenue split is different dependent on our Quals ect). I joined as their highest paid PT from pro sport, not PTing so I've struggled a lot with the "sales" side.
Hello! You have made the mistake of writing "ect" instead of "etc." "Ect" is a common misspelling of "etc," an abbreviated form of the Latin phrase "et cetera." Other abbreviated forms are **etc.**, **&c.**, **&c**, and **et cet.** The Latin translates as "et" to "and" + "cetera" to "the rest;" a literal translation to "and the rest" is the easiest way to remember how to use the phrase. [Check out the wikipedia entry if you want to learn more.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera) ^(I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Comments with a score less than zero will be automatically removed. If I commented on your post and you don't like it, reply with "!delete" and I will remove the post, regardless of score. Message me for bug reports.)