Selling personal training is, without a doubt, one of the hardest jobs for most personal trainers. Unfortunately, most personal training certification programs don’t include sales and marketing as part of the curriculum.
The good news is, as much as you may not have a business background or your personal training certification didn’t include sales and marketing as part of the curriculum, there are certain basics that you can learn, and use to sell more personal training sessions.
In this article, we will take a closer look at some of the strategies that you can apply to sell personal training sessions and get enough clients. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned personal trainer, the following strategies will help you to sell personal training and acquire more clients.
1. Selling Personal Training Sessions: Success Strategies
As noted earlier, most personal trainers struggle when it comes to selling personal training sessions. While they may have extensive knowledge, skills and experience in health and fitness, selling personal training is a challenge for most of them. In this section, we will explore some strategies that you can explore when selling personal training to get more clients.
1.1 Ask the Right Questions
Asking the right questions is an important step when it comes to selling personal training. As you may probably know, different personal training clients have different fitness goals. Therefore, each client will need a personalized approach, which will help them to achieve their health and fitness goals.
So, whenever you sit down with a potential personal training client, you first need to ask a couple of questions, which will help you to assess their fitness goals. Furthermore, asking these questions shows that you have a personal interest in that client, and you are ready to work with them towards their goals. Also, these questions will help you to ascertain whether they are the right client for your personal training services. Some of the questions you can ask when selling personal training include:
- What prompted you to seek personal training services?
- What are your short-term and long-term fitness goals?
- Do you have any underlying health conditions?
- How are your eating habits like?
- Have you worked with a personal trainer in the past?
1.2 Address the Client’s Objections
One of the biggest hurdles that you will face when selling personal training is sales objections. However, objections are a normal part of every sales process. And almost every personal training client that you come across will have some, regardless of how great your sales pitch is. Some of the objections that you will face when selling personal training include:
- You are charging too much
- I can get the services cheaper elsewhere
- Can you offer the services for exposure
- Do you offer discounts to first-time clients
- I will need to consult my partner and then decide
- Can you split the costs
As you can see, most of the objections that you will face when selling personal training will revolve around the cost or your personal training charges. So, how do you overcome these objections?
1.2.1 Listen and Understand
First, you need to listen carefully to the objections. And make sure you listen to understand and not to respond. Also, avoid interrupting your potential client whenever they are speaking. Wait until they have finished raising their objections or concerns. From there, you can respond.
1.2.2 Validate Their Concerns
Once your potential client has finished raising their objections, you shouldn’t dismiss them. Instead, you should validate their concerns.
For instance, a potential personal training client may claim your prices are too high or they cannot afford the services at the moment. If they say that, you shouldn’t dismiss them. Instead, you should empathize with them and validate their concerns. You can respond by saying that you understand where the client is coming from since you have been in a similar position before.
By doing that, it shows you are an understanding and compassionate personal trainer. And this will help to start the relationship on the right foot. Also, there’s a high chance the client will want to listen to more of what you have to say.
On the other hand, if you dismiss their concerns or they feel as if you are trying to force them into an agreement, there’s a high chance you will not close that deal. So, listen to their concerns, validate and empathize.
1.2.3 Ask Follow-Up Questions
Whenever a potential client raises objections, you should do everything you can to keep the conversation flowing naturally. If you fail to do that, the prospect may pull away or even end the conversation.
And as for the follow-up questions, don’t ask something that the prospect will give a simple yes or no. Instead, you should ask open-ended questions. Such questions will keep the conversation going forward, thus increasing your chances of turning the sale around.
1.2.4 Re-establish the Value of Your Personal Training Services
Once you’ve empathized with the client and asked follow-up questions, you should then reestablish the value of your personal training services for the potential client. You should highlight how your services will add value to your personal training client’s life. You can also mention how your personal training services are different from the others.
Make sure you use numbers when establishing the value of your services. Numbers are more convincing, as opposed to throwing around empty statements of how great you are.
1.2.5 Leverage Testimonials
Sharing testimonials from a satisfied customer when selling personal training can help to convince a prospect who is sitting over the fence that your personal training services are worth the money.
So, if you have a compilation of your past clients’ success stories, make sure you show them to the prospect. Showing them to the prospect will not only help to re-establish value but it will also boost your credibility about what you have to offer to them as their personal trainer.
1.3 Use a Clever Pricing Strategy
How you present your prices during your personal training sales pitch will determine whether you close the deal or not. And this begs the question, how should you present your prices to increase your chances of closing the sale?
Well, the golden rule is to ensure you don’t present more than three pricing options. Presenting more than three options may lead to confusion. As a result, the prospect may request more time to go over those different pricing options. Consequently, this gives them more time to reconsider your offer. And you should avoid such a situation completely.
On the other hand, if you just present three pricing options, you will create a clear comparison, making it easy for the prospect to make up their minds. However, ensure each price point presents clear benefits and value.
1.4 Offer a Satisfaction Guarantee
At this point, you’ve already done enough to convince the prospect to sign up for your personal training services. And, they already have their credit card out, ready to finalize the process.
But, the prospect may still have some doubts about whether to finalize the process or not. The main reason behind this is that the prospect may have some fears of whether your personal training services will deliver the results they are looking for. They may also want to shop around elsewhere and compare the prices.
Simply put, the prospect may be hesitant due to several reasons. And you don’t want to give them an opportunity to change their mind. To overcome this challenge, you can simply array their fears by offering a customer satisfaction guarantee.
By offering a satisfaction guarantee, you are not only helping to array the prospect’s fears but also shows you are confident in your personal training services. And from there, you can then proceed to close the sale.
2. Tips for Retaining Personal Training Clients
If you follow, the strategies we’ve outlined above, you will have an easier time selling personal training sessions and landing more clients. But, it doesn’t end there. You will also need to go a step further and work towards retaining those clients, which you’ve worked so hard to convince, to sign up for your services. Here are some tips that will help you to retain your personal training clients and grow your fitness business.
2.1 Let Your Clients Know You Care
Showing your clients that you care about helping them achieve their fitness goals can go a long way in convincing them to sign up for more personal training sessions with you. Fortunately, there are several ways of doing so such as:
- Track their progress and share with them regularly
- Check in with your clients at least once every week and review their progress
- Share their progress photos on social media platforms, with their permission
2.2 Keep the Conversations Going Outside the Gym
Your relationship with your fitness clients shouldn’t begin and end in the gym. You need to find opportunities where you can connect and keep communicating, outside the training sessions.
For instance, you can send an email or text mapping out the plan for the next workout session, assign home workout exercises for your client, share meal plans or even recommend places they can explore when they are free. By keeping the conversations going, it shows your client that you are thinking about them. It also helps to humanize your personal training business, which can then increase retention rates.
3. Wrapping It Up
Selling personal training is, without a doubt, one of the hardest jobs for most personal trainers. But, it’s achievable, using the personal training sales strategies we’ve discussed in this article. And from there, you simply need to work towards retaining the clients you’ve signed up. There is a different retention plan for various kinds of clients. Learn each demographic's unique wants, needs and requirements, and your personal training business will grow and flourish.