Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 - (Page 19)

ü Added personal touch — This could be a cold bottled water, a fresh warm towel (in winter) or ice-cold moist towel (in summer) or a post-workout smoothie prepared for each client when their training session is done. If you don’t have a smoothie, oﬀer the training client a protein shake on the house. After all, that nice touch costs you less than 50 cents, and with a $40+ proﬁt per session for your club, it’s a no-brainer! ü Trainer options — We allowed our trainers and those we wanted to hire to bring one of their outside clients (on oﬀ-peak hours only) into the club for a much more exciting workout then they could oﬀer that person in their home. We allowed them to bring in one outside client for one hour for every three hours of ﬂoor time or in-club training they did for us. They were asked to have the client sign in (name, email and phone number) and to give the house a small percentage of the session price (paid at the front desk). Commissions — When a training client bought a smoothie, paid for a group class or any other additional activity, we gave the personal trainer who brought them (or directly referred them) a 50% cut for the ﬁrst four visits and a 30% cut thereafter for as long as the trainer maintained at least 10 hours of work a week in our club. Since the club was slow during those oﬀ-peak hours, as most are, it was “found money” and a new client that the club didn’t have that can help spread the buzz to her friends about our club — everyone wins! Let trainers and staﬀ feel respected — We also tell trainers and ﬁtness staﬀ that if they have an issue or if they have an idea for a group class, club promotion or event, they should speak to the director or manager one-on-one. We work hard to maintain their trust, including listing the trainer’s name (for credit) and give them a percentage of the proﬁts for new ideas. Again, found money! Personal trainer price options — We set up 30-minute sessions (for $49) and full-hour sessions (for $80) as well as six, 10 and 20 training session packages. You can alter the price to steer the client into the package you want to ﬁll — a larger amount per session for a smaller total number of sessions, or a smaller amount per session for a larger number of sessions (easier to sell and easier to see results, per package). Act as an assistant and a friend to your staﬀ, not like “the boss” — Everyone wants to feel important, and trainers are no exception. And every client wants to know the trainer they hire is important. So we set up a system where we conﬁrm each appointment for the trainer and client either via phone or automated email. We deliver the post-workout smoothie (prepared for each client’s speciﬁc tastes) directly to the trainer and client as they are ending their session. We prepare all tracking sheets and notebooks for our trainers, load the personal trainer computer with all the ﬁles, allow Internet access for the latest industry research and personally introduce clients to our trainers. Stability — In this economy, luxury items and expenses such as personal training are often the first thing people cut. Clubs can oﬀer personal trainers their biggest asset: members. Even the best trainers are not guaranteed a paycheck from a handful of in-home clients, and waiting for referrals can be grueling. With vacations, holidays and people moving, a trainer needs a constant pool of new potential clients. I have always started trainers with an hourly wage (or ﬂoor hours) for hours that they are not in training sessions to have them present, helping members and introducing them as my new stars to potential clients. I have always considered this an expense we should incur as club owners. The ü ü ü ü ü incentive for trainers to build a client base and earn $45+ an hour is much stronger then a $10 to $15 an hour salary for his ﬂoor hours. ü The biggest draw of them all — Perhaps the biggest draw to a quality trainer is to book their opened hours for them, without them needing to build their own client base by soliciting members. I got their open hours from them, called each member of the club personally and let them know: “We are currently booking a few limited complimentary personal training sessions with our fantastic personal trainers! These sessions are obviously going very quickly, so what time and day works best for you?” Tying It All Together Joe Gibbs, head coach of the Washington Redskins, three-time Super Bowl Champion and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer once said, “People who enjoy what they are doing invariably do it well.” If you show trainers you care by listening to them, asking questions of them, leading by example and throwing in some incentives to help generate business, trainers will come and will stay motivated, happy and productive. Brian Jay (sportﬁeld@optonline.net) holds both national and international ﬁtness certiﬁcates and memberships from ACSM, IFPA, ISCA, CPT, IACET, NOCA, NCCA and CSN. He is a Certiﬁed Sports Nutritionist, Master Personal Trainer, NCAA and Professional Baseball Strength Coach and international author. ● JAN-FEB2009 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM 19 http://www.HitechTrainer.com http://www.HitechTrainer.com http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009 Contents Letter from the Editor, Writers Ready to Rock the Podium What It Takes to Change Fitness Marketing Makeover Be Better Top Club Building a Base of Special Populations The Balancing Act Take Action! Nutrition Solutions Datebook Journey to Success New on the Market The Four P's Exercising Your Influence No More Pain in the Back!

Personal Fitness Professional - January/February 2009

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