Five tips for trainers and health and fitness coaches to get more customers in their gyms or classes

Running a successful personal training business takes more than being fit and knowledgeable about your craft. As every trainer would tell you, you need to learn how to be a trainer, a friend, a mentor, and a motivator. You should be capable of deducing what motivates people to push beyond their limits and drives them to succeed.

This is common knowledge; many personal trainers have it at their fingertips and use it often. However, none of these skill sets and knowledge will help you amount to anything if you do not attract clients. To succeed, you must go beyond being good at your job.

Building a solid reputation and positive brand may seem daunting for many budding personal trainers. After all, very few people have achieved this feat. Professional headshots can also help you launch your career.

However, you must realize that building a brand is a scalable mountain. You must keep abreast of the steps to help you achieve this target. Here are some proven steps you can follow to bring in clients.

Tip #1. Utilise the power of networking

There is tremendous power in networking. Networking these days, more than ever, is crucial in helping entrepreneurs succeed in their fields. The personal training field accentuates this notion as the people you know play a role in helping you grow your business.

With this in mind, you should consider your social life part of your business and jump on any opportunity to socialize by extending your network. This includes engaging in activities within your communities, such as local wellness fairs and clinics and attending fitness expos, business events, and workshops.

Meeting new people outside your circle increases your network and improves your chances of landing new clients. Crucially, people get to meet and learn about what you do by networking. Thus, when the need for a personal trainer arises, you stand a chance for a call-up. With this in mind, you should always have a business card to make it easy for people to reach you when needed.

However, you should be wary of overdoing it. You should maintain a healthy balance between networking/socializing and a healthy lifestyle. After all, your body is part of your business card.

Tip #2. Over-deliver

It is common for trainers to over-hype their services, creating false impressions among their clients, only for them to underdeliver their promises later on. When you hype your business, you create a lot of expectations among clients. You will lose your reputation if the client’s expectations are unmet.

An excellent strategy to use is to underpromise and then over-deliver. Although this may seem counter-intuitive, it works perfectly fine. For starters, it provides you with an opportunity to design the training, purpose, and desired result on an individual basis. Therefore, you are not working hard to meet sky-high goals but goals your clients perceive as attainable and within reach.

However, to ensure an overall positive experience, you must go above and beyond for each client. Ensure that the set targets are met, if not surpassed.

Tip #3. Build a relationship

The rise of social media marketing can be attributed to many things, including the personal touch that comes with it. Human beings are drawn to personable characters and experiences and, thus, are willing to spend their money and time with you when they feel you care about them.

Thus, building a relationship with your clients is paramount, as this builds trust. Consequently, you retain your clients while they are more than willing to refer you to others within their networks. While training, you should set aside some time to learn more about your clients. You should be interested in learning about your clients’ lives, their experiences, and what they hold dear.

Being unprofessional while building a relationship will not get you far in any business that requires trust.

Being unprofessional while building a relationship will not get you far in any business that requires trust.

Tip #4. Differentiate yourself

There is value in being unique. As such, you should try as much as possible to move from the traditional perception of personal trainers as people who count reps and load plates. You should take stock of your strengths and weaknesses and develop your personal trainer business niche aligning with your strengths. You can also become a fitness model if you have what it takes.

It does not matter whether you are better at handling group or one-on-one training; you should focus on what you are good at. If you are good at training teens or adults, there is a market for you. If you are vastly skilled and knowledgeable in strength and conditioning, bodybuilding, TRX or even Pilates, you should stick to what you are good at.

Ensure that all your profile pictures professionally represent you. Do not use selfies or sub-par pictures on your Twitter or LinkedIn accounts. Remember, first impressions are precisely that FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

The reasoning behind this ultra-niche focus approach is to make you the go-to guy/girl in your niche. People are willing to pay more for value. They are willing to spend more to get quality services that meet their needs rather than going to a jack-of-all-trades only to get mediocre results. Crucially, doing so makes marketing more effective and downright easier.

Tip #5. Keep learning

The only constant in life is change. Things do not stay the same for quite a long. As new technologies arise in the fitness industry, so does the path to getting fit. With this in mind, you should keep abreast of your field’s latest. Attend workshops, read about new training protocols, and attend webinars. Keep your skills sharp, and you will reap from your efforts for a long time.