How To Make Your Fitness Club's Personal Training Program Succeed

Most nice fitness facilities sell themselves based on club size, type and age of equipment, cleanliness and fun atmosphere. But in this increasingly competitive environment, to retain members, fitness clubs increasingly rely on add-on services, chiefly, personal training. But it isn't just a matter of adding the service because running a successful personal training operation requires a different set of management skills needed to run a fitness club.

If a large fitness club is clean and the equipment is up to date the customers will for the most part be happy. However, a thriving personal-training business requires a more personal touch. That means knowing people by name and a little something about them. Clients are paying a lot of money for training and they want to feel appreciated in a country club kind of way. Good relationships attract new clients, keep existing ones and ultimately determine the presence and level profitability.

Hire the right personal trainers

How do you put together a winning personal training business program? It all begins with the hiring and training of your personal trainers. Hiring a certified personal trainer does not always mean you are getting an experienced and professional fitness trainer. Personal trainers should be well versed in dealing with many different types of people and possess strong people skills. Knowledge of exercise and fitness training methodologies is an important quality, but creating a connection with your clientle is an imperative.

A fitness club should integrate personal trainers into the system-so that they know the protocols and procedures of the facility. These include: program design, specific exercise instruction, nutritional advice and other fitness-related questions. It takes more than just knowing how to use the equipment to be successful with fitness clients. Personal trainers are called personal trainers for a reason after all!

Give your personal trainers incentives to stay and thrive

The fitness club owner must put in a place a system to retain high quality and successful personal trainers. After spending time and money to train its personal trainers, the fitness club's management needs to think about incentives to get them to be happy and stay. One incentive program that we have found to be successful is to award paid vacations based on the total hours the personal trainer bills over an year period. This is beneficial to the personal trainers and its good for the fitness facility's bottom line. Year-end bonuses based on total volume and earnings for the previous year are also an effective way to reward good work. The percentage used to calculate the bonus may vary based on longevity and production. Both programs give trainers reasons to work harder and take those extra hours.

Client incentives also have a place since they serve to motivate the trainers. I prefer a Client of the Month program, in which a trainer will nominate a client and set specific goals for a three-month period. After documenting progress, the trainer will present their client to the rest of the staff and plead their case why that client should win. A Weight Loss Challenge is based on the same idea. Participating clients win prizes, and trainers often take pride in the results.

Design a unique fitness program for each client

Some clubs and trainers cut corners on personal training. I have seen many a health-club trainer review a client's goals, current fitness level and nutrition, just to set up the same generic workout regimen that was given to the previous client. I know a woman in her 40's who was doing the same weight lifting program as a 29-year-old professional cyclist trying to make the Olympic team.

And while generic training programs are a problem, the opposite can be true too. At some clubs, each trainer favors a certain program, and there is no consistency from one trainer to another. In that scenario, if a trainer leaves the job, then a lot of clients are likely to depart as well. I know a woman who had a terrific trainer with a very customized program. When the trainer left the club, she was ready to leave too until the manager convinced her to try another trainer. Unfortunately it was like Mars and Venus. The new trainer couldn't have been more different than the first, so the frustrated client decided to make the longer drive to see the old trainer at a new facility. Eventually she let her membership at the club lapse.

Plan smart and treat your personal trainers well

Some club owners have come to accept that personal trainers come and go, that trainers occasionally leave them high and dry or try to steal their clients. This is true if the club alienates its staff or does a poor job of managing the personal-training operation. If treated fairly and managed properly, however, trainers and their clients will stick around. Club owners shouldn't shy away from starting a personal training-operation because they fear losing staff or members. Rather, they should have an organized system, hire the right people, train them properly and set up an incentive program. In short, train the trainers.

Just remember, a costly and effective marketing campaign can bring in new members to a health club, but it's the quality of the trainers that keeps people coming back!

Jason Baer, B.S. Exercise Science and AFAA Certified, is the founder and owner-operator of Personal Training Professionals | PTP Franchise. Mr. Baer received the 2006 National Leadership Award as the Honorary Chairman to the Business Advisory Council and is an Honored Member of the United Who's Who among Executives and Professionals. His contribution to the fitness industry and reputation among his peers are his proudest achievements. For more information visit http://www.ptpfranchise.com, send an email or call 866.97.PTP4U.

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