You love fitness.; you want to share that love; You passed your fitness certification. Now for the hard part: how do you get people to pay you for your expertise? This is how to land your first training client?
First off what are you selling? People hire a trainer for 7 main reasons:
The 7 Reasons one hires a Trainer: which do you solve well
- Weight loss
- Improved Strength
- Companionship
- Improved movement
- Accountability
- Improved athletic performance
- Vitality
Which one of these problems can you solve? When I began my career I could solve 3.5 of these (now I can do all 7 btw) albeit not particularly well.
Above all Know thyself. Which of the above problems can you solve for people. Begin to think about how you demonstrate your skill. For example; can you help others improve strength? You should go to the weight room and show people how strong you are. Can you help others improve athletic performance? Likewise, make sure they see you training for your sport. Though it will feel like you are showing off, undoubtedly it will get you new clients.
Where are your Clients?
Generally they are at the gym. Step#1: get hired somewhere. Firstly write a resume. Include your name, your certification, relevant experience, work experience.
Next The gym will interview you. Dress sharp. Wear a tie, a nice polo, or some top line fitness casual attire (think Lululemon or Public Rec). Don’t just wear some ratty workout clothes. Come ready to answer questions about fitness, yourself, and no matter what be upbeat and smile a lot. This is a customer service job, not a job about how fit and strong YOU are.
Want to blow your interviewer’s mind? Tell them how much you love fitness, and how personally you’re always looking to challenge yourself and make your workouts harder; but being that this is a customer service job you realize that being a great trainer means learning how to regress exercises to make them palatable for de-conditioned clients. In other words ‘Any asshole can make exercise harder; but the skilled trainer can regress exercise for anyone.’
I’ve read my share of Trainer bios and many of them like to state that they’ve trained celebrities and athletes. I get the social proof that brag provides. In the meantime, as a gym owner, I’m more interested in how well you can train people who really suck at exercising. These are the people who undoubtedly need a trainer. There are way more of them than there are celebs and athletes.
The Test
Some gyms require you to pass an initial test before they hire you. This typically involves anatomy questions, and then a what would you do section where they ask questions like “Nancy wants to lose 19 lbs for a wedding she’s attending in 3 weeks. She had knee surgery last summer, hates working out and suffers from asthma. How would you begin training Nancy?
In the event that they quiz you study up, and ace that test. That is to say write the smartest and most honest assessment session you can for dear delusional Nancy and now you’re hired.
How to land your first training client: Marketing 101
You’re hired in your gym. You can wait for your Manager to bless with you with new client leads to cold call, or you can attract your clients. Time for marketing 101. You can solve one or more of their fitness problems. How do you let them know this? Go to where clients are (your gym). Demonstrate yourself solving the problem.
I’m fit. No one approaches me in the street to ask about training. People frequently ask me about training in the gym setting. They are more likely to ask me if I:
- Work out in a way they aspire to.
- Am well dressed, polite, and smile a lot.
- Learn and use their name whenever possible.
- Seem friendly.
The potential client HAS to approach you. Not the other way around. Unsolicited advice feels like criticism. You’ll alienate people approaching them with “advice”. Doesn’t matter how well intentioned, or right you are.
So go to your gym. A lot. Work out when the potential clients are working out (I’ve never understood gyms that prohibit trainers from prime time workouts? Be seen. Let your body be your billboard (mostly your smile). The people who hire you either want to look like you, look at you, or move like you. Show off, just don’t be ostentatious. Show yourself solving their problem, while having fun, while dressed well and smiling. Your clients will find you.
Ask for their phone number or email.
The indirect approach to land your first training client
You have a potential client’s contact information. I do not like to call people straight away. Why? Because I hate it when pushy sales people call me directly. In the immortal words of Comedian Aziz Ansari ‘What? Are you on fire? Then quit wasting my time. Text me that shit.’
I go with the indirect approach because I’m basically saying these are my rates, this is my availability, I’m happy to give you a complimentary session, but I’m not desperate. By emailing and texting you’re never putting someone on the spot. They can ignore you if they want, and you can send them a polished, all questions answered text so there is never any question re: expectations.
One Last Thing
Early in my career I was hired by a big gym that put us through a week long sales course which they certainly could have called ‘how to land your first training client’. We took turns playing client and trainer and practiced overcoming people’s objections to Training. Price? Don’t like to work out? Don’t have time? This entire exercise was a waste of time. In 20 years I’ve never convinced anyone who didn’t want to train to buy sessions. I have trained people who did not want to work out though. That is the longest hour of your life. Do you really want to train a bunch of people who don’t want to pay for your service, or don’t want to be there period? Me neither. Don’t chase clients. Demonstrate your value. Let them approach you.
Summing up; there’s enough actionable advice on how to land your first client. Firstly- figure out which problems you can solve. Secondly, write a resume and ace your interviews. Finally, put yourself out there. Solve some problems; show your value. Sooner or later clients will find you. Finally when they do sign up make it the best decision of their life.