At some point you need to begin to look at your gym differently and start viewing it as a business. The following are 9 tips, in no particular order, to help you make this change. It won't happen overnight and may not even happen in a year. That's OK. What matters is how you view it and how you run it.
#1 - Stop Selling Packages.
What do you charge for an hour with you? $100, $75, $50 per hour? Most likely, it depends on how many sessions they buy. Right?
There at three major problems with this. First, you need to begin charging for a session, not a period of time. Second, if you are selling packages, like most trainers, you are decreasing the cost to train with you (your value) with the larger the package they buy. And third, you are selling a short-term solution to a long-term problem. So let's look at each of these:
Charging for a session, not a block of time. When you charge for a block of time, say an hour, the client expects to receive and hour of workout time. This isn't bad, but it's also not what is best for the client. For example, if you client comes in and has had a long day, didn't sleep well, and hasn't eaten since breakfast. Is it in his/her best interest to push them through an hour long session? No, all that is going to do is run them into the ground more. Or, say you're on the other end of the spectrum in sports performance and your client comes into to get warmed up and work on some corrective rehab stuff they may need before competition. Depending on the client they may need 10-15 minutes or they may need 30+ minutes. It's what is best for the client, so charge per session.
When you charge per session the client doesn't expect to have a certain amount of time filled. So when you have a recovery day or lighter workout they don't feel ripped off when the session ends in 35 minutes, rather than 60. That is what is best for them today. In our gym we run all sessions on a 45 minute window, give or take five minutes. Some get done sooner, some take longer and that is fine. It allows everyone to work at their pace.
Selling packages. Are you a great trainer? Or even a good trainer? Yes? That's not the message you're sending to your client if you are selling packages. By selling a package you are decreasing the cost of each session with the more sessions that are purchased. So if you charge $75 for 1 session and $450 for 10 sessions, you are not a $75 per session trainer, you are a middle of the road $45 dollar per session trainer. If they buy 20 sessions you charge $750, now you're a $37 per session bargain trainer. If they wanted to buy 100 sessions you'd probably selling those to them at the discounted rate of $10 per session. Do you see the problem? In Point #7, I'll address how to make yourself at $125+ per session trainer, by using a group model. As you charge less and less with each larger package you are telling the client that you time and value is worth less and less.
In our gym we sell 12-month memberships and month-to-month recurring memberships, which are 25% higher than the 12-month rate. Our memberships have three levels: Unlimited Small Group Personal Training, 1x/week Small Group Personal Training, and Large Group Training. Small Group Personal Training is individualized to the client and the client to coach ratio is no more than 6 to 1. Large Group Training is a metabolic circuit that is led by one coach and the group can be 20+ clients. If the client is on a Small Group Membership they also have unlimited access to Large Group Training. So instead of having a package of sessions, they client can come an unlimited number of times in the month on which ever membership level they are on.
Short-term solution vs. a long-term problem. How far can a client go with you in 10 sessions? I don't know it depends on how good of a coach you are, how well the client adheres to the program, and what the clients' goal is. But, fitness isn't about buying 10 sessions and moving on. It's about fixing a problem for that client, which is usually the result of years of bad habits. You're not going to take 30 pounds off of a client or make lasting improvements to their golf game in 10 sessions. Most clients have not done anything for 15+ years when they come into our gyms and we are going to sell them a 10 pack of sessions as their solution? This is absurd...any progress that they do make will be lost after they stop, which they usually do - at least for a while anyhow. To create life changes the client needs to be consistent. This is why we like the 12-month membership. This forces them to make a commitment to their fitness for a year. Does every client like this? No, but it is what they need. Our profession exists to change people lives and we can't do that in 10 sessions, but we can over 12-months.
#2 - Hire A Dedicated Third Party Billing Company.
Collecting your own payments is one of the biggest mistakes and wastes of time you can make. Most trainers are notoriously bad at asking for money, which means they will not collect as much as they should or could. By using a third party billing company, like Mindbody, ASF, or ABC Financial you delegate the collection of money to an expert company who will collect more than you can and on time. As the gym owner you only have to sign the client up once every 12-months and the billing company takes care of the rest. Freeing you from the responsibility of tracking and collecting membership fees when they are due.
#3 - Use Social Media Correctly.
You may have had a great time at that party last
night, but it shouldn't be on your Facebook page. Or any other form of social
media for that matter. This also means no shirtless, booty short photos of
yourself or your workout. No one cares about that stuff and it doesn't help
build your brand or create professionalism for you. Instead, use your social media pages to connect with your target audience and to provide them with relevant, useful information. Become the go to professional and post great content regularly. For example, you should be updating your Facebook page once per day, Tweeting 1-2 times per day, and blogging 1-2 times per week. These are just of a few of the platforms you can use. Find what works best to connect with your audience and then provide them with great content regularly.
#4 - Stop Training Clients In Your Gym.
You can still work in the gym and train a few clients, but you need to run your business like a business. If you are training anymore than 10-15 hours per week, you're not driving your business and pushing it to its fullest potential.
This transition will not happen overnight and can take a year or so before you are fully out of the training side of your business. But, you need to begin building a staff of coaches who can carry out and deliver your programs to your gym's clients. As Peter Drucker says, "You should only be doing the things that only you can do." Other people can train clients, but not many people can build a successful business.
By pulling yourself out of training you allow yourself to focus on the things that drive more business into your gym. Resulting in helping more people and making a larger impact on peoples lives, which is why you got into this business in the first place.
Additionally, if you are doing all of the training. What happens when you go on vacation or get sick? What happens if you need to take some time away from your business to care for family needs? If you're the whole show you can't without your business suffering greatly. So build a staff, then train and develop that staff to eventually take over the training load. On a side note, I've also found that if you, the owner, are still training clients all the clients will want you and not your staff as long as you are available. Even if your staff is better than you.
#5 - Develop Systems.
Everything in your gym should be written down step-by-step explaining how to do it. Yes, everyone has jobs that they are responsible for and that they do best. But, if some one on the team goes down or steps away a system needs to be in place so that someone else can step in and fill the role.
Start today by writing down how you open and close your gym. Then each day write out another system in your business. How do you greet members? How do you assess new members? How does your sales process work? How do you develop programs? How are staff meetings run? And so on. Do this everyday writing one system at a time and within 6-months you will have an entire operation manual for your gym.
#6 - Use A Scheduling Software.
Hey Meat Head! This is the year 2015 and we don't use appointment books anymore, just like we don't curl in the squat rack and yell "It's all you bro!" That stuff went out in the nineties. So throw that beat up old appointment book out and get with the times.
By using a scheduling software, like Mindbody, you clean up your schedule, can view it from anywhere, and allow your clients to schedule sessions for themselves - saving you time and energy.
#7 - Switch To A Group Model.
If you are still training clients 1-on-1 stop now! Yes, it's nice to get paid $100 and hour, but how many people can afford that long-term? And what happens when you are booked full?
So switch to a group training model. You still can provide the service of a 1-on-1 session, but you are now coaching four to six clients at a time. This allows you to help more people and make more money. If each client is paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 per session and you have six clients in a session, you are now earning $150 per session. Nice $50 raise huh? And as an added bonus the client is ecstatic because they are getting the same service and having more fun because of the group environment and paying less per session because they are sharing the cost of the trainer with other members.
In the same eight hours that you normally would train eight clients and earn $800, you now have the potential to train 48 clients and earn $1,200, Not bad.
Yes, training four to six people is harder than training one, but it is much more enjoyable.
#8 - Track Your Numbers.
Not tracking your numbers is a huge rookie mistake and one that I made for a few years. If you don't track your numbers, you have no idea how well or bad your business is performing. This becomes especially true when your business is failing and you've finally put your ego aside and reached out for help. Yes, I'm talking from experience. If you can't tell me what some basic numbers are in your business it is very hard for me to help you. The numbers help you to identify the problems and weak areas of your business as well as let you know what is running smoothly.
Some basic numbers to begin to start tracking are: Daily cash goal, lead - trials - new members, retention rate, average EFT, monthly EFT growth, and a year-to-year comparison. These are just a few of the basic numbers, but most gym owners only track income and expense each month and maybe make a budget.
#9 - Plan For The Future.
You are young today, but you will be old soon and you need to be planning for your retirement. This is one of those 'the sooner the better' things. You're going to work you butt off building your business wouldn't you like to have something to show for it? Having to pick up a job in the later years of your life when you should be enjoying the fruits of your labors is a real possibility if you don't plan for it now. Yes, I know money is tight. But, save whatever you can. Even if it's only $10 a week for now - that's cutting out two Starbucks. That $10 will add up over time and as your business grows that $10 a week will grow to $25, $50, $100, $200, $500 or more saved each week. Start now and create the habit.
