PDF How Much Should You Pay to Train Your Clients at a Gym?
This issue, we are going to address a question that nearly all new fitness professionals have to face: How does an independent contractor effectively make their start in this business without opening their own gym? Thanks to Aurora Maravelli for the great question. Here’s Aurora’s question in full . . .
“Good Morning,
I have just started at a gym as an Independent Contractor. This
means that I am running my own business, creating marketing plans to
generate clientele but I give 50% of my earnings to the gym. My question is,
how does an independent contractor effectively make their start in this
business without opening their own gym? I would like to run an ad in
the paper but the gym I am associated with requires a membership for
people to be trained. Can you please offer me a game plan for incubating
a successful personal training business?
Thank you so much,
Aurora Maravalli
Certified Personal Trainer”
Aurora, if you are paying the gym 50% of your earnings to rent space, you’re paying too much! This ‘rent’ issue is the most common source of contention between gym owners and independent contractors. Here are some good guidelines to follow.
- If you do not already have a solid base of clients doing more than 20 sessions per week, then it would be in your best interest to have a $10.00 to $20.00 per session fee written into your contract. This will allow you to keep your overhead low as you build your business. If your gym has issues with this, try pointing out to them that what you think they really want is to receive as much money from you as possible and that, if you can’t afford to do business with them (either because you train clients elsewhere or because you get out of the personal training business), they’ll get absolutely no money from you! On the other hand, if they help you to be successful, you’ll be paying them a lot more money for many more years to come. Not all gym owners can see this “big picture” but the good ones certainly can and should be willing to work with you on this.
- Once you are doing more than 20 sessions per week consistently for at least 6 weeks, it would be in your best interest to introduce a clause into your contract that allows you to switch to a monthly lease rate. The going rate is about $600.00 to $750.00 per month.
Once you are doing 20 sessions per week, if you continue to pay $10 to $20 per session, that will cost you $200 to $400 per week, or $800 to $1600 per month. As you can see, switching to a monthly lease will be in your best interest.
With regard to your second question, have you done any demographic research yet? It would be wise to do some research on the demographics of your particular area. For example, a trainer in Las Vegas has the opportunity to find employment through any number of hotels on the strip. Specialists are needed and contracted to work with entertainers to keep them in optimal shape. If you were to live in a retirement community like Palm Springs California or Clearwater Florida, then your clientele may predominantly be over 55 years of age. In this case specializing in senior fitness would be a good idea.
So, get to know your perspective clientele and, once you have done this, you’ll need to understand their spending habits as well. For example, tennis and golf are favorite leisure activities amongst retirees. Knowing this, you would be better prepared to take advantage of this market by becoming certified as a specialist in Tennis or Golf Fitness. Remember that luck is when preparation meets opportunity – so be prepared for when that opportunity presents itself.
Once you have determined your market, you’ll need to advertise your services. Remember that if you intend on drawing people into the fitness lifestyle, you’ll have to first live it yourself. The most cost-effective way to advertise your services is to be a daily walking billboard for yourself. Take the time to write a two-minute testimonial on when, how, why and what lead you to become a trainer. After all, you never know where you’ll meet your next client. It could be in the supermarket, at the mall, at a restaurant, or just walking. There are numerous ways to garner free advertising for yourself in the initial stages of your career. Take the time to research local papers that accept freelance articles. Submit an article on fitness and attach your email or phone number for any inquiries at the conclusion of your article. If your article is accepted, then it will serve as a full-page or half-page advertisement for you—one that you didn’t have to pay for! Remember that persistence is the underlying characteristic that binds all successful trainers together, so if your first article is not published, keep trying. Once your marketing and your advertising begins to yield prospects, you’ll need to develop the skills to turn prospective inquiries into new clientele. This is another key area in which preparation and persistence is paramount.
We at ISSA have a continuing education course by Phil Kaplan on the Secrets to Becoming a Successful Trainer. The reality of becoming a successful trainer is to understand that although you are, in effect, a salesperson selling a service (you), you don’t want to be perceived as such. To help effect this, you’ll need to develop a feeling for what type of communicator each prospect is: whether it is visual, auditory or kinesthetic. By learning to catch key words like “I feel” or “I see”, you’ll develop a more empathetic ear to each prospect’s preferred learning style and learn how to highlight why your services will be the best one to meet their needs. Once again, always stay persistent.
We at ISSA understand that any new endeavor can be marked with doubt and fears. We hope that we can continue to be your fitness education mentors so that you can turn your unbridled enthusiasm into a career you love and can profit from. As always, be prepared and stay persistent in all of your endeavors and you will undoubtedly be graced by success in your fitness career.
