Lots of folks dream about becoming personal trainers. It is a rewarding career because PTs can help improve their client’s physical and mental health, plus they can earn a nice living at the same time. However, if they are struggling to organize their workload, the dream job can quickly become a nightmare.
If you are a personal trainer, you will know that you have to spend a lot of time with each client to help them reach their goals. However, you have to keep in mind that you must organize your schedule properly so the business runs smoothly. If you take your eye off the day-to-day running of the business, you might find yourself double booking clients and making financial mistakes which can have a damaging impact on your career. Word of mouth can help you take your business to the next level, but if you have generated a bad reputation with your current clientele, it’s unlikely that you’re going to get potential clients wanting to pay for your services.
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Purchase A Software Package Designed Specifically For Personal Trainers
There are plenty of software systems readily available to help businesses stay organized, but did you know that there are several packages designed to help personal trainers? The best personal training software on the market will help you with:
- Bookings: Some software will take care of all your bookings, so you don’t have to. Trying to organize bookings while you are training someone is sometimes impossible. If your client notices you looking at your phone or your computer while you are training them, they will feel that you are not giving them your full attention. Having a system in place that allows your clients to book without having to make direct contact with you is a must for most PTs. These easy-to-use booking platforms will notify you about any changes to your upcoming schedule, and they will even deal with cancellations.
- Flexible pricing: You might charge certain customers a different fee for your services. Find software that allows you to customize your pricing.
- Manage other personal trainers: If you have a team of personal trainers working for you, you will need to manage them and their clients too. Keeping track of all of this information can prove extremely challenging if you don’t have a software system.
Employing a receptionist to do the work for you might not be feasible. Most of these software packages are reasonably priced, and they can help you focus on your clients while the software takes care of everything else.
Avoid Taking On New Clients If You Can’t Handle It
It might be tempting to take on lots of clients, even if you don’t have the time to deal with each one. Although you might be able to earn more money by doing so, it could have a negative impact on your business in the long run. If you can’t fit them in, then just say no or try and reschedule them for another date that suits you.
If you are aware of any other reputable personal trainers, consider asking them to take the client off your hands. Lots of PTs help each other, so you can expect them to help you out when you need new clients.
Make time to network with people within the industry. Many PTs focus on their clients and only use one specific gym; however if you want to expand your services, speaking with others who are in a similar position to you can help. If you are struggling with your workload, they might be able to advise you on how you can organize your business.
If you bite off more than you can chew, you won’t have time for your customers or running the business.
Keep All Your Clients Contact Information In One Place
If you don’t already have a customer database set up, you should. There is no point in keeping some of your client’s details on your phone, others in your diary, and the rest on a computer. If you are trying to find their telephone number or an email address, you won’t know where to start looking.
Create a specific area where you keep every single one of your customers’ information. You can use an Excel sheet or a Google Sheet for this data. If you save it to a cloud, you will be able to access the file on your smart device or computer any time of the day. You can use the same database to keep track of your client’s personal goals, their progress, and what they did in their previous training sessions. If you have lots of clients, you might find it hard to remember what each one did the last time you trained them. If they are constantly doing the same workout, they won’t see any improvement.
Make Time To Advertise Your Services
Word of mouth is a powerful way of finding new clients, but very few personal trainers rely solely on this. Most PTs nowadays create several social networking accounts on platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with their current customers and others. If you manage to generate a large number of followers, you can use it for advertising your services. Avoid spending too long on social media, but you should create time to upload new posts and engage with others that ‘like’ or ‘comment’ on your posts. Consider following other people in the same industry who might help you improve your services.
If some of your clients have managed to make big improvements, ask them if it is okay to post a picture of them online. This can help motivate your client, plus it can encourage others to use your services. Although a lot of social media promotion is free, you can go the extra mile by spending a small amount of money to help your posts reach more people.
You can easily create an online group with all of your clients. This way, you can update everyone about any changes to your service simultaneously.
Provide Your Clients With Homework
Some people who hire personal trainers assume they only need to work out during your training sessions. If you only see your customer once a week, you can’t expect them to reach their goals. Find out why they are hiring you, whether it is to gain muscle, lose weight or maintain their current weight. With this information, you can create an individual workout plan for each of your clients. If your client doesn’t stick to the workout plan, they can’t expect to reach their goals.
Make time to organize these plans, and send it to them via email or through an online messaging service. If you are trying to create a plan while they are in the middle of their exercise routine, you won’t be able to focus on what they are doing.
Conclusion
Personal trainers should embrace technology to help advertise and organize their business. There are lots of software packages and apps out there that can help improve your work life, so don’t be afraid to give some of them a go. Some developers provide potential customers with a trial version of their products. If you feel that these products can help your business, you should think about investing in the premium package.
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