Turning Prospective Personal Training Clients Into Paying Ones

Hello!

Coach Tyler here, and today I want to look into the subject of clients.

Without them, you don’t have a business, right? They are perhaps the most important part of your world as a personal trainer. Sure, getting accredited is important. Finding a niche is also something that some personal trainers strive for and continually learning means that as your journey in the fitness world goes on and on, you get more experienced and are more equipped to help all sorts of people.

But clients are key. And clients that come back time and time again are the most important of all.

I also highly recommend that you take the quiz and find out which personal trainer certification is best for your career goals.

But how do you turn prospective clients into paying clients? I think it’s something that every personal trainer should look into, especially when you are starting out and every lead generated is important to help build your client database.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this blog post, and as usual, please comment below if you have a query.

Let’s begin.

You Got It All, But the Fish Ain’t Biting

So you have it all.

An awesome, modern website with all your information, your services, and more. You also have social media covered – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more- with several followers.

You post content regularly, which does generate some interest. Yet you feel that for all your effort, all the potential leads you generate just aren’t turning into the number of clients you should be getting.

So what can you do to turn those prospective clients into paying clients?

Connect at their level and be approachable.

Let’s be honest. If someone feels a little embarrassed about their body, they will never want to deal with a personal trainer who struts around the gym like a peacock showing off.

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To appeal to the ordinary man and woman in the street, those who will be the bread and butter clients for your business at the end of the day, you must be approachable. And that doesn’t mean that you need to cover up your muscles or be ashamed of your body that you worked hard to get.

It’s more of an attitude, a way to show that you are down-to-earth, approachable, and more than able to help. And it doesn’t just mean the way you act at a gym. It’s the attitude you put across on your social media platforms as well.

Be open and approachable, and ask people to message you for help. Be genuine; that will help build connections with prospective clients who approach you for information and even ask you to help them.

By showing your caring side, providing information, and connecting with people, you will be surprised how many of them will opt to use your services to help them change their lives.

Generate leads by providing free content.

A great way to generate leads is through the content that you post on social media.

This can be in the form of videos (like the correct form for certain tough-to-do exercises), blog posts with interesting information, pertinent articles regarding exercise and fitness, and more.

When posting this content, be sure to include information that generates engagement. Ask questions, and include links to your website or a contact form for those who want more information.

By providing interesting and valuable content, you show yourself as knowledgeable and an expert in your field.

People want a trustworthy trainer that they can feel comfortable with

Everyone you interact with at the gym is a potential customer. Every time you interact with someone, ensure you are interacting correctly. Potential clients might even watch how you work with other clients before deciding you are their trainer.

But that trust and interaction should filter through into everything you do, including your brand, online presence, and social media interactions.

Give potential clients a reason to become paying clients

Even though someone might want to get help from a personal trainer to transform their lives, there may be obstacles stopping them from doing so. And two of the biggest are usually their time and money, especially when they aren’t convinced about what a personal trainer can do for them.

Sometimes, to convince potential clients like that to try personal training, you need to think a little differently. And marketing experts will tell you there is not a one-size fits all approach when it comes to promoting your services.

You have to have alternatives to what it is your normal offering is.

So, for potential clients that show some interest but cite their time and perhaps money as a barrier to starting training, offer a package that has lower participation than your others. What you want them to do is try out your services. So, opt for something that is for 30 days and at a lower cost.

Once they see what you can do for them over that 30 day period, the chances of them committing to a longer package time-wise increase greatly. This way, you don’t need to sell your services for free but give potential clients a chance to commit to something for just a month.

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Use current clients to generate others.

Your current clients can be an excellent source of new clientele. You must use their loyalty to help build your client base.

It’s not about harassing them to bring their friends or suggesting family members that you can contact. The more you can impress your clients, the more word-of-mouth referrals you will get.

And word-of-mouth advertising is not the best advertising; it’s also the cheapest!

Personal referrals from happy clients are often one of the best ways to build a steady client base for personal trainers starting out. That’s why showing your expertise, going the extra mile, being genuine and trustworthy, and offering value as a personal trainer are important.

Remember, your experience is far superior to a gym where essentially clients are just numbers. A personal trainer is far more hands-on and that means personal attention. When people try that and see what you offer, they immediately know where the best training experience lies.

Plus, you can interact with them and encourage them even when you are not training them! Ultimately, your superior service, the ability to help people get to the root of their fitness problems, provide strategies to turn their lives around, and your expertise will help generate clients through referrals.

Also, it doesn’t hurt every now and again to ask those clients that you have built a close relationship with to give you some leads to friends and family that could use your help.

Consider a referral marketing program as well. In this way, any clients who refer someone who then becomes a paying client of yours get a discount on your services.

That’s another effective marketing tool to build clients from referrals.

Keep details of all potential leads generated.

You will generate leads as a personal trainer in various ways.

People will approach you and ask you about your services; current clients will refer friends and families; you will be contacted by potential clients on social media and more.

It’s important for everyone you interact with; it’s not just a once-off. And that means getting contact details for these potential clients.

Once you have these contact details, you can build up a database that you can target from time to time in various ways. Perhaps the easiest way is through email marketing which I will cover a little later.

Always give people the option to opt out of getting any marketing from you. This way, you know that if someone opts out, they are just not interested, and you will not bother or anger them at some point.

Don’t forget email marketing.

Email marketing can be a powerful tool for reaching potential clients and hopefully turning them into paying ones. Suppose you have generated a contact list or gotten potential clients to leave their details on your social media channels or through your website. In that case, you can certainly use an email campaign as a way to convert them into paying clients.

I want to look at two particular types of emails that you can use to help sell yourself and your business. And these are:

• Telling potential clients who you are (showing your expertise)
• Transformation stories

Telling potential clients who you are

One of the first email ideas you can use is to tell potential clients who you are and what it is you offer as a personal trainer.

Be brave, tell your story, and be sincere. This helps potential clients see what you offer and is the perfect way to build trust with them without shoving your services in their faces.

So what can you tell potential clients in an email like this? Well, why don’t you:

• Show why you are an expert in fitness, both in terms of what you can do and the knowledge you have acquired to do so
• Think of the most important things a prospective client must know about you and tell them

Transformation stories

A second email that follows should include transformation/success stories and people you have helped to achieve their fitness goals.

This again reinforces that you are an expert who gets successful results. Of course, you would need to get the go-ahead from your clients, who are the subjects of these success stories.

This kind of email can be very visual with before and after pics and should include testimonials from these clients.

These are just some examples of email marketing ideas you could use. Do a little more research; you can find many that can be tailor-made to suit your needs.

Last Words…

I hope that with this blog post, I have given you some good ideas that you can try to turn potential clients into paying ones.

I think one of the most important things to remember here is that as long as you keep presenting yourself in the right light as a trustworthy expert who can help people with their unique fitness needs, whatever that may be, you will grow your client base.

The thing is, this is never an overnight procedure. It’s a process that can take some time but you need to keep at it. So keep your focus!

Please leave me a comment below if you have any queries, and thanks for taking the time to read this post. Don’t forget to have a look through the other interesting posts on PT Pioneer, which can help you in your personal training endeavors.

References

1. “Eight Proven Fitness Marketing Strategies That Get Trainers More Clients.” Forbes Coaches Council, Forbes, 23 June 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/06/23/eight-proven-fitness-marketing-strategies-that-get-trainers-more-clients/#17668a5c39e0.
2. “5 Tips to Get Potential Clients to Convert to Paying Clients.” Trainerize, https://www.trainerize.com/blog/5-tips-get-potential-clients-convert-paying-clients/.
3. “Personal Trainer Marketing.” Total Coaching, https://www.totalcoaching.com/blog/personal-trainer-marketing/.