Questions Often Asked of Personal Trainers
Being a personal trainer means you have competition for new clients. Potential clients may meet with a number of PTs before deciding who to go with. So here we've listed some of the most common questions asked.
Can You Give Me A Discount?
Questions about price could come in many different formats. You may be asked direct if you can lower your prices, you may be asked for a discount if multiple bookings are made, students may ask you for discounts. There is no right or wrong answer here as it depends how you run your business.
The advantage of giving a discount is that chances are you will get the client and if they are wanting your services at a quiet time of day for you then maybe some money is better than none. The downside of lowering your prices is that the same client may ask you again for more discounts or may refer other people to you who also expect the same price.
Another alternative to lowering your session rate is to add some time on at the end of a session for free. Or to offer your client a deal on future multiple bookings. The idea here is to offer clients something as a one off which make them feel they are getting something rather than a permanent discount on your daily rate.
Can I Contact Your Existing Clients?
This is a valid question as your clients can be the best advertisement you have. Rather than your clients being bothered by calls from potential new clients then one way to do this is to add a testimonial page to your website and social media pages.
To make the testimonial as real as possible add in a photo of the client with a short testimonial from them, you will of course need their permission for this.
Can You Guarantee Me Results?
Some PT’s do offer money back if the client does not achieve their goals. The advantage of this is that it makes your client feel that you are confident about your ability and always experience success. The disadvantage is that you are not in control of all factors that dictate success.
So for example you may well help train a client to train for their first 5k but but you aren’t in charge of their eating habits or possible injuries and illnesses which could happen.
Do I Need To Sign A Contract With You?
We think that having a services contract can be a very good idea. This sort of agreement will lay out your charges, how you need to be paid, what happens if they don’t turn up or cancel at short notice.
You can easily argue that this ensures that there is no confusion between you and the client about important factors relating to costs.
Is The Initial Consultation Free?
Again, this is completely up to you. Some PT’s charge as this does take time but others do this for free. The advantage is that it enables you to start building a rapport with the client so preventing them from going elsewhere.
In addition it can make the client feel they are getting a good deal financially.
Will I Get Huge Guns In 1 Month?
Or the question can be equally ‘Will I get a six pack in 4 weeks? We all know that these questions are silly. How soon a client will get a 6 pack will depend on their starting point, diet, commitment and lots of other factors.
Our advice would be to acknowledge the ambition but try to help the client see what is realistic for them. The key point to make is that nothing is achieved without a lot of hard work and commitment.
Why Should I Work With You?
It’s a fair question and you should be prepared to differentiate yourself from other PT’s. So when you start out think about your USP, what makes you different? It could be qualifications or simply life experience. Maybe you were once obese so you know how hard it can be to lose weight, or you have children and understand how hard it can be to get back into shape after giving birth.
Think about yourself and why someone would want to work with you rather than another PT.
