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uncommitted clients can be aggravat- ing at best and damaging to your pro- fessional reputation at worst. This is one reason why Becky
Williamson, M.S., owner of lifeSport Fitness in San Jose, California, chooses her clients carefully. “In earlier years, I’d take on clients who had pie-in-the- sky expectations, assuming I could educate them on my way of think- ing. This often didn’t happen! I’m busy enough now and more confident in my abilities, so it’s easier to say ‘no’ to cer- tain customers,” she says. Picking and choosing from an abun-
dance of clients is all fine and well for trainers who are already in demand, but when you’re just starting out, you might need all the clients, hands- on experience and cash flow you can muster. Then what? “If you need to pay bills, well, you do what you have to do,” says Labadie. “And it doesn't hurt to learn early on how to deal with problem clients.” However, if you’re doing better than
just surviving financially, defying the never-turn-away-clients rule – or what Labadie refers to as putting a “velvet rope” around your business – might be your ticket to real success. “Not only should you turn business away,” says Labadie, “you should make it known that not every prospective client is go- ing to make the cut. When you take this approach, prospects literally fight for the right to become your client.” Rocco Castellano – creator of The
Lose 30 in Thirty Fitness Program in Albuquerque, New Mexico – has re- fused so many clients that it’s be- come his trademark. “I make more money turning people away or can- celling them than I would keeping them,” he says. “When you cancel cli- ents that aren’t committed, they tell their friends and it becomes somewhat of a privilege to train with you,” says Castellano.
2.
RULE: Set one per-session fee and charge all clients that same rate.
Speaking of cost, consider the idea
of personal trainers charging all cli- ents the same fee. Plenty of trainers are casting this rule aside in favour of their own payment terms, based on ev- erything from time of day to a client’s special needs to someone’s personal- ity! For example, Scott Buendia, presi- dent of Urban Warrior Incorporated in
al trainer and bootcamp leader from Fullerton, California, charges a higher rate to people who train with him during prime-time hours com- pared to those who train during less busy times.”
“Curtis Ludlow, a self-employed person-
Beaverton, Oregon, sets what he calls “a pain-in-the-butt fee” for clients who are difficult to work with. (Of course, he doesn’t present it to clients in those terms!) Curtis Ludlow, a self-employed per-
sonal trainer and bootcamp leader from Fullerton, California, charges a higher rate to people who train with him during prime-time hours com- pared to those who train during less busy times. “Some periods of the day are in higher demand than oth- ers,” says Ludlow. “The law of sup- ply and demand says that I can get higher prices for services that have higher demand, so I increase my rates accordingly.” For Castellano, the one-size-fits-all
fee is a rule that’s begging to be bro- ken. “You can’t charge all your clients the same fee!” he says. “If someone is taking specific medications or is part of a special population, there’s a lot more work that goes into creating the correct training program for that client.” Special populations and peak
timeslots aside, some clients just de- serve a break, says Diana Rochon, an 18-year veteran in the industry and strength coach for Canadian Sport Centre Pacific in Whistler, British Columbia. As a former personal train- er, she occasionally charged well be- low her current rate or bartered her services to help someone with socio- economic limitations.
material and on your website.
If you charge clients different rates,
3.
how do you communicate your prices on your website? Or is advertising your fees a rule to be broken? Some person- al trainers think so. Buendia recogniz- es that people usually wonder about price first, which is why he chooses to omit his rates in promotional pieces. “If you post [prices] on a website or in marketing material, you haven’t built
RULE: Be upfront by publishing your training prices in your marketing
enough time for value generation,” he says. “It’s going to be very difficult to make the sale because most people only see a price when they first look at a marketing piece.” Making your pric- es public may encourage prospects to keep shopping around for a better deal before they know what benefits you can offer them. But that’s fine by Castellano. “I post
my prices,” he says. “I don’t want to be answering stupid questions like, ‘Why do you cost so much? So-and-so only charges $35 an hour.’ People that are shopping for personal trainers on price usually get what they pay for: a babysitter who can count to 10 and looks good in shorts and a T-shirt.” Surely, looking good in a T-shirt
doesn’t preclude a person from being a highly qualified trainer… The point is, of course, that trainers who com- mand top dollar might post their prices to pre-qualify potential clients. If the trainer’s fee is beyond a prospect’s bud- get, the prospect moves on. On the other hand, advertising price
might prevent prospects from surfing to another trainer’s site, whether the rates are sky-high or dirt-cheap. “If I can’t find out how much a service or item costs on a website, I search else- where,” says Rochon. “Clients that I have gained via my website [tell me] they were pleased about being able to view as much information as possible.” Ultimately, whether you decide to
break common “rules” in the fitness industry is a matter of your target mar- ket, your goals and reputation as a trainer, and what works best for your business. FBC
Amanda Vogel, MA Human Kinetics, is a Vancouver-based fitness instructor and owner of Active Voice, a writing/editing service that helps fitness pros and organizations improve the quality and effectiveness of their promo- tional and educational material. You can read Amanda’s fitness career tips on her blog: http:// FitnessWriter.blogspot.com. Receive a free copy of her e-book 51 Need-to-Know Writing
& Marketing Tips for Fitness Pros at
www.ActiveVoice.ca.
May/June 2009 Fitness Business Canada 35
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