Boosting Personal Training Profits

by Guy Brown (International leisure & hospitality manager)

By establishing personal training as a key profit centre, facility management can then look for ways to boost training profits, and tap into a rich vein of referral business.

To be fully exploited as a profit centre, personal training must have a solid foundation. Trainers with the right skills and behaviours need to be recruited and developed. And, above all, fitness centres need to ensure that their trainers have the right interpersonal skills to understand, communicate and enthuse with any personality type, says Lisa Coors, owner of Coors Core Fitness. They should also get the basics right: calling clients back within a specific time limit and showing up for appointments on time.

Personal training is "more about building relationships" than selling, says Bob Esquerre, CEO of Esquerre Fitness Group. And, he finds that younger trainers often lack the necessary people skills. Raised on a diet of video games and the Internet, they are blind to the nuances of relationships. "They only hear the spoken word, not the unspoken," says Esquerre. "They do not develop the sixth sense of awareness."

So, facility managers need to help nurture the right interpersonal skills in their trainers. Mentoring can play a valuable role in this development, harnessing the experience of senior staff members from all departments. For instance, the front desk team will have the personality and systems to deliver great customer service and follow up. Personal trainers can learn from those strengths.

Certification and facility shortcomings
The technical skills and scientific knowledge of personal training are essential, and are well-addressed by many certifying agencies. However, fewer agencies impart the business savvy that would enable personal trainers to more fully contribute to the fitness centre’s commercial performance. Coors says trainers crave business knowledge, but certifying agencies are not providing sufficient training in sales, marketing and business management.

Personal trainers have never been trained as business people; they have been trained as scientists and physicians, says Esquerre. "The biggest challenge is that personal training is a business, and that is the biggest weakness," he says. "Club owners are having a fit about this [weakness]. As a result, they are going back to the certifying agencies, to point out that, while they are teaching great science, they are not teaching the needed business skills."

Esquerre's company injects a business development component into workshops on biomechanics and anatomy, so trainers learn to think in terms of how the science can be packaged and value delivered to the client.

Esquerre further identifies the personal training business model of some facilities as a weakness. "They tend to promote the best personal trainer to be the personal training director, without any business training. When you are a manager, you have to manage sub-businesses, and that is a different skill set." He adds that fitness centres also slip up in not showing due respect for good personal training directors. They are given a low base salary and, as a result, some will inevitably skim from their trainers. In addition, facility managers need to emphasize that best practice in personal training is always evolving. They should encourage open-minded trainers who recognize the need to continually enhance their learning and practice.

Certification is a starting point; however, if trainers think they know it all because they have been certified, then they will soon fall off the pace of personal training best practice, and will lose clients and profits. Facility mangers can help to foster a continuous learning mindset by providing opportunities to host or attend workshops and seminars, and to network with other trainers. Personal trainers should also attend trade shows to see the latest equipment and expose themselves to the wide breadth of educational opportunities available.

The Opportunity
Since only a small fraction of members in most fitness centres make use of personal training, there is a huge opportunity to grow your personal training business. "Proportionally, around 7-8 percent of members utilize training services across five facilities," says Wendy Williamson, senior trainer at Genesis Health Clubs, in the US.

So, what discourages the majority of members from engaging in personal training? Genesis' Personal Training Director Carissa Palacioz gives three principal causes:

Price. Some members do not realize the value of service a personal trainer can offer.

Perception. Some members believe they do not need the assistance of a personal trainer.

Embarrassment. Some members are embarrassed by their physical appearance or condition. They often find it difficult to take that first step and ask a trainer for professional guidance.

How can fitness centres win over this discouraged majority to personal training? Three suggestions:

Price. Get your rates right and offer group options.

Perception. Offer trial sessions to show off personal training benefits. More importantly, let clients speak for your trainers, and they will, if the training is first class.

Embarrassment. Make it easy to book a trainer, and suggest off-peak times so clients can build confidence. You could even conduct introductory sessions in a secluded area of the facility (e.g., a fitness studio) so people gain confidence before entering mainstream exercise areas.

Stephanie Maks, a personal training trainer for NETA, suggests that fitness centres offer incentives for members to try personal training. This could be a free training session or educational seminars. She says training two or more people at a time can be another good option. By decreasing the cost per member, a greater proportion of members will see personal training as affordable.

To ensure all available training hours are booked, facilities can pursue third-party referrals. They can also charge a higher rate for non-members. Palacioz suggests that fitness centres offer patients from physical therapy clinics 30-day passes to continue their post rehabilitation in the facility. She says that fitness facilities can also partner with weight-loss programs, with a special membership rate and personal training packages. In addition, fitness centres can offer personal trainers for corporate wellness programs.

Check out Part 2 for more on Referral Goldmine, Rate Setting, Secondary Revenue Streams, Built-in promotion and How Relationships Lead to Profit.

Guy Brown has been a manager in international leisure and hospitality for several years in private facilities and with international hotel chains. He also writes for international business, and travel and medical magazines.