Summary: It should be no surprise that keeping fitness clients is critical to growing your personal training business. But, business owners often make excuses for why trainers leave. We’ll explore myths about why these valuable personal training clients leave and expert tips for retaining.
Gym owners know the cost of a new client is far more expensive than retaining an existing client. Because of this, keeping fitness clients should be part of a growth plan for all gym owners. Personal training clients come and go, but it’s rarely because they can get a better workout elsewhere or they know enough about exercise to continue progressing toward their fitness goal alone. For these reasons, this breakdown explores the reasons why personal training clients stay, the myths for why they leave, and the top ways to increase your fitness client retention rate. Any gym owner needs this information to grow and scale their business.
Why Do Personal Training Clients Stay
A new personal trainer most likely thinks that client motivation, workout session cost, and exercise programs are the reasons a client will stay. This is grossly incorrect. There are two primary reasons why personal training clients continue a healthy way of life journey with the help of a fitness coach.
#1–Results
A client isn’t paying for the experience of exercise or the workout session you conduct. They’re paying for fitness results. This isn’t specific to weight loss or body fat reduction. It includes improving athletic performance, having a healthier blood panel, and improving function through balance and core training programs. They also may have underlying results they’re looking for like feelings of mastery, confidence, and ability. Each of these factors is known to improve motivation. Therefore, making sure that each and every client you work with, or that enters your gym, achieves their specific goal should be the top priority for your business.
Think of it this way. If you’re paying for a housekeeper, you aren’t paying for the time they’re at the house, even though many companies might charge this way. You’re paying for a cleaner house. If your housekeeper showed up, spent three hours moving things around and playing with your pets, and then left, would you be willing to pay them? Of course not. The same goes a personal training client. If they aren’t seeing the results they set out for in the first place, you’re bound to lose them as a paying client. It’s one of the many reasons why getting to the root cause of why they showed up to your business in the first place is so important. Sometimes a new client will come to you with goals like, “I just want to feel better”, or “I should probably workout more”. These types of statements are usually cover-ups that hide a trier motivation for seeking out your services. And, it’s very likely that they just don’t feel comfortable with you enough yet to expose their true reasons. So, take the time to get to know all clients at your gym–even those that are going to work with members of your personal training staff.
#2–Experience
If you had a dental clinic that did amazing work, that’s a plus, right? But what if every time you went there, the staff seemed in a hurry or disorganized? What if your dentist or hygienist made you feel shameful about the condition of your teeth? What if you had to wait forever to get in or be put on hold each time you called? Each of these examples is very real (especially in the dental world). But the same goes true for a gym owner.
A client or member isn’t just there to work out. And, even if they are, you can make them never leave by providing the best experience possible. There are a few obvious rules such as knowing every member’s name, being friendly, keeping a client gym, and more. But there are even more factors that can positively influence the experience your fitness studio provides in a way that helps your client retention fly through the roof. Some positive fitness experiences will be addressed below. But others include ideas like:
- Remembering important dates like anniversaries and birthdays
- Offering free filtered or bottled water during visits
- Helping them purchase exercise equipment if you do online personal training or they’re going on a trip
- Being invested in their other health factors like blood pressure, lipid profiles, and functional capacities
- Hosting social events or running fitness challenges
- Engaging with them every day–even when not in the gym (through social media, scheduled messages, and more).
As you continue reflecting on how you can be obsessed with client results and their experience with the service you provide, remember why an existing client doesn’t leave. The following is a list of reasons that you might think a client moves on–but it’s rarely the case.
- Membership or training session cost
- Time or ability to invest in their fitness
- Convenience or location (offer online personal training!)
- They can do it on their own or bought virtual equipment
- Other apps are more affordable and do just as good of a job
Top Tips For Keeping Fitness Clients
You know now that the most important thing for client retention is their results and your business experience. But so much goes into both of those categories. Here are practical tips that will help any gym owner retain more clients, allowing you to scale and grow your business beyond being just a successful personal trainer.
Differentiation
Make sure what you offer your members is somehow different than your competitors. It’s not that you need a wildly innovative way to hold a workout or state-of-the-art equipment. Instead, think of what goes into the services you provide. Offer different coaching services and packages to cater to different client needs. Host ongoing challenges or competitions so they’re always reaching for something and experiencing motivation. Let them bring their dogs in. Have membership appreciation days where you cater food. Provide ongoing communication through tech platforms like Naamly so you’re always top of their mind. And, of course, provide world class service.
Guarantee Results
Be so confident in your business and your training staff that you guarantee results. This can be a game-changer for your business. Whether it’s a money-back guarantee or a “We’ll train you for free until you hit your fitness goal”, find a way to make success the only option. Of course, this assumes you and your staff are excellent at assessments, rapport building, and the goal-setting process. But, it’s possible to work this form of guarantee into your business, retaining more clients because they trust you with their health and wellness.
Stability & Predictability
No one wants to feel like the place they’re spending money is on the verge of collapse. Even if your profits are where they need to be to keep your doors open, it’s not enough. Become a great fitness leader, making sure you train and develop your personal training staff for the long haul. Make sure there’s consistency in the challenges you host, when you host them, and how they’re run. Keep consistent communication and follow up with every member and client. The more stability and predictability you can offer, the more a client will feel safe at your business. It will demonstrate you’re a one-of-a-kind business with an invaluable service to offer. Stability and predictability can also come from good operational housekeeping. Make sure your scheduling and payment processes are on point. Continue using fitness technology to ease the organizational and operational requirements of running your fitness business.
Personalize Client Training Packages
This isn’t to say that if you specialize in weight loss that you should offer an athletic development package. Stay within your niche. However, make sure you have packages and options that work with anyone’s budget, calendar, motivation levels, and lifestyle. When you can customize your offering, you immediately remove any roadblocks that might keep a paying client from renewing their personal training package.
Keep the clients you earned and the trainers you recruited when you use all features of Naamly.
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