Eight rookie mistakes personal trainers make with group training

It’s no secret that serving many people per hour is more lucrative for a personal trainer than serving one person per hour. It is also a more affordable option for a client. However, it’s a secret that some personal training companies seem to be making big profits and others don’t. Rookie mistakes can cost you money in the short and long term.

Here are eight reasons why your percentage of income from small or large group training is not higher. If you are looking for help to guide you in starting a group training or a veteran group training leader looking to grow your business, this is for you.

It’s easier to avoid these traps in the first place, but if you’ve done them, change them as quickly as possible. No matter how long you’ve been going the wrong way, turn around.

1.) Charge by the hour or by session. Charge for the result and the results. Increase value and experience. Read Priceless by William Poundstone.

2.) Undervaluation. If you are not gradually earning more to train two, four, five and 10, something is wrong. Somehow though most coaches reduce the rate to train four, say, to a quarter of their rate. Your hourly income is the same if you do this. You have devalued your service.

3.) Underestimation. There is no reward in thinking that if you build it they will come. If they weren’t heating up their phone lines requesting service, they won’t be signing up en masse because they decided it was an opportunity. Who knows? Who has the problem you are solving with the group program? You will still have to go to the place where they hang out and connect with them.

4.) One-level programs. Begin with the end in mind. If you start a boxing group, you will have a lot of beginners. What do you offer them next? If you think of your groups as a sequence of options for each level of athletes, your programs grow by 66%.

5.) Neglecting social interactions. Group participants value the social connections that come from group exercise. The loyalty of that group becomes not just the show, but each other. Make it easy.

6.) Do not renew before hiring new. Your current customer is much more valuable than the next. Focus on renewing them before hiring others. How can you make it irresistible?

7.) Ignore previous participants. People drop out of school for various reasons. You never want to lose touch. If you don’t send emails at least weekly to people who have been your customers, why? A current offer may no longer fit your schedule. Don’t wait until you have a promotion to contact them again.

8.) Ruffle by the seat of your pants. If you think your promotion is over when you’ve created a flyer and put it on the wall, keep your other job. First of all, brochures are often not well designed with images and copy for the target customer. Second, no one will see it. Ads alone will not work for you in the future. Learn how to write, make videos, and create press releases.

Group training is a lucrative business for the smart and creative personal trainer. For the trainer who thinks about the program, positioning and marketing consistently deliver value, greater benefit is one group away.