4 Keys for Client Retention as a Personal Trainer

Dear Friend,

Client Retention as a personal trainer is key.  Getting clients is hard enough as a trainer, so the best thing you can do is create client retention so that you retain the majority of your clients for as long as possible.

This is one of the great secrets to growing your personal training business quickly.

And I’m about to share a few keys I use to build authentic connections with your clients so you keep them for years and years!

You know, most trainers I’ve talked to really want to train athletes.  I guess it makes sense.  After all, athletes can do more, be pushed harder and it’s a bit more glamorous.

However, you must be aware that the majority of paying clients are women between the ages of 35-55.

Why am I telling you this?

Because having an athlete mentality is very different from a middle-aged woman mentality…

And this is a key distinction when it comes to building a connection:

When I was first starting to train, my boss got a lot of feedback from my clients, and one thing he told me was that they didn’t feel a connection with me like they felt with him.

After looking at some differences, we pinpointed a few major keys to build this connection.

Connection Key 1 – Be Hands On

When you train a client, you should always find a way to position their body or have your hands touching them in a very professional way.  This means holding their body in a certain position or tapping the muscle they should be working.

Being a hands-on trainer builds a huge connections and adds a ton of value to what you do.

As a result, clients will feel tremendously more confident with you and they’ll want to keep you as their trainer for years and years.

In addition being a hands-on trainer allows you to push your client to the maximum intensity while preventing injury and being safe.  This in itself is a reason clients will stick with you – they feel like you are working together and reaching a workout intensity they would never be able to reach on their own.

Connection Key 2 – Be Sensitive to Their Needs

This may seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how many clients quit one trainer and started working with me because they said the other trainer never listened to them (and even ended up hurting them).

As a top trainer, you need to listen and follow your instincts.  I was a 25-year-old male training women in their 50’s.  I can’t understand how they feel inside…

… so I have to listen to them and meet them where they’re at

This means being able to modify and change exercises, scaling back the weight or intensity of the workout, even changing everything the day they come in and aren’t feeling top notch.

But many trainers would rather do what they planned and train with high intensity… and this severs the connections.

Connection Key 3 – The Art of the Chit-Chat

I’ll admit when I was starting, I was terrible at conversation… especially with girls and women.  I didn’t know what to talk about… so I came up with a strategy.

I just ask questions and let my clients do all the talking.  I listen closely and offer feedback and empathy when needed.

There is nothing better than listening and offering genuine feedback to build a connection.

The key is to push them hard, keep the rep count going, keep the flow going, and make sure they have fun and get results.  That’s no easy task.

It’s actually an art that really good trainers make look easy.

You see, I’ve been doing it for over 15 years, and I still look for ways to get better.

Connection Key 4 – Going Above and Beyond

When you build a connection with your clients, you become friends… there’s just no way around that.  It’s impossible not to (in my opinion).

So maintaining a connection and a professional boundary is up to each individual trainer… but it’s still great to be able to go above and beyond.

For example, there are several clients I text each morning to see if they did their cardio.  It’s a small gesture that goes a long way for them to know how important they are to me.

Here’s what I mean:  When my clients do extra curricular activities (like a 5K, triathlon, etc… ) I try to be there to support them… or at a minimum text them to root them on.

These small extras really build connections that last!

Turning it up a notch…

It’s easy to see how important it is to bond with your clients.  The plain fact is, creating a connection can mean the difference between you having to constantly struggle to find new clients… or… having a steady base of clients and adding new clients to constantly grow your income!

I know because I struggled.  And I had to figure things out the hard way because I kept loosing clients.

I wish I had a resource like my e-class when I was starting because it would have saved me so much grief and trouble.  In fact, I know I would have been making $4,000 a month (or more) within the first 6 months of my career… instead of it taking me 4 years!

Anyway, Comment below and let me know how these keys work for you and your business!

Sincerely,
Stu