Many of our customers who have started out as personal trainers with a few clients and gone on to grow their business, still offer one on one training. We asked a few of our customers why they still continue to offer these sessions to their customers when group training can seem more profitable and effective. Here are the most common benefits we have heard about:
Flexible schedule
With fewer customers, you can be much more flexible with your schedule and the times you offer sessions. This is one of the top benefits that lead personal trainers to continue offering these types of sessions even though they offer group training as well.
Work for yourself
Be your own boss. Unless you work for a group or larger fitness business, oftentimes personal trainers work for themselves. Being your own boss means running your business exactly how you want to and handling your customers and admin yourself on your time.
Fewer customers to focus on at once
Having fewer customers to focus on at once is both a benefit to you as a trainer and your customer. You are able to pay better attention to your customer's needs and what they are looking for in their fitness journey and how you can best help them. It also helps you prevent your customers from injuring themselves during a workout because you have time to properly show them what to do and how to do it.
With fewer customers in a session, you can also plan each session specifically to that person or small group of people. Get to know your customers better and what their likes and dislikes are. Find out motivates them to work out and take it to the next level. Planning workouts that they enjoy will motivate them to stay engaged and ready for each session.
More time for explanations of workouts and form
The one on one time you have with your customers is especially important when it comes to improving form and how to properly do an exercise. It also reduces the risk of injury. It is very hard to watch what every single customer is doing at the same time during group fitness, so private sessions are the perfect time to make sure your customers are getting it right.
Allows you to train with your student and achieve your own fitness goals
Not only will your customer get in your workout, but you can take advantage of getting one in too and work on your fitness goals. You can motivate each other and be a better example for your customers. You won't be hiring a personal trainer for yourself any time soon.
Access to multiple gyms and studios
As a personal trainer, it's very common that you have access to multiple gyms or studios due to having customers that are members of other gyms or studios. Alternatively, if you become a member yourself at multiple gyms or studios this gives you access to a wider net of potential customers that you can offer your personal or small group services to.
Making a difference in your customers' lives
Not only are you helping your customers progress in their fitness journey, but you are also making a difference in their lives. One of the benefits of personal training is trainers tend to have a closer relationship with their clients due to the nature of the one on one time. When it's just the two of you or a small group of customers, you are able to really get to know each other on a personal level.
You become the confidant that your customer can trust and lean on to guide their fitness journey and overall health and wellness. Which makes you a very important person in your customer's everyday life.
Why gym members choose personal training
Whether you are a yoga instructor, CrossFit coach, personal trainer, or any other type of fitness instructor, some customers want more guidance and one on one time regardless of what fitness level they are at. Some customers might even like a combination of private sessions and group classes. Here's what our customers had to say about why their customers choose private sessions with them:
More time to reach their goals
Whether it's to prepare for an upcoming race, competition, to learn a new skill or to lose weight, personal training is a quick and efficient way for instructors to help their customers reach certain goals. While those customers may be able to reach those same goals in a group class, having the one on one attention of an instructor and guidance can help a customer reach that goal faster. If training for a specific event, this will also help an instructor focus on providing their customer with exactly what they need to prepare.
Don't want to feel held back
Customers who are advanced in a type of fitness or skill don't necessarily want to attend a novice or beginners class that won't help them excel. Private sessions will ensure that those customers are able to constantly work on new skills and push themselves to excel.
They will also help you as a fitness instructor better assess your customer's progress and give you a better idea of how to plan for future sessions. This type of knowledge can be used as a takeaway when planning your larger group classes as well.
Flexibility in time and location
Personal training can offer a schedule that's better for you and your customer. Whether the session is in the gym, from home, in a park, wherever your customer can have more flexibility in working out what works better for both of your schedules and locations.
Health and safety
As gym members continue to prioritise their health and safety when working out, having the option to work directly with you and avoid groups and crowds, limits the amount of contact one of your customers comes in with another. It also allows trainers to focus all of their attention on one customer ensuring they are doing everything correctly, which prevents injuries.
Tighter bond
Sometimes customers choose personal training because that can create a tighter bond between instructor and student. You care about your customers and they care about you. One on one training sessions is an opportunity to work on their fitness, as well as create a support system that can help with things at home, work, personal lives, mental health, and more.
Personal training FAQ's
If you are starting out as a personal trainer or looking to grow your personal training business here are some helpful questions and answers you may be looking for:
How do I become a personal trainer?
Your first step in becoming a personal trainer is to get your certification (if you do not already have it). There are many certifications that will teach you how to properly offer training services as well as teach you important information about anatomy, nutrition, and the science behind exercise.
Once you are a certified personal trainer, get started by letting your friends and family know that you are a certified personal trainer and are looking to build your customer list. When you have your list ready and know your customer needs and requirements, you can start running your personal training business.
"I’ve been using TeamUp since 2015 and it has MASSIVELY assisted me in the growth of my business. From online payments to members being able to schedule their sessions, automated emails, and giving all new members a smooth and professional first impression. I can’t speak about TeamUp highly enough."
What are the best TeamUp tools to manage my personal training business?
TeamUp can help you offer one on one appointments, organise your classes, customers, and schedule all in one place. Here are some of the top tools that will help you run your business.
- NEW! Appointments: Schedule and offer one on one appointments to your customers using TeamUp's appointments feature. Make your schedule and availability visible on your website and TeamUp Member App and allow your clients to book and manage their own appointments with you.
- CRM: No matter if you have many customers or a few, having a customer relationship management where you can organise all of your customers in one place will help you keep track of their personal details, their progress, and their fitness needs.
- Customer referral program: Spreading the word about your fitness business is a crucial part of building its success. Get your customers involved by setting up a customer referral program in your TeamUp dashboard that will reward them for bringing in new potential customers and contributing to your business growth.
- Packages: Make signing up for your personal training sessions even easier by offering dedicated personal training or small group packages to your customers. These membership packages slightly differ from regular group training memberships, so be sure to be clear in your name and description of the package so that your customers can clearly see the difference in services.
What kind of income can I expect as a personal trainer?
Personal training sessions vary anywhere from 10$ a session to $100 a session (and more) depending on your level of training and experience. As the boss of your business, you have the power to decide how much to charge per session. Do your homework and find out what price you are comfortable with and think your customers will be comfortable paying.
You can set up a payment plan within your TeamUp dashboard, that will allow you to control and manage your business finances to ensure that even if you have customer no-shows or cancellations, you can still be paid.
Will my customers be able to easily book my classes ahead of time?
Yes! This is actually one of the reasons that TeamUp is the perfect tool for personal training and small group sessions. Your customers will access your class schedule and register for classes via the member app on their iOS or Android mobile device or tablet as well as on your website.
When it comes to private and small group sessions, your customers may have different reasons for why they want to get started. Whether it's to reach their goals, strengthen your bond, excel in new skills, or safely work out, personal training is an excellent solution for catering to your customers' fitness needs.
Do you currently offer your customers one on one personal training sessions? Share your customers' feedback with us at stories@goteamup.com. We'd love to hear what they think!
To find more TeamUp PT software tools to help you manage your personal training business, check out our guide, here.