In sports and in business, there are a few critical statistics that can be used as a barometer for performance. In football, a high quarterback rating stems from high completion percentages, which show accuracy. In business, a high ROI shows how good of a choice you made by investing in something.
For personal trainers, a high conversion rate and retention rate is what you should use to determine how well a trainer is servicing clients. Conversion rating refers to the amount of people a trainer comes in contact with and what percentage of those people become clients at some level.
Count all prospective members in free workouts and initial programming sessions. Then divide that number by all new sales for the quarter (you need to allow some time for repeated contacts or holidays). The bare minimum is 40 percent, and the optimal rate is 70 percent.
Retention rating is more of a long-term metric. It is measured over a year’s time. We measure this by compiling a trainer’s client list and then reassessing that list at the end of the year. We shoot for an 80- 90 percent rate. You are naturally going to lose clients due to moving, membership experience or job loss. But if someone quits over the cost, then you have not provided enough of a value for them to justify their expense.
Vic Spatola is the director of personal training for Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club in Greenwood Village, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. Spatola offers consulting on personal training business development. For more information, contact him at vics@greenwoodatc.com.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
I love your advice about evaluating trainers. I have one point to bring up. Are we looking to help the client fast and effectively so that can leave if they want or are we trying to keep them a long time so we can make more money?
Personally, I believe I have made more clients happy and received far more referrals by getting them what they want, when they want it and then they decide if they still need training or not.
Imagine asking a client that had the same trainer for 5 years this question “Now that you have been with your trainer for 5 years, are you happy with the results?” Most will be happy that they had a trainer for 5 years, but most will say that they did not get the results they wanted. Anyway, just something to think about.