I don’t think I need to remind anyone of the plight of health we’re experiencing in our country. I recently heard on the radio that there are over 10,000 people retiring every day! Social security is supposed to go bankrupt in 2037. If we, the people don’t collectively take our health seriously, we’re doomed. As an industry, at what point do we stop being nice?
Currently, in most instances, clients or members purchase personal training packages that they can either pay in full or make monthly payments on. However, in most cases there is a 24-hour cancellation policy. I don’t recommend we run our personal training businesses in that manner.
Here’s a new mindset.
I recently finished graduate school. When I registered for classes, the times were set. I couldn’t cancel with a 24–hour notice. If I missed class, I missed it. I had to make up the work on my own. The teacher didn’t allow a student to reschedule — you basically paid in advance for that particular class in that particular time slot.
I suggest you run your business the same way. When people purchase sessions, they are reserving a particular time slot for both the trainer’s life and their own. Even with a 24-hour notice, it’s very unlikely that a trainer can find someone to fill that slot for that one day. Financially, expenses didn’t decrease for that day either, so basically you’ve lost time and time is money. If the trainer misses (which can happen), then either the client receives a refund for the session price or the trainer must make up the session for free. I recommend you begin to sell your sessions in the same manner.
What I love about exercise is that you get what you put in. We need to prioritize our health where it needs to be, which is at the top of the list. There is absolutely nothing more important than our health and for those people who like to cancel a session for whatever reason, they need to pay, not only to incentivize them to show up, but also to help the rest of us who do make the effort to stay healthy.
Think how much time and money you spend in:
• Trainers with empty blocks of time in their schedule while on the clock with no one to train.
• The fitness manager dealing with no-shows and fighting over the 24-hour cancellation fees.
• The fitness manager or personal training director fighting with customers over unused sessions or expired sessions.
• Trainers letting people slide on the cancellation fee because they don’t want them to get mad and cancel.
• Trainers entering sessions when the person never showed and the aftermath of explaining that to the client and reprimanding or firing the trainer.
• The client not reaching their goals because they missed too many sessions.
Everyone has attended school so they understand how it works. You pay for a semester and it’s your responsibility to show up. In fact, if you miss too much school and don’t pass with the minimum grade, you get held back. You don’t get a refund or a return on your money.
When presenting or selling personal training, commitment and consistency must be explained as a key ingredient to the client’s success. This new mindset ensures that consistency must be met, or not only will they be penalized financially, but their fitness goals will be hindered.
Graduating school is held in a high regard and even serves as a milestone for many people. Our health is even more important than graduating school. Our current health status is proof that most people take their health for granted until they get really sick and then we all pay.
It’s time for a new mindset. Clients must make a serious commitment, not only for themselves, but for all of us. If they won’t make it a priority, then we have to do it for them.
John Platero has been in the fitness industry for 37 years. John previously owned a 20,00-square-foot gym and was the National Director for Personal Training for LA Fitness and Bodies and Motion. You may contact him at www.johnplatero.com.
