How to manage a personal training center

Starting a personal training center requires more than just working hard and waiting for business to grow. Just as you train each client to reach their specific goals, growing your business requires planned actions and being focused. 

In this post, we'll examine 4 important areas that make up your personal training center and offer ideas on how to make sure they all work well. 

Your business goals

Personal trainers don't always realize that achieving business goals can be accomplished by using the same methods to achieve fitness goals. So, let's look at 6 things you can do to keep your business progressing toward success. 

1. Have clear goals 

For the big dreams you have for your personal training center to become a reality, you need to plan and set goals. Think about where you would like to see your business in 6 months, 2 years and 5 years. Your long-term goal may be to have a team of trainers working for you, own a second center or even open more locations in other cities. With your goal in mind, map out practical steps you can take to reach it. 

2. Find the right tools 

Just as equipment helps your clients get stronger, the tools you need to build your personal training business are the ones that help you retain current clients and attract new ones. You can keep your clients by offering them an excellent experience and exceeding their expectations. Attract new clients with a well-designed website and online presence, get referrals from gyms you can work with, and create a solid marketing strategy. 

3. Ask for testimonials and reviews 

Your best advertisements are happy customers. Clients who feel stronger, healthier and fitter since they are working out with you become walking testimonials that can attract new clients. Capture their stories in pictures, videos and reviews, then get their permission to publish them on your website and social media.

4. Be focused

Consider specializing in a specific area. Clearly communicate your specialty in your branding, on your website and in all of your marketing plans. Finding your niche will help you attract clients who are more likely to resonate with your work and become loyal customers. 

5. Incentives 

You can attract new customers by offering rewards. Offer free fitness assessments, complimentary classes for bringing a friend or training offers such as, for every 10 group sessions, get the next class free. Rewarding new and old customers in this way builds loyalty, maintains a high level of engagement and creates a rush of excitement around your business. 

6. Surround yourself with the best 

Has your business grown too much for you to manage it all on your own? Growth often requires hiring additional help. Consider adding team members to your business with complementary skills to your own. Understand your strengths and the areas that challenge you and hire someone with opposing strengths. For example, if center administration, such as tracking payments, is the worst part of the job for you, you may want to hire an assistant with strong administrative skills. Or you can also have a technology partner, such as Trainingym, help you automate all the most tedious processes. 

Marketing ideas for personal trainers 

Did you know that about 76% of clients look at a company's online presence before talking to a team member? This means that your personal training business needs to take advantage of the best marketing strategies available if you want to get people through your door. Especially if your training center isn't on a busy street and people aren't going to meet you by "chance". 

Below, we'll talk about some creative marketing ideas that will help you boost your business: 

7. Investing in local SEO

8. Have an e-mail database

Email lists are a very powerful acquisition asset for personal trainers who want to get their business noticed. You can put CTAs (call to action buttons) on your website that ask for the email address of each person who enters. This will get people to sign up so you can send them frequent training tips, promotional codes and fitness related blog posts as well as your promotions. 

9. Advertise on social networks 

Social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram allow you to reach many relevant consumers with targeted and personalized ads.   

Facebook and Instagram have a great pay-per-click (PPC) ad system where you can design an image ad. You can then upload this ad to the platform and select the age, gender, income, and location of your target demographic, among other things. The PPC ad will be displayed in people's feeds within these demographics to learn more. 

10. Create attractive promotions

All types of online marketing are a great way to take your business to the next level. However, you must bring real-world benefits to each marketing campaign.  

Offering a free Ebook or a few sessions at your personal training center for those who sign up is a great way to attract more audience. People will feel like they are getting an immediate tangible benefit and will choose your personal training center over the competition. 

Build your fitness brand 

The personal fitness trainer market is projected to grow by 39% over the next 8 years. This is significantly higher than the average for all industries, so you have to be very competitive to not lose your spot.

11. Create your brand values 

Developing your business mindset is essential to success. This means determining your fitness-related specialty, focusing on results for you and your clients, and being flexible. It also means creating a vision to work toward and a mission you want to accomplish. 

Make sure your vision is broad and provides you with a long-term goal of what success means. Your mission should be more concrete and speak to what you want to do for your customers more precisely. Describe your mission and vision both on your website and in your social media description to be as transparent as possible. 

12. Have a logo that people will remember 

Your logo is one of the most important facets of your brand. Besides the name of your personal training center, it's the first thing people will see when they go to your website. It's also the first thing potential clients will think of when they picture your workouts. 

 Your logo should be minimalistic and memorable. This means using simple shapes and only one or two colors. Make sure the logo is also relevant to your audience, so you'll be sure to impact who you really need to. 

13. Create relevant audiovisual content

Did you know that 73% of customers are more likely to invest in a service after watching a video about it? This is especially true for fitness businesses, focused on physical activity. You want to capture your audience's attention and drive them to action, i.e., to hire you. Using videos that show people moving and getting fit is a good way to motivate those who want to change their lifestyle. 

You can also create content about success stories or share relevant information with your audience, such as lifestyle tips or training technique tips. 

 

If you want to go deeper into this topic, check out this free Ebook.