Build Your Schedule Around Half Hour Appointments
Print This Post
By Sal | March 11, 2009
Personal trainers frequently think in terms of hour sessions. I'm not sure why, but my guess is that when trainers first hit the scene the thought process was that clients needed at least an hour to get a good workout. I know back in 1989 when I was working in Manhattan all the clients were on hour schedules.
However, when I set out on my own and my business took off - I saw value in offering 30-minute sessions. Half-hour sessions;
- Are more affordable
- Allow clients to train with greater frequency
- Are easier for the majority of clients to tolerate - especially beginners
- Allow personal trainers to increase their hourly training rate
If you charge $70 for hour sessions, half-hour sessions should cost $45 (approximately 60%). Hourly clients training twice weekly spend $140 per week versus $90 per week for half-hour clients. In my experience, prospective clients will more readily spend the $135 for three, half hour sessions than they will spend the $140 for two hour sessions, and will certainly go for the three, half-hour training sessions over three, 1-hour sessions.
Book half-hour sessions back-to-back at $45 per and you've effectively raised your hourly rate from $70 to $90, over a 20% increase in your fee!
It takes more half-hour than hour clients to fill your book, but you will appeal to more people thanks to the lower upfront per unit cost of the 30-minute session; this is a great trade-off. You can accomplish a lot in a half-hour session, especially with beginners. Frequency of training - and not duration - is the key to garnering many of the benefits offered by exercise. I've changed some of my hour sessions to half-hour sessions, which allows clients to train three times a week.
For trainers, half hour sessions can make busy days less of a grind. Training days of 10 hours of mixed sessions is easier to tolerate than days of 10, hour sessions. And if you have a "difficult" client, a half hour session may be the only thing that keeps you from having a nervous breakdown. There are some clients who are tough; it's part of being in a service business!
Consider making half hour sessions an integral part of your personal training business and your bottom line will be healthier.
Related Posts
Topics: Administration, Training Philosophy, scheduling | No Comments »
Comments
« Eating Disorders and Fitness: A Brief Review | Home | Don’t Be a Fitness Guru »