Schedule Time with Clients to Maximize Profits
Print This Post
By Sal | December 11, 2008
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 that year - and over the next few years as 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 - and allow personal trainers to increase their hourly training rate to maximize profits. Half-hour sessions are better for everyone!
If you're running hourly sessions, and want to compare half hour vs. hour sessions, use this chart:
| Hour | Half-hour | |
| Personal trainer fee | $70 | $45 |
| Client expense (training twice weekly) | $140 | $90 |
| Effective hourly rate | $70 | $90 |
In my experience, clients will more readily spend $135 for three half hour sessions, compared to $140 for two hour-long sessions. Plus you raise your effective hourly rate: that's how you make more profit!
You will need to attract more half hour than hour clients in order 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. From a personal training standpoint you can certainly get plenty of work done in a half hour session and give your clients their money's worth, especially newbies. Since frequency of training - and not duration - is the key to garnering many of the benefits offered by exercise, you are doing the right thing by getting your clients to train 3 times per week. As a matter of fact, I've changed some of my hour sessions to half hour sessions precisely for this reason.
Check out this video and you'll see one of my regular clients who trains 3, half hour sessions per week. It hasn't hurt her fitness level!
From the personal trainer standpoint, half hour sessions can make busy days less of a grind. I've trained days with 10 hours worth of hour sessions and 10 hours of mixed sessions and there's no doubt that the mixed days are easier to tolerate. Blocks of time where I have 3 hours of half hour appointments go much quicker than the hour session blocks. And if you have a "difficult" client, a half hour session may be the only thing that keeps you from having a nervous breakdown.
Consider making half hour sessions an integral part of your personal training business and your bottom line will be healthier. You can read more about how to increase profits in my book, "How to Make More Money as a Personal Trainer".
Related Posts
Topics: Administration, Personal Trainer Coaching | No Comments »
Comments
Home | Should I Let Clients Set the Pace of Training Sessions? »