4 Ways Personal Trainers Can Grow Their Customer Base

It’s that time of year, folks. We're a couple of months into the new year and you’re probably starting to notice that your clients are showing up less often for their workouts or maybe even creating excuses to postpone their sessions with you.  

People are losing motivation (and breaking their resolution) to work out more in 2020. 

Let’s be honest: most people make their fitness resolutions, keep up with them for a couple of months, and then go back to their regularly scheduled programming. But as the weather starts to warm up, these same clients will be looking to get fit—and get fit fast.  

Which is why this time of year presents a unique opportunity for personal training facilities to revamp their offerings.  

By fine-tuning the ways you bring in and retain clients, you can ensure your client base will flourish all year long.  

Here’s how: 

1. Offer a free consultation

In any personal training package, a free consultation should always be an option.  

Offering a free consultation at the start of your personal training relationship shows prospective clients you're dedicated to getting to know their personality and fine-tuning an individual program for them.  

It also gives you the opportunity to hear what they’re looking to work on, their budget, and their timeline—allowing you to tailor a package specifically suited to their individual needs.  

More than anything, your clients want to feel like they’re receiving individual attention; a complimentary consultation will do just that. 

2. Choose a specialization

Specializing your services is key to successful personal training. 

First, find what you enjoy. If you’re passionate about helping clients lose weight, specialize in weight loss. On the other hand, if you prefer working with moms-to-be, specialize in prenatal sessions.  

Whatever you’re most passionate about, reflect that expertise in your packages—and make sure your certification(s)are specific to those services.

By doing so, you’ll show clients you’re an expert in a focused area, increasing their overall confidence in your coaching. 

3. Encourage clients to bring a friend

Friends don’t let friends give slack on their fitness journeys, right?  

One of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to gain new clients is through word-of-mouth marketing—in this case, encourage your clients to tell their friends about your personal training services. Or better yet encourage your clients to bring a friend to their next personal training session for free.  

By offering a prospect a free session in conjunction with a previously scheduled session (that your existing client already paid for), you’re still making money while potentially landing another loyal client. If their friend ends up signing up for personal training sessions with you, you can offer a referral reward—one of their sessions at a discounted rate, for example.

4. Keep the location exciting

If your clients are like most, they probably work desk jobs and spend much of their time indoors. Being stuck within the four walls of a gym can get old, rather quickly.  

So, break down the walls and get your clients outside. 

As we near spring, and the weather will become increasingly pleasant each day, consider offering your sessions outside the gym or studio. 

Take your warmup outside or complete a circuit outside at the park. Switch things up from time to time, and you’ll find that your clients appreciate a new type of workout and the change of scenery. 

These are just a few ways to keep your personal training clients on their toes on year long. When you create customized routines that help your clients accomplish their fitness goals—and keep things exciting—clients will continue to look forward to their training sessions with you.