5 Effective Strategies for Developing Business Mindset for Personal Trainers

One of the biggest mistakes personal trainers make is thinking of themself as a personal trainer. Seriously. When you think of yourself as a personal trainer, you're thinking of yourself as the employee of your business, because personal training is the service.

We've spent more than a decade speaking to and educating trainers and we found the common denominator that separates the trainers who do well and the ones that don't. They think of themself as a business owner and think of personal training as the service. Here are 5 of the best ways to bring a business mindset to the role of personal training.

Strategy #1. A Pricing Model For Business Growth (Not Just To Get Clients)

Your role is to start a relationship with a client, and transparency is vital in the modern market. The modern consumer is used to having information at their fingertips and does not want to go through the rigmarole of calculating the price of a service. You need to show your pricing model based on the services you offer and that pricing needs to account for what the client will pay and for your ongoing business growth.

Many commercial gyms offer pricing tiers based on so many different variables that it can be confusing. It is far better for the sake of your clients to stay away from any complex price structures.

The best way to calculate it is to determine the value of your time, what you need to make a profit fairly, including marketing costs and charge that price. This means that it will benefit you, but the client will feel like they are not paying above and beyond what is fair.

LESSON: PRICING YOUR SERVICES

Strategy #2. Determine Your Specialty

At the outset of the journey, many personal trainers have the time to be general and experiment with different tools to find out what they like.

But after you've developed a unique style, the key to growing your business is identifying a specialized skillset and promoting it consistently. This will make an impression on potential clients, but it also establishes you as an expert on one subject matter.

It can help if you become known for one aspect of training, as this will help to position yourself as the authority on that subject. Many personal trainers try to cover a wide range of disciplines to capitalize on the right client, but this "Jack-of-all-trades" approach is hard to maintain.

It's far better for you to become known for something, whether it's fat loss, powerlifting, or bodybuilding because this will immediately pique the interest of the right client.

LESSON: CHOOSING A NICHE

Strategy #3. Work Smart, Not Hard

To operate an efficient business, you've got to streamline your efforts. You need to have a system in place that is scalable but also eliminates problems. This is a system that can work with clients and work with the practical side of running the business.

For example, if you work with clients with a common ailment, such as lower back pain, you can focus on a program that strengthens the lower back. When you've had success with most previous clients, you automatically have a solid game plan in place.

From the perspective of the behind-the-scenes operation, using a platform that can eliminate the need for keeping track of billing and scheduling means that you can focus on the job at hand.

These days, there are so many different software packages that can help you keep track of clients, the billing, and everything in between. When you start to scale your business, you are automatically dealing with more clients, so you need to have a solid bookkeeping system for the finances and workouts. You will need to keep comprehensive records of their lifts, VO2 max, and frequency so that you can tailor the training plan accordingly.

COURSE: CREATING BUSINESS SYSTEMS

Strategy #4. Focus On Results (For You And Your Clients)

Any business is about being unique. And when you are in the personal training business, you are competing with others. Many other career personal trainers are looking to get the same clients as you.

The solution is about mastering your speciality while also providing results. You may find that other professional trainers operate with several tactics to undermine your skills. However, it's essential to focus on providing honest and effective services.

Many people use tactics to try to cheat the system. This is especially true for people who create content and use "keyword stuffing" to trick the algorithm. However, the work of sculpting clients and improving their health and happiness is a far more noble pursuit than unscrupulous tactics.

It is crucial to operating with a long-term mindset. Personal training is a discipline where people look for immediate results, but they do not happen overnight. If you focus on doing good work, you will reap far more tangible rewards.

COURSE: INTRODUCTION TO NUTRITION COACHING

Strategy #5. Share Your Knowledge

Do you know how much the Institute of Personal Trainers spends on ads? Zero. All of our marketing efforts are inbound. That means we spend time and money on education to build an audience and that audience then pays for our services because they trust us.

You are a knowledgeable individual in your field. Still, one of the most significant mistakes professionals make is keeping their knowledge and refusing to give out any advice that they are not being paid for.

Many personal trainers need to get into the mindset of offering something valuable for free to show potential clients how to help them achieve their fitness goals.
 
This is why many people offer a handful of free resources, like an eBook, because it doesn't just build a small following and increase your reputation, but it shows you are dedicated to long-term benefits. If you offer something good for free, this could make people think that what you charge for will be far better.

COURSE: BUILDING A BRAND

Conclusion

If you want to make a solid career as a personal trainer, you need to realize your full potential, which means going into the world of personal training with the right mindset. It would be best if you took on the challenge of running your services like a business.

Many personal trainers either underestimate the importance of a business mindset or think it will distract them from doing good work. The reality is that if you want to have a solid roster of clients, having an organized and systematic mindset is crucial. This is just another way of operating with some common business sense.