What is the missing piece of your club’s best year to date- The Dream Team. No, I don’t mean the legendary 1992 USA Olympic Basketball team. I mean your Dream Team of personal trainers. They are your make it or break it, bread and butter… you get the point. Your Dream Team = Your Dream Year. With around 12% of your total annual memberships joining in January and February, you don’t want to merely settle for their EFT on membership dues, but also add PT onto that as well. So where to begin?
First things first, be a realist and analyze your metrics.
- How many sessions/members on monthly PT EFT do you have?
- How many sessions/members on monthly PT EFT is your goal?
- How many trainers do you need to reach that goal? (If not, you’ll need more.)
Next, is the million dollar question- Do you have the right trainers on your team? You can have a ton of trainers, but if you don’t have the right personality types, you’ve got nothing. So let’s begin building that team. There are personality traits vital for EVERY trainer to posses:
Outgoing– How in the world can you expect someone to drum up new business with complete strangers if you’re dealing with an introvert? During the interview process, ask situational and example based questions to see how outgoing that candidate really is.
Sales Ability– You might get someone with a great personality, but zero sales ability. That is a deal breaker. Your trainers have to be able to sell! They are selling themselves and the ability to drastically change someone’s life after all!
Realizes Own Value– Over the span of a few weeks or months, trainers get to personally know their clients and at some point feel bad for having to charge their clients. You want trainers who know they are valuable, fitness professionals that are worth every penny.
Passionate– Yes, passionate is an often over used word, but completely true to the heart of fitness. You can visually detect a passion for fitness in trainers. You can observe if the trainer practices what they preach. This doesn’t mean they have to look like Jillian Michaels, but moving with good form and living a healthy lifestyle must be there.
Notice in all these vital traits I did not list knowledge or certifications- for a reason. You can teach knowledge, you can learn programming, or research new trends, but passion, personality and the ability sell are born in.
Last, you will not find everything you need in a trainer in one person. Think of your training staff as a baseball team. You need outfielders, basemen, a catcher and pitchers. It is the entire team working cohesively that brings the win. On that same token, the strengths of all your trainers should complement each other and pull up the weaknesses of the others. Different clients have different needs and will respond and relate to trainers for various reasons. It is important to hire trainers of all ages, genders, and races as you piece together a team that meets the diverse needs of your member base.
Speaking of member base, it is a great place to discover the first of one of your key players on your training team- The Transformed Trainer. Your fragile eggs coming in will be able to relate to this member turned trainer who can provide the empathy needed to motivate them. They have been there themselves, overweight, unhealthy, but overtime evolved into a fit, healthy living example.
You’ll also want to have The Scholar Trainer. This person loves learning the latest training methods, leading workshops for staff and keeps things fresh, not only for his clients, but also for the whole team.
Similar, to The Scholar Trainer, but more specific, The Specialist Trainer is an expert in her area. Stretching and Mobility, Kettlebells or sport specific, this person knows their stuff and can be trusted to get results in a specific area of need.
The Veteran Trainer has been training since crazy pants, survived the thong leotard era, and is still going strong through the age of the #gymselfie. The Vet possesses a wealth of knowledge and bank full of training methods that will prevent his clients’ programming from becoming stagnant. He will probably wind up being a natural leader amongst the rest of your trainers especially what will probably be your largest category of trainers- The Newbie Trainer.
The Newbie Trainer can be either so new the ink hasn’t yet dried on the certificate, or just new to you. Either way, this person brings a new vibe to your team, excitement and a fresh face to your members. The Newbie will often be young and impressionable occupying more of your time than the others. Time spent with them is time well spent to mold them into starter on your team.
You want your client base to not only be in sessions with their primary trainer, but also with other trainers on the team. Set up that client with a session for stretching essentials to help them finally unlock their hips or help them shock the system with a brand new training method. Chances are, when you see this happen you’ll also see clients with great results and lots of referrals.
Build it and they will come. Get out there with your Dream Team in 2015 and hit a home run.
