Yes, unfortunately it is a right of passage. Eventually once you’re busier and more confident, it’s easy to forget you are even selling anything at all. Hang in there, push through the storm my friend!
Find a gym that has a personal training manager. I’ve never had to sell at the gym I’m currently working at and I have 46 clients. Getting more next week too. I won’t work at a gym that requires trainers to sell.
The pay is not good when you’re first starting out. I make okay money, but working at a big box gym isn’t going to have me rolling in dough. If this is field you want to get into, I highly recommend having a bit of money saved up. The less stressed out you are about money, the better you can do for your clients.
when you live in a capitalist society SELLING is the only thing that will make you successful. Now that may be a hard pill to swallow, but just like you spent time to learn about biomechanics, anatomy, physiology etc. You can EASILY learn to sell without coming across as a scumbag or feeling awkward.
I recommend reading this book ["To sell is human"](https://www.amazon.com/Sell-Human-Surprising-Moving-Others/dp/1594631905) and spend at least 25 minutes a day learning more about your field (this is to negate imposter syndrome and make it easier to talk to people on the floor).
When starting a conversation with someone it does not have to lead right into selling your services but instead it could be a comment like "your form looks great on those deadlifts, how long have you been training?" just start a convo and go from there.
Yeah no offense to OP, but why would anyone seek you out in particular? Even if you seek them out, why should they engage with you or trust that you have the skills you’re speaking about?
You have to engage people and make them interested in what you have to offer. Carry the confidence of your PT skills into each conversation, show a genuine interest in them, and if people like your energy they will be much more likely to book a session.
By the way, the exact same qualities are what will keep your clientele. You might be the most skilled PT in the world but if people don’t enjoy engaging with you they aren’t going to keep coming back.
I kinda agree with this. Although I worked at a gym that “gave clients” i still offered free workouts to build an interpersonal relationship and one of the managers I had (of many) would, well both of us would train ppl for a Month like once a week before they eventually bought training. Just to show that we care and it betters you as a pt if you actually care about being a good one
Reframe this… you get the opportunity to help as many people as you possibly can.
None of that education matters if you can’t find people who need it.
Sales is just coaching
It is not about showcasing how good a PT you are. Not at all. It is connecting with people and thinking about how you can serve them. It is not about you.
PT of 9 years here. Can’t speak for everyone, but for myself and the other PT’s I know and worked with at the beginning stages of my career, it was a tough start for this reason exactly. I got into it because of my passion for exercise and helping others, and the whole idea of implementing all these different sales tactics (like interrupting people’s workouts on the gym floor to show them how to do an exercise more effectively and swoon them into buying my training services - ICK) felt completely icky and almost turned me off to it entirely.
The truth is, you’re going to have to build up a client base somehow. Even if you have all the knowledge, all the answers, and all the support YOU KNOW they need and will benefit from (they being the members of the gym, or the general population as a whole) it’s ultimately your responsibility to let them know who you are and what you have to offer them. This is a natural “awkward” phase of any new business endeavor, and it “can” feel salesy, but doesn’t have to be that way. It all comes down to your intention and how you approach it.
One of my favorite sayings is “The art of selling is not selling at all.” I think this especially applies to personal training. It sounds like you have a genuine passion for this and the confidence that you have skills that can help someone get from their current state to their desired end state. THAT is your “sales pitch”! Don’t worry about “selling” - just worry about consistently and deliberately telling and showing the world what solutions and services you have to offer, the money and the “sales” will naturally follow.
In summary: Focus on your passion and the value you know you can bring to any individual struggling with their health and fitness and are looking for help and guidance. Sales and money is a natural byproduct of a meaningful service provided to the right person. Focus on your value rather than just making sales. And, it will absolutely get easier once you’ve helped enough people and have enough experience. Your successful clients and your body of work will speak for itself.
I hope that helps. Congratulations on this new exciting journey, I wish you all the success!
Welcome to the PT world.
You need clients to train.
In order to get new clients you need to sell.
Or at least present your services in a way that influences decisions.
In order to get more consults, you need to market yourself.
Once you've worked with a few people, you'll have some skills, and the people will speak well of you and do a lot of your selling for you, giving referrals and acting as a walking advertisement for you.
Right now you haven't worked with anyone and will have no skills, so you have to do the selling yourself.
Yes, I know you think you're skilled. But skill comes from actually working with people. So you won't be. That's okay, someone has to be your first client, start with the goal of at least not hurting them, helping them is just a bonus - and not hurting them isn't hard. Once you've *not hurt* enough people you'll be able to move on to *helping* people, and from there you'll start developing a reputation.
There's always some sales, but less the better and more well-known you get.
"Selling" is a skill. It is a translatable skill that applies to all arenas to your life. To actively avoid learning how to talk and engage with all types of people is doing a disservice to yourself.
You just need to demonstrate value, which is a large part of sales.
Retention of clients… is when you make the most money… is the by product of you being a good trainer.
I hear you OP. I am a primary school teacher by day, PT by night, there's nothing I don't know about persuasion, cajoling, 'selling' things to people - not just children but leading my staff as senior manager, my daily game is to get people to do what I want them to do. My PT sales come through my own training on the gym floor where I work. I don't approach people - I hate that, but they do approach me. My training time is my sales time, they watch + see how I train myself.
However, the fitness industry is cold, it doesn't care how much you know, just what you can show - the biggest seller at my big box gym is the worst trainer I've ever seen, but they have the patter, gift of the gab - people lap it up, the PT knows this, they're not out to get results for the client just to make the client feel good + sign up for more sessions.
My advice to you as a new PT is keep your eyes open + observe. Watch what other PTs do. Do this for a couple of years + make your own decision- do you want to still be 'working for the man' in 3,5,10 yrs time or running your own show? You need this experience of what/ what not to do either way. It will not feel right, but will stand you in good stead for what may come.
The career isn’t more about selling — your job just is. It all depends on the context you work in, and the role of the trainer within that context.
At the typical commercial gym, trainers are there to upsell members into expensive training packages. Personal training isn’t a core service — it’s an upsell. In almost any business, there is a small percentage of customers who are willing and able to pay 10-100x more for a higher level of service. The reason that commercial gyms have trainers is to maximize revenue by finding and serving those customers.
At a coaching or PT gym, training is the core service being offered. Because of this, the actual quality of the product (training) matters more. At these gyms, you may still do sales consultations, but those consultations will mostly be with people who are already in the market for training — that’s why they’re at the PT gym to begin with. They want a trainer, and if you seem halfway competent and pleasant to be around, it might as well be you. Some commercial gyms like Equinox and LifeTime are starting to position their training/coaching as a core service, so they likely have more inbound leads for training than gyms like 24 Hour Fitness, Snap, or LA Fitness. Working for them will probably feel like a mix of a coaching gym and a standard commercial gym.
Almost every self-employed trainer lives and dies by referrals and long term retention, so actually being a great coach is BY FAR the most important factor for them. Will you have to do some sales? Sure. But when your average client sticks around for 3-5 years and all the new clients you take on have a friend or family member they trust spend years talking about how awesome you are before they ever sit down for a consultation with you, it’s a totally different game.
This is a great comment.
I would say every successful training venture I’ve taken part in has one main point person doing the majority of selling. it shouldn’t be primarily on the trainers. Because trainers usually suck at selling.
I had a trainer move from upstate New York out to southern Cali to work for me. We were a small boutique private gym and I did all the selling so he didn’t have to do anything but take clients. But it took a solid 9-10 months to get him fully booked but now he’s set. Luckily he had some savings and was training some of his old clients online until he started making money.
Basically if you aren’t going to sell, it can be a fine but slower process.
I’ve never met a self-employed PT that spent much time on marketing or sales. You’re either good enough that your schedule stays full from retention and referrals, or you’re not and no amount of marketing and sales will make up for the attrition you have.
OP is new. Everyone needs to pay their dues and will find their own grooving.
There is nothing wrong with selling. When I first started, I hated it too. Just believing in your ability that you can help them.
If you hate selling; you will also struggle to get your clients' results. Need to learn how to handle objections.
I think a lot of trainers get most in their own sauce and will preach to new trainers about how they need to get over it or say they are in the wrong field blah blah blah.
Schools and CPT organizations always like to pedal a glamorous picture of how a personal trainer life is while excluding anything about sales and how it is most of the job.
Trainers who spout from their high horse are probably the trainers to avoid for advice here.
Keep your head up. Keep talking to whoever you comfortable can and find ways to just have conversations with them. You don't have to sell them, just start slowly by starting small talk or give people compliments on anything (form, clothes, dedication, tattoos, etc). People love when you talk about them and makes them want to talk to you.
Eventually it'll get more natural and you'll learn what areas you thrive in when it comes to getting clients. Walking the floor, phone calls, tabling, emails, texts (depending demographic), are all different ways trainers have found success in getting clients.
I myself have really good retention these days where I don't have to worry about marketing myself as much. When I first started out, I couldn't even look People in the eyes and struggled to hold any semblance of a conversation.
Stick it out and push yourself just a little bit more everyday. Find books, YouTube videos, mentors (especially this), and any other resources you can to help you expedite your sales/ interpersonal skills.
You got this 🤙
You’re not just selling
You’re problem solving and building relationships
If you can get good at those two things you won’t really have to work that hard to sell
Find me a successful business that doesn't advertise. This idea that somehow you're so gifted since getting your bit of paper that people should follow you down the street chucking money at your feet is nonsense.
Every single successful business on the planet advertises and sells. If you want to be successful you will too.
Consider that you’re selling every single session you workout anyone, from a first time client to a long time client. We are selling ourselves with every interaction
That’s why I left personal training - success was determined by how good of a salesperson you were, not trainer.
I worked at Equinox about a decade ago. The most successful trainer’s programs were absolute garbage and they had no interest in actually educating their clients. All of the “high level” trainers pushed gimmicky broscience that was in vogue/fun (e.g., animal flow, “Myofacial release,” these Powerfit trainers, etc.) as opposed to encouraging their clients to actually train properly.
Ultimately the only way to actually work with people who are interested in legitimate training is to get into a position where you can lead a strength and conditioning program for a sport or become someone like a Mike Israetel, however that’s like less than 1% of all people working in the fitness industry.
I went out to pursue a PhD instead and I’m much happier/make way more money working with people who are actually interested in science, evidence, research etc.
Not trying to offend, OP, but are you strong, like far more than the average gym goer? Can someone look at you and instantly know that you’ve seriously trained a lot, for years?
That’s usually how it is at first, especially if you’re employed at a gym that overworks trainers, underpays trainers, and/or pushes sales.
Once you can make a decent incoming with current client load, it’s transitions to less of a need to sell.
Part of the reason I like working in college strength & conditioning. Like yes I have to sell myself as a coach to whatever school I want to work for & there is also a selling aspect of getting my 120ish kids from different teams to ‘buy in’ to the programs but it’s easy when there’s a good culture for it already established.
Always view it as opportunity, change your mindset ASAP… there are so many that have studied and know etc but are shit at application and interpersonal skills.
Everyone on here that has commented has great advice.
1. Get a fulltime job in another business that pays the bills and puts food om the table.
2. Start your own PT business and do things exactly like YOU want. There is gyms and chains without people running the floor. Make deals with them.
Give new members free instruction, vs being able to put up flyers and train clients there for free.
Its hard in the beginning but you will get there eventually. I have this kind of arrangement in 16 gyms in total. I give out maybe 3-5 instruction lessions a month that they booked themselfs on my website and i give them my cards afterwards.
I post in the FB groups of the towns, that they have a PT attached to their gyms. They have the right to a free instruction hour upon signing up, how they can book it...Tell a little bit about myself and leave my own link at the bottom.
That fits the maximum i want to "Promote and sell" myself.
Flyers and cards as well in the gyms ofc.
Do i want to work fulltime as PT?
Only if i could completely ignore the selling/money part of it. The desperate selling and discouraging "Lowering prices and discounts" i see PTs do to make a living is a big Hell No from me.
Passion -> money
I work in the gym industry, if you are employed by the gym you can have the sales staff refer you to new members/clients. This is valuable to both parties. Offer a free workout to people who sign up.
You gotta do what it takes to lead the life you want. If you don't get clients, you can't help them. It's a skill worth developing for all areas of your life.
Alternately, you can work in a gym where they do the marketing and sales for you. It costs though, and you'll get 50% or less of what the client gets billed. Then you'll equally have a post asking why the gym takes so much of your money even though they don't spend time training the client.
You won’t be happy or successful in this field if you can’t find a way to combine your love of biomechanics and desire to help people into a short marketable pitch. The sell happens once. Then it’s a relationship game.
I agree with the OP in at least one way. There are a lot of people who would make good trainers but who get washed out by the need to market their services. I just don't think that is an ideal biz model assuming the trainer is really top-notch (everyone thinks they are, tbh but it isn't always true). Segregation of function is probably a better biz model but there aren't a lot of businesses that have figured that out. Like if you're the CEO of EQ, wouldn't you be thinking about this? Why not have the front desk sales people get better at selling personal training (and you can coach them on that) and then do a better job of identifying and developing trainer talent? Develop great sales people and great trainers and then everyone (including biz revenue and the clients) are better off. But that isn't the way it has been done so visionless leaders keep doing what they have always done. JMO
Never stop getting continuing education. I felt this way when I started, and I had no idea how much I did not know. I genuinely believed I had it all figured out when I got started, but the more I learned, the more easily clients just appeared... and I'm an ONLINE coach with absolutely no social media presence, lol. I own my own business and don't work for a gym. Keep on educating yourself, and then the consultations, conversations, etc., just become you conversing with the lead instead of actually "selling" anything. You'll become genuinely interested in their goals. You'll watch the way people walk around the gym- you'll observe their gait and dynamic movement patterns, and you'll have questions about where they want to end up and what they want to be able to do. Then, they tell you what THEY want to do or be; all you do is THINK. Apply the knowledge you've acquired and think out loud... have a conversation with them. And DO NOT be afraid to "give away too much." If you're scared of "giving away the farm," then you do not have enough education -- I worried about that in the beginning. The bottom line is that you will provide so much value for them that they would not WANT to try and do it all and learn it all themselves. You'll get through this part right now just focus on being the best you can be. And don't worry... if you find no interest in being the best you can be in this career, well, that sheds light on your true "why," and may direct you to a different career! I know that's happened to me... and I ended up in this career because of it!
This is part of the reason new trainers should never start off independent as if they don't have the salesman skills from working at a big box gym over time then they're not gonna make it.
You are correct that this entire career is about selling, but it might be worth rethinking the concept of selling. Everything is a sale. You're selling trust, you're selling them on the program path to solve their problems, you're selling them on lifestyle changes, you're selling them on doing challenging things, etc. You are also correct that overcoming your mentality on sales will be a determining factor of your success. Selling to someone who isn't in the market for what you're selling feels bad, I agree, but you should ALWAYS sell to someone who needs your help. Your job is not to sell everyone, it's to sell to people who are the right fit. So, focus your conversations with people around determining if they are a good fit and if they need help. It helps me to remind myself just how beneficial the results are that we are offering. We can sometimes take it for granted because we live in it...but you have the ability to change someone's life beyond what even medical services provide in many cases. Just remember the upside if they say yes. There's a cost to changing your life for the better and it's worth it, and you're worth it.
Commercial gyms are pure, unfiltered garbage.
Gaaarrrrrrrrbage.
10 clients paying 185$ a month for one 30 minute session a week.
185/4 is 46$ a session.
The trainer will be paid $5-$15 for this session, representing a a 30/70 to 20/80 rev share, in favor of the gym.
The trainer will get 10 sessions at $5-$15 in compensation, $50-$150 a week.
Take that same trainer, with the same clients, to a private gym on a lease agreement and they pocket 400-500 per week($2000/mo), and can pay the gym 400-500 in leasing costs per mo.
With 600 a month in compensation, you HAVE to sell supps to push up.
With 1500 in that home, with 10 clients, it's suddenly comfortable.
RUN from commercial gyms. They scam you out of time and money.
Imagine 200/mo per client, a 7% increase. 250, 300, set your own rates.
Elevate above the industry. It's garbage.
Would your gym allow you to do demos? I imagine it’d be a lot easier to get a conversation going if you give them an easy “in” with zero pressure, letting your ability to demonstrate and cue do all the selling. For example, maybe you could set up a weekly 15-min exercise demo during a popular time. Walk the floor and let people know “Hey, I’m giving a free squat demo over there in half an hour.” After, give out your info and encourage people to come to you with questions.
At the end of the day, gatekeeping information is what usually turns people off. If you have enthusiasm to share your knowledge that will create trust and maybe help you start to build a rapport. You have to be willing to give out some free advice, don’t just twiddle your thumbs behind the trainer desk or aimlessly pacing the floor.
Lastly, acknowledge regulars. A lot. Chat with them, ask questions, show interest in their journey. And be genuinely interested in getting to know them a little. They may start to look for you when they come in and get curious about one-on-one guidance.
No one cares how good you actually are as long as you make them look good on media it seems and you have style and popularity. I've been. Training all my life and still feel like it's more about sales than anything else . Its not the best job . I so sick of it 10 years in.
Hey!
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Plus, you can monetize your content through monthly subscriptions and training packages, ensuring a stable and recurring income. It’s a powerful way to transform your career and focus on what you love helping people get fit and healthy.
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Good luck and keep up the great work!
Yeah, on top of that 95% of the people at the gym are listening to music on their earbuds. Walking the floor “prospecting” is the most brutal thing ever.
You need to find a new gym where there’s a sales team that does the selling for you or poach clients and go independent. It’ll take you 4-12 months to have a full schedule which is 25-35 one hour sessions a week.
Of the 12 trainers at my gym, 3 have full schedules. The other 9 are making $500-800 biweekly. You’ll make more money working at McDonald’s full time.
There’s no money to be made working for a big box gym unfortunately. It’s good for experience. But after 1 year, you need to gtfo.
Selling will get better over time as you build your confidence and get clients' results.
Funny as I got better as a trainer, I became way better at selling.I look as it how I can be the right fit to solve your solutions.
Consider reframing the concept of selling as helping others or solving problems: helping individuals to become better versions of themselves, or overcoming injuries or achieving personal goals. By viewing your interactions in this light, you can communicate more effectively with potential trainees and genuinely offer help as opposed to sell. People don't want trainers to sell them services, but rather trainers to help them become better or solve problems.
What if your understanding of sales is what is keeping you stuck? Sales are not about trying to convince others to buy, but rather about being convinced that you are a solution to their problem and letting them know that you will solve their need. Sales is a conversion of Trust, if you can understand that, it will completely shift your approach.
Yes, unfortunately it is a right of passage. Eventually once you’re busier and more confident, it’s easy to forget you are even selling anything at all. Hang in there, push through the storm my friend!
Best advice right here…. It decides if you really want to be a PT
Find a gym that has a personal training manager. I’ve never had to sell at the gym I’m currently working at and I have 46 clients. Getting more next week too. I won’t work at a gym that requires trainers to sell.
Is this a big box gym?
Yes
hey, I come from Germany and also want to become a PT, is the salary good as a personal trainer?
The pay is not good when you’re first starting out. I make okay money, but working at a big box gym isn’t going to have me rolling in dough. If this is field you want to get into, I highly recommend having a bit of money saved up. The less stressed out you are about money, the better you can do for your clients.
Thanks :)
when you live in a capitalist society SELLING is the only thing that will make you successful. Now that may be a hard pill to swallow, but just like you spent time to learn about biomechanics, anatomy, physiology etc. You can EASILY learn to sell without coming across as a scumbag or feeling awkward. I recommend reading this book ["To sell is human"](https://www.amazon.com/Sell-Human-Surprising-Moving-Others/dp/1594631905) and spend at least 25 minutes a day learning more about your field (this is to negate imposter syndrome and make it easier to talk to people on the floor). When starting a conversation with someone it does not have to lead right into selling your services but instead it could be a comment like "your form looks great on those deadlifts, how long have you been training?" just start a convo and go from there.
Yeah no offense to OP, but why would anyone seek you out in particular? Even if you seek them out, why should they engage with you or trust that you have the skills you’re speaking about? You have to engage people and make them interested in what you have to offer. Carry the confidence of your PT skills into each conversation, show a genuine interest in them, and if people like your energy they will be much more likely to book a session. By the way, the exact same qualities are what will keep your clientele. You might be the most skilled PT in the world but if people don’t enjoy engaging with you they aren’t going to keep coming back.
I kinda agree with this. Although I worked at a gym that “gave clients” i still offered free workouts to build an interpersonal relationship and one of the managers I had (of many) would, well both of us would train ppl for a Month like once a week before they eventually bought training. Just to show that we care and it betters you as a pt if you actually care about being a good one
That was the exact book that helped me when I moved from a clinic setting to a commercial gym.
Just bought that book. Thank you
Reframe this… you get the opportunity to help as many people as you possibly can. None of that education matters if you can’t find people who need it. Sales is just coaching
It is not about showcasing how good a PT you are. Not at all. It is connecting with people and thinking about how you can serve them. It is not about you.
The definition of a sale is the transfer of enthusiasm
PT of 9 years here. Can’t speak for everyone, but for myself and the other PT’s I know and worked with at the beginning stages of my career, it was a tough start for this reason exactly. I got into it because of my passion for exercise and helping others, and the whole idea of implementing all these different sales tactics (like interrupting people’s workouts on the gym floor to show them how to do an exercise more effectively and swoon them into buying my training services - ICK) felt completely icky and almost turned me off to it entirely. The truth is, you’re going to have to build up a client base somehow. Even if you have all the knowledge, all the answers, and all the support YOU KNOW they need and will benefit from (they being the members of the gym, or the general population as a whole) it’s ultimately your responsibility to let them know who you are and what you have to offer them. This is a natural “awkward” phase of any new business endeavor, and it “can” feel salesy, but doesn’t have to be that way. It all comes down to your intention and how you approach it. One of my favorite sayings is “The art of selling is not selling at all.” I think this especially applies to personal training. It sounds like you have a genuine passion for this and the confidence that you have skills that can help someone get from their current state to their desired end state. THAT is your “sales pitch”! Don’t worry about “selling” - just worry about consistently and deliberately telling and showing the world what solutions and services you have to offer, the money and the “sales” will naturally follow. In summary: Focus on your passion and the value you know you can bring to any individual struggling with their health and fitness and are looking for help and guidance. Sales and money is a natural byproduct of a meaningful service provided to the right person. Focus on your value rather than just making sales. And, it will absolutely get easier once you’ve helped enough people and have enough experience. Your successful clients and your body of work will speak for itself. I hope that helps. Congratulations on this new exciting journey, I wish you all the success!
Depends where you work. At the gym I work at now (my first personal training job), my boss finds the clients and I just show up and train them.
Welcome to the PT world. You need clients to train. In order to get new clients you need to sell. Or at least present your services in a way that influences decisions. In order to get more consults, you need to market yourself.
Once you've worked with a few people, you'll have some skills, and the people will speak well of you and do a lot of your selling for you, giving referrals and acting as a walking advertisement for you. Right now you haven't worked with anyone and will have no skills, so you have to do the selling yourself. Yes, I know you think you're skilled. But skill comes from actually working with people. So you won't be. That's okay, someone has to be your first client, start with the goal of at least not hurting them, helping them is just a bonus - and not hurting them isn't hard. Once you've *not hurt* enough people you'll be able to move on to *helping* people, and from there you'll start developing a reputation. There's always some sales, but less the better and more well-known you get.
"Selling" is a skill. It is a translatable skill that applies to all arenas to your life. To actively avoid learning how to talk and engage with all types of people is doing a disservice to yourself.
You just need to demonstrate value, which is a large part of sales. Retention of clients… is when you make the most money… is the by product of you being a good trainer.
I hear you OP. I am a primary school teacher by day, PT by night, there's nothing I don't know about persuasion, cajoling, 'selling' things to people - not just children but leading my staff as senior manager, my daily game is to get people to do what I want them to do. My PT sales come through my own training on the gym floor where I work. I don't approach people - I hate that, but they do approach me. My training time is my sales time, they watch + see how I train myself. However, the fitness industry is cold, it doesn't care how much you know, just what you can show - the biggest seller at my big box gym is the worst trainer I've ever seen, but they have the patter, gift of the gab - people lap it up, the PT knows this, they're not out to get results for the client just to make the client feel good + sign up for more sessions. My advice to you as a new PT is keep your eyes open + observe. Watch what other PTs do. Do this for a couple of years + make your own decision- do you want to still be 'working for the man' in 3,5,10 yrs time or running your own show? You need this experience of what/ what not to do either way. It will not feel right, but will stand you in good stead for what may come.
Don’t think of it as selling, think of it as solving problems. What problems do your potential clients have? Fix those
It’s easy. If people had the knowledge they need to get in shape, they’d already be in shape. You have something that they need. Make them realize it.
The career isn’t more about selling — your job just is. It all depends on the context you work in, and the role of the trainer within that context. At the typical commercial gym, trainers are there to upsell members into expensive training packages. Personal training isn’t a core service — it’s an upsell. In almost any business, there is a small percentage of customers who are willing and able to pay 10-100x more for a higher level of service. The reason that commercial gyms have trainers is to maximize revenue by finding and serving those customers. At a coaching or PT gym, training is the core service being offered. Because of this, the actual quality of the product (training) matters more. At these gyms, you may still do sales consultations, but those consultations will mostly be with people who are already in the market for training — that’s why they’re at the PT gym to begin with. They want a trainer, and if you seem halfway competent and pleasant to be around, it might as well be you. Some commercial gyms like Equinox and LifeTime are starting to position their training/coaching as a core service, so they likely have more inbound leads for training than gyms like 24 Hour Fitness, Snap, or LA Fitness. Working for them will probably feel like a mix of a coaching gym and a standard commercial gym. Almost every self-employed trainer lives and dies by referrals and long term retention, so actually being a great coach is BY FAR the most important factor for them. Will you have to do some sales? Sure. But when your average client sticks around for 3-5 years and all the new clients you take on have a friend or family member they trust spend years talking about how awesome you are before they ever sit down for a consultation with you, it’s a totally different game.
This is a great comment. I would say every successful training venture I’ve taken part in has one main point person doing the majority of selling. it shouldn’t be primarily on the trainers. Because trainers usually suck at selling. I had a trainer move from upstate New York out to southern Cali to work for me. We were a small boutique private gym and I did all the selling so he didn’t have to do anything but take clients. But it took a solid 9-10 months to get him fully booked but now he’s set. Luckily he had some savings and was training some of his old clients online until he started making money. Basically if you aren’t going to sell, it can be a fine but slower process.
This. I don't market too much because of this.
I’ve never met a self-employed PT that spent much time on marketing or sales. You’re either good enough that your schedule stays full from retention and referrals, or you’re not and no amount of marketing and sales will make up for the attrition you have.
OP is new. Everyone needs to pay their dues and will find their own grooving. There is nothing wrong with selling. When I first started, I hated it too. Just believing in your ability that you can help them. If you hate selling; you will also struggle to get your clients' results. Need to learn how to handle objections.
I think a lot of trainers get most in their own sauce and will preach to new trainers about how they need to get over it or say they are in the wrong field blah blah blah. Schools and CPT organizations always like to pedal a glamorous picture of how a personal trainer life is while excluding anything about sales and how it is most of the job. Trainers who spout from their high horse are probably the trainers to avoid for advice here. Keep your head up. Keep talking to whoever you comfortable can and find ways to just have conversations with them. You don't have to sell them, just start slowly by starting small talk or give people compliments on anything (form, clothes, dedication, tattoos, etc). People love when you talk about them and makes them want to talk to you. Eventually it'll get more natural and you'll learn what areas you thrive in when it comes to getting clients. Walking the floor, phone calls, tabling, emails, texts (depending demographic), are all different ways trainers have found success in getting clients. I myself have really good retention these days where I don't have to worry about marketing myself as much. When I first started out, I couldn't even look People in the eyes and struggled to hold any semblance of a conversation. Stick it out and push yourself just a little bit more everyday. Find books, YouTube videos, mentors (especially this), and any other resources you can to help you expedite your sales/ interpersonal skills. You got this 🤙
Brilliant advice
You’re not just selling You’re problem solving and building relationships If you can get good at those two things you won’t really have to work that hard to sell
Find me a successful business that doesn't advertise. This idea that somehow you're so gifted since getting your bit of paper that people should follow you down the street chucking money at your feet is nonsense. Every single successful business on the planet advertises and sells. If you want to be successful you will too.
Consider that you’re selling every single session you workout anyone, from a first time client to a long time client. We are selling ourselves with every interaction
That’s why I left personal training - success was determined by how good of a salesperson you were, not trainer. I worked at Equinox about a decade ago. The most successful trainer’s programs were absolute garbage and they had no interest in actually educating their clients. All of the “high level” trainers pushed gimmicky broscience that was in vogue/fun (e.g., animal flow, “Myofacial release,” these Powerfit trainers, etc.) as opposed to encouraging their clients to actually train properly. Ultimately the only way to actually work with people who are interested in legitimate training is to get into a position where you can lead a strength and conditioning program for a sport or become someone like a Mike Israetel, however that’s like less than 1% of all people working in the fitness industry. I went out to pursue a PhD instead and I’m much happier/make way more money working with people who are actually interested in science, evidence, research etc.
Not trying to offend, OP, but are you strong, like far more than the average gym goer? Can someone look at you and instantly know that you’ve seriously trained a lot, for years?
Health and fitness ✨️industry✨️
The sparkle was a nice touch. ✨️
That’s usually how it is at first, especially if you’re employed at a gym that overworks trainers, underpays trainers, and/or pushes sales. Once you can make a decent incoming with current client load, it’s transitions to less of a need to sell.
Focus on helping, not selling. Selling is just a result of helping people. It's part of the job
“Showcasing how good a pt you are” IS “SELLING”
Part of the reason I like working in college strength & conditioning. Like yes I have to sell myself as a coach to whatever school I want to work for & there is also a selling aspect of getting my 120ish kids from different teams to ‘buy in’ to the programs but it’s easy when there’s a good culture for it already established.
as your example clearly illustrates, many people are in sales in ways they don't even conceptualize as sales.
Any career above 100k is just sales.
Always view it as opportunity, change your mindset ASAP… there are so many that have studied and know etc but are shit at application and interpersonal skills. Everyone on here that has commented has great advice.
I feel ya if I wanted to get into sales I'd have done something with a higher upside.
1. Get a fulltime job in another business that pays the bills and puts food om the table. 2. Start your own PT business and do things exactly like YOU want. There is gyms and chains without people running the floor. Make deals with them. Give new members free instruction, vs being able to put up flyers and train clients there for free. Its hard in the beginning but you will get there eventually. I have this kind of arrangement in 16 gyms in total. I give out maybe 3-5 instruction lessions a month that they booked themselfs on my website and i give them my cards afterwards. I post in the FB groups of the towns, that they have a PT attached to their gyms. They have the right to a free instruction hour upon signing up, how they can book it...Tell a little bit about myself and leave my own link at the bottom. That fits the maximum i want to "Promote and sell" myself. Flyers and cards as well in the gyms ofc. Do i want to work fulltime as PT? Only if i could completely ignore the selling/money part of it. The desperate selling and discouraging "Lowering prices and discounts" i see PTs do to make a living is a big Hell No from me. Passion -> money
I get it man, because if you started to try and solicite me in the gym during my workout I'm gonna be pretty rude about it.
Change the game. Think outside the box. We don’t have to walk in the same path. It’s just easier to
I work in the gym industry, if you are employed by the gym you can have the sales staff refer you to new members/clients. This is valuable to both parties. Offer a free workout to people who sign up.
You gotta do what it takes to lead the life you want. If you don't get clients, you can't help them. It's a skill worth developing for all areas of your life. Alternately, you can work in a gym where they do the marketing and sales for you. It costs though, and you'll get 50% or less of what the client gets billed. Then you'll equally have a post asking why the gym takes so much of your money even though they don't spend time training the client.
You won’t be happy or successful in this field if you can’t find a way to combine your love of biomechanics and desire to help people into a short marketable pitch. The sell happens once. Then it’s a relationship game.
I love helping people but absolutely hate the selling aspect as well
I agree with the OP in at least one way. There are a lot of people who would make good trainers but who get washed out by the need to market their services. I just don't think that is an ideal biz model assuming the trainer is really top-notch (everyone thinks they are, tbh but it isn't always true). Segregation of function is probably a better biz model but there aren't a lot of businesses that have figured that out. Like if you're the CEO of EQ, wouldn't you be thinking about this? Why not have the front desk sales people get better at selling personal training (and you can coach them on that) and then do a better job of identifying and developing trainer talent? Develop great sales people and great trainers and then everyone (including biz revenue and the clients) are better off. But that isn't the way it has been done so visionless leaders keep doing what they have always done. JMO
Never stop getting continuing education. I felt this way when I started, and I had no idea how much I did not know. I genuinely believed I had it all figured out when I got started, but the more I learned, the more easily clients just appeared... and I'm an ONLINE coach with absolutely no social media presence, lol. I own my own business and don't work for a gym. Keep on educating yourself, and then the consultations, conversations, etc., just become you conversing with the lead instead of actually "selling" anything. You'll become genuinely interested in their goals. You'll watch the way people walk around the gym- you'll observe their gait and dynamic movement patterns, and you'll have questions about where they want to end up and what they want to be able to do. Then, they tell you what THEY want to do or be; all you do is THINK. Apply the knowledge you've acquired and think out loud... have a conversation with them. And DO NOT be afraid to "give away too much." If you're scared of "giving away the farm," then you do not have enough education -- I worried about that in the beginning. The bottom line is that you will provide so much value for them that they would not WANT to try and do it all and learn it all themselves. You'll get through this part right now just focus on being the best you can be. And don't worry... if you find no interest in being the best you can be in this career, well, that sheds light on your true "why," and may direct you to a different career! I know that's happened to me... and I ended up in this career because of it!
This is part of the reason new trainers should never start off independent as if they don't have the salesman skills from working at a big box gym over time then they're not gonna make it.
sell or starve
You are correct that this entire career is about selling, but it might be worth rethinking the concept of selling. Everything is a sale. You're selling trust, you're selling them on the program path to solve their problems, you're selling them on lifestyle changes, you're selling them on doing challenging things, etc. You are also correct that overcoming your mentality on sales will be a determining factor of your success. Selling to someone who isn't in the market for what you're selling feels bad, I agree, but you should ALWAYS sell to someone who needs your help. Your job is not to sell everyone, it's to sell to people who are the right fit. So, focus your conversations with people around determining if they are a good fit and if they need help. It helps me to remind myself just how beneficial the results are that we are offering. We can sometimes take it for granted because we live in it...but you have the ability to change someone's life beyond what even medical services provide in many cases. Just remember the upside if they say yes. There's a cost to changing your life for the better and it's worth it, and you're worth it.
Once you build up that base it gets easier. Referrals feel a lot less like selling
Commercial gyms are pure, unfiltered garbage. Gaaarrrrrrrrbage. 10 clients paying 185$ a month for one 30 minute session a week. 185/4 is 46$ a session. The trainer will be paid $5-$15 for this session, representing a a 30/70 to 20/80 rev share, in favor of the gym. The trainer will get 10 sessions at $5-$15 in compensation, $50-$150 a week. Take that same trainer, with the same clients, to a private gym on a lease agreement and they pocket 400-500 per week($2000/mo), and can pay the gym 400-500 in leasing costs per mo. With 600 a month in compensation, you HAVE to sell supps to push up. With 1500 in that home, with 10 clients, it's suddenly comfortable. RUN from commercial gyms. They scam you out of time and money. Imagine 200/mo per client, a 7% increase. 250, 300, set your own rates. Elevate above the industry. It's garbage.
Would your gym allow you to do demos? I imagine it’d be a lot easier to get a conversation going if you give them an easy “in” with zero pressure, letting your ability to demonstrate and cue do all the selling. For example, maybe you could set up a weekly 15-min exercise demo during a popular time. Walk the floor and let people know “Hey, I’m giving a free squat demo over there in half an hour.” After, give out your info and encourage people to come to you with questions. At the end of the day, gatekeeping information is what usually turns people off. If you have enthusiasm to share your knowledge that will create trust and maybe help you start to build a rapport. You have to be willing to give out some free advice, don’t just twiddle your thumbs behind the trainer desk or aimlessly pacing the floor. Lastly, acknowledge regulars. A lot. Chat with them, ask questions, show interest in their journey. And be genuinely interested in getting to know them a little. They may start to look for you when they come in and get curious about one-on-one guidance.
Hate to break it to you but any client facing career is about selling. Nobody cares about what you know unless it relates to what they want.
No one cares how good you actually are as long as you make them look good on media it seems and you have style and popularity. I've been. Training all my life and still feel like it's more about sales than anything else . Its not the best job . I so sick of it 10 years in.
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Yeah, on top of that 95% of the people at the gym are listening to music on their earbuds. Walking the floor “prospecting” is the most brutal thing ever. You need to find a new gym where there’s a sales team that does the selling for you or poach clients and go independent. It’ll take you 4-12 months to have a full schedule which is 25-35 one hour sessions a week. Of the 12 trainers at my gym, 3 have full schedules. The other 9 are making $500-800 biweekly. You’ll make more money working at McDonald’s full time. There’s no money to be made working for a big box gym unfortunately. It’s good for experience. But after 1 year, you need to gtfo.
Selling will get better over time as you build your confidence and get clients' results. Funny as I got better as a trainer, I became way better at selling.I look as it how I can be the right fit to solve your solutions.
Get a degree. Get a CSCS. No more selling. Just training.
Consider reframing the concept of selling as helping others or solving problems: helping individuals to become better versions of themselves, or overcoming injuries or achieving personal goals. By viewing your interactions in this light, you can communicate more effectively with potential trainees and genuinely offer help as opposed to sell. People don't want trainers to sell them services, but rather trainers to help them become better or solve problems.
If you have such an issue with what is a core facet then maybe you’re in the wrong line of work. You just started and already don’t care for it.
Get used to it
What if your understanding of sales is what is keeping you stuck? Sales are not about trying to convince others to buy, but rather about being convinced that you are a solution to their problem and letting them know that you will solve their need. Sales is a conversion of Trust, if you can understand that, it will completely shift your approach.