Recently I conducted a survey on the usage of personal trainers across my friends, family, social networks and contacts. All in all over 500 people were sent the survey with at least 50 people responding.
I thought I would publish the results here for those of you who are interested in the outcome of the survey. The survey was undertaken by me in order to improve my personal training services, have a clearer idea of my demographic and where to spend money in my marketing efforts, and to get a better idea of what people actually want and are looking for in a personal trainer.
The responses of the survey were split between 60% male and 40% female respondents, with the majority (50%) in the 30-39 year age group. The rest were split as follows: 20-29 years: 5%, 40-49 years: 14%, 50-59 years: 8% and 60-69: 3%.
Question 3 asked: "Have you ever used the services of a Fitness Trainer before?".
70% of respondents stated "yes" and 30% of respondents stated "no". In other words, the majority of people have, at some stage, used a trainer.
Question 4 asked: "Do you currently use the services of a Fitness Trainer?"
An overwhelming 80% of respondents stated "no" to this question. In other words, only 1.5 out of 10 people in this age bracket are presenty using a fitness trainer. It is important for us as personal trainers to keep this in mind when asking for people to train with us, as for every 8 to 9 "no's" there will be one "yes"; and to not worry about it, but to just keep asking!!!!
Question 5 asked: "What reason would make you want to employ a fitness trainer?"
The reasons given included:
- Specific fitness goals eg. pregnancy, rehab, sports specific, post pregnancy, large amount of weight loss
- Motivation
- Education and knowledge
- Personalised service
- Weight loss
- Personal trainer being attractive / hot body / a role model
- Cost effective / inexpensive
- Write a program specific to my needs
This question illustrates the importance of really understanding what it is the client is wanting to achieve, to set goals with them that are specific and measurable, to market fitness training services in areas where clients are looking to set goals: for example at wedding expos, childcare centres, schools, physiotherapy, chiropractic centres, doctors etc.
Question 6 asked: "If you have used the services of a personal trainer, what made you want to use their services?"
The reasons given included:
- Style of the personal trainer
- Education and knowledge / correct technique
- Motivation / encouragement
- Variety of exercises / workout was fun / not boring
- Great results
- Friend
- Complimentary session
- Word of mouth referral
- Tailor-made program
- Convenience
The biggest response was "motivation" so personal trainers need to "motivate, motivate, motivate!" constantly with their clients, also a good idea to mix up and do a variety of different exercises each session so they don't get bored and keep coming back for more!
Question 7 asked "If you haven't used the services of a fitness trainer, what are the reasons you haven't?"
- Don't see need
- Financial reasons / too expensive
- Job / personal time doesn't allow me
- Confident in my ability to do a good job myself
- Rather workout with a friend
- Self-motivated / motivated by sporting events rather than a coach
Some possible options for overcoming objections in this area includes being flexibility with your timeframes (our gym Jetts is great for this, being 24/7 often I am training clients up until 9 or 10pm at night!), to train people in a location they would like, say outdoors instead of always being in the gym, to promote items such as "bring a buddy for free" to sessions, or price sessions accordingly, or to help them plan for sporting events.
Question 8 asked to rank items of very important / important and not important pertaining to what a personal trainer would have to do in their first sessionto make you want to come back. Answers were:
VERY IMPORTANT
Understand my personal needs - 87%
Be punctual and stick to timeframes - 58%
Make the session fun - 51%
Give you knowledge about something you didn't know before - 51%
Demonstrate that they could help you lose weight - 45%
IMPORTANT
Talk to you about nutrition / eating planning - 65%
Make the session hard - 51%
Be a nice person / friend - 48%
NOT IMPORTANT
Give a massage at the end of the workout - 71%
Question 9 asked: "What would a fitness trainer have to do in subsequent sessions to make you happy?"
Responses included:
- Review program regularly
- Vary exercises
- Be motivational / inspiring
- Demonstrate recognition / encouragement
- Make me work hard
- Make me lose weight
- Develop a plan, set new goals regularly
- Build confidence
- Explain why I am being given a certain exercise
- Know about nutrition and how to heal the body
- Ongoing tips
- See results, monitor achievement
- Rewards or loyalty program ongoing
- Teach me exercises I can do at home
Question 10 asked "When training with a fitness trainer, how soon would you expect to see results?".
The responses were:
After 2 weeks - 25.8%
After 4 weeks -32.3%
After 8 weeks - 25.8%
after 8 weeks 9.7%
After 10 weeks 3.2%
After 12 weeks 3.2%
In other words, you need to push your clients to quickly be seeing the results they are achieving - between 2 and 8 weeks is the optimum time to be showing them the results they have already achieved. Therefore, there needs to be a premium importance placed on what they are doing outside of the gym in their own time, what they are eating etc... as well as the training you are helping them with.
KEY FINDINGS:
So, what has this survey taught me about my business and my role as a personal trainer?
1. I need to be a role model - how can I expect my clients to work out and be encouraged if I am not working out myself. Now, the first appointments I make in my diary are my own fitness training session - every other personal training session I make with clients are scheduled around this. I also regularly set goals (each quarter) that are related to my fitness / health / gym work and dancing - and work towards achieving these.
2. I need to get quick results - 2 to 8 weeks, which is unrealistic in any terms (8-12 weeks is far more realistic). It is doable, but only if I ensure the clients I train are doing 3 weights sessions @ 60 minutes each per week and minimum 3 cardio sessions a week (and more likely 5-6 cardio sessions) as well as a focus on eating. It will depend on the client, but where possible this points to getting the client to participate in minimum 2-3 sessions per week, depending on how quickly they wish to get results!
3. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be punctual and stick to the desired timeframe.
4. Motivate, motivate, motivate, encourage, recognise, reward, motivate!
5. Learn at least one to two new exercises each week to give to clients that they might not have seen or done before, provide some exercises that they can do at home or in their time outside of the gym (once again helping you get results in the 2-8 week period!)
6. Always focus on educating my clients and giving them extra knowledge they didn't have before, as well as providing them with ongoing support, handouts, nutritional tips, new and fun things each session is required for repeat business.
7. Finally, let your clients know that their friends can come and train with them for free on their first session, and offer them complimentary personal training passes for all their friends and family.
I hope this has helped shed some light on the life of a personal trainer - it is a challenging job - and a lot is expected - but well worth the rewards. Seeing the look on my clients faces when they have dropped a dress size, placed in a sporting event, or looking fabulous on their wedding day - it is all worth it!
