Very few people will pay $50 or more for an hour of boredom and drudgery. If they are willing to do so, it likely will not be for very long. Your clients not only hire you for your knowledge of fitness, but to enjoy themselves. They want to forget the troubles of the day for an hour. Therefore, one major focus in program development should be making it enjoyable for the client. This will mean something different to everyone, which is why the better you know your clients, the more likely it is that you will keep them.

Know Your Clients and Deliver Satisfaction

Every client wants and needs something different from you. Some of your clients will wish to be pushed to their limit. The more closely you resemble a drill sergeant, the happier they will be. These people want to exercise until they are completely spent. If they are still standing after a workout, they will feel they haven't done anything. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the people who want you to coddle them and hold their hands. They may not like to sweat or breathe too heavily. Perhaps this is the first time in their lives they are exercising. If you design the same workout for both types of clients, one or both groups will be disappointed and unsatisfied. There is a good chance they will fire you as their trainer. These are extreme examples, and the majority of your clients will fall somewhere in between these two stereotypes. However, with every client you must determine what they want from you and provide them with it.

Exercise is a science, and when properly applied, it gives results. However, each person is unique, and the key is to discover what will bring success for each individual. The best way to obtain this information is by interview and questionnaire. Your instincts will also play a role, as will experience and commonsense. During your initial consultation, make sure you ask in-depth, open-ended questions. The more information you have, the better equipped you will be to design a program that yields results. When a client sees results, they feel good about themselves. When they feel good about themselves, they are happy, and happy customers are long-term customers. On the other hand, if your client is not satisfied, she probably won't tell you. She will stop working with you and tell other people that she was dissatisfied with your services. In that case, you lose a current client and countless other potential clients.

Bells and Whistles

You will soon realize that after a while your clients will become bored with the same old exercises. Boredom can lead to cancellations, which lead to loss of revenue. The bottom line is, a bench press is a bench press. It is a trainer's job to make traditional exercises interesting and fun by teaching different ways to perform them. The more new and exciting you can make your workouts, the happier your clients will be. If you can keep your clients excited, then you will keep your clients.

Nothing is more fun than toys. And there is a constant stream of new gadgets and gizmos for exercise. Some are really innovative, but most are just a new twist on an old idea. Regardless, they are unarguably entertaining. Props can keep your workouts fresh and make them more interactive. There are countless ways to work a client with medicine and stability balls. They are adaptable to all ages and fitness levels, as are numerous other things such as bands, balance pads, and agility ladders. These forms of equipment can keep you more involved in the workout as you hold bands or throw and catch balls. It is something more than simply spotting an exercise or counting a set; your clients will appreciate your increased involvement and will enjoy their workouts that much more.