If you plan on staying in business for more than a year, you should be raising your trainer fee's every year to keep up with inflation. In this article I'm going to share with you how in the next 90 days you can position your self for making Six Figures a year.
It amazes me how a lot of personal trainer's are not raising their fee's. They are still charging way below industry standard and have fee's from 1998! ($20,$25, $35, $40 Yikes!)
It's 2011-2012 and if yo are not charging what you are worth, no one is going to volunteer to pay you what you are worth. They are going to give you what you ask for. So why not ask for what you are worth ??
Then too, prices go up, cost of living goes up and life happens. So you must raise your personal trainer fee's to keep up with inflation and stay on top. Your time, knowledge, and ability to change peoples lives is VALUABLE. To not get what you are worth will keep you broke and miserable. Trust me, been there and done that!
The question most have with raising their trainer fees is, how do you do it and not lose clients?? The truth of the matter is you may lose a few clients, but if you use a systematic approach (which I will tell you about) to raising your trainer fee's you will not only raise your rates successfully and keep more clients but, you also will make more money than you ever have. So losing a few clients will not put a dent in your income. This is to say, if you do this right the clients you lose will probably be those that were not adding value to your business. I mean, maybe they were not serious, always late or no show, etc. But more on this later.
Let's go over a few things so you can understand why you need to raise your fee's Now....
Things to Consider When Raising Your Trainer Rates:
Raising your rates means taking a look at your current clientele. How valuable are they to you. Do you have clients that don't refer people to you, complain, don't follow your advice, miss sessions often,you hate training them and they pay by the session leaving you going without pay some days? Clients like this offer no real value to you and may be the reason you can't move forward in your business. I hate to say it, But there are trainer's out there with nothing but client like this. If you lose a few of these clients, trust me, you'll fill their spot with a high paying client that will shoot your business through the roof!
When raising your trainer fee's you also have to look at your best clients that do refer, get great results and you love training. You will need to decide if you want to raise their fee or not. I do have a few clients that have been with me for years under my old plan. They more than make up for the price difference from the referrals they bring me. In this case, I just let them know if there is a budget problem, I'll work with them, they will just need to keep being the valuable client they have been. When I present it this way. Clients show appreciation by trying to refer even more people as gratitude. Strange but true!
Scoping your location & where you train can also be helpful. Sometimes trainers stay at the same gym/studio for years not making any money. Either because they have becomes friends with the owner and some members. Take a realistic view of where you are. Are you in a high trafficked area? What's the average income of households in the neighborhood? In a 5 mile radius can you pull in clients that can afford to pay you? Is there another gym close by where trainers are getting $60-$70 per session easily? You'll need to determine what's the real reason you're not making money, is it because you're not marketing effectively or is it because you're in a "dead" area or both?
Whether you work independently in a gym or have your own studio/gym you should take a look at your current clientele. If you are struggling due to marketing discounted trainer fees and memberships, this could mean you're only marketing to attract folks that can afford lower rates. You have "discount-itis". A disease that causes trainers and gym owners to stay broke!
I'm not sure how many times I've seen a year membership for $199 or even $99 simply to try to attract business. To make matters worse I see prices like $14.99 per month or 12 sessions for $150. Prices like this will drive you out of busness faster than those who do not discount their prices. If your issue is marketing and not knowing how to bring in clients without having to discount rates check the Fitness Marketing Center for help on marketing.
Ok getting back on track .......
After your evaluation, You are mentally ready to raise your fee's. You will need to sit down and determine what those new fee's are and how you are going to roll out your Fee Increase without causing an alarm. Your goal is to start bringing in new clients under the new rate, and switch over current clients to your new rate with ease. We will talk more about this in a minute.
Raising Your Trainer Fee's Will Give You a Surge In Your Bank Account Quickly
There is no reason you should not be charging at least $65 to $70 per session and/or selling packages at $1500 or $2000. There is no reason why if you close only 3 clients this month you did not bring in $4500 in sales or if you closed 5 clients you brought in $10,000 in sales.
If you are not seeing these kinds of numbers, then raise your rates and stop playing around with this. Charging $100 for 10 sessions will not cut it. This is your lively hood and you need to live and pay your bills too. If you give good service and changle lives there is nothing wrong with being paid well for it.
Let me add too , if you only plan on offering mediocre service, then raising your rates may NOT be a good idea.
Nobody is going to pay for mediocre service. Raising your rates means you are creating more than just satisfied clients, you are creating loyal followers that are your "die hard" fans! So you will need to offer superior service. Superior service keeps them coming back,referring others and renewing with you!
How to Increase & Guarantee Your Income:
One way to increase your income is to structure your sessions so they bring in the most money and guarantee you will be paid for a certain period of time.
To do this, don't just sell training sessions or training blocks. Sell "result oriented" training packages.
For example don't sell 10 sessions for $350. Instead offer a 3 month, 6 month, 8 month and a 1 year training program that each come with a results oriented plan; like meal plan, amount of weight that can be achieved..etc. Make it so they want the most expensive package because of what it offers and the results they can get by going "longer"...Get me?
Now this is not to say you can't sell a block of sessions to someone who only want to train with you a few times. You will get a few individuals that just want this. That's fine. However, don't make this holy grail of how you run your business and don't sell dirt cheap discounted sessions.
Example
Let's look at this example of how offering results oriented packages can work (Of course, you can set your own payments, packages and price the way you want, THIS IS JUST AN EXAMPLE) .
New client Jack gets a 6 month training package from you. He chose this package because it was your "for those that want to lose 30-60 package" You charge $65 per session. He's getting 2 Sessions per week, that comes to $3120.
Payment Options:
Pay up front: $3120
(or ) $520 Down 5 EFT Payments of $520
(or) 1040 Down 2 EFT payments of $1040his
Of course your numbers will differ to fit what you think is best in your market. You can lower the price according to how long they sign with you. There isn't a right or wrong way so don't get hung up on this. Set your payment plans up and be firm about it. Price to get you a good income in your market, without pricing yourself out the box.The better you get with fitness marketing and attracting clients that can pay higher fees the more you'll see your income rise.
Another key is not to have too many payment options. If you start letting clients pay you the way they want, you could end up back in the same "broke boat"... slow pays, unpredictable payments, and all kind of weird payment plans you can not keep up with. Again, set your payment plan and be firm about it. Your goal is to create a steady monthly income coming in like clockwork. This is the key to reaching a Six Figure Income.
Have your clients sign contracts and fill out an EFT (electronic funds transfer) form. This "guarantees" you, like in the example, 6 months of income. You see, selling blocks of sessions cheap will not make you the kind of money you want, this is a better way of charging clients.
Obviously you will not be able to train everyone as your new business model should be to train only clients that can afford to pay what you charge. There's no more $35 sessions and no more 8 sessions for $100. You can, however, have a "lower" package special, that you can use as a lead into your higher priced packages. Hopefully once they train with you under your "special package" they will want to upgrade after seeing the value in training with you.
Once you learn how to attract people that will be more than happy to pay your fee's, you'll see price is not an issue. When you set your fee's right, It doesn't take many clients for you to make good money.
Keep in mind too, you can add boot camps and group training to your arsenal to keep cash coming in while your building your fitness business. For prospects & clients that can't "afford" your training packages, you can sell them on boot camp or group training. With these programs, you'll be making more per hour and this can easily provide a nice income for you too. See my boot camp training article for more info. Having multiple streams of income is always best.
What I'm saying here is, if you feel you are charging way less than you and your sessions are worth and you honestly know this, think about raising your rates and don't be affraid that you'll lose clients. This fear is what keeps personal trainers not making good money when they should. Price according to your market, If you feel your market is not lucrative for training think about going where the money is.
The bottom line is, for those charging redicously low prices when others are getting double it's time to give yourself a raise. Don't be affraid to ask for what you are worth.
How to Raise Your Rates and Not Alarm Your Clients
Raising your trainer fee's has to be done carefully so you do not upset anyone and cause a "riot". You can't just walk in one day and tell your clients your fee's have gone up. You may lose more clients than necessary. If you do this right you can have your clients happy to pay your new fee, and cut the number of clients you could lose to a bare minimum.
A lot of clients are afraid to raise their fee,out to fear of losing clients to a personal trainer with cheaper prices. Understand, if you use a systematic approach, you can keep your clients happy and willing to stick with you. Let me tell you about the Cash Flow Surge System.....
How To Generate Income Spikes
of $25,000 to $80,000 And
More In 60 Days or Less
If you want to give yourself a surge in income right now, if your tired of being dead broke and not paid what you are worth..the Cash Flow Surge System Will give you everything you need to roll out your new fee to all your clients and make you extra cash while doing it.
You'll get the complete marketing plan, sequence/follow up letters to send to all your clients, plus a cool marketing technique that will even pull in a few extra thousand for you in the process..... You do not want to raise your fee's until you've taken a look at this system. In the next 60-90 days you can be enjoying a nice raise in your income and bank account!
Check out my Fitness Marketing Center for all the details! The Cash Flow Surge System will get your fitness business up to speed and in the profit zone. While your there take a look at the other marketing systems you can use to get you to Six Figures! You'll kick yourself for not having this sooner. But you have it now..so go for it!
Attract More High Paying Clients
Now that you've raised your prices, you want to attract clients that will pay your fee's and keep you in business! Stay tuned with this blog to learn how to attract the best clients to your fitness business!
Yours in Health!
Candace Harrison
You Can't Afford Not to Have!
The Most Powerful Client Attraction
Systems on the Planet!
