In the evolving fitness market, changes to your financing, scheduling, and marketing can help you maximize your personal training revenue.

Implement these top tips from successful operators to increase sales and member success in your clubs.

The following is a summarization of an education session from the 2015 IHRSA Convention, produced with full permission from IHRSA. The full-length video is available for purchase at ihrsastore.com.

About the Speakers

Daron Allen is the President and CEO of Visual Fitness Planner, a company aimed at creating innovative systems to increase profits,communicate value, and guide customer decision making.

Perry Lunsford is the CEO of Fit for Life Neighborhood Fitness Centers.

Robert Brewster is the CEO and President of The Alaska Club, in Anchorage, Alaska.

Market Conditions That Have Changed Personal Training Methods

In recent years, big box gyms, such as LA Fitness and Anytime Fitness, have saturated the market. Smaller clubs cannot compete with the sheer size of big boxes. Smaller clubs have responded by using innovative personal training models to increase revenue.

The Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) model, which refers to any transfer of funds through an electronic terminal, is the fastest and easiest way to automate your personal training programs. The EFT model generates revenue and is scalable. This approach represents the best way to stabilize your business while ensuring a consistent monthly income. Selling memberships and personal training has become easier with recurring EFT payments because the customer does not have to think about payment every time they want another training session. Rather, the client opts in to auto-payment and their account is automatically charged at the frequency of their choosing. The EFT model represents a turning point for personal training in fitness facilities because it provides an easier, more convenient way of making transactions.

Define Your Culture

Your culture should be your focus. The top-performing clubs and personal training programs have a culture that is results focused. Focus on what members want. Your staff should fit within your culture and care deeply about helping to change members' lives. Encourage your staff to engage with every person in your facility.

Personal training breeds personal training. Your culture should permeate every aspect of your business. Culture is the most underrated element of a fitness facility. Be friendly and welcoming. With the right culture, you can minimize the loss of trainers and clients while attaining excellent results.

Determine the Role of Your Sales Team in Driving Culture

Your sales team contributes to the culture of your facility. Sales efforts should communicate your culture to members and prospects. While a business culture can be difficult to cultivate, it should be integrated throughout the facility.

Give the Option of Financing Plans

Financing can be a good way to attract personal training clients and retain them. At GoodLife Fitness, the trainer prescribes the exercise for the client or prospect. If the client does not have the funding, GoodLife will finance their personal training programs. The client then repays the facility on a pre-determined basis. Personal training can become more accessible to everyone, which in turn increases retention rates.

The GoodLife financing packages or the EFT model are considered to be the best approaches to sell training. Your clients view a training package as an asset. The EFT model includes a specific number of sessions a week. If they are not used, the sessions are lost. This results in higher compliance rates than membership without the package model. Sessions are fully customizable. The fitness plan is automatically sent to the member after the EFT, which enhances the membership file while driving your team’s credibility.

Which is Better: 30-Minute or 60-Minute Sessions?

There is no solid rule for the time associated with a personal training sessions. Some members workout for 30 minutes while other members feel they require the full hour. Discuss these session lengths with your members and recommend a time frame that suits their fitness goals, budget, and lifestyle.

It is easier to afford a 30-minute session payment than one hour. Members can also attend 30-minute sessions more frequently than 60-minute sessions. The biggest problem is that members are not attending the club frequently enough to attain their desired results, so keep that in mind when you're designing your training packages.

Compensation Structure for Personal Training

Payment increases in conjunction with the qualifications and qualities of your personal trainers. A personal trainer’s qualifications should not be a direct selling point. When you're trying to sell to a new client, do not focus on a specific trainer and their qualifications. Represent all personal trainers to be sufficiently qualified. Instead, recommend different level trainers to clients based on the client’s unique fitness needs, and then match the trainer’s skills with the member’s needs.

As you analyze the personal training program in your club, consider implementing payment plans, packages, and a variety of session lengths. If you tailor your training options to your members' needs, your profits should increase and both your trainers and their clients will be happy.