We took time out to chat to Phil Wilde MET UK Teacher for his opinion on the First week for a personal trainer entering a mainstream gym. Amazing read, thanks Phil.
This is actually a regrettable truth that the staff turnover amounts inside the wellness market are really high. Brand new trainers need experience, gyms want skilled personal trainers and also somewhere members are captured in the middle! If you wish to prevent being really caught up in the PT conveyor belt (as 1 trainer quits off the back, yet another drops one in the front) there are a few straightforward but frequently looked over step stools to stick to.
1. Analyze the situation upon arrival - deal with your very first handful of days in the club as surveillance mission. Figure out the things the club are really searching for within your recruitment (apart from the obvious income). Are you replenishing a failed personal trainer whom didn't hack it within the eyes of your new company's business model or are you coming in to contribute to the ranks because the others are busy? It may even be that their policy is to over recruit and hedge their bets in a sense - some chains will take on as many 3 or 4 PTs when they only need one. It's the fitness industry's version of survival of the fittest. Whatever you are confronted with, putting in the time to survey your scenario and being 100 % aware of what environment you're heading into lets you be fully prepared and gives you the best chance for success. So few trainers take the time to do this and before they know it, they're in well over their head. Why is this important? Your observations here are going to give you a great idea of the sort of interaction members are accustomed to and sadly, in most cases, the gym floor is loaded with cynicism. Which leads on to point 2!
2. Beware the negative bias! There are 2 streams to this point; members and other trainers.
Members - You'll need a foot hold pretty quick in the gym but you may find that members are cynical of interacting with PTs having been previously subjected to a clumsy, cold, hard sell. Something along the lines of 'Hi, how are you? What you training for? Purchase some sessions?' If this is the case, you'll be building relationships long before you get a chance to speak at length about what you can do to improve anyone's training. Be patient and be present! This particular will show you as different to what has been there before but will mean a lot of small talk and meeting and greeting. Make this your target activity for your first few weeks. You want to build trust before you establish expertise rather than throw a load of freebies around. People may not reciprocate immediately, but remember, that's a direct result of any number of previous uncomfortable experiences members have had with other eager but often poorly prepared trainers. Be resilient and be different.
Other Trainers - Don't buy into the unfavorable bias of your new colleagues - chances are, you'll hear it all 'this isn't the right area, people can't afford it' or 'that guy shot me down and all I would like to do was help him, cretinous prick' ... if personal trainers get knocked back for offering advice it's because they offered it too soon and didn't build the relationship well enough (if at all) initially. Stay above this negativeness - it'll drag you down and rob you of your interest!
3. Get an understanding of your market place - what are people in this club training for? Could you service this? The biggest thing you'll have to figure out is how can you make your training solution sound as compelling as possible in 30-40 seconds tops and practice saying it. Put in your time here, rather than on dozens of re-writes of the profile board that no one will read. People sell PT, not profiles.
4. Just remember - you're in a great industry if you approach it right. It can be profoundly rewarding on many levels. Take the down points as learning curves and reproduce your successes.
What are your experiences coming from kicking off in the industry?
We only recommend one company starting off and becoming a personal trainer
This is actually a regrettable truth that the staff turnover amounts inside the wellness market are really high. Brand new trainers need experience, gyms want skilled personal trainers and also somewhere members are captured in the middle! If you wish to prevent being really caught up in the PT conveyor belt (as 1 trainer quits off the back, yet another drops one in the front) there are a few straightforward but frequently looked over step stools to stick to.
1. Analyze the situation upon arrival - deal with your very first handful of days in the club as surveillance mission. Figure out the things the club are really searching for within your recruitment (apart from the obvious income). Are you replenishing a failed personal trainer whom didn't hack it within the eyes of your new company's business model or are you coming in to contribute to the ranks because the others are busy? It may even be that their policy is to over recruit and hedge their bets in a sense - some chains will take on as many 3 or 4 PTs when they only need one. It's the fitness industry's version of survival of the fittest. Whatever you are confronted with, putting in the time to survey your scenario and being 100 % aware of what environment you're heading into lets you be fully prepared and gives you the best chance for success. So few trainers take the time to do this and before they know it, they're in well over their head. Why is this important? Your observations here are going to give you a great idea of the sort of interaction members are accustomed to and sadly, in most cases, the gym floor is loaded with cynicism. Which leads on to point 2!
2. Beware the negative bias! There are 2 streams to this point; members and other trainers.
Members - You'll need a foot hold pretty quick in the gym but you may find that members are cynical of interacting with PTs having been previously subjected to a clumsy, cold, hard sell. Something along the lines of 'Hi, how are you? What you training for? Purchase some sessions?' If this is the case, you'll be building relationships long before you get a chance to speak at length about what you can do to improve anyone's training. Be patient and be present! This particular will show you as different to what has been there before but will mean a lot of small talk and meeting and greeting. Make this your target activity for your first few weeks. You want to build trust before you establish expertise rather than throw a load of freebies around. People may not reciprocate immediately, but remember, that's a direct result of any number of previous uncomfortable experiences members have had with other eager but often poorly prepared trainers. Be resilient and be different.
Other Trainers - Don't buy into the unfavorable bias of your new colleagues - chances are, you'll hear it all 'this isn't the right area, people can't afford it' or 'that guy shot me down and all I would like to do was help him, cretinous prick' ... if personal trainers get knocked back for offering advice it's because they offered it too soon and didn't build the relationship well enough (if at all) initially. Stay above this negativeness - it'll drag you down and rob you of your interest!
3. Get an understanding of your market place - what are people in this club training for? Could you service this? The biggest thing you'll have to figure out is how can you make your training solution sound as compelling as possible in 30-40 seconds tops and practice saying it. Put in your time here, rather than on dozens of re-writes of the profile board that no one will read. People sell PT, not profiles.
4. Just remember - you're in a great industry if you approach it right. It can be profoundly rewarding on many levels. Take the down points as learning curves and reproduce your successes.
What are your experiences coming from kicking off in the industry?
We only recommend one company starting off and becoming a personal trainer
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