6 tips to grow your personal training business

But while maintaining existing relationships is one element of a successful personal training business, it's equally important to get new business through the door and grow your enterprise. Your personal training career can be a highly rewarding one, but you mustn't let your business' development become stagnant.

Whether you’re an experienced fitness instructor or you’re looking to become a qualified personal trainer for the first time, growing your business can be tricky. However, with some hard work and a clear growth strategy to follow, expansion in this industry is very achievable.

How to grow a personal training business

There are plenty of ways to grow your business. Carry on reading as we take a look at six great ways to grow your personal training brand and expand your client base.

Update your website and offer online services 

Having an easy-to-navigate website is essential for personal training businesses. Make sure your site is clear and details all your services, price packages and contact information. Include images (before and after shots, for example) where possible, and testimonials from current and previous clients. Clearly display your brand logo to make it memorable, as well as any industry affiliations to reinforce trust in your offering.

Why not also consider offering online-only sessions on your new site? While traditional in-person sessions are great, they do limit the number of clients you can work with. In this day and age, setting up online programmes that can be attended by anyone, anywhere, is a great way to make your PT business more flexible and attract new customers. With an improved website and extended offering, you could be growing your client base in no time.

Gather testimonials

Testimonials are a great way of attracting new clients. These client endorsements  show potential new sign-ups what your services can do for them. For personal trainers who are just starting out, think about offering free sessions to people you know and asking them to write a balanced testimonial to get you going.

A good testimonial will outline the problem a client faced prior to working with you, before explaining how your services helped them to overcome it. When collated and displayed prominently on your website and on social media, testimonials have a range of benefits. Not only can they lead to referrals, they can also increase client loyalty and highlight the good work of your employees that otherwise could go unnoticed.

Testimonials can also provide opportunities to improve on potential weaknesses. This is to say, they could point out a negative aspect of your service you’ve not considered before. By being made aware of it, you can look to resolve the issue and improve the services you offer.

Create a word-of-mouth and 'recommend a friend' campaign

For almost every business, word-of-mouth continues to be one of the most cost-effective ways of increasing a brand's reputation. This is also the case for personal trainers. With this in mind, why not try giving incentives to your clients to spread the word about your business to their friends?

From rewards when they refer new clients to session discounts when they provide positive testimonials on their own personal social media accounts, there are lots of ways to encourage good word-of-mouth marketing. Rewards can be anything from a voucher for a meal/pamper treatment to a free training session, gym membership or some fitness gear.

Add the personal touch

The most important aspect of a personal training business is the customer base. This means  building a positive relationship with your clients should be your number one priority. Ensuring they receive good value for their invested time and money will mean they remain loyal, as they would be unlikely to find such high levels of customer service elsewhere. Always personalise training plans and make sure you catch up with clients if you've not had a session with them recently.

Additional personal touches can really make a difference. This can include something as simple as sending clients a card from the business on their birthday or rewarding them with small gifts (such as a voucher or free session) when they reach significant training milestones.

Ask your gym for referrals

You may already contract with one of the large gym networks, but if you work freelance, consider asking independent gyms/health clubs/studios if they would consider referring leads to you. Always offer a complimentary fitness consultation, and be sure to follow up contact by showing them the benefits of using your service.

Use social media

Leverage the power of social media to both build a credible and trustworthy reputation and maximise your reach. It is not enough just to set up an account; nowadays, you need to go the extra mile. Content is king in this brave new world, so you need to remain active. Via a range of platforms, try to participate in online discussions. Write engaging and helpful training tips for your followers and if a client writes a recommendation or someone mentions you in a social post, share these. You can also make your own video content, sampling what some of your sessions look like.

So what’s left to do after growing your client base? Well, checking if you need to update your business insurance policies is a good place to start! Here at Markel Direct, we offer a bespoke fitness instructor and personal trainer policy. This allows you to combine a number of covers together into a single, specialised policy.