<img height="1" width="1" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=910941755778118&amp;ev=PageView &amp;noscript=1">
blog_how-much-charge-personal-trainer_banner

As a personal trainer, it’s a tricky business figuring out how much to charge clients, and it’s easy to feel pressured to undersell yourself to gain new clients.

When I first raised my prices, it didn’t go too well.

I had been working with a client - one of my first - for about 6 months, and the work (as in hours) had increased threefold in that time.

I was now doing hour-long training sessions that more often than not turned into 75-90 minute sessions, as we discussed general day-to-day stuff and nutritional strategies. This was to extra program design so the client could use the program on the days we hadn't booked a session or when they were travelling, to review her food journal and design the following week's meal plan.

I was also living in a shared bedroom with my brother, in my mother's house on the roughest council estate in Leicester. It seemed about time for a raise.

Turns out my client wasn't thrilled that I had raised my hourly income by 50%. After some uncomfortable conversations, and luckily for me, she was getting fantastic results; we worked it out. But it never felt the same thereafter.

Looking back, I can see that the real problem wasn't increasing my hourly rate but that I had set it to low, to begin with.

I had purposefully undervalued my services because I wanted to close with a new client and not run the risk of them going to another personal trainer. Money was tight then.

Plus, I hadn't factored in what it would really take us, personal trainers, to get our clients real-world results. Charging by the hour is okay if all you aspire to provide is 'a workout', but clients are coming to us for more than a workout. This is probably where you are already over providing as I explained above.

Another way to determine if we need to up-skill ourselves and ultimately raise our prices is to take a look at your client list. How many of them can you honestly say have achieved life-changing results with you? Maybe 1 or 2 out of every 30-50 clients.

What new skills must we learn? Or did the 1 or 2 actually take up more of your time that you were willing to give because they seemed a little more determined, motivated and proactive?

My argument for increasing my rate was weak because I didn’t know how to articulate my value in the first place.

Setting your price for services, and increasing them for long-term clients, is one of the trickiest parts of being a personal trainer.

The ruggedness mantra often deludes us into thinking we need to undersell the competition or give more of our free time.

The bigger issue is that we’re not sure what our time is worth, or what value we’re bringing to the table. Even worse, the gym we work for doesn’t know this and sets our prices too low.  

Click here to read: 3 Ways to Grow Your Fitness Business and Achieve Incredible Results  

Initially, this was a concern for a few personal trainers who had switched over to Core Collective.

How to Set Personal Trainer Rates? And What Are The Costs?

So how much should you charge? Whether you're setting rates for the first time or reassessing your prices, here are four questions you can ask yourself to quantify the value of your time and services.

  1. How much do I need to make to live the life I want?

  2. How can I provide value (and increase profit) by eliminating unnecessary costs and unaddressed needs?

  3. What does the ‘alternative’ or ‘complementary’ service charge? For example, if you broke your time down by what you offer, let's say you offer a 30 min nutrition consultation, what would a nutritionist charge for this? Then add all these different aspects together.

  4. How much money, energy and time are you saving your clients?

Having a price for personal training services won’t just give you peace of mind; it’s extremely important for closing client deals and making sales.

I make far more money than ever... 

blog_how-much-charge-as-personal-trainer_1

"I’m Evan and was an ex-professional baseball player who appreciated how a body can be enhanced for performance. I started my Personal Training career in a body transformation gym and was shortly interested in being an entrepreneur. I wanted to work for myself and take care of my clients with them and myself in mind - without a company and agenda attached to them.

I eventually joined Core Collective because it gives me the space to create a flourishing business. The Core Collective team is 100% invested in helping its residents create the life they can dream of. I also get to work alongside different personal trainers and appreciate the diversity in the team.

Now, I make far more money than ever and am looking at how to make it by doing less. I have less externally induced stress and am always dreaming about what’s possible for my future!"

- Evan Button, Personal Trainer at Core Collective

Now, here’s something NEW! We’re looking to dive deeper into this discussion with a few personal trainers who would be interested.

It will be a continuation of this topic because closing sales don’t just require you to have a comfortable number. You need to communicate your value.

You must do your due diligence on your competition and they know the value of your services. Think about what makes you unique and what makes you attractive as a personal trainer compared to the hundreds of personal fitness trainers in Singapore.

It is the exact process we take the personal trainers through who switched to Core Collective from previously working at other gyms.

Before they switched, we sit with them to discuss how to increase prices and we do a thorough evaluation of the clients they want to attract and figure out the value of their current offering.

Once we finish this process the personal trainers can explain the value of their time and services and when they then present this to their clients, it’s a much smoother process and an easier sell.

Interested in having this discussion? Click here to book an appointment with us and view our space!