Are your clients like mints?

No not spearmint of peppermint but like mint sweets – hard or soft, let me explain:

Soft mints

These are the clients that need a lot of encouragement and positive re-enforcement. They give in at the slightest problem. They ‘can’t possibly do another rep..’, they simply seem to give up long before you know/think they should.

This type of client can be really frustrating to you as you know they are capable of more just how do you get them to believe and do it? Mostly with gentle positive encouragement, if you push too hard or take a ‘military circuits’ approach very few of the soft clients will react well.

A few well placed ‘well done’, ‘looking good’, that’s 3 kgs more than last session’ will help them to try a little bit more and see the improvements that they want far more than ‘COME ON!’. This approach will simply reinforce their belief that it’s just too hard.

The ‘softies’ need to be protected and supported or they will crumble and when they do that’s you out of a job. As ‘walking adverts’ for your business they may need a lot more time to be that in the physical sense but every word they say about you to people in their network will be positive and that’s going to help you gain more clients (of any type) in the long run.

Hard mints

You may love the client who always rises to the challenge of one more rep or 2 more kgs. But they can harm you business and themselves just as easily. These guys will work thorugh niggles and pain and seee giving in to it as a weakness.

Tke care with them, if it turns out to be more than just a little niggle or DOMS from the last session they could end up injured. Then you’re either out of a job for a few weeks, permanently or looking for ways to reworks sessions that may not be as effective as your original plan. Worse could be to come too, if the client believes that you are in some way to blame then you could be looking at a law suit – check you’re insured!

If you suspect that a client may be in pain and it’s more than just a little bit of extra effort to get in a final rep then take the decision to reduce the reps or weight for them. It is far better to have the believing they can do more and uninjured than the reverse.

More mint-spiration

It takes can take some time to figure out which mint your client is more like as few of us are completely at one end of any spectrum. Watch, listen, see how they react. Make sure each clients session is that – their session, one size does not fit all.

Suck it (the mint!!!) and see!

Coping with loss (of clients)

Loss of clients, loss of earning that is.

So you decided to be a PT, you gave up the day job and took the plunge into a new role. At first it was hard to get clients then all of a sudden your list was nicely populated and you felt good about yourself and your future.

Then disaster strikes..aaagghhh! A client leaves – what do you do?

1. Don’t despair/panic

The world is not going to end and there are other clients out there just waiting to hear about you and train with you

2. Ask the client for their reasons (if you can)

Make sure that this does not come over as aggressive in any way but ask them so that you can make any changes to your sessions/business in the future if needed. Remember that a client who wants to train for an event or lose weight for one may not always continue with you afterwards, although a lot do.

3. Make the change

As identified above if it is warranted.

4. Move on

Don’t wallow in self pity even if the loss was down to something you did or didn’t do and should have. Move on, you can’t find any new clients if you just lie in bed feeling low.

5. Be ready

It is inevitable that clients will come and go. Be ready. Make sure that you are marketing your self all of the time, not just when you realise that you may be losing/have lost a client.

When I lost my first client I felt physically sick – it felt like a really hard blow, but I asked why and found it was not my fault but a financial issue and the client hoped to be back in the future when it was sorted out. (These are hard economic times folks and we are a luxury for most of the population. Those of us who can survive this climate and be ready for the upturn will not only survive but prosper.)

Anyway, must go and do some more marketing – bye for now!