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There are some mistakes that a personal trainer should avoid making as they tend to affect the business badly. We are going to discuss a couple of them here.

The first mistake is to offer a free session. Human nature is such that people fail to value things that are free. They would value the same things if they paid for them. The price need not be high however a workout or event that is paid for would create a lot more value than one that is free in the minds of the participants. They would be more dedicated to participate. They would also feel they are getting better services.

Here is the story of a personal trainer who learned this lesson the hard way. When he was embarking on a career as a freelance fitness trainer, he was part of a commercial networking group. He thought up a plan that involved offering workouts in groups to the people who were part of the business group that were interested in joining as well as their friends. The instructor created some cool flyers, informed everyone about his group workout and fixed a date. Many people signed up and everything looked good. However a week before the session people started canceling. Worse still, a lot of people who had promised to come did not show up for the group session. The personal trainer Stoke-on-Trent was baffled as well as downhearted. He made the mistake of offering the exercise session for free which is why no one valued it. He learned his lesson. Next time he charged participants 5 pounds for signing up as “special discounted price”. The result was 80% attendance. He also gained long-term customers at his full prices courtesy the event.

You will find a number of personal instructors offering free trial sessions when they start off. By doing so, they only end up damaging their brand as well as their credibility, besides the high probability of their potential customers just not showing up. They need to understand that their knowledge and time is worthy of a charge. You could think of many other ways to add a value like “free” lifestyle consultation for 20 minutes followed by a workout that is to be paid for or a discount of 50% on first session. Options are aplenty but an hour’s workout for free should not figure among them.

The second mistake is to not charge enough. You can only work for a limited amount of time in a week. You obviously cannot work round the clock. When you set up a personal trainer business as freelancer you have to be aware of what your competitors are charging and the amount your customer is ready to pay. You will be unable to set prices for your services if you lack this information. Take some time out and search the Internet to find out what others are charging. In case you’re to go to your customer’s place to train them you have to take into account the time you spend on traveling. As a personal trainer you should focus on adding value that customers would happily pay for.