As the name suggests, running a personal training business gets a lot more personal than simply teaching or working at the gym.

You’re building a professional relationship that has to be able to weather the test of time, the drops in motivation, and even the occasional disagreement. So, how do you build and sustain the relationships that will keep your personal training business growing year on year?

Getting your name out there

First impressions count. Some of your clients may discover you if you teach classes or offer lessons in partnership with a local gym, but nowadays a lot of them are going to find you online, first. Online, your first impression is usually your website, so you have to make sure you have a website that works.

Invest in professional design, in unique imagery and photography that can’t be found elsewhere, and make sure it’s easy to navigate in order to find the service details or contact information that they need. Your website should be the core of your online marketing strategy, so make sure that you give it the effort and investment that it requires.

Showing your stuff

If you have undertaken all of your Glasgow Personal Training Courses (or programs elsewhere) then you'll know your stuff, and it's absolutely worth emphasising that with your clients. Your website can therefore be an excellent tool for showing that you do, indeed, have the expertise that they need in order to succeed at their health goals. One of the best ways to do that is to create a fitness blog on your own website. There are lots of fitness blog post ideas you can use, but you want to add your own twist or insight into them.

Don’t be too worried about the fact that you’re giving away, for free, what you would rather your clients pay for. They’re paying for more than information, they’re paying for help in putting together the plan and building the habits they need with personal, hands-on help.

Learning to sell

A great brand, assisted by a professional website and a good content marketing strategy, can serve as the opening for your sales funnel. However, there’s a whole funnel beyond that which can shape the relationship you have with them as clients. This Personal Trainer Selling Guide goes into detail on how to sell clients, every step of the way.

From using customer relationship management to ensure you keep your finger on the pulse to pricing strategies that effectively convert, learning to sell is a crucial skill. If you maintain a positive relationship during the sales phase, it makes it much easier to keep it up as they continue to work with you in future, as well.

Learn their motivations

This is an essential tip for successful personal training relationships. Learning their motivation not only helps you create a plan better suited to their aims (and thus more likely to lead to their satisfaction) but it also creates a personal understanding of their needs. When you talk to them about exercises, nutrition, or lifestyle advice, you can frame it in response to what they’re looking for.

When you learn their motivations, it’s also much easier to keep them motivated. Everyone has a low energy day, week, or month. By calling back to those initial aims, you can help them get back into the game even if it has been a while. As such, you might even be able to reach those who haven’t used your services in months or even a year.

Ask for feedback

Your clients are going to ask questions of you, and you should encourage them to ask those questions. Rather than simply carrying out your services like a one-sided teaching session, you should always solicit their feedback and their own inquiries.

Remember that you will be dealing with a range of clients, from those who have tried fads and found them to be failures, to those who generally know their stuff but could use an expert touch, and even those who have never gone to the gym in their life.

Don’t treat any question as if the answer should be common knowledge (even if it really should be). Encouraging them to give feedback also leads into soliciting them for reviews and testimonials, which can help with your selling process, as well.

The professional/friend balance

A good, positive rapport, the ability to share a joke and a laugh, and a comfort in communication can all help you maintain a good working relationship with your clients. However, it is important to maintain a balance between being a professional and being friendly with them.

No matter how much you enjoy their company and they enjoy yours, try to avoid sharing too much personal information with them. It’s also not recommended to share personal social media accounts with clients.

This can blur the lines, and you may be sharing personal conversations with one another, only for it to strain your professional relationship if they believe you’re putting your effort into your actual services.

Give back now and then

Although they’re your source of revenue, your clients are also an investment. You invest in marketing to gain them and you should invest to keep them, too.

One way to do that is through the occasional gift. You can use gifts to celebrate a milestone or simply to add a little festive cheer during the holidays.

Either way, it creates a personal connection that’s still professional and leaves an overall impression that, despite providing a service, you do have some care for them.

Gift certificates always work, but there are plenty of other client gift ideas worth looking. Just make sure you’re not spending more on gifts than they’re spending on your services if you want to keep your business.

With the tips above, you should have in mind the techniques and principles that can make for a successful connection with almost any client.

There are going to be those that you can’t sustain that rapport with, whether they’re a difficult client or just have a personality that you can’t connect with. Don’t worry too much about those, if you can retain more than you let go, you’re doing just fine.