I just recently wrote an article in PFP for the May on how to save money during hard economic times, both for the employer and employee (Click here to read>>). What I realized was it is very difficult for a trainer to help a company save money. What I realized after the article was written was a few things we career trainers could do to help a company make more money.
We have been around long enough to have seen it all. Trainers come and go, clients come and go, sales people come and go, and health clubs, unfortunately, come and go. I want to offer two suggestions to my long-term training warriors to help ensure your club does not fall into the above mentioned ranks of the “come and go”:
Duplicate yourself! It is easy to sit back from the cardio area and survey the fitness floor we subconsciously refer to as “our home.” It is also easy to watch some of the rookie trainers make common rookie mistakes. My question is: What does that do to benefit your club or the reputation of your department? The answer is, it doesn’t! In fact, it only damages the two and allows the burden of economics to tighten a little easier. If we took some of the new trainers under our wing, taught them what we already know, help them avoid the common pitfalls, then we bring more value to what we can offer as an employee and as a department.
Sell beyond your schedule. Just because you are booked and don’t have any slots left doesn’t mean you cannot still sell and hand over sessions to another trainer to work with. I know the immediate reaction: NO WAY! The truth is that we are the tenured upper classmen. We know what it takes to close a package and get a client. Use that knowledge to not only grow your department, but to pay it forward, if you will. It is up to the career trainer to help ensure the club will continue to be able to operate and have a place to continue to have a career!
Duplicating yourself and helping sell training for other trainers will not only show your employer that you are a team player and looking out for the well-being of the club, but it will also establish you as a leader in your department and help you earn the respect that goes along with being a career professional.
