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n order to create additional value in your training sessions that we can then charge more money for, we need to start thinking differently about them. This was discussed in detail in the section on Session Design, but we’ll now identify the actual properties of the session. We need to view it as a product, and just like any other product, we need to start thinking about what it’s made of.How does a great training session sound?
How does it feel?
How does it taste? (take your mind out of the gutter)
How does it smell?
How does it make you feel?
All of these are important parts of the whole of your training – the quality that you’re perceived to have. Some of these questions might seem esoteric; after all, you can’t taste a training session. My point is that you need to consider all of the factors that could directly, indirectly, and psychically affect your session. The rea- son Jackie Warner from the reality show Workout can charge over $400 for her sessions, and her trainers can charge over $200, isn’t because they’re better train- ers (if you’ve watched this show, you know this is clearly not the case). The rea- son is because they train out of an exquisite studio in a posh neighborhood and they’re all good looking; these are all factors that have nothing to do with the training itself. Although we may not have those same things going for us, there are certainly ways we can increase our own psychic value, as we’ll discuss in this and other chapters.
Price
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n most major decisions, price is not the deciding factors; as we discussed in The Definition, it’s really perceived value. The client makes their decision on many factors, one of the last of which is price. It’s only bad trainers that cite price as the primary reason that clients don’t buy.The successful trainer doesn’t view price as the deciding factor. He/she pays attention to all the other facets of the job, and spends more of their effort jus- tifying price, rather than arguing for it.
Price Shoppers
No matter how justified your rates are, there inevitably will be some clients that will think they're to high. Maybe they had no idea how much Personal Training costs or they’re just used to bargaining for anything they buy; but in your experi- ence you’ll find customers that will adamantly request that you lower your prices for them.
You never want to get involved in a price war with your clients. The re- search shows that consumers that fight you on price are usually the highest prob- lem customers there are. These are exactly the people you need to avoid; just po- litely let them know that your prices have been set in competitive marketplace, and with all things considered you actually turn out to be a tremendous value over other trainers.
Interestingly enough, price in our society often has a direct correlation to quality; people expect to pay more for the best. For that reason, when something costs more, it’s perceived to be better and that leads to there being even more de- mand; you can actually hurt yourself by charging too little!
I’ve noticed the phenomenon first hand. When I first started as an inde- pendent consultant, I went through a dry period where I could hardly find a client. I incorrectly assumed price was the reason in that particular training environment and lowered my prices down to $20 per session for a half-hour session. Even at that ridiculously low price, I still had no takers. This should be considered rock- bottom for any trainer, and I soon realized that things couldn’t go on like this. Over the next year I raised my prices and simultaneously improved the quality of my sessions and sought to improve my image as well. In about a year in the exact same training environment, I had raised them to over $60 per session. I eventu- ally had such a demand that (using the Super-Trainer system) I would often see three clients at a time, taking my net earnings to over $100 an hour - quite a dif- ference!
If you’ve done your job of justifying your price through outstanding ses- sions, what you’ll find is a different situation; clients won’t be looking for conces- sions on price, but instead on training frequency. Your client may understand your rates and feel they’re justified, but they might be looking for a concession from you on how often they can train per week. Some trainers and gyms have a
rule that you must train at least twice per week, but I’ve always been flexible on this. Unlike the price shopper, this type of client is one of the most earnest in their desire to train with you, but either because of time or financial restraints, can’t afford to. They usually turn into great clients and sources of referrals be- cause they value your training and are appreciative of the opportunity to train with you.
The only drawback is that this type of client may turn out to take more time per week to service, since they may call or email you more for coaching in be- tween their sessions. They also may take away peak time slots from other clients that are training at a much higher frequency. For these reasons, it’s up to you to decide whether you’ll allow less than twice weekly training in your practice.