Within the last five years, the online personal training industry has absolutely boomed. COVID-19 has only cemented that, with more and more people looking to switch to an online trainer every day. While online personal training has a lot of benefits, the concept may be foreign to some prospective clients. If you’re looking to show prospective clients the benefits of using an online personal trainer, here are some of the key things to think about:
Define your niche
The market is saturated both on and offline, so it’s important you understand how to stand out from the crowd. Online services need to hone in on their niche and speciality in order to succeed – because without a niche, it can be difficult to lure in prospective clients. The truth is, you can’t specialise in every sort of client. You need to choose the type of client or goal that tickles your fancy and run with it. By defining your niche, you’re positioning yourself as a thought leader in the eyes of the client. Clients love to know their personal trainers are the best in the business, and without a niche, you can’t show them that!
Show them there’s a real person
While your end goal is to help clients reach goals, it’s important to not get completely caught up in the coaching side of your online personal training business. You need to cater to the humanistic elements of forging a client-trainer relationship too, and this is even more important when you have an online client. Work out their preferred method of communication – maybe they like to video chat, voice message or call you on the phone. Whatever way you communicate, be sure that you build and maintain healthy rapport by getting to know your clients personally. Rapport building is even more important when you’re not engaging face-to-face.
Trial period
Online personal training is a new concept to many people, so be sure to offer some sort of trial period or other incentive that gives clients the opportunity to back out if they realise it’s not for them. It might take them a few lessons to warm up to online personal training, but offering a three or five lesson no-pressure package at the beginning is a great way to help them warm up to the digital age!