One of the most common business concerns that I hear from in-person personal trainers is “How do I survive the slow summer and holiday months”?
For those of us who have been in the fitness industry for many years, we have definitely come to expect the dip in client sessions that occurs during the summer travel months and the holiday season every year. It makes sense- clients are traveling with family or busy attending pool or holiday parties that conflict with their personal training sessions. I get it.
But such large dips in weekly session counts can wreak havoc on a personal trainer’s income during these months and make it difficult for trainers to make ends meet.
Transitioning your training clients to a monthly subscription model or multi-month programs (ie. 3, 6, or 12 months) for personal training is an excellent way to maintain a more consistent income and predictable cash flow for yourself, while also boosting the workout consistency and results of your clients.
What is a subscription model?
A subscription model for personal training clients involves offering a specific set of personal training services through an automatic recurring payment plan, typically on a monthly basis. The main considerations for each unique plan include:
- How many sessions and what additional services are included.
For example, a plan could include two in-person training sessions per week or eight sessions per month, with one homework workout a week, with nutrition support as an optional add-on. - Payment schedule
Are clients automatically charged on the first of each month? Or every four weeks? Can clients pay by credit card or are you accepting bank autodrafts to reduce your credit card fees? Do you have a program that allows you to securely store clients’ credit cards and automatically charging them, or are clients sent an invoice to pay online? - Expiration Dates and Rollover Policies
Do unused sessions expire at the end of each month? How many sessions can clients carry over to the following month if they are sick or miss a session? - Cancellation Policies
How far in advance must clients cancel a session or a monthly plan to avoid fees or penalties? If a client has a two week summer vacation planned, how is their monthly fee adjusted for this?
The advantages of a subscription model
There are four main advantages to the subscription model for in-person personal training over the old school method of selling ‘10 packs’ or single sessions.
- Improved client commitment
A subscription model assists clients with developing a more realistic expectation around the commitment that they will be making to you and their training in order to meet their goals. From day one, each client agrees to a set number of days each week and month where they are committed to working with you. As a trainer, this will greatly boost your confidence in knowing that your client is committed to their work with you for a set period of time.
- Increased consistency of client workouts
With the subscription model, when clients need to miss a training session for their child’s kindergarten Halloween parade, they are motivated to reschedule this session before the end of the month in order to stay on track with their workout schedule and to avoid losing the session.
- Better results for clients
Whether your client’s goals are to live longer, increase muscle and lose body fat, or sleep better, the more committed that they are to their program and the more consistently that they workout with you, their fitness and health results will naturally improve.
- Consistent monthly income for trainers
Automated payments using a subscription model offers trainers a more consistent monthly revenue stream. An excellent example of this comes from Fitune’s fitness business customer data. In December, Fitune commonly sees their fitness business client’s booking statistics drop by 30%. However, during the same month, their client’s money processed only dropped by 5%. According to Fitune, “There are multiple variables at play here, but the claim can be made that although bookings in December dropped by 30%, a business owner only loses about 5% of revenue this month because they are running recurring/automated packs & subscriptions. Business owners that only charge pay-as-you-go or cash payments instead could see a 30% drop in revenue in December due to seasonality.”
Success stories and case studies
To study some specific examples of how in-person subscription based personal trainers have developed a unique subscription model that works best for their clients and practice, we interviewed four independent trainers who have successfully made the jump from selling training packages to selling subscription plans.
Check out their stories HERE. I recommend considering one of these plans that feels like an ideal match, or maybe pulling ideas from several of them in order to create your own personalized version.
How to do it
Alright, the idea sounds enticing and the benefits seem sound, but how the heck do you do this? Use the instructions below as a guide in helping you move through the process one step at a time, without feeling overwhelmed.
- Start by defining the specifics for your personal training subscription model using the options and case studies listed above as your guide. After you have an initial draft design, I recommend passing it by some of your favorite niche clients to get their feedback. This can be a great way of ensuring that you have thought of every detail, without it feeling too overwhelming from a client’s perspective.
- Once you have fine tuned the details of your plan, use a customer management system like Fitune to: some text
- Create a contract agreement for all of your clients to electronically sign which contains all of your program’s details and policies. I believe that EVERY personal trainer who provides an exceptional service to their clients deserves an annual rate increase. So, I recommend including a statement in the contract explaining that your rates will increase annually and that all clients will receive a minimum 30 days notice for any and all rate changes.
- Set up the automated billing and invoicing systems to handle each of your client’s payments.
- Design a subscription model sales page on your website or as a PDF, that includes the details for your subscription plan. You will use this page to introduce your new plan to your current and new training clients. A sample page could look something like THIS ONE.
- Develop a transition plan and schedule for introducing your new subscription model to your current clients and begin migrating them into your new model. I recommend giving each of your current clients a verbal heads up at the end of one of their sessions, letting them know that you will email them the complete details. It is extremely important for your current clients to understand the benefits for THEM in this new program, so I recommend trying to highlight any perks or advantages that they will have in the new program. (ie. Electronic homework programs, etc)
- Begin offering the new subscription model to all of your new clients. During your consultation with new clients, a subscription model is an excellent way to offer them ‘solution based sales’. For example, a 200 lb client comes in to you and says that they want to lose 20 lbs. Assuming that they can lose around 1% of their body weight each week, it would take them 10 weeks to reach their goals. Instead of selling them a 10 pack that can be used at any time, explain to them that your three month (12 week) program would be an ideal first step towards reaching these goals. You have given them a realistic expectation of what it will take to meet their goals while offering them an exact program to meet their needs.
In conclusion
Implementing a custom designed subscription model into your personal training practice is an ideal way of ensuring your client’s commitment to their training with you and of guaranteeing that you are receiving the full reward for the valuable product and service that you are providing.
If I can answer any specific questions you have about creating your ideal subscription model or help boost your confidence around the benefits of ‘taking the subscription leap’, do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time.
You got this!
Billy Polson, CSCS
Fitness Business Performance Coach
Who is Billy Polson?
Billy Polson, named “America's Best 100 Trainers” by Men's Journal magazine, is a three-time fitness entrepreneur, an international presenter, and a business consultant for pioneering trainers and studio owners worldwide. In 2004, looking to build an unparalleled training facility and a community of San Francisco’s leading fitness specialists, Billy founded DIAKADI Fitness, awarded the Bay Area’s “Top Trainers” and “Top Gym” for 18 years. His fitness entrepreneur consulting company, The Business Movement, has assisted thousands of personal trainers and fitness studio owners with boosting brand visibility, improving productivity and increasing profitability.
