Personal Trainers: How to Raise Your Rates During a Recession

You can be a victim of a poor economy or you can roll up your sleeves and be one of the few persons doing very well in hard times. If you're willing to keep an open mind and do things a little bit differently than you're used to, you can successfully raise your rates in a recession. The key to making this happen is to change who you market your services to.

In times past, most personal trainers worked one-on-one with individuals and sometimes with couples or small groups. The marketing efforts that you have in place are probably geared for that kind of work. However, it's time to change that. Instead of working with clients one-on-one, change your marketing efforts to focus on group sessions. In hard times, the first thing people cut from their budgets are things that are not absolutely necessary. While fitness is your life blood, to the average person, having a personal trainer is a luxury. Since people are not willing to pay more out of pocket and you get paid per unit of time, then the way to raise your rates in the recession is to raise the number of people you train in one unit of time. It's time to start marketing yourself as a group personal trainer.

The fact that people don't have as much money to spend doesn't mean that they don't want to receive personal training anymore. Marketing yourself as a group personal trainer is mutually beneficial for you and for the client. Instead of offering a one-hour session at $100 per hour to one person, offer that same hour of time to a larger group of people who can share the cost. They may not have $100 to get a good one-hour workout, but they probably have $5. As a matter of fact, when switching over from individual to group personal training you may find that you're able to make more per hour than you were with individuals. How nice would it be to work a shorter day but get paid more money? It's definitely nice and you can definitely do it.

Here's one example of exactly how you can set up your day and your new marketing schedule to raise your rates during a recession. Open up your daily schedule and block off the early-morning hours between 5 and 7 AM, lunchtime hours between 11:30 and 1:30 PM, and after-work hours between 4:30 and 6:30 PM. If you are already training individual clients during that time and you're reluctant to change their schedule, consider the fact that instead of getting your usual hourly rate during that time you could be getting as much as 50% to 100% more for that same hour.

Once you have your time blocked off, you're ready to start marketing for group sessions. Decide what your minimum hourly rate will be and start to contact potential group clients to fill your three spots. Don't forget to market to community and religious groups for weekend sessions. Remember the fact that you must keep an open mind and be open to changing your normal routine just as the financial landscape has changed. You may be used to your clients coming to you, but you will have to travel to your clients for group sessions. Remember that the goal is to make it convenient, easy, and affordable for the client.

Let your potential group clients know that you can be available for them before work, during lunchtime, and after work. If you're unsure of where to start looking for group clients, start with the people you already know. Word of mouth is the best advertisement. Talk to existing clients, family, and friends. Ask them about the potential of gathering a small group of friends at work that they would like to workout with. There are lots of groups of coworkers who join together to participate in contests to lose weight sometimes in a Biggest Loser type of arrangement. These should be the first people to start marketing to.

Stick to this plan and in no time you'll be working fewer hours but making more money despite the fact that others are experiencing a recession.